Structural Funds Financial Management and Control, Romania 1.1 Introductions Structural Funds Financial Management and Control, Romania FM Organisational Structure (Management and Control Systems ) Mgr. Danka Kovaľová kovalova@ca-slovakia.sk June 2006

Bodies involved in FM by General Regulation MS submits to the Commission description (report) of its management and control system (before the 1st interim payments application or within 12 months of the approval of an OP) The 1st interim payment - released within 2 months Of the date of receipt the above report – no reservations Of the date of confirmation on corrective measures –reservations Report and opinion on reservations – national Audit Authority

Bodies involved in FM by General Regulation System structure (general information and flowchart showing the organisational relationship between the bodies involved in the management and control system) Managing Authority - body designated by the Member State to manage the operational programme Intermediate bodies carries out some or all of the tasks of the Managing or Certifying Authority under the responsibility of that authority Certifying Authority body designated by the Member State to certify declarations of expenditure and applications for payment before they are sent to the Commission The Audit Authority - functionally independent of the managing authority and the certifying authority, designated by the MS for each operational programme and responsible for verifying the effective functioning of the management and control system (description of their functions) (combined with the example)

Managing Authority I ensures that projects are selected for funding in accordance with the criteria applicable to the operational programme and that they comply, for their whole implementation period, with applicable Community and national rules; verifies the delivery of the co-financed products and services and that the expenditure declared by the beneficiaries for operations has actually been incurred and complies with Community and national rules; verifications on-the-spot of individual operations may be carried out on a sample basis in accordance with the detailed rules to be adopted by the Commission

Managing Authority II ensures that there is a system for recording and storing in computerised form accounting records of each project under the operational programme and that the data on implementation necessary for financial management, monitoring, verifications, audits and evaluation is collected ensures that beneficiaries and other bodies involved in the implementation of operations maintain either a separate accounting system or an adequate accounting code for all transactions relating to the operation

Managing Authority III ensures the evaluations of operational programmes ensures that all documents regarding expenditure and audits on OPs are kept for a period of 3 years following the closure of OP or the year of a partial closure Ensures that the certifying authority receives all necessary information on the procedures and verifications carried out in relation to expenditure for the purpose of certification Provides MC with the documents required to permit the quality of the implementation of the operational programme to be monitored in the light of its specific goals draws up and, after approval by the Monitoring Committee, submits to the Commission the annual and final reports on implementation

Certifying Authority I draws up and submits to the Commission certified statements of expenditure and applications for payment ensures for the purposes of certification that it has received adequate information from the Managing Authority on the procedures and verifications carried out in relation to expenditure included in statements of expenditure takes account for the purposes of certification of the results of all audits carried out by or under the responsibility of the Audit Authority

Certifying Authority II maintains accounting records in computerised form of expenditure declared to the Commission keeps an account of amounts recoverable and of amounts withdrawn following cancellation of all or part of the contribution for an project. Amounts recovered shall be repaid to the general budget of the European Union, prior to the closure of the operational programme by deducting them from the next statement of expenditure

Audit Authority I ensures that audits are carried out to verify the effective functioning of the management and control system of the operational programme ensures that audits are carried out on operations on the basis of an appropriate sample to verify expenditure declared presents to the Commission within nine months of the approval of the operational programme an audit strategy covering the bodies which will perform the audits, the method to be used, the sampling method for audits on operations and the indicative planning of audits to ensure that the main bodies are audited and that audits are spread evenly throughout the programming period . The Commission shall provide its comments on the audit strategy no later than three months following its reception

Audit Authority II by 31 March each year from 2008 to 2015 Submits to the Commission an annual control report setting out the findings of the audits carried out during the previous year in accordance with the audit strategy of the operational programme and reports any shortcomings found in the systems for the management and control of the programme. The information concerning the audits carried out in the years 2015 and 2016 will be included in the final control report supporting the closure declaration Issues an opinion, on the basis of the controls and audits that have been carried out under the responsibility of the Audit Authority, as to whether the functioning of the management and control system provides reasonable assurance that statements of expenditure presented to the Commission are correct and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular Submits a declaration for partial closure assessing the legality and regularity of the expenditure of operations completed during the previous year

Audit Authority III submits to the Commission at the latest by 31 December 2016 a closure declaration assessing the validity of the application for payment of the final balance and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions covered by the final statement of expenditure, which shall be supported by a final control report

Bodies involved in FM by General Regulation Certifying Authority and its main functions The date and form of the formal designation authorizing the Certifying Authority to carry out its functions Specification of the functions carried out by the Certifying Authority Functions formally delegated by the Certifying Authority (functions, intermediate bodies, form of delegation) (combined with the example)

Certifying Authority Organisation of the Certifying Authority Organisation chart and specification of the functions of the units (including indicative number of posts allocated) Written procedures prepared for use by staff of the Certifying Authority (date and reference) (combined with the example)

Certifying Authority Certification of statements of expenditure Description of the procedure by which statements of expenditure are drawn up, certified and submitted to the Commission Description of the steps performed by the Certifying Authority in order to ensure fulfilment of requirements under Article 60 of Council Regulation No…/…) Arrangements for access of the Certifying Authority to the detailed information on operations and verifications and audits held by the Managing Authority, intermediate bodies and Audit Authority (combined with the example)

Organisation of the Certifying Authority Accounting system Description of the accounting system to be set up and used as a basis for certification of expenditure to the Commission Arrangements for forwarding aggregated data to the Certifying Authority in case of decentralised system The link between accounting system and the information system to be set up (point 6) Identification of Structural Funds transactions in case of common system with other funds The level of detail of the accounting system: Total expenditure by priority and for each Fund Allocation of the available Community and national funds

Organisation of the Certifying Authority Recoveries Description of the system for ensuring the prompt recovery of Community assistance Arrangements made to maintain a debtors’ ledger and to deduct amounts recovered from expenditure to be declared (combined with the example)

Audit Authority And Audit Bodies (Description of the main tasks and interrelationships of the Audit Authority and audit bodies under the responsibility of the Audit Authority) Organisation of the Audit Authority and audit bodies under its responsibility Organisation charts (including the number of posts attributed) Arrangements for ensuring the independence Staff qualification Written procedures/manuals laid down for all audit work (date and reference) Description of procedures for the follow up of the findings and recommendations made in audit reports Description of the procedures (where appropriate) for the supervision of the work of other audit bodies under the responsibility of the Audit Authority

Audit Authority And Audit Bodies Annual control report and closure declaration Description of the procedures for preparation of the annual control report, annual opinion and closure declaration. Designation of the coordinating audit body Description of the role of the coordinating audit body, if applicable

Bodies involved in FM by national arrangement Certifying Authority and Competent Body for Payment Audit Authority (other audit bodies) Managing Authority Intermediate Body Paying Unit Beneficiary others?

Bodies involved in FM by national arrangement Operational programme Managing Authority Intermediate Body Fund Increase of Economic Competitiveness Ministry of Economy and Trade National Agency for Small and Medium Sized Enterprise and Cooperatives Ministry of Education and Research (Research Department) Ministry of Communication and Information technology Ministry of Economy and Trade (Energy Policy general Directorate) National Tourism Agency ERDF Transport Infrastructure Ministry of Transport Construction and Tourism - ERDF+CF Environment Protection Ministry of Environment and Water Management Regional Environment Protection Agencies Regional development Ministry of European Integration Regional development Agencies Human resources development Ministry of Labour, Social Solidarity and Family National Employment Agency Ministry of Education and research (Department of Education) ESF Administrative Capacity Development Ministry of Administration and Interior ERDFESF Technical Assistance Ministry of Public Finance Cross Border Cooperation (OP for each border) Ministry of European Integration (with the exception of RO-HU)

Bodies involved in FM by national arrangement Certifying Authority Paying Unit Audit Authority and other audit bodies To prepare a similar set up for the financial management and control bodies Combination with the Slovak case