Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 1 Selection of Project Applications for EU Funds in the Programming Period Linda Barbara Deputy Head of EU Funds Legal Division, EU Funds Department, Ministry of Finance 7 November 2007, Riga

Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 2 Contents  Legal framework for selection of project applications for EU Funds in  Elaboration, coordination and approval of project application appraisal criteria  Types of project application appraisal criteria  Selection of project applications for EU Funds  Specifics of selection and approval of major project applications  Procedure for contesting and appealing decisions

Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 3 Legal Framework of the European Union  Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 of 11 July 2006 laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund and repealing Regulation (EC) No1260/1999, Article 65 – the Monitoring Committee shall consider and approve the criteria for selecting the operations financed within six months of the approval of the operational programme

Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 4 National Legal Framework  Law on Management of European Union Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund (in effect as of 1 March 2007)  Cabinet Regulation of 26 June 2007 No 419 “ Procedure in which Institutions Involved in the Management of Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund Ensure the Preparation of Programming Documents and Implementation of these Funds ”  Approximately 130 Cabinet Regulations on activity implementation according to delegation under the Law on Management of EU SF and the CF, Section 18, Paragraph 10 (the regulations for implementation of the activity shall be issued by 31 December 2010)

Elaboration, Coordination and Approval of Project Application appraisal Criteria  Project application appraisal criteria shall be elaborated by the Responsible Authority  The Responsible Authority shall publish the appraisal criteria on its Web site in the Internet  The Responsible Authority shall facilitate the public discussion of the appraisal criteria  Prior to the Monitoring Committee the Responsible Authority shall send the Managing Authority a draft of the appraisal criteria for review  The appraisal criteria shall be approved by the Monitoring Committee  The approved appraisal criteria shall be included in the Cabinet Regulation on activity implementation Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 5

Enabling Partnership in Discussion of Project Selection Criteria  Bases: Cabinet of Ministers regulation on EU Funds publicity. According to that Responsible Institution- Publicises project selection criteria in its home page Enables involvement of social, regional and non-governmental partners in discussion of project selection criteria  Enabling partnership has been ensured by all Responsible Institutions Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 6

Enabling Partnership in Discussion of Project Selection Criteria  Methods applied: ing, official letter asking to provide comments Disseminating information via Regional Structural Funds Information Centres, field associations Information in newspapers, NGO electronic newsletter, home page of Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments Meetings with partners Working groups of drafting Cabinet of Minister regulation (on implementing EU Funds activity) where regions are at present Public discussion Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 7

Enabling Partnership in Discussion of Project Selection Criteria  Opinion of Responsible Institution about the partnership process- +, because a feedback from partners has been ensured  Most of partnership opportunities ensured by the State Chancellery by involving partners in criteria drafting process before their draft versions were released  No partners have been involved in discussing criteria drafted by the Ministry of Health Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 8

Types of Project Application appraisal Criteria  Quality criteria  Eligibility criteria  Administrative criteria Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 9

Types of Project Application appraisal Criteria  Quality criteria The appraisal provides an indication of the efficiency with which the project reaches the objectives of the activity Appraisal by giving score The minimum score to be reached by each appraisal of the criteria and/or sum of appraisal has to be set (if not reached, the project application is rejected) The appraisal scores should also include priority ranking of the project applications Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 10

Examples of Quality Criteria  Socio-economic net present value of a project (the value must be higher than zero and the higher the value, the higher the score)  Quality benefits, e.g. thermal energy saved per each EUR/LVL invested  Efficiency of the offered solution (to what extent the offered solution will allow improving traffic safety)  To what extent does the project ensures provision of services to the respective target groups  Education, experience of the personnel engaged in the project  Level of innovation that would be ensured through implementation of the project  Project risks and options to reduce them are considered Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 11

Quality Criteria: Horizontal Priorities  The horizontal priorities stated in the NSRF: Balanced territorial development International competitiveness of Rīga Infomation society Equal opportunities Macroeconomic stability Sustainable development  Should implementation of the project provide for reaching the goals of the horizontal priorities, the project application receives extra points Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 12

Quality Criteria: Horizontal Priorities Examples  Equal opportunities: Are at least 3% of the computer hardware acquired in the framework of the project suited for use by people with special needs?  Balanced territorial development: Preference is given to project applicants - local governments with lower development index.  Sustainable development: Partial or complete transfer to renewable energy resources is done as a result of project implementation.  Macroeconomic stability: The requested support intensity is reduced by more than 5 percentage points from the maximum support intensity allowed for a project. Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 13

Types of Project Application appraisal Criteria  Eligibility criteria Eligibility:  of the project applicant  of the project application The appraisal provides an indication whether the implementation of the project should be permitted by the nature of it Evaluated with “YES” or “NO” Examples:  The project applicant meets the requirements set forth by the Cabinet Regulations  The project costs and division of financing sources is calculated correctly  The indicators planned in the project are clearly defined and quantifiable Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 14

Types of Project Application appraisal Criteria  Administrative criteria The appraisal provides an indication whether the format of the project application is according to the requirements set forth Evaluated with “YES” or “NO” Examples:  The required attachments are enclosed with the project application  The project application is submitted in the required number of copies  The project application is stitch-bound Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 15

Categories of Project Application Appraisal Criteria (Administrative & Eligibility criteria)  There are 2 categories of project application appraisal criteria: The criteria that, if evaluated negatively, cause the project application to be rejected The criteria that, if evaluated negatively, cause the project application to receive conditional approval Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 16

Administrative Requirements for Project Applications  A project application shall not be evaluated if at least one of the following conditions is true: exceeded submission deadline; not submitted in PC printed format; not submitted in Latvian; not invited to submit a project application (applicable only for restricted selection of project applications) Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 17

Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 18 Types of Selection of Project Applications for EU Funds 1.Open call for project applications for EU Funds  Projects to be supported are selected based on competitive principles. The project applicants compete for approval of their project application and allocation of funding from the EU Funds.  Support is granted to projects that receive the highest score according to the appraisal criteria for quality of the project applications.

Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 19 Types of Selection of Project Applications for EU Funds 2.Restricted call for project applications for EU Funds  There is a pre-selected list of project applicants for EU Funds invited to submit their project applications  The government has approved the sectoral development strategy setting forth the priority projects to be implemented or a limited scope of beneficiaries  The potential beneficiaries are listed in the Operational Programmes  Thus the resources of both the project applicants and the evaluators are used efficiently  Approval and funding provided to project applications for EU Funds that meet the appraisal criteria for EU Funds project applications  Example: Activity Improvement of the TEN-T road network. Final beneficiary – Ministry of Transport.

Open call for Project Applications for EU Funds The Responsible Authority elaborates draft CoM regulations on implementing an activity RA/CA publish selection notice in “Latvijas Vēstnesis” Project applications may be submitted by any entity complying to the set requirements RA/IA establish an appraisal committee to assess EU Funds project applications Appraisal of EU Funds project applications The head of RA/CA adopts a decision on the project application APPROVED RA/CA and the beneficiary enter in agreement on implementing the EU Funds project Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 20 CONDITIONAL APPROVAL The project applicant meets the deadline for activities required by RA/CA if complies – agreement or contract signed if not – no agreement or contract signed REJECTION If project application does not meet the appraisal criteria, it is rejected and agreement or contract is not signed RA – Responsible AuthorityCA – Co-operation Authority

Restricted call for Project Applications for EU Funds The Responsible Authority elaborates draft CoM regulations on implementing an activity RA/CA send invitations to submit EU Funds project applications Project applications may be submitted by entities invited RA/IA establish an appraisal committee to assess EU Funds project applications Appraisal of EU Funds project applications The head of RA/CIA adopts a decision on the project application APPROVED RA/CA and the beneficiary enter in agreement on implementing the EU Funds project Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 21 CONDITIONAL APPROVAL The project applicant meets the deadline for activities required by RA/CA if complies – agreement or contract signed if not – no agreement or contract signed REJECTED If project application does not meet the appraisal criteria, it is rejected and agreement or contract is not signed RA – Responsible AuthorityCA – Co-operation Authority

Specifics of Selection and Approval of Major Project Applications Within 15 working days upon receipt of a major project, the head of RA/CA adopts a decision on compliance or incompliance of the project with appraisal criteria of EU Funds project applications In case of compliance with EU Funds project application appraisal criteria, RA/CA submits the application to the Managing Authority Within 10 working days the Managing Authority agrees on the submission to the EC If the Managing Authority does not approve the application, RA/CA ensures improvements to the application within 10 working days on the basis of comments of the Managing Authority and submits the updated major project application repeatedly to the MA The European Commission approves the application Within 30 days upon receiving the EC decision, RA/CA concludes a contract on implementation with the beneficiary Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 22 RA – Responsible AuthorityCA – Co-operation Authority

Procedure for Contesting and Appealing Decisions  An applicant of a EU Fund project may contest a decision of the co-operation authority to the responsible authority, but the decision of the responsible authority may be appealed to an administrative court  An applicant of a EU Fund project may contest a decision of the responsible authority to the head of such direct administration institution (state secretary), but the decision of the head of direct administration institution may be appealed to an administrative court  Administrative decision may not be appealed to a court (decisions if the applicant is state institutions, local authorities, universities or another state institutions)  Contesting or appeal of a decision shall not suspend operation thereof  Procedure for contesting and appealing decisions shall be according to the Administrative procedure law and it is not specific to the implementation of EU Funds Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 23

Thank you! Managing Authority of EU Funds – Ministry of Finance 24