EuropeAid 1 Delegation Agreements: 2011 templates “Regards Croisés” on Aid Effectiveness Practitioners’ Network for European Development Cooperation - Division of Labour and Aid modalities Subgroup Brussels, 7 April 2011

EuropeAid 2 WHY REVISED TEMPLATES? Delegation Agreements templates adopted in 2008 Revised templates adopted in January 2011 Drivers of the revision: o Simplification o Alignment with other templates used by the Commission – Contribution Agreement with an International Organisation o Experience gained in nearly 3 years o Recurrent questions

EuropeAid 3 STRUCTURE OF THE DELEGATION AGREEMENT Structure of the Delegation Agreement: o Special Conditions o Description of the Action o General Conditions o Budget of the Action o Central Exclusion Database annexes o Financial Identification form o Payment request No annex on applicable legislation and rules: o Delegation Agreement contains a comprehensive set of obligations o Eligibility rules: check Annex A.2 to PRAG

EuropeAid 4 WHEN CAN A DELEGATION AGREEMENT BE USED? Only in case of indirect centralised management No possible to use it instead of a grant contract: o Role of Delegatee body is different than a Beneficiary o EU Member State public authorities may benefit from favourable provisions in the grant contract: Rules on procurement: rules of the organisation Expenditure verification can be waived Pre-financing guarantee can be waived Pre-financing interest does not need to be reimbursed

EuropeAid 5 SPECIAL CONDITIONS Special Conditions prevail over any other document Content: o Purpose: Indication of any Commission procedures that may apply (e.g. grants); Clarification if action is co-financed: relevant for eligibility rules o Entry into force, Implementation Period, Period of Execution: Clarification of deadlines for contracting: 31 December after signature or 3 years after signature of Financing Agreement with Beneficiary country

EuropeAid 6 SPECIAL CONDITIONS Content: o Amount of the EU contribution and % of indirect costs o Payment option o Access to the Central Exclusion Database: EU Member States: direct access to the database! o Contact addresses o List of annexes

EuropeAid 7 SPECIAL CONDITIONS Content: o Article 7: Notional approach Derogations to the General Conditions: o Provisions mandated by Financial Regulation cannot be derogated o Derogations require internal procedure o Equal treatment!

EuropeAid 8 GENERAL CONDITIONS Contractual provisions re-ordered Two types of obligations: o General & Administrative o Financial Provisions Central Exclusion Database: o New requirement included in last revision of the Financial Regulation o Central Exclusion Database = level 5 EWS (internal system) o 2008 templates: Delegatee body had to check with Commission whether entity was in level 5 EWS

EuropeAid 9 GENERAL CONDITIONS Central Exclusion Database: o on line access through a liaison point and via an Internet secured link: liaison point communicated by Member State to the Commission Authorised users in each entity by liaison point o Obligation to consult the database and exclude any registered entity o Data input: final judgements for fraud, corruption, money laundering & involvement in a criminal organisation detrimental to EU financial interests

EuropeAid 10 WHERE CAN I FIND THESE DOCUMENTS?

EuropeAid 11 WHERE CAN I FIND THESE DOCUMENTS?

EuropeAid 12 THANK YOU! DEVCO/G7: Financial and contractual matters, and legal affairs. Contractual Procedures and management modes Section JAVIER RAYA AGUADO, Head of Section DOLORES DOMINGUEZ PEREZ