Frequently Asked Questions – Project Implementation & Reporting
This page provides answers to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and other questions you should ask when implementing your project. If you don’t find an answer to your question below, feel free to consult our key documents and staff.
- Reporting in Jems
- Partner report
- Work plan/reporting activities
- Reporting costs
- Project report
- Output and result indicators
- Communication
- State aid
- Modifications
- Project closure
Reporting rights will be given by the user who has Lead applicant “Manage” user privilege in Jems.
Check first that you are in the Central Baltic Jems. The Jems monitoring system is used by several Interreg programmes and the landing page of the system looks similar for all programmes. If you do not receive reply email about resetting the password in Central Baltic Jems contact our helpdesk at jems@centralbaltic.eu
The lead partner must fill in Bank details of lead partner and attach the Financial Identification document in Jems to being able to receive the preparation cost lumpsum.
The Bank details of lead partner section can be found from under Partner details section in Jems. A link to the Financial Identification document template can be found from the Guide for Project Implementation and here annex5b_baf.pdf.
The JS contact person provides a supporting document Project’s reporting periods & deadlines for the lead partner which states the starting and ending dates per reporting period. This document can also be found from Jems section Contracting > Contracts and agreements as an attachment.
Yes, in the Partner report, the project partner reports the activities they have implemented, and the related costs made during the reporting period. All costs need to be reported in the right period Partner report, even if there are few costs for the particular period.
If the partner report is submitted in Jems, it is not available for editing anymore. If some documentation is missing the National Controller will contact you.
In case necessary, in exceptional situations the missing cost can be added to the next period partner report.
Attachment option will come visible and available after the cost item is saved by using “save changes” button. It is recommended that the evidence documentation is attached in pdf format. When filling in the list of expenditures, keep in mind that only one attachment per expenditure is currently allowed, please combine the documents in one pdf or zip file before attaching it to the expenditure.
For evidence, add next to the activities and deliverables in section Work plan progress something that clearly proves that the event took place or activity has been implemented and the result can be demonstrated. For example:
- List of participants
- Agenda of the event, presentations
- Feedback from participants
- Photos
- Deliverable of the work
- Etc.
Staff costs
When the staff position is reported for the first time or when the work contract is changed, the employment document (work contract, appointment decision or equivalent) must be added to the section Report annexes. Make sure that information that the person is working for the project is included in the employment document. In case the person is already employed by the organisation and has valid work contract, working for the project can be defined in the annex to the existing employment document. Both employment document and annex must be attached in the report.
The share of work time dedicated to the project does not have to be indicated in the work contract. The time worked for the project is reported using Report of hours and employment confirmation.
Yes, one Report of Hours and Employment Confirmation template must be filled in by each project staff member for each six-months reporting period. Make sure that you are using the latest version of the Report of hours and employment confirmation template from the Central Baltic website. The document must be attached to the list of expenditure.
The report of hours must always be signed by the employee. It is assumed that the person fills in their own report of hours based on the hours they worked. They sign it as a proof and then pass the form on to the supervisor and the employer representative for signing and confirming the credibility and correctness of the document. If the signature of the employee is missing the reported units are not eligible.
In cases when the employee (project worker) is also in the position of supervisor, or if the employer’s representative is also the supervisor, it is enough that the report is signed by two persons: the employee and the employer’s representative.
If the staff member is working for the project for more than 1720 hours per year (860 hours per reporting period), the project can still report max 860 hours per reporting period per one employee. If the staff member is working for several projects, it will not be visible from the Report of hours and employment confirmation. In this case, it is the responsibility of the project partner to make sure that the limits are followed.
For calculating the number of hours worked for the project the field ‘Contractual working hours’ must be filled in even when no working time is stipulated in the contract (for example, management with unregulated working time, owner of the SME) or only a time frame for the delivery of tasks is indicated (for example, from January to December).
Typically, these are rather small contracts and contain tasks connected to the project only. Therefore, for the purpose of filling in the Report of hours, it is acceptable that the person working with this kind of work contract fills the time in as full-time equivalent. The calculation is based on 1720 hours per year for a full-time equivalent.
It will not be visible from the Report of hours and employment confirmation if the person is working for more than one project. In this case, it is the responsibility of the project partner to make sure that the limit 1720 working hours per year is followed.
No, the maximum number of hours that can be reported per one staff member are calculated proportionally based on the workload of the person in the partner organisation and the number of months they worked for the project in that reporting period. This is all calculated automatically in the Report of hours and employment confirmation template. The workload is calculated automatically considering the weekly number of hours for a full‐time employee and the contracted number of hours of reported employee. Calculation is based on maximum 1720 working hours per year.
Example 1: If a person worked for the project three months during the reporting period and worked in the partner organisation with 100% workload, the Report of hours and employment confirmation calculates maximum number of 430 hours for 3 months. If the registered working time in Report of hours and employment confirmation is more than 430 hours during the reporting period, in Jems 430 hours can be reported.
Example 2: If a person worked for the organisation with 40% workload and only worked for the project, the Report of hours and employment confirmation calculates maximum number of 344 hours for 6 months. If the registered working time in Report of hours and employment confirmation is more than 344 hours during the reporting period, in Jems 344 hours can be reported.
Travel and accommodation costs
Travel and accommodation costs will be automatically calculated as a 15% flat rate from reported staff cost and no documents are needed to prove the real costs made for travel and accommodation.
Partners must remember that they should travel at least once during the project implementation.
Travel and accommodation costs (flat rate 15% of staff costs) is for covering travel and accommodation costs needed for project implementation for all partner organisation staff. In Programme Manual, under General principles is indicated: Travel and accommodation costs of staff of the project partnership is covered with this cost category.
It is natural and expected that partner organisaton has wide interest in project activities and staff members are contributing to the implementation even if they are not formally assigned as project staff. If an employee of the partner organisation is involved in the project implementation they are still considered as project partner staff, even if they are not reported under Staff cost. That also includes project Steering Group members who are working for partner organisation.
Under External expertise and service (Programme Manual) real costs are eligible for travel and accommodation for external experts, speakers, chairpersons of meetings and service providers as well as target group where justified. The persons working for partner organisation cannot be external experts or service providers as in Programme manual chapter ‘Eligibility of costs’ is indicated that the cost for Partner organisation employees as external experts and other services between partners is not eligible. In addition, project partner staff should not be project target group.
Therefore, all partner organisation staff travel and accommodation costs belong to Cost Category Travel and Accommodation (15% flat rate) and real costs for travel and accommodation cannot be reported for anybody who is working for partner organisation.
All travel costs for project staff are always covered by cost category (CC) Travel and accommodation. Reporting any travel costs for project staff on other cost categories is double financing and ineligible.
In case project staff and target group travel together in a rented bus, the travel cost for target group can be reported as a real cost only in case when the project partner provides clear calculation of the cost. No separate invoices are required for target group and project staff.
Example: 10 persons travel in the bus, 8 of them are target group representatives and 2 project staff. Total cost for bus rent is 1000€. Partner will report target group travel as a real cost 1000€/10 participants x 8 target group persons = 800€.
If target group travels together with project staff and no clear calculation how the cost is divided between target group (CC External expertise and service) and project staff (CC Travel and accommodation) is provided, the cost belongs to CC Travel and accommodation (flat rate 15%).
If it is necessary for achieving project results, travelling outside the CB programme area is possible. All travel costs for project staff are always covered by CC Travel and accommodation (15% flat rate).
In cases when the travel and accommodation costs were paid but the trip was cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances or an extraordinary event beyond the control of the project partner (e.g. illness, pandemic) the projects should first and foremost seek reimbursement from their travel insurance or the company from which the ticket or accommodation was bought. If no reimbursement is available, the costs will be considered eligible. Documentation and explanation why the trip was cancelled must be saved in Jems.
Face-to-face event unit cost
Face-to-face event unit cost should be reported each time when the partner arranges a face-to-face event within the programme area which includes participants outside the partner organisation. Note that contracted experts and representatives of programme bodies are not considered as participants outside the partner organisation in this context. Face-to-face event unit cost is reported for each event day which is necessary for achieving project results. The number of reported units must be the same as the number of signatures in the list of participants. In case there are irrelevant signatures in the list of participants which will not be reported, project partner must cross out the irrelevant signature.
The face-to face event unit cost is claimed per participant per project event day for which the event agenda exists. The minimum number of hours for event day is not defined.
Keep in mind that the face-to-face event unit cost per participant cannot be claimed for:
- an event consisting of only evening programme with a dinner or similar get-together
- an evening programme with a dinner or similar get-together which is followed by an actual event on the next day
- working meetings with contracted external experts when meeting only with a partner organisation, for example external project management, book-keeping, content expert
- working meetings with programme bodies (NC, JS, MA, NCP), when meeting only with a partner organisation.
Yes, the number of signatures in participant list must be equal with number of units reported in partner report. It is eligible to report more participants than indicated in the budget. If Cost Category External expertise and service is overspent because more units of face-to-face event unit cost have been reported than planned the project should use flexibility rule.
Yes, all participants who are relevant to the event can sign the participant list. This includes project staff and members of the Joint Secretariat.
Yes.
The face-to-face unit cost for the country where the event takes place must be added to partner’s budget before the cost can be reported. Project lead partner sends justifications about the event to project Joint Secretariat contact person. No formal project modification procedure is required if the only modification is adding the face-to-face event unit cost for another country.
After the contact person has opened the project application for modifications, the project inserts into relevant partner budget one (1) unit of the face-to-face event unit cost for the country where they will implement the event. If the new added unit rate is smaller than the previous one (going from 87€ to 81€ for instance) then the partner removes 1 unit on the old budget line and adds 1 on the new one. If the new added unit rate is bigger than the previous one (going from 81€ to 87€ for instance) then the partner removes 2 units on the old budget line and adds 1 on the new one. In any case, the partner budget and project budget cannot increase.
After the modification is approved, the partner can report F2F event unit cost for the country where they implement the event.
The reason for adding only one unit and not fully correcting the amounts and units in the partner budget is to avoid too many changes in the budget related to different unit costs. When one unit is added to the budget, the partner can report as many units as needed of the unit cost. Note that the number of reported units must be equal to the number of signatures on the participant list. According to the Manual: The programme follows the project budget based on the total costs per cost category. Therefore, costs per cost items are not binding during project implementation.
The regular conference room equipment includes equipment items which are normally available in an event room like tables and chairs, laptop for presenter, microphones, screen(s), projector, camera for video conference, internet connection.
Real costs can be reported for specific equipment and materials related to an event organized by the project e.g. special lighting, sound and video setup, sofa for panel discussion, innovative microphones, transport and installation of specific equipment, technical assistance to operate specific equipment.
Keep in mind that equipment must always be planned in partner budget or approved by JS contact person.
Face-to-face event unit cost is reported per participant per event day, it is not allowed to report the same participant participating in two face-to-face events organised by the same project during the same day and in the same area/location. If project is organising two events on the same day and some participants take part of both events, each participant can be reported only once.
All catering costs are covered by face-to-face event unit cost. No separate dinner or other catering costs can be reported and face-to-face event unit cost cannot be claimed for a day where only travelling and no event with agenda takes place. All catering costs related to the event must be covered by face-to-face event unit cost claimed for the days when event takes place. The dinner in the evening before the actual event day will be considered as part of the actual event day face-to-face event unit cost.
External expertise and service
Any eligible real costs
- related to a purchase of a service,
- with no or minor physical items included in the acquisition compared to the services value,
belong fully to the external expertise and services cost category, no matter how they were initially planned in the projects’ application form and budget.
The real cost item must be reported in CC External expertise and service when the main object of the purchase/contract is, for example:
- Design
- Development
- Production
- Customisation
- Preparation
- Installation
- Training
- Publishing
- Event participation fee
- Consultancy
- Mentoring
Central Baltic programme’s approach is to avoid unnecessary promotional materials as a way to reduce the environmental impact.
Where relevant, the project can develop communication materials for providing target group or general public information about the project, its activities and outcomes. Those could be, for example, roll-ups, flyers, posters etc. If other promotional materials are necessary for reaching the defined target groups and achieving project results the project must clearly justify the need for the materials and explain the link with achieving project results.
For all promotional and communication materials the visibility requirements described in Programme manual and Guide for project implementation must be followed.
Costs of gifts including awards are not eligible cost for the projects. Therefore, items purchased for distributing as presents/gifts are not eligible costs for a project.
In case of any doubt, it is recommended to clarify with your project’s JS contact person the need and nature of planned promotional materials beforehand.
Real costs related to a project event may be reported for design, editing, printing, producing of promotional materials such as:
- brochures, publications, leaflets
- roll-ups
- posters
- certificates
- preparing the site e.g. for displaying machinery, demonstrating methods.
Note, that the following items and materials are always financed from the Office and administration flat rate no matter if they are used in the office or in the project event. Therefore, these items cannot be reported as real cost:
- paper, post-it, labels, stickers
- pens, pencils, markers, highlighters
- envelopes, folders
- notebooks, notepads
- small office supplies e.g. scissors, paper clips, staples, stapler
- glue, scotch tape
- toner, printing agendas, training materials, participant lists, etc.
- nametags, lanyards
- small decorations e.g. balloons
In case the event which is necessary for achieving the project results is organised outside CB programme countries (Estonia, Finland including Åland, Latvia, Sweden) the costs for catering and room rent including regular conference room equipment can be claimed as real costs following the same principles as for face-to-face event unit cost:
- The event must be organised by a project partner and include participants outside the partner organisation e.g. target group, Steering Group;
- The agenda of the event and signed participant list must exist.
Note, that the catering service (meals) are eligible only if they are planned in the event agenda.
In order to ensure that the principles set in the Programme Manual concerning sound financial management, cost-efficiency and effectiveness are applied, and proper procurement procedure is used it is strongly recommended that the project partner makes the procurement and pays the invoice for target group travel costs.
In exceptional cases, it can be allowed that a target group company or person purchases an item (e.g. train or ferry ticket) and receives the amount back from the project partner via invoice or travel expense invoice. In those cases, the project partner must be sure that all eligibility principles are followed.
In case the costs are not directly procured by the project partner, documents should be presented to make sure that the partner reimburses the real costs made by the company or a person and the costs are relevant to the project:
- initial invoices/receipts in original currencies
- claim for reimbursement from the target group company or travel expense invoice from the target group member
- other documents (e.g. bookkeeping extract) may be required to ensure that the partner reimburses the exact cost and does not overcompensate.
If the project staff is travelling, the travel and accommodation flat rate covers costs individually generated linked to a travel of project staff, including meals that an employee would have to pay for him/herself during the trip and then claim back to its organization. For example, if project staff is travelling to the destination in the evening before planned event, the meal costs in the evening are included in travel and accommodation flat rate and cannot be reported as real cost.
Face-to-face event unit cost covers food and drink at a face-to-face event organised by a project partner. This cost is organized for the group as a global service linked to a project event. When project staff is participating in the event organised by project partner and reported using face-to-face event unit cost, the project staff signs the participant list as all participants and their meals during the event are covered by the face-to-face event unit cost.
Scholarships can be considered in case the trainee is not working and therefore does not have means for subsistence during the traineeship. If project needs to use scholarships the project partner has to provide justification why scholarships are necessary, how the amount of scholarship is calculated, which costs are included, how the recipients of the scholarships are selected.
It is the responsibility of the project partner to check how such payments may affect the participants financial situation as in some instances receiving of additional funding may cause that participants are no longer eligible to receive unemployment benefit or other benefits that may be available to the less competitive groups and in such situation an additional payment may worsen the situation of the participant.
For payment of student scholarship, a written agreement/contract must be signed between participant/trainee and project partner, if relevant, including also employer or training organisation. The contract/agreement must define the rights and obligations of the involved parties, amount and conditions when the scholarship is paid.
Project must have a clearly documented procedure how the participants are selected for participation in project activities and for receiving the scholarship to ensure equal treatment of the participants.
Travel and accommodation costs for target group members are paid and claimed by project partners as real costs from CC External expertise and service.
Management equipment unit cost
Management equipment unit cost must be reported always when staff costs are reported. It is recommended to sum up all the staff costs hours reported by the partner during the reporting period and fill in one expenditure item for all reported staff hours.
Equipment
Any eligible real costs
- related the purchase of physical items, supplies and materials,
- with no or minor services included in their acquisition compared to the physical item value,
belong fully to the equipment cost category, no matter how they were initially planned in the projects’ application form and budget. Note, that adding a new equipment item must be approved by the JS contact person.
The real cost item must be reported in CC Equipment when the main object of the purchase/contract is, for example:
- Ready object / physical item
- Tool, including IT tool and a subscription of a tool. For reporting IT costs including hardware, software, tools subscriptions, and supporting infrastructure see Guide for Project Implementation Annex 2 ‘Cost categories for reporting of IT costs’.
- Machine, device, instrument
- Accessory, component
- Spare part, replacement item
- Supply e.g. fuel, chemicals, planting seeds, building materials, fittings
- Laboratory equipment
- Maintenance and repairs of the equipment needed for the project.
Project can purchase, rent or lease equipment which is necessary for achieving project results. The full cost is eligible for purchasing investment type equipment items which will remain in use by the partners and/or target groups after completion of the project. Depreciation of equipment is not eligible.
All equipment items must be directly identified in the partner budget to be eligible.
Real costs
Partners are not expected to split individual mixed invoices between Cost Categories (CC). In cases where the contract/purchase contains costs belonging to both External expertise and service and Equipment cost categories, the right cost category is the one to which the contract belongs the most.
The correct CC for the item is based on the nature or the purchase/contract, not on how the cost was originally budgeted in the application form.
- If the primary purpose of the purchase is service, the cost belongs to cost category External expertise and service.
- If the primary purpose of the purchase is a physical item, the cost belongs to cost category Equipment.
For more information about correct Cost Categories see the questions:
- Which costs are reported in CC External expertise and service?
- Which costs are reported in CC Equipment?
Real costs are reported in the reporting period when the costs were paid.
Catering costs in CB programme countries (Estonia, Finland including Åland, Latvia, Sweden) cannot be reported as real costs.
The only case when real costs can be reported for catering are when a project organises an event outside CB programme countries which is needed for achieving project results. The costs for catering service outside CB programme countries can be covered for event days for which the event agenda and signed participant list exist.
Procurements
The principles for public procurements, including the methods for calculating the estimated value of procurement, prohibition of artificial splitting of procurement etc. are coming from EU Directives and national public procurement legislation. CB or Interreg do not have specific rules how the procurements are prepared and calculated. Public procurements should always be done according to national rules or following EU rules, depending on the thresholds.
For costs that are estimated to exceed 10 000 EUR (excluding VAT) a price comparison must be made (if national public procurement level will not apply with lower limits). This is the CB Programme threshold related to the procurements, other thresholds are set by national legislation and EU Directives. The methods for calculating and estimating the price of the procurement are the same.
When calculating the estimated value of the purchase the full value of the purchase for the project duration is taken into account, not only the value of the individual cost item. Artificial splitting must be avoided in all cases to ensure that the correct procurement method is used.
VAT
Value Added Tax (VAT) is an eligible cost for all partners, despite the partner VAT status.
The exception is project partners to whom the funding is granted under the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) Article 20. For these partners, their VAT status determines the eligibility of VAT:
- If the partner cannot recover VAT, then it is part of the eligible cost.
- If the VAT can be recovered by the partner, the VAT is not an eligible cost.
A new project report can be opened only after the previous project report has been verified by the JS/MA. A new project report may be opened before the previous one is verified only in exceptional cases. In such cases, consult the JS contact person before opening the project report. When a newer report exists, data affecting cumulative figures—for example, output and result indicator values—cannot be corrected in a reopened report.
Project report can be submitted when partner reports related to this period are certified by the national controllers and linked to the project report.
Regular projects report contribution to horizontal principles in the last period report.
Check that your attachment does not exceed the maximum allowed file size 10 Mb. Files can be merged into one .pdf file or .zip-folders can be used to include more material.
No. You should only add the ones relevant for the project level report and the activities you are reporting.
The JS contact person provides a supporting document Project’s reporting periods & deadlines for the lead partner which states the starting and ending dates per reporting period. This document can also be found from Jems section Contracting > Contracts and agreements as an attachment.
Project report deadlines are also indicated in Jems section Project reporting schedule.
Any challenges you have faced that have or will affect the implementation of the project. This includes delays from the work plan presented, for example, postponing activities to the next reporting period. You should also elaborate on the reasons for the deviation(s) and the solution(s) you have found to mitigate them. Describe and explain also any significant deviations in the spending profile compared to the amounts indicated in the application form.
In the exceptional case when the partner report is much delayed, causing a delay in project report submission, the project may choose to include the certificate to the next report. However, all activities must be reported for the period where they have occurred.
No. If additional attachments are needed, your JS contact person will ask for those during the report assessment period.
It is not possible to include more than one six-month reporting period into one project report. If the last period is, for example, only including the closure period, the two reports can be submitted simultaneously. They will still be technically two separate reports.
Output indicators are reported in every second report from period 2 report onwards and in any case in the last report no matter the number of the reporting period this report covers. Remember to include whole year (two reporting periods) contribution to the report.
Small projects report outputs with the second period report and last report.
The output (result) indicators template must be attached in the project report in Jems when the indicators are reported. Output and result indicator templates for Programme Objectives are available on Programme web page https://centralbaltic.eu/for-projects/documents/ .
Lead partner coordinates the recording of outputs and results achievements. Based on recorded values the numbers should be inserted into report. Thus, the indicator values entered in Jems report and in Output and result template must match.
Output and result indicator templates for Programme Objectives are designed for projects to support the calculation of achieved output and result indicator numeric values and to calculate the contribution to programme level indicators. Start using the template for recording the output accumulation and, where relevant, results, already from the project’s beginning. This will help later when the output and result indicators are reported in Jems. The template must be attached in project report in Jems when the indicators are reported.
No. Just leave the field empty.
Keep the official Interreg logo, with the EU emblem, prominently displayed on all your communication materials intended for the public or project participants. It should easily stand out on all communication materials, such as the front page of publications and the top of any website (i.e. partner organisation or external tool) ensuring visibility without the need for scrolling.
No, there is only a single official (Interreg) project logo allowed. Multiple project logos are not permitted.
Yes, you can include supplementary visuals and labels alongside the Interreg logo to enhance your project’s communication. These elements should add value to your visual communication by portraying, explaining, or illustrating the results. Ensure that the additional visuals and labels do not overshadow the official Interreg (neither programme nor custom) logo.
Yes, you can include logos of partner organisations in your communication materials. However, it’s crucial to follow size guidelines: partner organisation logos must not exceed the width or height of the EU emblem (the EU flag) present in your communication materials.
Follow the size guidelines and choose between resizing the Interreg logo or partner organisation logos to maintain visual balance in your communication materials.
Yes, firstly, it is mandatory to create content
(a short text about why your project has been called to life, the expected result, and more about your project) to launch your Project Webspace during the first reporting period. The “Expected results” must be updated as achieved to “Results”” after the end of the project and at the latest before the last project report is submitted.
The Joint Secretariat will guide you through this process, providing access information and a Project Webspace User Manual. Subsequently, it is essential to consistently update the Webspace. This ongoing requirement ensures the continual relevance and accuracy of information regarding your project’s scope and the EU support it receives throughout its lifespan. Regular updates not only keep stakeholders informed but also contribute to attracting new visitors to the Webspace, enhancing the overall visibility and impact of your project throughout its implementation.
If the state aid rules apply for the project/partner, General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER), Articles 20 and 20a will be used by the Programme.
When GBER Article 20 is used, two limitations apply for the project partner(s):
- according to the GBER, the maximum aid intensity is 80%. As the Programme ERDF support is 80%, the beneficiary cannot receive any additional public funding as a support for implementing the project. I.e. the 20% of own contribution must be funded from the beneficiary’s own budget or private funding.
- VAT is not eligible, if the VAT can be recovered by the organisation.
Under the Article 20a the grant limit is 22 000€ per undertaking per project. The CB Programme uses the article to support beneficiaries who are not partners in the project, i.e. “third parties” / indirect beneficiaries. Support given by project partners to final beneficiaries can be for example to cover costs for trainings or consultations, visits to target markets, participation in trade fairs, etc. The support is given by project partners and the partner has to keep the lists of aid granted and keep them for audit trail. No reporting is needed.
Template for monitoring GBER Art 20a can be found on the Programme website. https://centralbaltic.eu/for-projects/documents/
The project needs to apply for the official modification if the flexibility rule limits will be exceeded, there is a need to change the project partnership, ERDF support rate, project objectives, results or outputs, extend the project duration, or any other changes which go beyond the flexibility rule, minor adjustments or technical changes.
A project partner must always discuss well ahead with the lead partner if it looks that there is a risk that some cost category will exceed. Informing the lead partner is important because the lead partner needs to follow the flexibility rule on the project level. If the flexibility rule is exceeded the partner who has caused the overspending will carry the financial consequences i.e., the overspent amount will be cut when ERDF payment is done for the project.
If adding the new activity is within the limits of the flexibility rule and does not have impact on project output or result indicators, it is enough that the lead partner will discuss the additional activity with the JS contact person beforehand. This can be done via email conversation. When the project is implementing the official project modification, the additional activity can be added in the work plan in Jems.
The face-to-face unit cost for the country where the event takes place must be added to partner’s budget before the cost can be reported. Project lead partner sends justifications about the event to project Joint Secretariat contact person. No formal project modification procedure is required if the only modification is adding the face-to-face event unit cost for another country.
After the contact person has opened the project application for modifications, the project inserts into relevant partner budget one (1) unit of the face-to-face event unit cost for the country where they will implement the event. If the new added unit rate is smaller than the previous one (going from 87€ to 81€ for instance) then the partner removes 1 unit on the old budget line and adds 1 on the new one. If the new added unit rate is bigger than the previous one (going from 81€ to 87€ for instance) then the partner removes 2 units on the old budget line and adds 1 on the new one. In any case, the partner budget and project budget cannot increase.
After the modification is approved, the partner can report F2F event unit cost for the country where they implement the event.
The reason for adding only one unit and not fully correcting the amounts and units in the partner budget is to avoid too many changes in the budget related to different unit costs. When one unit is added to the budget, the partner can report as many units as needed of the unit cost. Note that the number of reported units must be equal to the number of signatures on the participant list. According to the Manual: The programme follows the project budget based on the total costs per cost category. Therefore, costs per cost items are not binding during project implementation.
The final report must be submitted to the Joint Secretariat (JS) by the project end date. Before the final report is sent to the JS the project report must be approved during a Steering Group meeting. JS contact person must be invited to the Steering Group meeting.
The final report template is available on CB web page. The JS contact person will send the information about the template to the lead partner two months before the project end.
During the closure period only costs for project management (salaries and linked flat rates) for the lead partner can occur. All partners can during the closure period still receive and pay invoices for the activities that have taken place during the project implementation period. All costs incurred during or before the closure period must be paid out before the project end. The closure period is the last month before the project end date.
All project partners must keep available all documents related to the project costs, outputs, and results for 5 years after the closure of the project by the Managing Authority. For projects with state aid (GBER art.20), the documents must be kept for 10 years from the date of signing the Subsidy Contract. For projects with investments, the documents must be kept for 10 years as well. Note, that national rules can require you to keep documents for a longer time.
The “Expected results” must be updated as achieved by the project to “Results” after the end of the project and at the latest before the last project report is submitted. Guidance on how to publish project results and outcomes in the Project Webspace is provided in the Project Webspace User Manual available on the Programme website.
The Managing Authority will approach the lead partner one year after the project end and asks lead partner to report about result indicator achievements. This will be done by using the same indicator template which was used during the project implementation for Programme Objectives 1, 2 and 7. For Programme Objectives 3, 4 and 5 there will be a separate question in the e-mail from the Managing Authority. Programme Objective 6 is excluded from reporting results after the project has ended.
At the same time, the lead partner will receive a questionnaire about the sustainability of the project achievements.
If the Lead Partner doesn’t fulfil this obligation, a financial correction of 5% of the project total ERDF budget will be made as a recovery of funds.
The reporting of results one full year after project end applies to the Programme Objectives, where the final results can take place even after the project end. This covers Programme Objectives 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7. Programme Objective 6 is excluded from reporting results after the project has ended.
For Programme Objectives 1, 2 and 7 the same (output and) results template is submitted one more time in the same logic as during project implementation. For Programme Objectives 3, 4 and 5 the projects will receive an email from the managing authority, containing questions related to the result indicator.
