1. 1 SOUTH BALTIC CROSS-BORDER CO-OPERATION PROGRAMME 2007-2013 The Lead Beneficiary Principle by Małgorzat Skolmowska, Project Manager, JTS Lead Beneficiary Seminar for projects approved in the 5 th Call 9 - 10 November 2010, Gdańsk / Poland www.southbaltic.eu

2. Contents 1.Legal basis and obligations 2.Tasks of the Lead Beneficiary 3.Your challenges (and our assistance) 2 www.southbaltic.eu

3. Legal basis / obligations The Lead Beneficiary Principle says that “one Partner (= Lead Beneficiary) bears the overall responsibility for the project implementation” The principle is -contained in the EC regulation on ETC (EC 1080/2006, Art. 20), -further shaped / described in the Programme Manual (chapter 5.3) -inherent in the application procedure (> AF was signed by LB) -finally settled and detailed in the Subsidy Contract (> to be signed by Lead Bbeneficiary on behalf of all Partners) The principle implies that >The Lead Beneficiary is the sole responsible and contact for the programme authorities during the project implementation > The management of the project / partnership in terms of finances, administration and content is delegated to the Lead Beneficiary 3 www.southbaltic.eu

4. 4 The essence of the LB Principle MA / JTS LB PARTNER www.southbaltic.eu > The Lead Beneficiary is responsible not only for its own part of the implementation, but for activities / contributions of all of the Partners

5. Tasks of the Lead Beneficiary What has to be done and ensured by the Lead Beneficiary in relation to the Partners, so that the LB can fulfil its obligations? -Creating the legal basis for implementation within the Partnership > Partnership Agreements -Proper content management and quality control > ensuring the coherence and quality of all activities > continuous communication with all Partners on thematic issues > organising activity reporting -Sound financial management > knowing the (programme) provisions, giving advice on them > organising financial reporting > forwarding the received ERDF reimbursement to the Partners -Adequate “audit trail” within the project (> legality of costs) > setting up and monitoring the First Level Control inside the project 5 www.southbaltic.eu

6. Your challenge... -The Lead Beneficiary has to take over and lead all these issues within the project and in relation to Partners, i.e. -Being an expert, advisor and main contact for Partners on all implementation-related issues of the project -Setting up adequate systems / routines inside the project -Elaborating documents, guidance etc. for the partner level -communicating with the Partners throughout the implementation -The JTS provides advice and support for you as the Lead Beneficiaries in these issues > But we cannot do the job for you! 6 www.southbaltic.eu

7. …and our assistance The Lead Beneficiary seminar starts our advice and support -“Guided tour” through all the (administrative) aspects of being a Lead Beneficiary / project management -Eligibility of costs, First Level Control, financial reporting, activity reporting, communication and information -For each issue, you will be provided with -Detailed information on what the programme requires from the projects (> expected deliveries of the LB to the JTS) -Practical advice how you can organise and ensure necessary contributions from your Partners (> proper division of tasks between LB and Partners) -Information on (obligatory) tools provided by the MA / JTS -Hints how you can prevent “most frequent mistakes” 7 www.southbaltic.eu

8. Do you have any questions? 8 www.southbaltic.eu

9. Let‘s start with the details! 9 www.southbaltic.eu