MEETING WITH 28 th April 2011 Portuguese Certifying Authority ERFD and CF

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Summary  Introduction of both parties  Presentation of certification process in Portugal and in Bulgaria  Relationship of the Certifying Authority with other institutions  Lessons learned from previous periods  Improvement of the certification function in the next period  Final conclusions

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Summary Introduction of both parties Portugal overview

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011  Workforce of thousand Portugal Overview  Surface area ,7 km2  Total population thousand  Population density 115 hab por km2

0 50km North Centre Alentejo Algarve Azores Madeira Lisboa Portugal overview

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 ■National financial coordination of the Structural Funds ■National coordination for operational monitoring and management of the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund ■Payment Authority / Certifying Authority ■Payment entity for ERDF and CF Main responsabilities Financial Institute for Regional Development, PI

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Mission Executes regional development policy through the financial coordination of the community structural funds and of the Cohesion Fund. Financial Institute for Regional Development, PI

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011  Global financial coordination of the community structural funds and of the Cohesion Fund  Coordination, management and physical and financial monitoring of the ERDF and of the Cohesion Fund and the management of technical assistance measures of these funds  Payment authority of the ERDF and Cohesion Fund, within the CSF III, and certifying authority and paying entity, within the NSRF, relating to these funds and territorial cooperation programs  2 nd level control authority of the ERDF and of the Cohesion Fund, within the CSF III, and responsible for control of the operations, within the NSRF Financial Institute for Regional Development, PI

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 The organizational model The organs Flexible Structure, based on  Directive Council  Statutory Auditor  Units  Groups  Project Teams Financial Institute for Regional Development, PI

Communication Internal Audit Legal Support and Litigation Legal Support and Litigation Technical Documentation Planning and Programming Audit Territorial Cooperation and Community Initiatives Information Systems Information Systems IS NSRF Internal IS Financial and Asset Administration Human Resources Financial Management Coordination of Operational Management Coordination of Operational Management Control and Audit Statutory Auditor Directive Council BodyUnitGroup Support for Operational Management ERDF and Cohesion Fund Control of Expense Declarations Certification ChairmanVice-ChairwomanVice-Chairman Support for Institutional Management Support for Institutional Management Financial Coordination Financial Coordination ERDF TA OP Technical Secretariat ERDF TA OP Technical Secretariat Programming and Financial Monitoring Monitoring and Evaluation

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Directive Council Function Unit Vice-Chairman Payments Chairman Control and Audit Internal Audit Certification Support for Institutional Management Control and Audit Certification Internal Audit Vice-Chairman

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Presentation of certification process in Portugal and in Bulgaria Summary

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Certifying Authority functions Drawing up and submitting to the Commission certified statements of expenditure and applications for payment; Certifying Authority

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Functions Certifying Authority: ■The statement of expenditure is accurate, results from reliable accounting systems and is based on verifiable supporting documents; ■The expenditure declared complies with applicable Community and national rules and has been incurred in respect of operations selected; Certifying Authority

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Functions Certifying Authority: ■Ensuring for the purposes of certification that it has received adequate information from the managing authority on the procedures and verifications carried out in relation to expenditure included in statements of expenditure: Norma IFDR n.º 01/2008, de – guide lines to MA Certifying Authority

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Functions Certifying Authority:  Norma IFDR n.º 01/2008 contents:  Request for Certification of expenditure of the MA to CA and statement of expenditure by axis  Advances paid by the body granting the aid  Revenues generator projects Certifying Authority

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Functions Certifying Authority:  Norma IFDR n.º 01/2008 contents:  Identification of on the spot checks  Amounts deducted under the projects included in the request for Certification of expenditure  “Follow-up of conclusions and recommendations resulting from inspections carried out by PO Certifying Authority

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Functions Certifying Authority: ■Taking account for certification purposes of the results of all audits carried out by or under the responsibility of the audit authority; ■Maintaining accounting records in computerised form of expenditure declared to the Commission; Certifying Authority

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Functions Certifying Authority: ■Keeping an account of amounts recoverable and of amounts withdrawn following cancellation of all or part of the contribution for an operation. ■Providing an Information System of ERDF and Cohesion Fund; Certifying Authority

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 To support its tasks the CA has developed: ■An integrated and modular system, to simplify procedures and to enable the flow of information, fully coherent with the European Commission SFC 2007 information system; ■A system providing communication and integration with the information systems of the MA and AA, supported on Web services. Certifying Authority

Directive Coucil Vice-Chairwoman Certification ERDF and Cohesion Fund ERDF and Cohesion Fund Control of Statements of Expense Control of Statements of Expense Staff (5) Secretariat Staff (4) the team Certifying Authority

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Certifying Unit is responsible for:  Exercise the Certifying Authority functions  Prepare and submit to the EC forecast of payment requests;  Prepare the Annual Summary Certifying Authority

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 ERDF and Cohesion Fund Group Responsible for technical and financial analysis by checking the reception of claims and their completeness (numerical checks), and for drawing up of statements of expenditure and proposing their submission to the Commission. Certifying Authority Groups

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 ERDF and Cohesion Fund Group  Confirm an adequate treatment of revenue-generating projects  confirm that MA demonstrates have applied the procedures of validation of expenditure, as described in the management and control system of OP (in a sample)  confirm that the expenditure declared is actually supported in legal documents attesting its realization (in a sample) Certifying Authority Groups

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 ERDF and Cohesion Fund Group  Confirm that the corrections arising from irregularities resulted in withdraw of all or part of the public participation (evidence in the MA IS)  Confirm that advances declared are supported by warranty and they observe the period of 3 years for their regularization Certifying Authority Groups

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Control of Statements of Expenditure Group Responsible for checking the substance of the information provided (checks of conformity with the community law, assessment of management verifications carried out by the Managing Authority and Intermediate Bodies, review of the results of audits carried out by the Audit Authority, etc). Certifying Authority Groups

IFDR - Certifying Authority Control of Statements of Expenditure Group  Check results of the compliance assessment related to the programme management and control systems description;  Check control and audit reports of the Audit Authority, and ensure that negative findings have been satisfactorily addressed Certifying Authority Groups

Control of Statements of Expenditure Group Audit the procedures carried out by the Managing Authority, using an appropriate sample of projects, to ensure that:  Projects are selected in accordance with the criteria defined in the programme;  Expenditure declared has actually been incurred and complies with Community and national rules;  An adequate audit trail is held in accordance with the regulation requirements;  Irregularities are prevented, detected, and the necessary correcting measures are provided. Certifying Authority Groups

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Control of Statements of Expenditure Annually the CA establishes a control plan Certifying Authority Groups

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Annual Plans 2009 All the OP OP OP 2 Thematic controls Control of Statements of Expenditure

Certifying Authority Whenever the AC concludes ■ that the information submitted by the managing authority, in the certification request, is not sufficient or does not provide sufficient guarantees as to the legality and regularity of expenditure, the request will be subject to cancellation. ■ that part of expenditure does not provide sufficient guarantees as to its legality and regularity, such expenditure is subject to suspension and withdrawal of expenditure certified to the Commission.

Woorkflow - Technical and financial analysis and control of statements of expenditure Certifying Authority

Woorkflow - Certified statements of expenditure and applications for payment Certifying Authority

 Manual of Procedures  Compliance Assessment  Norma IFDR n.º 01/2008, de – guide lines to MA

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Final conclusions Summary

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Certification results Total expenditure suspended by the CA 22 Average delay on the treatement of the applications for payment 24 Average payment delays from the Commission 25 N.º of the payment requests from the MA rejected by the IS or cancelled by the CA € Preventive measures

OP Payment Requests Nº.Total Expediture Public Expenditure Fund Competetiveness Factors Territorial Enhancement (ERDF ) Territorial Enhancement (CF ) Norte Centro Lisboa Alentejo Algarve Açores Madeira Technical Assistance TOTAIS ERDF Cohesion Fund ERDF+CF Certification results State of play at 14th de March 2011 Un: M€

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Main Relationships of the Certifying Authority with other institutions ■ Audit Authority ■ European Commission ■ Managing Authorities

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Lessons learned from previous periods Summary

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 A need for an IS specifically to support the certification process Clear instructions for verifications Summary

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Improvement of the certification function in the next period Summary

MEETING Certifying Authority 28 th April 2011 Thank you for your attention! More information at your disposal or for specific requests