Operational and Financial aspectsPart 1

Gilles GERVAIS and Misia COGHLAN Project Advisors

Brussels, 23rd January 2012

Presentation Overview

• Legal documents, actors and useful links

• Monitoring of projects by the Agency

Types of Grant Agreement

3

• A multibeneficiary grant agreement

EACEA Co-ordinator Letter of mandate

Co-beneficiaries

Co-beneficiaries

Co-beneficiaries

Co-beneficiaries

• A mono-beneficiary grant agreement

EACEA

Beneficiary

Mono/Multi-beneficiary grant agreements

• The type of Grant Agreement used vary depending on the nature of the consortium.

• Two models are used: a multibeneficiary grant agreement for all consortia except Erasmus Networks and unilateral projects, which use a mono-beneficiary grant agreement as in previous years.

• In the framework of the multibeneficiary grant Agreement, what was formerly known as the "beneficiary" ("applicant" in the application form) is now the "co-ordinator" and what was formerly known as the "partners" are now the "co-beneficiaries".

The grant agreement (1)

Please read carefully the grant agreement which contains the Special Conditions, the General Conditions and Annexes

below:

*http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/llp/beneficiaries/2010/reporting_lifelong_learning_2010_en.php

The grant agreement (2)Please note that:

The terms set out in the Special Conditions shall take precedence over those in the other parts of the agreement.

The terms of the General Conditions shall take precedence over those in the Annexes.

The grant agreement (3)

The Special Conditions contain key information as:

Period of eligibility of costsEligible budget and maximum grant (in EUR and %)Payment arrangements (40%-40%-20% or 70%-30%)Reporting obligations (progress report or not)Bank details and contact detailsExchange rate applicable for conversion into EUR

Actors

Project EACEA (The Agency)

LLP National Agencies

European Commission DG EAC

Project beneficiary (called coordinator in the multibeneficiary agreement)

• Legal representative signs all legal documents (grant agreement, amendment requests, reports, etc.);

• Is accountable for financial management (even if different from the coordinating organisation);

• Signs contracts / partnership agreements with partner organisations

Project daily coordinator

• Indicated in Article I.7.3/I.8.3 of the grant agreement;

• Manage daily communication from and to the Agency;

• Responsible for the implementation of the project;• Manages partners work and is responsible for

solving partnership problems;• Monitors the budget, controls the costs and the

justifying documents.

Project members

• Partner organisations* (called co-beneficiaries in the multi-beneficiary agreement): – Share part of the budget:

• Receive part of the Community Contribution• Contribute to the co-financing

– Are co-responsible for the implementation of the project

– Report to the co-ordinator and transmit all justifying costs

*Including third country participants (with budgetary restrictions)

Project participants

Sub-contractor: Organisation/person from outside the partnership performing specific task for which no competence

exists among the partnership. Project management and the general administration

of the project may not be sub-contracted.

Associated partners: Organisations participating in project activities, but

not sharing part of the budget.Cannot be subcontracted.

EACEA: Actors Responsible for the legal and financial compliance of the project

General management of action/prioritiesCalls, selection, contracts, monitoring....

Project advisor:Performs continuous monitoring of the project

and acts as helpdesk during the project lifetime;Validates expert assessments of progress and final

reports. Financial officer:

Assesses the financial part of Progress and Final reports; acts as helpdesk concerning financial matters.

European Commission – DG EAC

• Policy and programme definition

• Dissemination and exploitation of project results

• Impact analysis

LLP National Agencies

• Manage the full project life-cycle of the de-centralised actions;

• Organise thematic meetings and dissemination conferences at national level.

Monitoring strategy

Monitoring activities

Online support documentsProject management information published on the website (contractual

documents, handbook, guidelines)Helpdesk

Dialogue, telephone, letters, e-mailsReporting

Evaluation of progress and final reports – feedback (content & finance)Meetings

Kick off meeting including workshopsVisits to projects

Thematic cluster meetingsAttending key events organised by the projects

● Follow-up Good practices in project management, dissemination

Useful links: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/llp/beneficiaries/2011/index_en.php

Useful links: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/llp/index_en.php

Useful links:http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/llp/results_projects/project_compendia_en.php

Useful links

Useful links:http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/llp/erasmus/documents/guidelines_for_llp_coordinators_project_start_up.pdf

Useful links

Useful links

Monitoring Strategy Examples of findings (1)

Expert’s recommendations at selection stage followed Balanced work plan Active participation, clear management structure and division

of tasks Project coordinators supported at institutional level for all

aspects of project implementation Good internal/external communication (strategy, tools..) Web page as a dynamic tool for dissemination and

promotion

Highly engaged target groups and stakeholders

Monitoring Strategy Examples of findings (2)

Delays in work plan (e.g. partner withdrawal)

Sleeping partners

Large underspending

Poor dissemination plan

No compliance with publicity clause

Weak implementation of dissemination strategy from the project start

No internal quality control / evaluation mechanisms

Underestimation of accreditation/recognition challenges (CD)

CONTACTS

EACEA-ERA-MULTILATERAL@ec.europa.euGilles GERVAIS, Natalia RIESGO, Alba PRIETO GONZALEZ, Misia COGHLAN, Mireia FABREGA-IGLESIAS, José MATOS MARTINS, Magalie SOENENSEACEA-ERA-NETWORKS@ec.europa.eu

Katia DE SOUSA

EACEA-ERA-ACCOMPANYING@ec.europa.eu Natalia RIESGO

María Luisa GARCIA MINGUEZ (coordination)