Project Management

COMMON PROVISIONS :

1. TECHNICAL ASPECTS

Slide n ° 1

LIFE09 Kick- off meeting 13 January 2011, Warsaw Izabela Madalinska, Technical Desk Officer, LIFE

Unit, European Commission

Programme implemented through individual financing decisions

• LIFE+ regulation

• Grant Agreement

• Common + Special Provisions

• Revised Proposal

Slide n ° 2 LIFE09 Kick- off meeting 13 January 2011, Warsaw

Izabela Madalinska, Technical Desk Officer, LIFE


WHO IS INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT ?

Coordinating beneficiary

Associated beneficiaries

Co-financiers

Subcontractors




The Coordinating Beneficiary

(art. 4)

• Sole legally and financially responsible to the

Commission for the implementation of the project

• Concludes agreements with the associated beneficiaries within 9 months, following «Guidelines» and including the «mandate»

• Is granted power of attorney by associated beneficiaries

(mandate)

• Single Contact point for the Commission

• Only participant reporting directly to the Commission




The Associated Beneficiaries

(art. 5)

• Provide the coordinating beneficiary with all supporting documents necessary for technical and financial reporting




All Beneficiaries

• Community support is published

• Freely share know-how

• Prohibition of acting as subcontractors

(art. 6)




THE CO-FINANCIERS

(art. 7)

• Contribute financially to the project but do not benefit from the Community contribution

• Are not directly involved in the technical implementation of the project

• All beneficiaries shall conclude with co-financers any agreement to ensure co-funding




THE SUB-CONTRACTORS

(art. 8)

• Provide external services to the coordinating beneficiary / associated beneficiaries and receive the corresponding full price

• no financial investment in the project

• Public tendering for Public coordinating beneficiary /

Associated beneficiaries

• Private coordinating beneficiaries/Associated beneficiaries: for purchase exceeding € 125 000:

Competitive tenders and bid offering best value/money




TECHNICAL ACTIVITY REPORTS

• One Inception report within 9 months from project start

• Final Report within 3 month of project completion

• Mid-term Report (if duration exceeds 24 months and EC contribution € 300.000)

• Periodic Progress Reports (to ensure reporting with no more than 18 months interval)

Slide n ° 9 LIFE09 Kick- off meeting 13 January 2011, Warsaw Izabela Madalinska, Technical Desk Officer, LIFE


TECHNICAL ACTIVITY REPORTS

(art. 12)

All reports shall contain information on:

• State of project implementation

• Respect of the work plan

• Financial situation of the project

• If projects’ objectives have been reached or are still achievable

Form and content of the reports shall be in accordance with guidelines issued by the EC and available on LIFE website




TECHNICAL

ACTIVITY REPORTS

(art. 12)

• One complete copy of the technical reports in both paper and electronic version including the annexes, the statement of expenditure and income shall be sent simultaneously to the Commission and the monitoring team

• A copy of the Final reports shall also be submitted to the

MS authorities.




INCEPTION REPORT

(art. 12)

Special focus:

 Shall include an assessment if the project objectives and and work plan are still feasible.

 If this is not the case the Commission may launch early termination procedure.

 Shall identify and quantify output indicators and other monitoring indicators.



MID-TERM REPORT

(art. 12.6)

Special focus:

 Shall contain a statement of expenditure and income and sufficient information to allow for a preliminary assessment of costs incurred so far.



FINAL REPORT

(art. 12.7)

Special focus:

 Shall contain a statement of expenditure and income and all the information necessary to allow the Commission to evaluate the eligibility of costs incurred

 Shall assess the sustainability in the future of project results.

 The technical part should cover the whole duration of the project.




COMMUNICATION ACTIONS

(art. 13)

• A separate presentation is dedicated to this issue!!!




AMENDMENT TO THE AGREEMENT

(art. 15)

 Significant changes to nature or content of actions and/or deliverables

 Changes of the legal status of coordinating or associated beneficiary

 Changes to partnership structure

 Changes to duration of project

 Changes in provisional budget categories exceeding €

30.000 and 10%

Slide n ° 16

LIFE09 Kick- off meeting 13 January 2011, Warsaw Izabela Madalinska, Technical Desk Officer, LIFE


REQUEST FOR CHANGES

(art. 15.3)

Prior written agreement of the Commission

Fundamental changes in overall objectives will NOT be accepted!

Guidelines- See the LIFE website http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/toolkit/pmtools/lifeplus/documents/amendment_guidelines2007.doc




POSTPONEMENT OF THE END DATE

(art. 17)

 May be granted only in unforeseeable, exceptional circumstances which make the implementation of one or more project actions impossible for a certain period of time

 A request for postponement must be submitted in accordance with guidelines issued by the Commission and include sufficient information to assess the justification of delays and feasibility of a revised work-plan.

Slide n ° 18 LIFE09 Kick- off meeting 13 January 2011, Warsaw Izabela Madalinska ,Technical Desk Officer, LIFE


Project Management

The best advice for a good Project

Management is the following: read, re-read and consult often the

Common Provisions


Project Management

The second best advice for a good

Project Management is the following: read, re-read and consult often the

Common Provisions


Project Management

Always refer to the approved project and its key-components:

- Description of activities

- Timing

- Objectives and results

- Budget


Project Management

•Possible problems shall not be ignored or hidden.

•A good management of the partnership (Art. 4.8

CP) may be ensured by:

 Coordination meetings

 Frequent contacts


Project Management

•When identifying a Contact Person for the

Project, this person should actually be available and easy to find. It is better to avoid indicating a Director or a Top Manager (usually not easily available).


•Do not forget the compulsory elements (even if not mentioned in the project):

 Website (Art. 13.4 CP) within 6 months from project start and for 5 years after its end.

 Project reference in all correspondence (Art. 2.2

CP) – also in email messages!

 Layman’s report (see the template for Final Report)

 Info panels (Art. 13.5 CP)

 All reports also in electronic format (Art. 12.3 CP)

 AfterLIFE plans (template for Final Report)


Project Management

•Contacts and exchanges of experience and information with other LIFE Projects are highly appreciated. Use the LIFE database for a thematic search of national or foreign projects: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/index.cfm


Project Management

•It is necessary to check often the LIFE website , to verify the availability and updating of useful management tools (e.g. financial reporting forms, audit template, reporting templates, Layman’s Report samples, standard timesheets, guidelines for project modification, etc.).

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/toolkit/pmtools/ index.htm


Dealing with the LIFE Units

•Transmission of Reports to the EC (1):

 Do not neglect any section of the report, as described in the available official templates;

 Quantify the achieved objectives and results, in comparison with what was foreseen in the project

(avoid generic descriptions);

 Verify that all foreseen elements (deliverables and other) are annexed,easily identified and well ordered.


Dealing with the LIFE Units

•Transmission of Reports to the EC (2):

 It is necessary to send also an electronic copy of all documents (report + annexes);

 Always indicate the foreseen / actual start and end date of each project Action;

 Inform the EC and the Monitoring Team in case you foresee to delay the transmission of a report

(often projects indicate as deadline the 31/12 or the

31/08).


WHAT WE HAVENT TALKED

ABOUT…

 Civil liability

 Conflict of interests

 Spatial data

 Delayed performance

 Reduction in performance and technical failures

 Termination of the project

 Confidentiality

 Protection of data

 Ownership and exploitation of results

 Applicable law and competent court




Good luck !




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