NIK on preparations to use EU funds

NIK confirms that the Minister of Infrastructure and Development properly planned, organised, coordinated and executed the process of preparations to use money from structural funds and the Cohesion Fund. The measures taken made it possible to develop and transfer to the European Commission the draft partnership agreement as well as draft domestic and regional operational programmes. The activities related to drafting the partnership agreement were effective and ended up with presenting the European Commission with that document on due date.

The Ministry prepared draft Amendment act on the principles of development policy which entered into force on 8 April 2014. The draft Act on the principles of programmes in terms of the cohesion policy financed in the financial perspective 2014-2020 was also developed.

The provincial governments covered by the audit developed and transferred to the European Commission draft Regional Operational Programmes. The Minister of Infrastructure and Development issued opinions on the compliance of these Programmes with the provisions of the partnership agreement, subject to the comments made.

Division of structural funds into domestic operational programmes for the years 2014-2020

_{Source: own data based on partnership agreement ratified by European Commission on 23 May 2014}

NIK asserts that both the Ministry and marshal offices took efforts to prepare their institutions for the implementation of operational programmes in the period 2014-2020.

According to NIK it should be emphasised that draft Regional Operational Programmes provided for simplifications aimed at reducing administrative burden in the funds' implementation in the period  2014-2020. Both legal and institutional regulations should be simplified, including the manner of applying for additional financing as well as implementation and settlement of projects by beneficiaries.

The Minister and provincial governments carried out required activities to appoint and prepare the managing and intermediate bodies to perform implementation tasks. In the Ministry and in marshal offices decision was taken to entrust duties related to the certification of expenditures incurred as part of the operational programmes to the bodies managing operational programmes.

There will be no separate Certifying Body as part of the system for implementing operational programmes, nor will there be any intermediate bodies in certification.

According to NIK, though, the management and certification functions should be separated as part of managing bodies. Tasks related to the certification of expenditures should be isolated both in institutional and procedural terms from tasks related to management and control. It means that these tasks may not be performed by the same persons or organisational units. This division will be particularly important in case a provincial government implements its own projects. Acquisition of tasks as part of the certification of expenditures by the bodies managing Regional Operational Programmes requires special attention of provincial governments because it will be the first time for marshal offices to perform this task (previously they were done by province governor’s offices).