1. EuropeAid Delegated Co-operation November 2011

2. EuropeAid 2 SUMMARY BACKGROUND TO CO-FINANCING AND DELEGATED COOPERATION INDIRECT CENTRALISED MANAGEMENT

3. EuropeAid 1 BACKGROUND TO CO-FINANCING AND DELEGATED COOPERATION

4. EuropeAid 4 What is a management mode? European Commission: responsible for execution of EU Budget/EDF BUT because of… o international context (external aid) more and better aid: international commitments o steady expansion of EU fields of activity …the European Commission can delegate budget execution tasks to third parties

5. EuropeAid 5 WHAT is co-financing and delegated cooperation? General Budget & EDF: The Commission may finance an EU external action with other donors (Co-financing) to: o Manage the action itself (direct management) o or choose a partner to manage the action, such as one of the donors or the beneficiary country (Delegated Cooperation or indirect management).

6. EuropeAid 6 Co-financing: New legal basis for joint co-financing POOL FUND (Joint-co financed funds): Managed by whom? As opposed to PARALLEL CO-FINANCING OR

7. EuropeAid 7 Co-financing and Delegated Cooperation: WHO? WHO can manage the (jointly co-financed) funds? o International Organisation o A public or private entity with a public service mission from a Member State or other country o Beneficiary country o European Commission What does it mean? The entity becomes Contracting authority  award and signature of contracts,  possibility to carry out payments

8. EuropeAid 8 Co-financing and Delegated Cooperation: HOW? HOW is it implemented by the “manager”? o Commission: follow normal EU/EDF rules & procedures o Other: Delegated Cooperation - Choice of the entity determines: Method of implementation (decentralised, joint, indirect centralised?) Procedures (EU or others?) Template agreement to be used

9. EuropeAid 9 Delegated Cooperation: Procedures to be followed a)What does « Delegation » imply? The delegatee entity becomes Contracting authority instead of Commission -What is delegated: power to launch procedures & sign contracts, and, depending on the degree, manage payments to contractors/grant beneficiaries -Control remains always « centralised » (e.g. follow-up on the basis of reports, possible audits/verifications). b) What is the European Commission’s role? -Different role than Contracting Authority -Commission retains control

10. EuropeAid 10 Delegated Cooperation: Steps 1) Choice of the entity 2) Ex ante control: review of the pillars: 1) procurement (and grant-award) procedures; 2) internal control system; 3) accounting system; 4) audit; 5) adequate annual ex post publication of beneficiaries 6) access to documents 3) Decision-making procedures 4) Signature of the delegation Agreement

11. EuropeAid 2 INDIRECT CENTRALISED MANAGEMENT

12. EuropeAid 12 Which entities are concerned? Agencies governed by Community law (“executive agencies”) o entrusted with certain tasks relating to the management of one or more Community programmes Bodies set up by the Communities (“traditional agencies”): o accomplish a very specific technical, scientific or managerial task. national bodies or bodies governed by private law with a public- service mission providing adequate financial guarantees (“national agencies”) EIB & EIF

13. EuropeAid 13 National agencies DA

14. EuropeAid 14 Indirect Centralised management and Co-financing DA MoU Pool fund managed by National Agency

15. EuropeAid 15 Principles Justification to the European Parliament on an annual basis Choice of entity must be done: o respecting the principles of sound financial management (economy, effectiveness and efficiency) o in an objective, transparent and non discriminatory manner

16. EuropeAid 16 Scope of delegation Decided on a case-by-case basis and reflected in the Delegation Agreement (Annex on Description of the action and delegated tasks) “Residual tasks”: o tasks which remain centralised in a decentralised context (ex ante/ex post control, including audit, and payments to contractors/grant beneficiaries)

17. EuropeAid 17 Scope of delegation (3) FA DA MoU

18. EuropeAid 18 BRAINSTORMING 1.What is the difference between sub-delegation and subcontracting in the delegation agreement? 2. What are the possible risks and concerns when mixing indirect centralised management with “decentralisation” by delegatee?

19. EuropeAid 19

20. EuropeAid 20 THE DELEGATION AGREEMENT

21. EuropeAid 21 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

22. EuropeAid 22 SPECIAL CONDITIONS Article 7: Notional approach Derogations to the General Conditions: o Provisions mandated by Financial Regulation cannot be derogated o Derogations require an internal approval procedure

23. EuropeAid 23 http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/financing/inte rnational_organisations/index_en.htm