1. Annual meeting with the MA of the ETC programmes - 22-23 April 2013 Financial management Juan Lopez Lledo, Budget and Financial mangement, Unit REGIO.A.3 1

2. Overview Commitments Pre-financing Payments in the framework of the accounting year Particularities of ETC programmes 2

3. Commitments First instalment of the budget commitment released automatically by the COM, following the adoption of the OP Subsequent commitments will be made automatically before 1 May on the basis of the OP De-commitment rule : n+3 (starting from 2014) 3

4. Pre-financing PF shall be used for the purpose of the implementation of the operations selected by the MA Initial pre-financing : [1 % in 2014 and 2015 (1,5 % for MS receiving financial assistance since 2010); 1 % in 2016] – to be cleared at the closure of the programme Annual pre-financing (< 1 July): 2% in 2016; 2,5% in the years 2017 to 2023 – to be cleared in the context of the annual examination and acceptance of accounts 4

5. Payments Link with Accounting year : 1 July to 30 June (1st accounting year from 01/01/2014 till 30/06/2015 Aim is to align assurance received from MS with the assurance on the execution of the EU budget in a given year 5

6. Dec N-1 30 Jun N Dec N 15 Feb (1 Mar) N+1 31 May N+1 Accounting year Preparation of the accounts covering the accounting year, management declaration + accompanying report incl. annual summary, audit opinion+ annual control report 30 Jun N+1 Examination and acceptance of accounts Compulsory interim payment application 1 Jul N -1 Timing 6

7. 1st application can be submitted by the MS after the notification to the COM on the designation of the MA and CA Co-financing rate at the level of each priority axis Information on Financial instruments & State aid should be included Reimbursement of 90 % of requested amount within 60 days (compensated by annual PF) Regular submission of applications with an obligatory final application for interim payment by 31 July (payment applications cumulative in the accounting year) 7

8. The first application for interim payment for the next accounting year can only be submitted after the COM has received the final application for interim payment for the preceeding accounting year The accounts are examined and accepted annually. On the basis of accepted accounts, the balance of the amounts shall be calculated (including clearing of annual PF) No capping to cumulative total of payments to 95 % 8

9. As the COM examines and accepts the accounts on annual basis, the closure of the programme should be lighter Despite the changes in the process, the elements of the payment application are similar to the current programming 9

10. Particularities ETC programmes Fund support is paid in a single bank account with no national sub-accounts. MA shall ensure that any amount paid as result of an irregularity is recovered from the lead or sole beneficiary and responsible for the reimbursement to the general budget of the Union 10

11. Conversion into Euro (3 options available) : Use of monthly exchange rate of the COM in month the expenditure was : 1)Incurred 2)Submitted for verification to the MA or the controller 3)Reported to the lead beneficiary The method chosen shall be set out in the cooperation programme and be applicable to all beneficiaries. The MA or the controller has the obligation to verify the correct application of the conversion rate. 11

12. No performance reserve for ETC programmes 12

13. Thank you for your attention ! 13