Closure Meeting Final Report: European Commission Seminar on Cohesion Policy 2000-2006

1. Technical Meeting on Closure 2000-2006, 11 December 2009 Final ReportAnton Schrag REGIO D1 European Union Cohesion Policy “Train the trainers” European Commission seminar for managing and certifying authorities 11 December 2009

2. What we did • Closure Guidelines from 2006 updated 2008 and 2009 • Closure Seminar on 15 September 2008 covering more than 200 questions • Additional 200 questions sent afterwards • No final answers in some cases • Published as a comprehensive document in March 2009 • Clarification works ongoing

3. Final Reports (FR) should enable EC to check that • assistance was properly executed • financial management of EC funds was sound (+ Winding-up Decl.) • programme’s objectives have been attained • programme was coherent with EU policies • EC will assess FR quality within 5 months of receipt for • Completeness relative to legal requirements (Art 37) • Consistency and coherence (with financial information and with Winding-up Declaration) • Credibility of content (on basis of documentation and data provided) • FR must be examined & approved by Monitoring Committee (MC) for 2000-2006 period  MS responsible for ensuring quality of FR (completeness, coherence, etc…)

4. Content and structure of FR • structure similar to that of Annual Reports (AR), • updated synthesis of information from previous AR and completed as appropriate (e.g. as per EC requests) • add chapter for 2008 and (if appropriate) 2009 AR • It is an explanation what happened and what did not happen

5. Information to be included(Art. 37.2 of R(EC) 1260/99) • Changes in general conditions of relevance • Physical implementation of priorities and measures • Financial implementation of priorities and measures • Steps taken to ensure quality & effectiveness of implementation • Steps taken to ensure compatibility with EC policies and to ensure coordination of EC assistance

6. 1 - Important changes in general conditions in the period 2000-2008 which are of relevance to the implementation of the assistance, in particular: • main socio-economic trends; • changes in national, regional, sectoral policies ; • changes in the objective 3 policy frame of reference. • Where applicable, their implications for the mutual consistency of assistance: • from the different Funds • between Fund assistance and that from other financial instruments (Community initiatives, EIB loans, EAGGF-Guarantee, etc.)

7. 2 - Physical implementation of priorities & measures • Description of achievements in relation to specific objectives and targets of priorities & measures • Quantification of the related indicators as in the SPD and the PC: physical / output; result; impact • at the appropriate level (programme, priority or measure).

8. 4 - Steps taken by the MA / MC to ensure the quality and effectiveness of implementation, in particular : • monitoring, financial control (day-to-day management checks) and evaluation measures, including data collection arrangements • summary of any significant problem encountered in managing the assistance and any measure taken, including actions on • comments or recommendations for adjustments made by EC following annual review meetings (Art. 34.2) • observations or requests for corrective measures (Art. 38.4) made by EC following the annual audit meeting (+ report Art. 13 of 438/2001) , particularly regarding the financial impact of any irregularities detected • observations or requests made by EC following report Art. 13 of 438/2001 , in particular regarding 5% checks of Art. 10 (cf. Winding-up declaration) • use made of technical assistance (incl. to prepare 2007-13) • Information & publicity of the assistance towards potential beneficiaries and the general public (Art. 46 + Action Plan pursuant to 1159/2000 ) • Summary of the results of the main evaluations carried out on the programme including e.g. thematic evaluations, and any measure taken to address the recommendations made

9. 5 - Statement by the Managing Authority, noting the problems encountered and the steps taken to ensure (pursuant to Art. 12) compatibility with EC Treaty, EC policies (CAP, CFP…) including the rules on • competition, • the award of public contracts, • environmental protection and improvement • the elimination of inequalities and the promotion of equality between men and women • Steps taken to ensure coordination of all the Community structural assistance such as CF • Use of interest earned on advance payments

10. Timeline • 15 months from end of eligibility period deadline for submission • First reports were already due • around 150 due by March 2010 • Majority to be sent by 30/09/2010, some exceptions (Interreg) until 31 March 2011 • Admissibility check by Commission • Quality check (including CIS) • Within 5 months (plus interruption periods) Commission has to react on report either accept or request additional information. In case of rejection no admissible report is deemed present after the deadline expired • Timing for Winding up declaration not specified