EU DG REGIO Coord Fin Presentation Final

7/16/2019 EU DG REGIO Coord Fin Presentation Final

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Regional Policy

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Cohesion

Fund

CLOSURE OF COHESION FUND

PROJECTS

2000-2006


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1. What does closure mean?

2. Closure general principles

3. When does closure start?

4. Documents to be submitted5. Content of the closure documents

6. Uncompleted projects

7. Projects suspended due to administrative

and legal proceedings


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What does

closure

mean?

1. What does closure mean?

Closure is the process that allows:

1) To state that the project as implemented on

the ground corresponds to the CF decision;

2) To state that expenditure is legal andregular;

3) To pay the balance of the outstanding CF

commitment.

After closure, the Commission can makecontrols


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2. Closure general principles

Apply to CF and ex ISPA projects firstadopted after 1/1/2000

Guidelines on CF closure adopted by COM

in April 2008 (SEC(2008)415) Final date of eligibility of expenditure: in

Article 2(3) of decisions

Final date of eligibility cannot go beyond

31/12/2010, except administrative or legalproceedings having suspensory effects,force majeure, errors of the Commission.

Closure

general

principles


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When does it

start?

3.When does closure start?

For the MS: After the final date of eligibility of

expenditure

For the Commission: After reception of the

closure documents


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Cohesion Fund

4. Documents to be submitted

Final payment application with certificate of

statement of expenditure

Final report

Winding up declaration with winding up

report

Closure

documents


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Cohesion Fund

Timetable for submission of closuredocuments

Final payment application and final report:

within 6 months of final date of eligibility

Winding up declaration: no regulatoryrequirement, but advisable to follow the

same rule

Date to take into account = sending date

(postal stamp)

Timetable


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Cohesion

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Late submission of one or more documents

If document(s) not received within the

deadline, warning letter is sent to MS

If document(s) not received after 2 months:

possibility to start Article H (financialcorrections) on a case-by-case basis

Failure to present the final report within 18

months of final date of eligibility: remaining

balance and any outstanding commitmentwill be cancelled

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5. Content of closure documents

5.1.Application for payment & certifiedstatement of final expenditure

Format set out in Annex II to Reg. 1386/2002

Confirmation by the PA that expenditure has

been actually effected; that it relates to works

eligible under the CF decision; that it is justified

by progress on the ground

Recoveries must be deducted (before closure,

recovered amounts can be re-allocated to theproject)

These docs cannot be modified after the

deadline for submission, unless EC asks

Content of

closure

documents

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Cohesion

Fund5.2. Content of the final report

Set out in Article F(4) Annex II Reg.1164/94:

Description of the work carried out,

Information on publicity measures,

Certification that the work conforms to thedecision,

Assessment that the anticipated results areachieved (actual starting date, managementwhen finished, confirmation of financialforecast, indication of environmentmeasures)

Content of

closure

documents

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5.3. Content of the winding up declaration

and report

Format: Annex III to Regulation 1386/2002

Content: opinion of a body independent from theMA and the PA confirming the validity of final

payment application & regularity of expenditure +

summary of checks done in previous years

Content of

closure

documents

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Keep in mind: If all information required is not included in

the final report or the winding up

declaration, COM will request their

completion with a time limit for compliance Failure to comply : closure is started with

info available orif no other solution is

found: financial corrections (Article H) are

triggered

Content of

closure

documents

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6. Uncompleted projects at the time ofclosure (1)

CF assistance cannot be granted for

uncompleted projects. In these cases, onlynational resources can be used to achieve

project.

Guidelines on non-completed projects were

issued in 2003

Uncompleted

projects

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Uncompleted

projects

Uncompleted projects (2)

Works have to be completed within 12 monthsafter the deadline included in the decision

When final report is submitted, 3 cases may

happen:

1) The part achieved is functional and whole projectwill be completed within the 12 months: payment

is made based on request received

2) The part achieved is functional but project is not

completed within 12 m: balance is cancelled and

COM will consider if Article H applies3) The part achieved is not functional: Article H

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7. Projects suspended due to administrative and

legal proceedings Concern proceedings or appeal provided for by

national law, and infringements initiated by EC

The MS must draw operational conclusions andpropose solutions before final eligibility date

(modifying decision possible) MS must inform Commission on proceedings

If modifying decision not possible: COM will decideaccordingly: for ex. closure with proportionalpayment for the part completed, reduction or

cancellation of assistance (Article H)

Projects

suspended

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Thanks for your attention

EU DG REGIO Coord Fin Presentation Final

Documents

Transcript of EU DG REGIO Coord Fin Presentation Final