MINISTRY OF FINANCE Beethovnova 11, 1000 Ljubljana Tel.: (01) Fax: (01) Ljubljana, EU funds absorption and forecast process

Functioning of Certifying Authority EU funds management department performs the functions of CA in Slovenia The department is part of internal organizational unit of the Ministry of Finance – Budget Directorate Daily cooperation with Public Accountancy Directorate, Treasury

Organizational structure and operational sections of the EU Funds Management Department EU FUNDS MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT /CA COHESION POLICY SECTION/NF TEAM GOVERNING THE GENERAL MATTERS EU DONATION SECTION/CFCU - Cohesion Fund - Irregularities - Migration Funds - ERDF - Reports - Norwegian and EEA - ESF - Legal matters - Swiss Contribution - Development tasks

EU funds in Slovenia Pre-accession aid Phare, ISPA, Sapard, Transition Facility, Schengen Facility, Cohesion fund 700 million EUR Period / Single Programming Document 334,5 million EUR Period / Operational programmes for regional development (EFRD), European social fund (ESF), Cohesion fund (CF) 4,2 billion EUR Migration funds 63 million EUR Norwegian and EEA Mechanisms 27 million EUR Swiss Contribution 20 million EUR Period 2014 – 2020 Partnership Agreement 3,2 billion EUR

EU funds in Slovenia Net recipient App 10 % of national budget revenues/ year Slow absorption Complex implementation system Room for improvement

The key players cooperation among Management and control system - SLO Managing authority Certifying authority Audit authority

Commission Audit Audit Authority Certifying Authority Managing Authority (and Intermediate Bodies) The key players control and supervision Management and control system - EU

: Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 of 11 July 2006 laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund Commission Regulation (EC) No 1828/2006 of 8 December 2006 setting out rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund Uredba o izvajanju postopkov pri porabi sredstev evropske kohezijske politike v Republiki Sloveniji v programskem obdobju (Ur.l. RS, št. 41/2007) Public finance act Implementing act of the national budget Public procurement act Legal basis

 Payments (reimbursement to the national budget)  control according to Art.61 of 1083/2006/EC  prevention and detection of irregularities  receiving recoveries from the budget users  Certification of expenditure (statement of expenditure)  Debtors‘ ledger (on all irregularities detected)  Submission to the Commission the certified statements of expenditure and applications for payment  Receiving payments from the Commission  Maintenance of accounting records in computerized form of expenditure declared to the Commission Certifying authority – main tasks

Implementation process

Forecasts to EC National authorities are invited to send by 30 April and September 15 forecasts of requests for payment to the Commission for the current year and the following year From 2015 submission of forecasts by January 31 and July 31 for the new programs and on a voluntary basis for programs Two separate payment forecasts: one for the payment requests to be sent to the Commission for the period January – October and another for the period November - December

Forecasts to EC Submission through SFC2007 only Payment forecasts relate to requests for payments sent to the Commission and not payments made by the national authorities to the final beneficiaries Our own national forecast of payments to be made to final beneficiaries AND the date on which we intend to request payment from the Commission, what inevitably involves further delay

Forecasts to EC N+2/3 rule to be taken into account – automatic decommitment Shortage of payment credits in EU budget

Mateja Mahkovec, MF – CA