EUROPEAN UNION
GOVERNMENT OF ROMANIA
SERBIAN GOVERNMENT
Structural Funds
Job description
Position: First Level Control (FLC) Officer for IPA Cross-border Cooperation Programme Romania-Republic of Serbia
Number of positions: 4
Location: Department for Contracting and Financing of EU-funded Projects, Ministry of Finance and Economy, Belgrade
Contracting Authorities: Government of the Republic of Serbia, European Integration Office and Ministry of Finance and
Economy
Duration of assignment: until 31 December 2013, with possibility for extension
Deadline for applications: 17 June 2013
Interested candidates should send their Letter of Interest and CV to cbc@seio.gov.rs
A
Background
The Republic of Serbia (RS) participates in eight EU funded Cross Border Cooperation (CBC)/Transnational
Programmes.1 Depending on the programme, contracting and payment duties related to RS project partners are
performed either by a) institutions in EU Member States (programmes with Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, the Adriatic and
South East Europe) or by b) bodies within RS (programmes with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro). The
two different management modes are respectively termed “shared” management and “centralised”/“decentralised”
management.
The IPA Cross-border Cooperation Programme Romania-Republic of Serbia has for goal the achievement of a balanced
and sustainable socio-economic development of the Romania-Republic of Serbia border region through joint cross-border
projects and actions of Romanian and Serbian partners.Error! Bookmark not defined..
The Programme is managed under the shared management mode and has established authorities and joint management
structures in accordance with the principle of separation of functions. These include a single Managing Authority,
Certifying Authority and Audit Authority as well as the Joint Monitoring Committee, the Joint Technical Secretariat and
designated National Authority. In Serbia, European Integration Office is National Authority for IPA Cross-border
Cooperation Programme Romania-Republic of Serbia.
According to Article 114 of Regulation (EC) No 718/2007 participating countries are responsible for the management and
control of cross-border programmes in particular through the following measures:
a) ensuring that management and control systems for cross-border programmes are set up in accordance with Articles
101 and 105 and function effectively; b) preventing, detecting and correcting irregularities and recovering amounts unduly
paid together with interest on late payments where appropriate.
1
For more details see http://www.evropa.gov.rs/Evropa/PublicSite/index.aspx
2 For more details see http://www.romania-serbia.net/
Also, in line with Article 108 of the Regulation (EC) No 718/2007, each participating country has set up a control system
making it possible to verify the delivery of the products and services co-financed, the soundness of the expenditure
declared for operations or parts of operations implemented on its territory, and the compliance of such expenditure and of
related operations, or parts of those operations, with Community, when relevant, and its national rules. Each participating
country shall ensure that the expenditure can be validated by the controllers within a period given by the Programme
documents.
Serbia has set up a centralized control system. The control is carried out by the Division for First Level Control Activities of
Projects Financed under IPA Component Cross-Border Cooperation within the Department for Contracting and Financing
of EU Funded Projects (CFCU), Ministry of Finance and Economy. The Division shall be fully independent from the
activities and finances of the cross-border projects. Serbia shall designate the controllers responsible for verifying the
legality and regularity of the expenditure declared by each final beneficiary participating in the operations funded under the
IPA CBC Programme Romania-Republic of Serbia. First Level Control is the first set of checks performed on EU funds by
the countries or institutions managing a particular programme. FLC is comprehensive and usually consists of 100% desk
based check of expenditure incurred and paid by project partners before they are reimbursed from EU sources, and on the
spot checks.
In order to ensure effective management, implementation, monitoring, control and evaluation of the Programme, the
Technical Assistance (TA) Component supports the establishment of First Level Control structures in participating
countries.
B
Objective
Costs incurred and paid for in the context of projects receiving EU funds from IPA CBC Programme Romania-Republic of
Serbia have to be in line with the over-arching EU and national legislation, with the programme rules and the grant
contracts concluded. If expenditure paid out by a project partner breaches any provision contained in relevant
documentation, it is ineligible, and the amounts concerned are either deducted from the funds transferred to a project
partner from EU sources or recovered from it. In addition, if it is not possible to recover funds associated with ineligible
expenditure paid out by an RS project partner, the relevant amount will have to be covered from the RS state budget. As
FLC Officer for IPA CBC Programme Romania-Republic of Serbia, the expert’s objective is twofold: 1) To check whether
expenditures incurred and paid out by RS project partners are eligible; 2) to ensure that any transgressions of the relevant
procurement procedures by RS project partners are identified as soon as possible, and that appropriate follow-up action is
taken.
C
Responsibilities and tasks
In fulfilling his/her responsibilities and tasks, the expert shall perform the activities listed below. They concern the projects
implemented under the IPA CBC Programme Romania-Republic of Serbia. A certain amount of travel within the RS and
Romania in the Programme can be expected.
Activities:
 In line with adopted procedures, control of reports submitted by RS project partners or related to programme
technical assistance, including 100% check of supporting documentation related to expenditure declared in such
reports (e.g. invoices, per diems). This includes checking whether the activities have been implemented in
accordance with the subsidy contract and the application form; requested payments are within the budget lines of
the approved application, expenditures are eligible and paid, invoices are formally compliant with EU and national
regulations and, based on check-lists, whether the reported activities comply with national and joint eligibility
rules, public procurement rules have been respected and publicity and visibility requirements have been fulfilled.
The FLCO shall also verify that the project contributes to the horizontal principles of equal opportunities and
sustainable development;
 Drawing up Declarations on Validation of Expenditures (DVE) for RS project partners;
 Planning and performance of on-the-spot checks according to the modalities contained in the FLC procedures;
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D
Entering relevant information into the Management Information System MIS-ETC and/or MoFE’s on-line
information system ISDACON
Reporting identified or suspected irregularities to the National Authority’s Irregularity Officer in line with applicable
specific irregularity procedures;
On request, providing relevant input for the drafting and updating of FLC Guide Romania-Serbia2 for project
partners, including the development of templates for FLC reports to be submitted by project partners and
associated documentation;
Individual consultations, if applicable, and participation in implementation seminars3 for beneficiaries;
Provision of advice to the Joint Technical Secretariat4 vis-à-vis their role in supporting RS project partners with
reporting and ensuring eligibility of expenditure;
Participating in relevant trainings, workshops, meetings, seminars to ensure continuous and high-level quality of
the control activities; On request, contributing to the drafting and updating of national FLC procedures in line with
the IPA A CBC Programme Romania-Republic of Serbia and RS legislation;
Any other tasks relevant to the above activities and requested by the Head of the Division Unit, including the
provision or receipt of training not indicated above
Reporting lines
The expert shall report to the Head of the FLC Division in CFCU.
E
Professional requirements
The expert must meet the following minimum criteria:
- University degree (preferably in economics and/or finance);
- Working experience in finance or accounting or project management;
- At least 1 year of professional experience in similar field (control activities for EU, national and/or other donor
funds);
- Knowledge of relevant EU and national regulations;
- Knowledge of English and Serbian Language.
- Knowledge of Practical Guide to Contract Procedures for EU external actions would be an asset
- Working experience in implementation or financial control activities under IPA Component II (cross border or
transnational cooperation programmes), would be an asset
- Computer literate
2 Guidance on project implementation issued to project partners
3 Meetings held with projects partners under a single Call for Proposals to present their responsibilities and tasks during project
implementation
4 Bodies established in the programme area responsible for day to day management of programme related tasks – e.g. managing
Calls for Proposals, provision of advice and support to RS project partners