Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
The Grant Contract
Key Aspects of the
Contract and some
common misconceptions
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
This project is funded
by the European Union
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
This project is funded
by the European Union
A reminder of the characteristics of a ‘grant’
•
•
•
•
•
A payment of a non-commercial nature by the Contracting
Authority to a specific beneficiary to implement an action
intended to help achieve an objective forming part of a
European Union policy
But it is not a gift!!!
Funds support activities of the beneficiary
Funds cover only eligible incurred costs
All the conditionality of the grant award is set out in the
Grant Contract
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
This project is funded
by the European Union
Thus, we need to have a clear understanding of the
Grant Contract
and of ‘PRAG’,
the guidelines which determine the way in which EU
funds are spent outside of the EU
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
This project is funded
by the European Union
What is PRAG ?
The Practical Guidelines for contractual/procurement procedures
involving EU funds for external assistance is commonly known
as PRAG.
PRAG guides how we can spend EU funds and how we need to
be accountable, transparent & fair, and get the ‘best value’.
Therefore, it’s a key tool in project implementation. The
essential parts of PRAG that relate to procurement under
grant contracts are often summarised in Grant
Implementation Manuals
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
This project is funded
by the European Union
Why PRAG can be a challenge for CSOs
• CSOs are not generally structured to manage Public Funds and
often have weak capacity for managing finances
• The language of PRAG is not always easy to understand
• As PRAG offers ‘guidelines’ rather than ‘rules’, different
stakeholders may interpret aspects of the guidelines in
different ways
BUT, these challenges must be overcome, otherwise CSOs may
be in danger of not having all their grant-project costs
recovered
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
Parts of the Grant Contract
Special Conditions
Annex I :
Description of the Action
Annex II :
General Conditions
Annex III :
Budget for the Action
Annex IV :
Contract-award Procedures
Annex V:
Standard Request for Payment, Financial
Identification Form
Annex VI :
Template for Reports
Annex VII:
Expenditure Verification Report
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
This project is funded
by the European Union
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
This project is funded
by the European Union
Annex I : Description of the Action
Description of the action contains the description of the
grant beneficiaries project.
May need revisions on application form
No major changes to the application
Check translation
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
Annex II : General Conditions
General conditions specify the general obligations and financial
provisions under the contract.
Reporting
Liability of Parties
Visibility of Projects
Ownership of the Equipments
Evaluation/Monitoring
Contract Ammendments
Eligible costs
Extension, Suspension, Termination of Projects
Payment Methods
And other legal issues
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
This project is funded
by the European Union
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
This project is funded
by the European Union
Annex III : Budget
Budget is a breakdown of all eligible project related costs. It
is important to have a clear, and easy to understand budget
attached to the contract as it directly impacts smooth
implementation of the project.
Estimate Only!!!
Final disbursement will depend upon project outputs
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
This project is funded
by the European Union
Annex IV: Contract Award Procedures
Simplified procedures of service, works and supply tenders, for
more information PRAG.
Annex V: Standard Request for Payment and FIF
BEST PRACTICE: Encourage grant beneficiary to submit this annex ASAP
and manage this process efficiently
Annex VI: Template for Reports
Annex VII: Expenditure Verification
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
This project is funded
by the European Union
Managing the Contract
Managing the grant contract should be an integrated part of the
overall project management
Pay special attention to:
Making any changes to the contract
Procurement of any goods/services above 10,000 euros
Keeping records & reporting
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
This project is funded
by the European Union
Modifying the Contract

Minor Changes
Changes in activities or budget that do
not affect the basic purpose of the
project
Transfer between budget headings
involving a variation of 15% or less
Changes of address or phone number
Changes of bank account
Change of project manager or key
experts
Changes to HR unit rates
 Major Changes
– Significant changes in activities
affecting the basic purpose and
indicators of the project
– Transfer amongst budget headings
outside the limits of minor
modification (15%)
– Addition of a new budget line or
spending zero against a budget line
– Change of Project partners
– Extension of Contract
– Changes in grant beneficiary status or
name
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
Making major changes to the contract
should be handled carefully, and, if
possible, avoided!
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
This project is funded
by the European Union
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
This project is funded
by the European Union
Procurement
All stakeholders engaged in an EU-funded project take on the
responsibility of managing Public Funds. To help fulfil these
responsibilities, the EC provides PRAG. Thus, Grant
Beneficiaries MUST:
Use the models published on the Commission’s web site, relating to external actions
Ensure time-limits for receipt of tenders and requests to participate must be long
enough to allow reasonable and appropriate period to prepare and submit
tenders
Allow requests to participate and tenders declared as satisfying the requirements to
be evaluated and ranked by an Evaluation Committee
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
This project is funded
by the European Union
Procurement:
Be aware of what PRAG says about
Rule of Origin
Country of Origin
Derogation
Grounds for Exclusion
Conflicts of Interest
Retroactivity
Fair competition
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
Service Contracts
This project is funded
by the European Union
Supply Contracts
Works Contracts
Contracts of €150.000 or more
International open tender
procedure
Contracts of €5.000.000 of more
International open tender
procedure
Contracts of €200.000 or more
International restricted tender
procedure
Contracts between €60.000 and
€150.000
Local open tender procedure
Contracts between €300.000 and
€5.000.000
Local open tender procedure
Contracts under €200.000 but
more than €10.000
Framework contracts
Competitive negotiated procedure
(Beneficiary consults at least 3
service providers)
Contracts under €60.000 but
more than €10.000
Competitive negotiated procedure
(Beneficiary consults at least 3
service providers)
Contracts under €300.000 but
more than €10.000
Competitive negotiated procedure
(Beneficiary consults at least 3
contractors)
Contracts with a value of €10.000
or less
Single tender
Contracts with a value of €10.000
or less
Single tender
Contracts with a value of €10.000
or less
Single tender
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
Good practice in Project Management is to draft
a Procurement Plan
along side the overall Project Work Plan and Budget
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
This project is funded
by the European Union
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
This project is funded
by the European Union
Keeping Records & Reporting
During the implementation period Grant Beneficiaries need to
a) Manage their own internal monitoring and administration of
the project
b) Facilitate external monitoring of the project and provide
obligatory reports to the Contracting Authority
Thus, systems must be in place to ensure that there is
compliance to the Contract and PRAG,
And management of data to help show progress (or otherwise)
towards the project’s objectives
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
This project is funded
by the European Union
Keeping Records & Reporting
Below is a list of some of the questions that an external project
monitor may want answers to:
Were the correct procedures used for the tender value?
Are the equipment/supplies there?
Is it being used for the purpose it was intended?
Do the serial numbers match the invoice?
Is the EU being given appropriate visibility?
What will happen at the end of the project?
Check for a list of equipment.
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
This project is funded
by the European Union
Keeping Records & Reporting
Obligatory Technical Reports (Interim & Final)
Information on progress of activities;
Information on Project/Programme results;
Information on programme/ project impact;
Follows the structure of the reporting template.
Description of Activities;
If any modifications have occurred should be well documented and justified!
Detailed description of projects achieved;
Level of achievement of the project stated objectives;
May include annexes.
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
This project is funded
by the European Union
Keeping Records & Reporting:
Obligatory Financial Reports (usually ‘Final’ only)
Financial Reports include:
Project costs
In table format which are
standardised;
Copies of supporting documents
are requested;
Copies of Time-sheets.
Checking of financial reports against
the contract and the supporting
documentation:
Eligible expenditure
Consistent with application
Correct exchange rates being
used
Appropriate supporting
documentation
VAT is not included
Significant deviance from
planned expenditure
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
This project is funded
by the European Union
Keeping Records & Reporting:
Supporting Documents

For Human Resources
Term of reference/job profile
Timesheets
Copies of the outputs
Activities reports


–
–

For Trainings
A detailed description of the training – training
modules, training hours per subject, methods,
etc.
Training schedule
List of participants /Attendance sheets
List of trainers / lecturers
Feed-back questionnaires
Training evaluation report

For Surveys /studies
Detailed description of the methodology
Reports

Copies of publications
Distribution lists
For Seminars, working meetings
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
For Travel
Tickets (paper tickets and boarding passes)
Any other proofs

For Publications
Programme
List of presentations / conference reports
Handouts
List of participants
List of speakers
Minutes (if applicable)
Press clippings
Feed-back questionnaires (if applicable)
For Supplies/Works
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Invitation to tender (all documentation)
All offers received
Tender Opening Report
Administrative Compliance Grid
Technical Evaluation Grid
Evaluation Report
Shipping bills
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
Monitoring-Evaluation-Audit
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010
This project is funded
by the European Union
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Regional Office
This project is funded
by the European Union
Approaches to Monitoring & Evaluation
The Spectrum of Approaches
Technocratic
Scientific approach
Objectivity
Standardisation
Judgemental / Managerial
Pluralist
Mixed perspectives
Non-neutral
Non-standard
Facilitates learning
& further dialogue
Regional Training on 'Development & Management of EU-funded Projects', Istanbul March 2010