Erasmus+ Social Inclusion - eacea.ec.europa.eu · Social Inclusion Coordinators' Meeting 1-2 March 2018 Barbara HERMANS ... • Keep all correspondence, including emails . MONITORING

Erasmus+ Social Inclusion

Coordinators' Meeting

1-2 March 2018

Barbara HERMANS Project Advisor-EACEA A1

All you wanted to know and never dared to ask about contractual and reporting

issues

CONTENT

1. The Social Inclusion & project lifecycle

2. Actors and their roles

3. Contractual documents

Grant agreement

Amendments

Reporting

Progress report

Final report

4. Project monitoring

5. Tips & Hints

Social Inclusion lifecycle

Project life cycle

Multi-beneficiary Grant Agreement

EACEA Coordinator Letter of mandate

Beneficiaries

Beneficiaries

Beneficiaries

Beneficiaries

Grant Agreement

ACTORS Project

• Beneficiaries

Coordinator

• Legal representative

• Project manager

• Subcontractors

EACEA

• Project officer

• Financial officer

Grant Agreement COORDINATOR

(Art II.1.3)

• Intermediary between the Agency and the Beneficiaries

– Establishes communication between the Agency and the Beneficiaries

– Provides all necessary documentation and information to the Agency and to

the Beneficiaries

• Sole recipient of payment ensure that all Beneficiaries receive the

payment

• Monitors budget

• Ensures that agreed actions are implemented

COORDINATOR Legal representative

• Person who signs all legal documents

Eg. Grant agreement, amendment requests

• Replacement by valid power of attorney

COORDINATOR Project manager

• Staff member of the Coordinator

• Person managing the day-to-day communication from and to the Agency

• Manages beneficiaries' work and deals with problems between

beneficiaries

BENEFICIARIES (Art. II.1.1-1.2)

• Are the organisations not the persons

• Co-responsible for the implementation of the project

• Share part of the budget

- Receive part of the EU contribution

- Contribute to the co-financing

• Report to the coordinator and transmit all justifying costs

• Respect the deadlines

• Inform the coordinator of any problem or deviation from the agreed work programme

OTHER PROJECT PARTICIPANTS Subcontractor

• Organisation/person that does not belong to Beneficiary

organizations and performs specific tasks for which no

competence exists amongst the Beneficiaries.

• Project management and the general administration of the

project may not be subcontracted.

The Agency - EACEA

• Management of centralized actions

• Calls, selections, contracts, monitoring, acceptance of reports, payments / reimbursements

• Responsible for the legal and financial compliance of the project

Project officer • Performs continuous monitoring of the project

• Acts as helpdesk during the project lifetime

• Validates the assessments of progress and final reports

Financial officer • Assesses the financial part of Progress and Final reports

• Acts as helpdesk concerning financial matters during the project lifetime

3. Contractual documents

• Grant Agreement

• Amendments

• Reporting

Progress report

Final report

Overview

THE GRANT AGREEMENT

1. Special Conditions

2. General Conditions

3. Annexes:

1.Description of the Action

2.General Conditions

3.Estimated Eligible Budget

4.List of Beneficiaries and Mandate Letters

5.Reports Template (technical report)

6.Reports Template (financial statement)

7.Guidance Note Audit Certificate type I or type II

8.Model terms of reference for the operational verification report:n/a

By order of importance!

Legally binding!

THE GRANT AGREEMENT

Fundamental information:

1. Project description & Work programme

2. Eligibility period (Art. I.2.2)

3. Payment arrangements and reporting dates (Art. I.4.1)

4. Eligible budget (Annex III)

5. General Conditions (Annex II)

AMENDMENTS

WHY? to give you some flexibility against unpredictable changes during the project's lifetime but

cannot change the substance of the selected project

must be officially requested and approved by the Agency

WHO? Coordinator – request duly signed by the Legal Representative of the Coordinating organisation

WHEN? Anytime during the project’s life BEFORE the change takes place AND at the latest 1 month before end of eligibility

AMENDMENTS

HOW? - in writing (sent by email attaching a scanned signed letter signed by the legal representative)

- motivate the request

- provide supporting documents

Email: [email protected]

AMENDMENTS

Two categories of amendments:

1. Amendments via the Participant Portal:

- legal name, legal status, address of Coordinator and Beneficiary/ies

2. Amendments requested to the Agency (via exchange of letters)

- legal representative, project manager, eligibility period, work programme, budget, change of partners, bank account, coordinator, etc.

2 types

AMENDMENTS

Format of the request

1. Formal amendment request -> changes to:

partnership

eligibility period

budget breakdown above 10% rule (Art. I.8)

bank account

work programme

23

AMENDMENTS

Format of the request

2. No official template : scanned letter per email -> changes to:

Legal representative of coordinator

Contact person of coordinator

24

AMENDMENTS Do’s and don’ts

In case of doubt, discuss amendments in advance with your EACEA project officer

Submit amendments without delays

Duly justify the reasons for the proposed changes (or request may be rejected)

If possible, put together different issues in one amendment request

• Don’t submit amendment retrospectively

• Don’t add a new partner without clear/relevant tasks and added value to the project

• Don’t request budgetary changes at the end of the project

• Don’t request prolongation of eligibility period a few weeks before the end just

because you cannot finish the project on time

Reporting: progress and final report

WHY? For the benefit of the entire project consortium

Measure the state of progress

Adopt solutions to improve certain aspects

Improve visibility in the consortium and in the wider community

For the Agency's benefit and use

Monitoring by the Agency

Decision on evaluation – next payment

Identification of good practices or projects needing follow up

Feedback to the Commission for policy-making

Reporting stages (Art. I.4.1, I.4.2, II.23, II.24)

Signature of Agreement

1st Pre-financing payment

Progress report 2nd Pre-financing payment

Final report Final payment

Progress Report (Art. I.4.1)

WHEN? Depending on the project duration: fixed dates

Project of 24 months: 15/1/2019

Project of 36 months: 31/5/2019

WHAT? Assessment of the mid-term implementation (reporting period= whole implementation until submission minus 1 month)

40% pre-financing foreseen (if 70% of 1st prefinancing spent)

Progress Report (Art. I.4.1)

HOW? Template

CONTENT? Project summary update

Good practice upscaled

4 award criteria

Challenges and key messages

Cost-effectiveness

Login and password details to internal documents

2 tables: management and project outputs

Indicators

- Target groups

- Logical Framework Matrix update

Final Report

WHEN? 60 days after the end of the project’s eligibility period

Reporting period = eligibility period

WHAT? Assessment of overall achievements and impact of the project assessed in comparison with :

1) the application work plan and the budget

2) the feedback to the Progress Report

Final payment: up to 20% balance -> In case of low performance, the EU

contribution to eligible staff costs

may be reduced

Hints for reporting

• Collect and check supporting documents on a regular basis

• Provide supporting documents upon request

• Fill in the forms from the beginning of the project

• Use only Excel reporting form developed by the Agency

• Get help from financial colleagues within your organisation

• Discuss financial issues with co-beneficiaries and financial officers from the Agency (originals from co-ordinator and certified copies from co-beneficiaries)

• Keep all correspondence, including emails

MONITORING Objectives

Ensure that:

•The goals will be achieved as scheduled

•The quality of products is high

•The financial and administrative regulations are respected

•The project’s evaluation supports the project work

•The partnership cooperates well

•The dissemination and exploitation are efficient

MONITORING

Activities Online support documents

• Project management information published on the website (contractual documents, guidelines)

Helpdesk from project and financial officer • E-mail

Reporting • Evaluation of progress and final reports – feedback (content &

finances)

Meetings • Coordinators’ meeting including workshops • Visits to projects • Thematic cluster meetings • Attending key events organised by the projects

Positive Indicators

Expert’s recommendations at selection stage followed

Balanced work plan

Active participation of all partners, 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..)

Webpage as a dynamic tool for dissemination and promotion

Highly engaged target groups and stakeholders

MONITORING

Strategy

Negative Indicators

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

Partners with low commitment

Very few activities implemented

No compliance with publicity clause

Weak implementation of dissemination strategy from the project start

No internal quality control / evaluation mechanisms

MONITORING

Strategy

GUIDANCE ON PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• Different roles

• Monitoring

• Reporting

• Financial rules

• Publicity and dissemination

• Amendments

5. TIPS & HINTS

•IPR rights: results belong to partnership – agree among consortium

•Read carefully all legal documentation

•Sign partnership agreements & establish a common approach within

the consortium to address concerns

•Keep an eye on your planning, activities & budget

•Start dissemination activities and stakeholders’ involvement from the

very beginning of the project

•Consider the feedback on your application and Progress Report

•Consult us for advice and support ☺

USEFUL LINKS

EACEA website

EACEA website « Soc In Beneficiaries' space 2017»

Participant Portal

Erasmus+ Projects Result Platform

CONTACTS

•Your project officer

[email protected]

• Our functional mailbox:

[email protected]

Thanks for your kind attention !