Open Days 2012: Thematic Subsidiarity Workshop

Open Days 2012: Thematic Subsidiarity Workshop

Anna Livieratou-TollSenior Programme and Policy Coordinator

CoR, 10 October 2012

Overview

• The TEN-T Executive Agency: mandate and added value

• The TEN-T Programme (2007-2013)• Evaluation of projects• Project life-cycle in centralised

management• Supporting beneficiaries

TEN-T EAMandate and added value

• Centralised management of funds to better focus on implementing large-scale (currently 350 ongoing projects in total, €8bn, 100 staff)

• Better coordination and synergies with the EC and other Institutions to optimise use of EU funds for transport infrastructure

• Expert contribution to the development of innovative financing methods

• Transparent and efficient budget execution: reducing the time taken to pay or react to all beneficiaries’ requests

Seminar 'The Connecting Europe Facility and Cohesion Policy'

3

The TEN-T EA

• Created by the EC in 2006• Based in Brussels, 100 staff• Managing the entire TEN-T Call process since 2009• Ensuring the timely financial and technical management of projects

• Developing new tools (G.I.S., Financial Engineering,…) for project development & monitoring

Repartition of tasks: who does what?Commission (DG MOVE)

defines the policy

• Makes all TEN-T programming decisions

• Defines strategy, objectives and priority areas of action

• Selects the projects for co-financing and adopts the financing Decisions

• Monitors the Agency

• Evaluates the TEN-T programme and the Agency’s performance

Executive Agency (TEN-T EA) turns policy into action

• Follows up the technical and financial implementation of the TEN-T projects

• Manages the entire project lifecycle

• Executes the TEN-T budget

• Gives feedback, assistance and reports to the Commission

• Provides administrative support to the beneficiaries of TEN-T financing

• Coordinates with other Commission services, programmes, Institutions and financial instruments

Structure

The TEN-T Programme (2007-2013)

• Regulation n°680/2007• Aim: Establish a trans-European transport network,

integrating land, sea and air transport infrastructure• Budget: €8.013 billion• Co-funding:

• 50% for studies• 20% for works on Priority Projects (30% for cross-border

sections)• 10% for works on other projects• 50% for ERTMS• 20% for other traffic management systems

Role of TEN-T EA in pre-submission period

• Availability for tailor-made workshops on evaluation procedures and project management in TEN-T EA upon request

• Detailed call related texts• Info Day in Brussels, 29 November 2012• Availability for national Info Days upon request• Help Desk • Frequently Asked Questions

8 Seminar 'The Connecting Europe Facility and Cohesion Policy'

Role of TEN-T EA in the selection of projects

• Preparation of the texts of the Commission’s Works Programmes and Calls for Proposals

• Full management of the pre-submission and evaluation processes (Info Day, FAQs, applicants’ eligibility and financial and technical capacity checks, external evaluation of proposals, preparation of the internal evaluation by the Commission, and data encoding)

10

The process of TEN-T calls for proposals

10 Seminar 'The Connecting Europe Facility and

Cohesion Policy'

11

Evaluation & selection of Proposals The principles

• Equal treatment of proposals• Transparency towards applicants• Objectivity in assessing information• Accuracy in applying identical criteria• Consistency in standards of judgement

Seminar 'The Connecting Europe Facility and Cohesion Policy'

12

Evaluation and Selection of Proposals External evaluation

TEN-T EA is responsible for:• checking the eligibility of the

proposals - timely, complete, signed, approved, compliant, have the necessary capacity…

• conducting the external evaluation- all proposals reviewed independently by at least 3 external experts, 4 award criteria assessed. Consensus reached on conclusions/scores for each proposal

Seminar 'The Connecting Europe Facility and Cohesion Policy'

13

Evaluation and Selection of Proposals The four award criteria

1.Relevance: contribution of the Action to the TEN-T policy and the objectives of the calls, and EU dimension

2. Maturity: is the Action ready to go?3. Impact: anticipated socio-economic effects and impact on

the environment 4. Quality: completeness and clarity of the proposal,

description of the planned activities, coherence between objectives, activities and planned resources, soundness of the project management process

Scores between 0 and 5. All proposals with at least 3 in eachcriterion are considered for potential funding.

Seminar 'The Connecting Europe Facility and Cohesion Policy'

14

Evaluation and Selection of Proposals DG MOVE Responsibilities

• Final selection of proposals (with assistance from TEN-T EA) based on:- recommendations of external evaluation- no ranking- available budget, strategic objectives of the calls and policy relevance of the proposals

• Consultation of other EU services (DG Environment, DG REGIO…)

• Consultation of:- Financial Assistance Committee (Member States)- European Parliament (right of scrutiny)

Seminar 'The Connecting Europe Facility and Cohesion Policy'

Role of TEN-T EA in project implementation period - Approach

• Beneficiaries have one contact person per project• Tailored made expertise provided for better project

management• Open and continuous dialogue with beneficiaries• Proactive approach for an early identification of

problems and possible solutions• Technical and administrative advice• Streamlined procedures and clear reporting guidance• Close contacts with DG MOVE (and other EU bodies)

Role of TEN-T EA in project implementation period – Tasks

• Preparation of project funding Decisions• Examination of project implementation plans• Examination of progress reports and site visits• Pre-finance, intermediate and final payments• Examination of modification requests and preparation of amending Decisions

• Mid-term and other ad hoc reviews

The Project Life-cycle

Financial regulationGuidelinesWork programmeCall for proposals

Monitoring- Project meetings- SAP/ASR- Payments- Modifications

ProgrammingProgramme reviewsBi-annual reports etc.Final Action Report

EvaluationPreparation of decisionAdoption

Programme monitoring

Project initiation

Project monitoring

Project

closure and evaluation

Core PM tasks

Project management goals• Selection of relevant and mature projects• Achieve full and timely implementation of projects

• Early and continuous monitoring• Decision preparation• Project monitoring

• Optimise use of programme budget• Continuous review, e.g. Mid-term review (use it or loose it !)• Call planning

• Maximise annual budget execution• Commitment credits

• Optimise execution after ASR exercise (MAP Instalments)

• Payment credits• Pro-actively encourage early submission of payment requests

• Reduce time to close projects• Receive good reports earlier

Local authorities in TEN-T programme

• Local authorities eligible applicants, but• Not very familiar with TEN-T programme and its rules

• A few success stories exist• Room for improvement

Some interesting figures

21 Seminar 'The Connecting Europe Facility and Cohesion Policy' 21

Allocation of TEN-T funding2007 – 2011

Multiannual Programme (MAP)

Annual Programme (AP)

EERP (European Economic Recovery Programme)

Priority Projects Horizontal fields (MoS, ERTMS, ATM, RIS, ITS)

Annual Calls, projects of common interest

Innovative financial instruments (LGTT, EPEC, Marguerite)

2007:5,300 MEUR

2007 - 2011:1,420 MEUR

2007 - 2011:278 MEUR

2007 - 2011:609.6 MEUR

2009:500 MEUR

Evolution of the project portfolio

2007-2011 project portfolio- by transport mode and project type

Operational budget - Gross time to pay (in days)

Recurrent problems and anticipative measures

• Delays (or other problems) in the implementation• Selection of mature projects• Early identification (decision preparation)• Inherent risks to infrastructure projects unavoidable

• Compliance with EU procurement rules• Internal procedure established• Court of Auditors announced increased focus

• Quality of reports (technical and financial) leading to long examination time

• Early reminder to beneficiaries and guidance

• Long time to submit final reporting (12 months)• Encourage earlier submission by earlier final visits

Managing deadlines, data and consistency

• TENtec• Keep project follow-up module up to date

• Monitor administrative and contractual deadlines

• Models & Guidelines

• Reporting (internal and external)

• Communication (Project Fiches, brochures, press releases)

Useful links and contacts

• TEN-T EA website:• http://tentea.ec.europa.eu/

• Calls for Proposals website:• http://tentea.ec.europa.eu/en/apply_for_funding/fo

llow_the_funding_process/follow_the_funding_process.htm

• Central TEN-T EA Contact Point:• [email protected]

Thank you for your attention !