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Cross-Programme Analysis on Irregularities, Recoveries and Decommitment

Comparison of different processes used in programmes and exchange of good practices regarding irregularities, recoveries and decommitment

INTERACT implemented an EU-wide cross-programme analysis on irregularities, recoveries and decommitment. The exercise focused on these three financial topics as they are important for Territorial Cooperation programmes across Europe and were proposed by programmes participating in a cross-programme analysis in 2010.

This was a learning exercise and its main objective was to compare different processes used in programmes and exchange good practices. All interested Territorial Cooperation programmes were invited to join the effort. The activity started on 23 March 2011 with the kick-off meeting in Brussels. During this meeting the programmes agreed on objectives and the focus of the excercise. In May and June 2011, 16 programmes filled out an online questionnaire. The data collected was analysed and summarised in the form of report and two thematic factsheets. An intensive synthesis workshop, which took place on 20 September 2011, in London, UK concluded the analysis. The outcomes are available below.

For more information, please contact Boguslawa Lukomska, firstname.surname@interact-eu.net, +43 14000 27 083

Programme of the exercise:

Kick-off meeting (giving interested programmes a chance to find out more about planned exercise and agree on exact scope and timing) – 23 March 2011, Brussels, Belgium;
Development of the questionnaire (INTERACT will consult participating programmes);
Collection and analysis of data (from MA, NA and JTS of participating programmes);
Preparation of factsheets for each topic (i.e., irregularities and recoveries and decommitment), which analyse the current situation in the programmes, identify interesting solutions and give ideas for improving current and future programming periods;
Synthesis workshop (presenting and discussiong outcomes of the analysis and giving programmes an opportunity to discuss remaining issues and exchange experiences); 20 September 2011, London, UK.

Topics covered:

Irregularities

The focus should be on good practices for avoiding, detecting and reporting errors/irregularities. As a starting point, a common understanding was reached: Definition of irregularities/errors/reporting requirements/OLAF reporting, etc. was agreed upon during the kick-off meeting. The planned outcome is a list of different solutions used accross Europe, identification of trends and good practices. It will also be interesting to discover what are the most common reasons for irregularities in ETC: e.g. public procurement, staff costs, publicity requirements, etc.

Recoveries

This topic is logically connected to irregularities and errors detection. The objective is to discover from programmes what their procedure for recovery of unduly paid amounts is, who is responsible for the follow-up and how the monitoring is done, how long the process takes and what criteria are applied to declare amounts unrecoverable.

Decommitment

This topic should be divided into three main sub-themes:

What to do to avoid decommitment? (in project generation, approval, implementation phases and also after the projects are finalised) - topic was partly covered already during the kick-off meeting. The outcome can be downloaded below.
How to project/estimate decommitment?
What to do in case of decommitment?

Similar to previous topics, good practices and ideas for improvement are the main focus.