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The translation of this document is outdated.
Translation validity: 26.03.2015.–16.06.2016.
Amendments not included: 14.06.2016.

Republic of Latvia

Cabinet
Regulation No. 124

Adopted 10 March 2015

Procedures for Carrying Out the Financial Control of the Projects Funded by the Programmes of the Objective "European Territorial Cooperation" of the European Structural and Investment Funds

Issued pursuant to
Section 15, Paragraph 5 of
the Law On Management of the Programmes of
the Objective "European Territorial Cooperation" of the
European Structural and Investment Funds

I. General Provisions

1. This Regulation prescribes the procedures for carrying out the financial control of the programmes funded by the objective "European Territorial Cooperation" of the European Structural and Investment Funds (hereinafter - ETC programmes).

2. Projects funded by the ETC programmes within the meaning of this Regulation are cooperation projects implemented by Latvian partners (hereinafter - Latvian beneficiaries) and activities carried out by the institutions involved in the implementation of ETC programmes (hereinafter - programme institution), which are funded from the relevant ETC programme technical assistance budget.

3. The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (hereinafter - financial control authority) ensures financial control of the following ETC programmes:

3.1. verify the costs incurred within the framework of the projects of Latvian beneficiaries:

3.1.1. Latvia-Lithuania Cross Border Cooperation Programme (Interreg V-A LV-LT - Latvia-Lithuania);

3.1.2. Estonia-Latvia Cross Border Cooperation Programme (Interreg V-A EE-LV - Estonia-Latvia);

3.1.3. Central Baltic Sea Region Cross-Border Cooperation Programme (Interreg V-A Finland-Estonia-Latvia-Sweden (Central Baltic));

3.1.4. Baltic Sea Region Transnational Cooperation Programme (Interreg V-B Baltic Sea);

3.1.5. URBACT III Interregional Cooperation Programme (URBACT);

3.1.6. INTERREG EUROPE Interregional Cooperation Programme (INTERREG EUROPE);

3.2. verification of the use of technical assistance budget:

3.2.1. costs of the Managing authority, Audit authority and Joint Secretariat of the Latvia-Lithuania Cross Border Cooperation Programme;

3.2.2. costs of Estonia-Latvia Cross Border Cooperation Programme information point;

3.2.3. costs of Central Baltic Sea Region Cross-Border Cooperation Programme National contact point;

3.2.4. costs of Baltic Sea Region Transnational Cooperation Programme Joint Secretariat Riga branch office;

3.2.5. costs of Interregional Cooperation Programme URBACT III information office;

3.2.6. costs of Interregional Cooperation Programme INTERREG EUROPE information office.

4. Financial control ensures verification of the compliance of procedures applied within the framework of the project and verification of the related cost accounting and compliance with the project activities. Financial control shall be performed:

4.1. in conformity with Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006;

4.2. in conformity with Regulation (EU) No 1299/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on specific provisions for the support from the European Regional Development Fund in relation to the objective "European Territorial Cooperation";

4.3. in conformity with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 481/2014 of 4 March 2014supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1299/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to specific rules on eligibility of costs for cooperation programmes;

4.4. in accordance with the regulatory enactments of the Republic of Latvia governing the activities to be performed within the framework of the project;

4.5. taking into account the requirements laid down in the guidelines for the implementation provisions of the respective ETC programme (hereinafter - the ETC programme guidelines) and of the Subsidy contract.

5. The financial control includes:

5.1. random sample check of the Latvian beneficiary's procurements planned within the framework of the project with regard to procurement documentation after announcement of the procurement and procurement procedures before the conclusion of a procurement contract (hereinafter - the procurement pre-verification);

5.2. verification of costs, which are included in the project progress report of the Latvian beneficiary or programme institution regarding the implemented project activities and costs incurred (hereinafter - progress report) in conformity with the types of verification laid down in the ETC programme guidelines, or sample selected by the financial control institution, if permitted by the conditions referred to in the ETC programme guidelines;

5.3. verification of the consolidated reports of the relevant reporting period (hereinafter - the consolidated reports) where the Latvian beneficiary is the project's Lead partner, and, where necessary, in accordance with the requirements of the ETC programme guidelines;

5.4. random on-the-spot verification at the project implementation site at the Latvian beneficiary or programme institution.

6. The financial control institution within the framework of the financial control mentioned above in Paragraph 5 of this Regulation shall verify whether:

6.1. the Latvian beneficiary or the programme institution ensures that the original copies of the documents related to the project implementation and derivatives thereof with legal force are stored in conformity with the regulatory enactments regarding document accumulation, recording, storage and use;

6.2. performed works, supplies, payments and services provided comply with that laid down in the project;

6.3. in accordance with the ETC programme guidelines, the eligible project costs do not include the costs of main activities of the Latvian beneficiary or costs co-financed from other European Union, international or national financial instruments;

6.4. compliance with the ETC programme publicity requirements and requirements laid down in the directly applicable regulatory enactments of the European Union on the compliance with the requirements of the European structural and investment fund publicity and information.

7. The financial control institution shall ensure establishment and maintenance of the financial control system, and shall develop and publish on its website the guidelines for Latvian beneficiaries for correct financial management in the implementation of the ETC programmes and projects, where necessary, ensuring updating thereof.

8. The financial control institution shall issue a final opinion to the Latvian beneficiaries on the progress report within three months, and to the programme institutions - within two months of receipt of a progress report, unless a different time period is provided in the ETC programme guidelines. The abovementioned time periods shall be suspended at the moment when additional information has been requested from the Latvian beneficiary or programme institution, and shall be restarted at the moment when the financial control institution has received the requested additional information from the Latvian beneficiary or programme institution, where it is intended in the ETC programme guidelines.

9. Within five working days the Latvian beneficiary shall be obliged to inform the financial control institution on entering into the following agreements and to submit copies thereof:

9.1. agreement with the Managing authority of the ETC programme on allocation of programme co-funding (hereinafter - the Subsidy contract);

9.2. an agreement between the project partners on the implementation of the project (hereinafter - the partnership agreement).

10. The programme institution shall, within five working days, inform the financial control institution on the approval of the annual budget for technical assistance of the ETC programme and submit a copy thereof.

11. The financial control institution shall, within 20 working days after receipt of the Subsidy contract and partnership agreement form the Latvian beneficiary (in conformity with Paragraph 9 of this Regulation), or receipt of the approved budget for technical assistance received from the programme institution (in conformity with Paragraph 10 of this Regulation) determine the project risk - low or high. The financial control institution shall review project risk at least once in every year of project implementation.

12. If the financial control institution establishes that the requirements laid down in the directly applicable regulatory enactments of the European Union or the Republic of Latvia, ETC programme guidelines, Subsidy contract or partnership agreement are not completely or partially met, it shall, taking into account the extent and nature of the breach:

12.1. reduce the eligible costs included in the progress report for an amount corresponding to the amount of ineligible costs;

12.2. apply financial corrections in accordance with the ETC programme guidelines or, if the public procurement rules are not complied with, in accordance with the guidelines approved by the European Commission for determining financial corrections to be made to expenditure financed by the Union under shared management, for non-compliance with the rules on public procurement (COCOF), where it establishes that the unjustified amount of the costs cannot be determined precisely or where reduction of the eligible costs of the project amount would be disproportionate.

II. Provision of pre-verification of procurements

13. By the start of the project implementation, the Latvian beneficiary shall, within 10 working days after conclusion of the Subsidy contract, submit the project procurement plan (Annex) to the financial control institution. If during the project implementation changes affecting the information of the Latvian beneficiary stated in the procurement plan of the project are made to the project or other changes need to be made to the procurement plan, the Latvian beneficiary shall update the procurement plan of the project and submit it to the financial control institution within 10 working days of the date when the amendments were made to the project or the date when the need to make other changes in the procurement plan arose.

14. The financial control institution, on the basis of the information stated in the current procurement plan of the project, shall ensure planning of procurement pre-verifications.

15. The financial control institution shall make random pre-verifications of the procurements referred in the procurement plan of the project. The Latvian beneficiary has an obligation to submit the information requested by the financial control institution for carrying out pre-verifications of the procurements within the time period laid down by the financial control institution.

16. The financial control institution shall, within 20 working days after carrying out the pre-verification of the procurements or receipt of the documents or information needed for taking of the final decision on pre-verification of the procurements, provide its opinion to the Latvian beneficiary:

16.1. an unqualified opinion - if no violations have been established in the procurement, or the violations established are not relevant and cannot affect the decision on awarding the right to enter into a contract;

16.2. a qualified opinion - if violations have been established in the procurement, but they can be rectified in the course of the procurement procedure;

16.3. an adverse opinion - if such violations have been established in the procurement which cannot be rectified in the course of the ongoing procurement procedure and which may affect the decision on awarding the right of the procurement.

17. If the financial control institution has provided a qualified opinion on the violations established in the project procurement, the Latvian beneficiary shall, within 20 working days after receipt of the opinion, prepare and submit a written information on the rectification of violations established in the project procurement to the financial control institution.

18. The financial control institution shall verify whether the Latvian beneficiary has rectified the violations referred to in the opinion, and shall, within the time period laid down in Paragraph 16 of this Regulation, provide one of the following opinions:

18.1. an unqualified opinion, if the Latvian beneficiary has rectified the violations referred to in the opinion;

18.2. an adverse opinion, if the Latvian beneficiary has failed to rectify the violations referred to in the opinion.

III. Provision of verification of progress reports

19. The Latvian beneficiary or programme institution shall, within 10 working days, unless a different time period for submission has been provided for in the ETC programme guidelines, after the end of the respective project reporting period, submit to the financial control institution the progress report abovementioned in Sub-paragraph 5.2. of this Regulation, appending source documents of costs for the activities taken place during the respective reporting period and payments made in conformity with the guidelines abovementioned in Paragraph 7 of this Regulation.

20. If the Latvian beneficiary is the Lead partner in the project, it shall, after receipt of opinions issued by financial control institutions of all project partners on eligibility of all costs included in the progress report, submit to the financial control institution the consolidated report abovementioned in Sub-paragraph 5.3. of this Regulation, if it is necessary in accordance with the ETC programme guidelines no later than 10 working days before the deadline for submission to the Joint Secretariat of relevant territorial cooperation programme, unless a different deadline for submission has been laid down in the ETC programme.

21. The financial control institution shall provide an answer as to whether additional information is needed regarding the submitted report in conformity with Paragraph 22 of this Regulation within the following deadlines:

21.1. not later than 30 working days after receipt of the report abovementioned in Sub-paragraph 5.2. of this Regulation from the Latvian beneficiary;

21.2. not later than within five working days after receipt of the consolidated report abovementioned in Sub-paragraph 5.3 of this Regulation from the Latvian beneficiary;

21.3. not later than 20 working days after receipt of the report abovementioned in Sub-paragraph 5.2. of this Regulation from the programme institution.

22. If during the verification it is established that in order to give an opinion on the eligibility of costs clarifications are needed, the financial control institution shall request the Latvian beneficiary or the programme institution an updated report or supporting documents of the costs.

23. The Latvian beneficiary or the programme institution shall submit the information and documents abovementioned in Paragraph 22 of this Regulation within 10 working days after request thereof. If due to objective reasons it is not possible, the Latvian beneficiary or the programme institution shall immediately inform the financial control institution thereof, by agreeing on a new deadline for the submission of information and documents, taking into account the fact that the information and documents may not be submitted later than within 20 working days before the deadline abovementioned in Paragraph 8 of this Regulation.

IV. Provision of the On-the-Spot Verification of a Project

24. The financial control institution in accordance with a request of the national responsible authority or randomly, based on risk analysis, shall carry out on-the-spot verification of a project at the Latvian beneficiary or programme institution:

24.1. for high-risk projects - at least once during the project implementation;

24.2. for low-risk projects selected by random sampling method, ensuring that any low-risk project may be selected for verification.

25. If the ETC programme guidelines stipulate different extent for on-the-spot verification of a project, the financial control institution shall ensure implementation of the requirements laid down in the ETC programme guidelines.

26. The financial control institution shall, five working days prior to the planned on-the-spot verification of a project (except for the verification referred to in Paragraph 27 of this Regulation), inform the Latvian beneficiary or programme institution thereof.

27. The financial control institution shall not inform the Latvian beneficiary or the programme institution about the on-the-spot verification of a project, if such verification is carried out:

27.1. during events organised within the framework of the project (for example, seminars, training sessions, briefings);

27.2. to ascertain whether the material values purchased or leased within the framework of the project for meeting the project objective are situated at the location planned within the project, and are used properly;

27.3. to ascertain whether the performance of the works within the framework of the project is ensured at the project implementation site and time;

27.4. in case where the authenticity of the activities carried out within the framework of the project could no longer be identified after completion of such activities.

28. During verification the Latvian beneficiary or the programme institution shall ensure the financial controllers with access to all documents related to the project implementation, project accounting system, premises and other material values that are relevant to the verification to be carried out.

29. The financial control institution shall, within 20 working days, prepare and send to the Latvian beneficiary or programme institution a report on the verification of project carried out on the spot. If the verification has been carried out in accordance with the request of the national responsible institution, the financial control institution shall also send a copy of the report on the carried out verification to the national responsible institution. The report shall contain information on the procedure of the verification, verification results and recommendations for measures to be taken, if the requirements of regulatory enactments and ETC guidelines abovementioned in Paragraph 4 of this Regulation have not been fully or partially complied with.

30. The Latvian beneficiary or programme institution shall introduce the recommendations indicated in the report abovementioned in Paragraph 29 of this Regulation or provide additional explanations within the deadline laid down by the financial control institution and shall inform on the status of introduction of recommendations, where necessary, by adding supporting documentation.

31. After the receipt of the information and documentation abovementioned in Paragraph 30 of this Regulation from the Latvian beneficiary or programme institution, the financial control institution shall evaluate it, and, where necessary, perform a repeated on-the-spot verification of project, in order to fully ascertain regarding proper introduction of the recommendations expressed in the on-the-spot verification of project.

V. Final Provisions

32. By 30 January of the current year the financial control institution shall submit to the national responsible institution a report on the verifications carried out in the previous year and findings thereof.

33. The requirement abovementioned in Paragraph 9 of this Regulation for the submission of copies of the agreement shall be in force until full operation of the information system of the ETC programme has been ensured.

Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma

Minister for Environmental Protection
and Regional Development Kaspars Gerhards

 

Annex
Cabinet Regulation
No. 124
10 March 2015

Procurement Plan

Name of the project  
Project identification number  
Latvian beneficiary  

No.

Subject of the procurement agreement1

Reference to project activity

Reference to the cost item number

Estimated agreement price2

Legal framework3

Planned procurement procedure/ procurement4

Procurement procedures publication deadline

               
               

Responsible official
 

(given name, surname, signature)


Telephone number  
E-mail address  
Date  
 

(dd/mm/yy)

 

Notes.
1 Range of goods and services and a list of construction works to be performed, for which it is intended to conclude a procurement agreement.
2 The planned agreement amount excluding VAT, taking into account the entire duration of the procurement agreement.
3 The legal framework, on the basis of which the procurement has been made, - Public Procurement Law, Law On the Procurement of Public Service Providers, Cabinet Regulation No. 299 of 4 June 2013, Regulations Regarding the Procurement Procedure and Procedures for Application Thereof to Projects Financed by Customer, or Procurement Guidelines for Public Service Providers.
4 Including sub-threshold procurements, procurements in accordance with Section 8.2 of the Public Procurement Law and other procurements.

Minister for Environmental Protection
and Regional Development Kaspars Gerhards

 


Translation © 2016 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre)

 
Document information
Title: Eiropas Strukturālo un investīciju fondu mērķa "Eiropas teritoriālā sadarbība" programmu finansēto .. Status:
In force
in force
Issuer: Cabinet of Ministers Type: regulation Document number: 124Adoption: 10.03.2015.Entry into force: 26.03.2015.Publication: Latvijas Vēstnesis, 60, 25.03.2015. OP number: 2015/60.7
Language:
LVEN
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