Twinning and Partnership Block Grant
SMALL PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES
Twinning and Partnership Block Grant
Swiss-Hungarian Cooperation Programme
Only the Hungarian version is authentic!
August 2012
Content
Content
The purpose of this Guideline
SMALL PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION AGREEMENT and PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Parties involved in the Swiss-Hungarian Cooperation Programme
Signature of the Small Project Implementation Agreement
Basic principles
Procurement
Contract management
1. Contracts to be concluded with the experts directly involved in the project
2. Contracts to be concluded with sub-contractors, suppliers, contractors and service providers
Amendments to the Small Project Implementation Agreement
1. General rules concerning the amendment of the Small Project Implementation Agreement
2. Amendment to the Small Project Implementation Agreement requiring prior approval
3. Amendment to the Small Project Implementation Agreement without prior approval
4. Written notice
Publicity
List of relevant laws and documents related to the implementation of the projects supported
REPORTING OBLIGATION AND PAYMENTS
1. PAYMENTS
1.1 Advance payment
1.2 Interim payment(s)
1.3 Final payment
2. REPORTS
2.1 Interim Project Reports
2.2 Project Completion Report
3. ELIGIBLE AND NON-ELIGIBLE COSTS
3.1 Cost types, accounting modes
3.2. Non-Eligible Costs
3.3.VAT and other taxes
Annexes
1
Twinning and Partnership Block Grant
The purpose of this Guideline
This document assists the implementation of Small Projects by introducing the related procedures.
These Guidelines were developed on the basis of the Call for Applications and the Application Guide published by the Block Grant Intermediate Body, as well as on the Framework Agreement between Switzerland and Hungary to implement the the Swiss-Hungarian Cooperation Programme (hereinafter referred to as “Framework Agreement”), on the national provisions and the Small Project Implementation Agreement (hereinafter referred to as “the Agreement”) signed by the Small Project Executing Agency and the Block Grant Intermediate Body.
The Guidelines are not exhaustive, certain circumstances could justify changes, and therefore, the Block Grant Intermediate Body may supplement or amend these Guidelines in matters not regulated in the Implementation Agreement, but covered by the internal procedures, reporting and implementation order of the Programme.
SMALL PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION AGREEMENT and PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Parties involved in the Swiss-Hungarian Cooperation Programme
The Twinning and Partnership Block Grant (TPBG), co-financed from the Swiss-Hungarian Cooperation Programme, is implemented as a specific form of grant assistance in accordance with the Framework Agreement as well as its annexes.
The overall objective of the TPBG is to encourage the development of mutual cooperation of existing or new partnerships between Hungarian and Swiss bodies, thereby contributing to the reduction of economic and social disparities between Hungary and the enlarged European Union.
Grants will be awarded to Small Projects aiming among others at reinforcing cooperation, exchange of information, transfer of know-how and best practice between Hungary and Switzerland.
The Block GrantIntermediate Body (IB) is responsible for the establishment of the Implementation Agreements, and will coordinate and take part in their eventual amendments. The Block Grant Intermediate Body monitors the implementation, including controlling public procurement processes, and checks the Interim Reports and the Project Completion Report, and is responsible for the disbursement of the grant to the Small Project Executing Agencies.
The National Co-ordination Unit(hereinafter referred to as „the NCU”) - in accordance with Government Decree No. 348/2007 (XII. 20)- is responsible for the co-ordination of the Swiss-Hungarian Cooperation Programme in Hungary; its task is undertaken by the organizational unit appointed by the president of the National Development Agency.
The Swiss Authority - the authority of the donor side, a federal authority representing and acting on behalf of the Swiss Government; in case of the Twinning and Partnership Block Grant the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), on the other hand the Swiss Embassy responsible for keeping contacts with the National Coordination Unit, and the Swiss Contribution Office Budapest operating within the Swiss Embassy[bp1]
Swiss Contribution Office Budapest – office operating within the Swiss Embassy in Budapest, responsible for keeping contacts with Hungarian institution concerning the implementation of the Swiss Contribution[bp2]
Small Project Executing Agency – in case of block grants a state organisations, public- or private body, church institution that the parties accept and entrust with the implementation of the small project falling under the jurisdiction of the Framework Agreement.
Partner: Partner shall be a Swiss public authority, any public or private non-profit body as well as any non-profit organization recognized by the Parties. Eventual Hungarian partners are also possible with non-profit character.
Small Project: Non-profit activity carried out by the Small Project Executing Agency and supported in the framework of this Block Grant.
Small Project Implementation Agreement: Contract concluded by and between the Block Grant Intermediate Body and the Applicants selected for funding by the Small Project Approval Committees.
Signature of the Small Project Implementation Agreement
This Small Project Implementation Agreement is concluded by and between the Small Project Executing Agency and the Block Grant Intermediate Body, in Hungarian, as soon as possible after the decision on the award of the grant by the Small Project Approval Committee, but no later than 30 daysof grant approval.
The Annexes of the Implementation Agreement are as follows:
- Section of the Application Form governing the implementation of the project
- Notification letter of the award of the grant
- General conditions
- Final budget and reporting periods
- Partnership Agreement
- Declaration on public procurements and contracts to be concluded
- VAT-Declaration of the Small Project Executing Agency and its Partners
- Financial Identification Form and sample payment claim
- Declaration of the Small Project Executing Agency on the refund of the Grant in case of non-fulfilment of the agreement or irregular use of the grant, sample of the collect note, statement on bank accounts
- Authenticated copy of the Specimenof Signature of the representative of the Executing Agency
- Copy of the Registration Act or a normalized abridgement of statutes of the Applicant and Partners
- Needs analysis or feasibility study, if available
Basic principles
The Small Project Executing Agencies should observe the basic principles of the Swiss Contribution - as described in their application- namely:
-Transparency
-Social inclusion
-Equal opportunities (e.g. gender equality)
-Sustainable development
-Commitment by all stakeholders
-Subsidiarity and decentralisation
The Small Project Executing Agency shall report about the enforcement of these basic principles during on-site monitoring and in the progress reports.
Procurement
Procurement procedures during the implementation of projects shall be governed by the 2003 Act CXXIX (in case of procedures launched before 1st January 2012) and 2011Act CVIIIon Public Procurement (in case of procedures launched after 1st January 2012) for the Small Project Executing Agency and its Hungarian Partners.Special commitments related to these procurement procedures are provided for in Article 6 of the General Conditions of Small Project Implementation Agreement.
For the procurement procedures within the project, the Small Project Executing Agency and its Hungarian Partner shall ensure national treatment for the tenderers and sub-contractors in their respective countries, and their experts, established in the following countries, as well as for the goods from the following countries, taking into account Article 1(3) of Act CXXIX on Public Procurement, in accordance with the joint information notice No. 8001/2007 of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister without Portfolio and the Minister of Justice.
1)Member States of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Romania and Bulgaria.
2)Agreement on the European Economic Area and the participation in the European Economic Area: Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway.
3)Annex 4 to the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation: on the basis of the agreement on government procurement: United States, Canada, Hong Kong, China, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Liechtenstein, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland and Aruba.
4)Countries with which the European Community has an agreement: Mexico, Chile, Israel, Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Croatia.
The Small Project Executing Agency may ensure national treatment of other countries in addition to the above during public procurement procedures, however, it should provide for in the public procurement documentation before the start of the procedure, and cannot modify it at a later stage during the procedure.
Please note that procurements by the Small Project Executing Agency and its Hungarian Partners can be made only in accordance with the public procurement rules in force. Procurement of supplies and services reaching the public procurement threshold and works also below the threshold are subject of ex-ante control (please see Art. 6 of the General Conditions of the Small Project Implementation Agreement. Procurements by Swiss Partner(s) are not subject of ex-ante control.
Procurements and public procurement procedures shall be subject to the provisions of the Procurement Guidelines and Public Procurement Guidelines, respectively. The Small Project Executing Agency (and the Partner(s)) shall be responsible for the correctness of the procedures!
The Guidelines prescribe preliminary submission of documents, before the start of the procedures please study them.
Please note that provisions for procurement in this Block Grant are stricter than those of the Procurement Guide apply to the contracts concluded within the Block Grant: in case of supply and service contracts above 250.000 HUF (equivalent to 1.000 CHF), but below the public procurement thresholds the Small Project Executing Agency and Partners are obliged to collect two proposals from suppliers/service providers before the conclusion of the contract, to record them full-scale and furthermore to attach the documents to the Interim Reports.
Contract management
In order to implement the Small Project as awarded, contracts should be concluded with cooperating partners, and employees, sub-contractors, suppliers and various service providers involved in the project. The achievement of the project objectives depends to a large extent on the fulfillment of these contracts; therefore, one of the priorities of the project management is to ensure that contracts are well drafted (have accurate and clear definition of content, Terms of References, binding performance indicators, agreed delivery and payment deadlines, and payment terms) and to monitor their execution. These contracts, as well as the contractual terms and conditions shall be developed in accordance with the budget, and when monitoring the execution of the budget, the obligations assumed under these contracts shall be taken into account as well as funds allocated to them. Eventual changes in the amounts planned and allocated in each budget line (agreements or, in their absence, invoices or equivalent documents received, but unpaid), and in the amounts that can still be "freely" used within a budget line are to be reported monitored and to be reported.
The progress and actual budget position of the contracts shall be reported.
1. Contracts to be concluded with the experts directly involved in the project
Contracts shall be concluded with employees assuming different roles in the project, to carry out the activities and duties specified in the project outline. This contract may be an employment contract, work or service contract.
These contracts should be in full compliance with the relevant laws.
2. Contracts to be concluded with sub-contractors, suppliers, contractors and service providers
The procedure for granting and conclusion of contracts by the Small Project Executing Agency and its Hungarian Partners is governed by the Acts CXXIX 2003 and CVIII 2011 on Public Procurement(for procedures launched after 1st January 2012 the Act from 2011 shall apply). All special duties to be carried out during the public procurement procedures are detailed by the Public Procurement Guidelines.
In case of supply and service contracts above 250.000 HUF (equivalent to 1.000 CHF), but below the public procurement threshold the collection of at least two bids is obligatory before contracting. Below 250.000 HUF (1.000 CHF) no bids shall be collected before the order/conclusion of the contract.
No bids shall be collected for the accommodation of the participants of the project (but cost-effective solutions are requested, possibly at *** premises), or for travelby public transport(scheduled train, bus, plane), except the ordered (private travel), if the values exceeds 250.000 HUF (1.000 CHF).
In case of supply and service contracts below threshold the Block Grant Intermediate Body does not performs ex-ante control, the contracts concluded are checked during the control of the interim and final reports
In case of works contracts reaching the public procurement threshold the Block Grant Intermediate Body is obliged to carry out an ex-ante control prior the dispatch of the call for proposals and the conclusion of the contract.
During this verification the following elements are checked:
conformity with the Small Project Implementation Agreements as regards subject of the contract, quantity and deadlines,
availability of permissions and plans
the draft contract,
the call for proposals,
conformity of bids with the conditions set in call for proposals,
draft of the decision of the contracting authority (Small Project Executing Agency or partners).
Procurements made and contracts concluded by the Swiss Partner(s) are subject of the national law being in force in the Swiss Confederation. For the procurements and contracts concluded by the Swiss Partner the provisions on ex-ante controls shall not apply. The representative of the Swiss Partner shall attach an official statement on the compliance with the national law related to contracts financed from budgetary sources.
Amendments to the Small Project Implementation Agreement
1. General rules concerning the amendment of the Small Project Implementation Agreement
Grant intensity shall not be increased.
The Project and the Small Project Implementation Agreement shall not be amended in such a manner that the amendment would call into question the initial aim of the grant, or would infringe the principle of equal treatment of applicants.
Any amendments to the Agreement can only be made by observing the following procedures. Failure to use the appropriate procedure shall result in the rejection of the amendment.
All amendments to the Small Project Implementation Agreement shall exclusively be made by means of an official letter, in writing and with the consent of the signatories of the initial Agreement or their legal successors.
The reasons for the amendment may be as follows:
a)the project objectives or results should change,
b)a budget reallocation between activities
c)the reallocation between budget lines within an activity
d)the start, finish or timing of a project execution as defined in the Small Project Implementation Agreement should change,
e)any amendment to the Annexes of the Small Project Implementation Agreement should be made,
f)the project budget should be increased (only in thoroughly justified case),
g)the separate bank account should change (such as, change of the account-keeper financial institution),
h)administrative changes (contact address, seat, closing of any bank account, change of the auditor or the project manager and/or their data, etc.),
i)in the case of opening a new bank account.
Types of change:
- Modification of the Small Project Implementation Agreement requiring prior approval
- Modification of the Small Project Implementation Agreement without prior approval
- Written notice, only in case of change in administrative data.
2. Amendment to the Small Project Implementation Agreement requiring prior approval
Cases:
a)the project objectives or results should change,
b)a budget reallocation between activities exceeds 15% (cumulative calculation)
c)the reallocation between budget lines within an activity exceeds 100.000 HUF.
d)the start, finish or timing of a project execution as defined in the Small Project Implementation Agreement should change,
e)any amendment to the Annexes of the Small Project Implementation Agreement
f)the project budget should be increased (only in thoroughly justified case)
g)the separate bank account should change (such as, change of the account-keeper financial institution),
Steps:
The Small Project Executing Agency is required to submit in writing any amendment of the Small Project Implementation Agreement requiring prior approval by informing the Block Grant Intermediate Body about the reasons and circumstances of the amendment.
Documents to be submitted:
- a written request by the Small Project Executing Agency in Hungarian concerning the amendment and the justification for the amendment,
Format:
The request shall be submitted in one copy both by mail and electronically (e-mail) to the Block GrantIntermediate Body.
Deadlines:
The request for any amendment requiring prior assessment shall be submitted to the Block Grant Intermediate Body at least 30 days before the amendment is envisaged to enter into force. The Block Grant Intermediate Body shall decide on the approval.
No amendment under this section shall be retrospectively approved and any amendment shall be effective only after the amendment of the Small Project Implementation Agreement is signed.
3. Amendment to the Small Project Implementation Agreement without prior approval
Cases
a)a) if the budget reallocations between activities do not reach 15% (cumulative calculation)
b)if the reallocation budget lines within an activity does not reach 100.000 HUF:
The Small Project Executing Agency shall notify the Block Grant Intermediate Body together with the submission of the respective interim report about the modification.