Transcript Presentation for CoR 19 June 2014

Administrative Capacity Building
linked to the management of ESI
Funds
Priorities for 2014-2016
Committee of the Regions, 19 June 2014
Pascal Boijmans
Hugh Goldsmith
Nathalie Verschelde
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative
Capacity-Building and the Solidarity Fund"
1
Mandate
We are a new unit set up to enhance the
capacity of the Commission services to help
Member States and regions to overcome
implementation bottlenecks linked to
administrative capacity problems in order to
accelerate the absorption of Funds and
improve the quality of spending in the
current and future programming period. (E1
mission statement)
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative
Capacity-Building and the Solidarity Fund"
2
Scope of our work:
• Administrative capacity linked to the management of the funds
• Geographical: Member States and regions with weaker
administrative capacity
• Horizontal: e.g. public procurement, environment, state aid, Land
Registers
• Sectoral: sectors which lag behind in absorption like railways,
waste water treatment, solid waste, information society
• Knowledge development: WB, OECD, EIB/Jaspers, Interact, IQ
Net, RSA…: methodologies, indicators, training, networks
• Good practice database: exchange of good examples
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative Capacity-Building
and the Solidarity Fund"
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How to design administrative capacity?
Three interrelated factors determine the success
of each step in the policy life cycle:
•Structure & Governance
•Human Resources
•Systems and Tools
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative Capacity-Building
and the Solidarity Fund"
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Administrative capacity bottlenecks in
Member States
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Complexity of administrative organisations in some MS
with unclear delegation of tasks
High staff turnover in some MS: lack of clear HR policy
Development and implementation of strategic plans:
weak in several MS
Weak project development capacity of (local)
beneficiaries
Underperforming sectors due to administrative capacity
Bottlenecks linked to public procurement and state aid
Insufficient monitoring systems in place
Risk of fraud and corruption: reputational risk
STATE OF PLAY – IMPLEMENTATION 2007-2013
Implementation
rates after 7 years =
62% and 57% for
ERDF and CF
Interruptions of
payments amount to
€ 4.3 billion
€ 1 billion financial
corrections
SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE…
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative Capacity-Building
and the Solidarity Fund"
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Strong correlation between Government
Effectiveness and Corruption
Latest data for
all 28 Member
States
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Competence Centre Work programme
Already launched during 2013 :
Guidance and screening (27 PAs + 10 OPs)
Public Procurement Action Plan
Expert Exchange System (demand/supply analysis)
Anti-fraud & anti-corruption events
Study on funding of salaries from TA budgets
Knowledge development (country fiches, EIBURS,
links to international organisations)
Extended matrix with strong and active participation
and Inter-Service Group
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative Capacity-Building
and the Solidarity Fund"
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Also coming in 2014-2016 :
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Modelling of fund management bodies
Strategic training programme
Exchange Platform for MAs and IBs
Integrity Pacts pilot project
Action Plan on State Aid
Knowledge development : indicators
Transparency, open data & promoting good governance
Better implementation rates,
reduced error rates, more
effective investments
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative Capacity-Building
and the Solidarity Fund"
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2 concrete project examples:
 Public Procurement Action Plan
 Hugh Goldsmith
 CEES: Common Expert Exchange System
 Nathalie Verschelde
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative Capacity-Building
and the Solidarity Fund"
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Public Procurement
Action Plan
EP Public Hearing
01.10.2013
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OLAF Study 2013 - Headlines
• Direct public loss was 18% of the overall
project budgets concerned, of which 13%
attributed to corruption
• Overall direct cost of corruption for 5 sectors
& 8 Member States studied estimated at:
€1.4 - 2.2 billion
• Main forms of corruption: Bid-rigging; kickbacks; conflicts-of-interest; deliberate
mismanagement
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Public Procurement (PP) Basics
Key principles
• Transparency
• Equal treatment &
non-discrimination
• Proportionality
… in purchase of works,
supplies and services by
public entities or entities with
a public service mission in
“special” sectors (water,
energy, transport and postal
services)
Legal enactment
• Directive 2004/18/EC
(Classic Directive)
• Directive 2004/17/EC
(Special sectors)
• Directive 2007/66/EC
(Remedies Directive)
• MARKT Interpretative
Communications &
Explanatory Notes
• ECJ Case Law
A complex area with …
 New Directives 2014
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Public Procurement using ESI Funds
RISKS
Compliance:
• Fraud/Corruption
• Errors =>
Financial
Corrections
OPPORTUNITIES
Use of public funds:
• Value-for-money
• Support to policy
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Improving public procurement (PP)
involving EU Funds is a priority
 It matters - 19% of EU GDP passes through public
procurement!
 Increasing EU-level competition for PP contracts is a core
policy strengthening the single market
 PP errors are single most common cause of administrative
errors and financial corrections across all EU Funds
 Slow PP procedures delay funds implementation
 Better PP procedures and management systems can help
limit risks related to Fraud & Corruption through more
transparency, "red flag" checks etc
 Major scope to pursue broader policy objectives via PP
(green PP, PP of innovation, social inclusion, SME access to
markets)
… need to build capacity
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DG REGIO audit work
Public Procurement irregularities
 40% of irregularities detected by DG REGIO since
2005 are due to non-compliance with Public
Procurement rules
 European Court of Auditors: DAS 2011: 44% of
all quantifiable errors were due to Public
Procurement. From 2007-2012 32% of all
transactions audited were affected by PP errors
 National audits: report more and more
irregularities on Public Procurement
 Affects all Member States
Lots of fragmented initiatives …
• DG ENV 2008 "Green Public Procurement" toolkit
• DG MARKT 2011 Study "Public procurement in
Europe: Cost and effectiveness"
• DG MARKT 2012 Implementation Report &
"Golden book of e-procurement good practices"
• DG ENTR 2013 Launch of "Procurement of
Innovation Platform"
• OLAF 2013 Study "Identifying and reducing the
costs of corruption in Public Procurement"
• DG HOME 2014 First "EU Anti-corruption Report"
identifies PP as "most vulnerable area"
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Technical Working Group on PP
established Sept 2013
Purpose: To develop common understanding of issues,
and to prepare & deliver an Action Plan to support MS
improve Public Procurement performance for ESI Funded
investments during 2014-2020
REGIO (Chair), MARKT, EMPL, AGRI, MARE, EIB
 ESI Fund DG's have most "in the field" knowledge from audits
 MARKT primary focus is on policy (transposition and
application of legislation), particularly preparation for new PP
Directives, but also increasingly looking at implementation
issues
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ESI Funds PP Joint Action Plan
Action
Status Comments
Prepare and appropriately disseminate On-going Prelim draft Guidance and Toolkit
Draft ready for discussion
Practical Guidance on "How to avoid
common PP errors"
Compilation and analysis of PP
On-going Most data rec'd
evidence/indicators on performance
Data request to ECA pending
related to EAC negotiations
MS v EC opinion
Transparency initiative against
corruption/fraud in PP
On-going Anti-Fraud Conferences: SK, CZ,
BG, RO, HR, IT (last 25/6)
MS specific Action Plans (RO, GR, BG & On-going On-going in RO, BG pending (GR
GU lead
IT)
under Programme), IT proposal
Stock-taking/analysis of MS lessons
learned, dissemination tools, good
practices, etc. to improve PP capacity
Guidance on how to prepare and
follow-up on EAC Action Plans
Scoping
Pilot integrity pacts
Scoping
Started
Initial scoping mission to Scottish
Procurement. ToR under
preparation
Learning by doing in BG. Will be
prepared by E1 with Expert
Under study by REGIO/E1
Approved by REGIO Board February 2014
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Other Actions Identified
 Preparation for new PP Directives (2016) –
support to transposition, training, dissemination
programmes (MARKT lead)
 Assessment of current practices and scope to
improve PP professionalization and
accreditation linked to funds (will be started
under Stocktaking Study)
 Training/networks on PP as a strategic tool for
Cohesion Policy (e.g. e-procurement, Green PP,
Innovation: coordination with DGs ENTR and ENV)
 Peer-to-Peer exchange mechanism (CEES) to
include PP as pilot topic
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Practical Guidance on
"How to avoid common PP errors"
 Target Audience is “Procurement Officer” managing dayto-day procurement activities
 Guidance structured around the main stages of a public
procurement process, highlighting issue to look out for and
potential mistakes to avoid, with links through to a more
detailed …
 Toolkit of resources addressing specific topics in greater
depth and giving concrete examples on what to do and
what not to do during the procurement and contract
management stages of the project cycle.
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Guidance for Practitioners
Structure:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Preparation and planning
Invitation to bid
Bid submission and opening
Evaluation
Award
Contract implementation
Step by step description of
the PP process
 highlights areas of typical
mistakes
 why and how to avoid them
 explanations of how to
handle each situation
 list of most common/ most
serious errors
 Link to Toolkits on specific
topics with examples
Translation into EU languages
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Achievements to date:
• Good collaboration & coordination
mechanism established with mandate to
deliver useful tools to support MS
• Focus on both compliance (reduce errors)
and value-added (policy support)
• Concrete actions and deliverables
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative
Capacity-Building and the Solidarity Fund"
24
Common Expert Exchange
System (CEES)
Supply/demand analysis
 PURPOSE:
Is there interest for a peer-to-peer exchange system among
the ESIF management bodies (MA,CA,AA, IB) ?
 METHODOLOGY:
- On-line questionnaire all MA, CA and AA
- Interviews in 8 Member States (33 institutions)
 CONTRACTOR
European Institute of Public Administration (Maastricht, NL)
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative
Capacity-Building and the Solidarity Fund"
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Common Expert Exchange
System (CEES)
Supply/demand analysis
KEY QUESTIONS:
 Do you have capacity building needs ? Which ones ?
 How do you go about building capacity ?
 Your experience with private consultants and peer-topeer support ?
 Your interest in peer-to-peer exchanges ? To do what ?
 Role of the Commission ?
 Use of Technical Assistance to cover costs ?
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative
Capacity-Building and the Solidarity Fund"
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Web-survey : response rate
Number of addressees (persons): 408
Number of replies submitted: 131
Percentage submitted replies: 32%
Responses from 27 MS
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative CapacityBuilding and the Solidarity Fund"
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Key findings - survey (1)
Interest
Needs
YES
NO
YES
No opinion
5%
6%
NO
No opinion
5%
48%
46%
90%
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative Capacity-Building
and the Solidarity Fund"
28
Key findings – survey (2)
Type of capacity-building measures used
conferences/seminars
private consultants
Networks/platforms
Peers from other MS
academic institutions
Twinning/TAIEX pre accession
IFI
other
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative CapacityBuilding and the Solidarity Fund"
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Key findings - survey (3)
Likely to use peer-to-peer
highly likely
indifferent
highly unlikely
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative Capacity-Building and the
Solidarity Fund"
30
Key findings - survey (4)
Assistance required mostly for :
1.Programme Management : financial instruments,
simplified cost options, financial management
and verifications, anti-fraud measures
2.Ex-ante conditionalities : Public Procurement
and State Aid
3.Thematic Objectives : TO1 (Research &
Innovation) and TO11 (institutional capacity)
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative Capacity-Building and the
Solidarity Fund"
31
Key findings – survey (5)
role of the Commission
database good practices
draft assignement requests
legal & admin support
quality control (screening)
National contact points
launch seminars
document exchange
matchmaker
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative Capacity-Building and the
Solidarity Fund"
32
Key findings - survey (6)
Prepared to pay ?
YES with TA
YES own resources
NO
47%
50%
3%
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative Capacity-Building and the
Solidarity Fund"
33
Key findings – survey (7)
Prepared to pilot ?
yes, as a recipient
yes, as a provider
not now
16%
16%
68%
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative Capacity-Building and the
Solidarity Fund"
34
Key findings – interviews (1)
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative Capacity-Building and the
Solidarity Fund"
35
Key findings – interviews (2)
• Strong message that more systematic peer-to-peer exchanges
would be most welcome – interviewees in their majority expressed a
need to have more contacts with peers
• But also strong need to have a place where they can talk to each
other, and to the Commission = platform ? Social media ?
• Ad-hoc networks exist – build on them or embed them in a wider
system
• Peer-to-peer assistance is complementary to private sector
consultant assistance. Neither can cover all the needs – both should
be used depending on the needs and tasks
• If a system is set up, it should be : light (non-bureaucratic), flexible
(short, medium and long-term assignments), rapid (quick missions for
burning issues)
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative Capacity-Building and the
Solidarity Fund"
36
Main conclusions :
• MS strongly in favour of a peer-to-peer
exchange system
• System must be light, flexible and rapid
• Commission should coordinate and control
quality
• Also a strong need for a platform to
exchange views, questions, practices
• And a need for more training (new CPR)
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative
Capacity-Building and the Solidarity Fund"
37
Follow-up
Peer-to-peer
• Unit E1 to make proposals to REGIO Board
of Directors (July)
• Pilot projects during Autumn 2014
• Exploring system options (IT, coordination in
MS, database of experts, etc.)
• Launch system early 2015
• Evaluate in 2018
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative
Capacity-Building and the Solidarity Fund"
38
Follow-up
Other measures
• Explore options to set up an IT-platform for
MA, CA, AA. Technical dimension, content
and management
• Organise strategic training on new elements
of ESIF implementation for 2014-2020 (pilot
project on-going, first training session on
23-24/06)
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative
Capacity-Building and the Solidarity Fund"
39
Staffing and contacts in Competence
Centre REGIO.E1
 Pascal Boijmans, HoU
 Ann-Kerstin Myleus, Deputy HoU
 Daniela Negreanu, Secretariat
 AC Team: Inguna Kramina, Agnieszka Krasicka, Denisa
Perrin, Nathalie Verschelde, Hugh Goldsmith (EIB), Laura
Indriliunaite, Anna-Lena Zademach
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Thank you !
Please do contact us 
[email protected]
DG Regional and Urban Policy - Unit E1 "Competence Centre for Administrative
Capacity-Building and the Solidarity Fund"
41