Commission Decision of 5 March 2008 laying down rules for the implementation of Decision No 574/2007/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the External Borders Fund for the period 2007 to 2013 as part of the General programme ‘Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows’ as regards Member States' management and control systems, the rules for administrative and financial management and the eligibility of expenditure on projects co-financed by the Fund (notified under document number C(2008) 789) (Only the Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish texts are authentic) (2008/456/EC)

3. OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL PROCESSES U.K.

3.1. Establishing multiannual programmes
Short description of the process[This description should include the responsible authority and the delegated authority(ies)]
	Key targets	Achieved?	Comments
1	Arrangements are foreseen to ensure the implementation of the principle of partnership in accordance with current national rules and practices	Y/N
2	Procedures are defined to check that the multiannual programme is consistent with the strategic guidelines and complies with Community law, in particular with Community law aiming at ensuring the free movement of persons in conjunction with the directly related flanking measures with respect to external border controls, asylum and immigration	Y/N
3	The multiannual programme will be approved by a duly authorised person	Y/N

3.2. Establishing annual programmes
Short description of the process[This description should include the responsible authority and the delegated authority(ies)]
	Key targets	Achieved?	Comments
1	Procedures are established to ensure: consistency between the annual programmes and the multiannual programme the eligibility of the actions envisaged in the annual programmes consistency and complementarity of these actions with other national and Community instruments the compliance with the rules concerning co-financing percentage consistency with the priorities/specific priorities stated in the strategic guidelines	Y/N
2	Procedures are established to enable the revision of an annual programme in case of duly substantiated emergency situations as described in the basic act, if applicable	Y/N
3	Procedures are established to enable the submission of a revision of an annual programme when required under Article 23(1) of this decision	Y/N
4	Any modification to the financial breakdown of an annual programme and the reasons for it is documented	Y/N
5.	Any modification in the implementation of the annual programme not relating to the financial breakdown (e.g. on nature and timing of the calls for proposals or the scope of technical assistance) and the reason for it is documented	Y/N

3.3. Establishing the audit strategy and the annual audit plans
Short description of the process[This description concerns the audit authority]
	Key targets	Achieved?	Comments
1	Rules are defined to ensure a transparent and appropriate communication from the responsible authority to the audit authority on management procedures implemented and on projects prior to and throughout the programming period	Y/N
2	Procedures are established to define annual audit plans (to be annexed each year to the audit strategy) and to send them to the Commission in time (if applicable)	Y/N
3	The audit strategy and the annual audit plans are approved by a duly authorised person	Y/N

3.4. Responsible authority acting as an executing body — if applicable
Short description of the reasons leading the responsible authority to implement projects directly and the specific arrangements foreseen to strengthen the management and control systems[This description should include all authorities]
	Key targets	Achieved?	Comments
1	The justification of the need for the responsible authority to implement projects will be documented and endorsed at the appropriate level	Y/N
2	Specific arrangements are put in place to ensure that the nature and the objectives of the projects comply with the provisions defined for the Fund
3	Specific arrangements are put in place in order to prevent conflict of interest for the projects implemented by the responsible authority	Y/N
4	Specific arrangements are put in place to ensure the principle of value for money is respected in the implementation of projects by the responsible authority	Y/N
5	Procedures are defined to ensure that the contractual terms governing these projects are clear and complete in particular with regard to the financing conditions, the payment terms, the eligibility rules and the obligations regarding operational and financial reporting	Y/N
6	Specific arrangements are put in place in order to ensure that the main functions of the responsible authority as provided for in the basic act are not affected in relation to the projects implemented by the responsible authority	Y/N
7	When the responsible authority acts as an executing body, the audit authority is located in another body than the responsible authority (if not, please describe the additional guarantees put in place to ensure the proper independence of the audit authority)	Y/N
8	The audit strategy will cover the specific risks which may be related to the implementation of projects by the responsible authority	Y/N

3.5. Selection and implementation of the projects (Responsible authority acting as an awarding body)
Short description of the process[This description should include the responsible authority and the delegated authority(ies)]
	Key targets	Achieved?	Comments
1	In the case of call for proposals (or tenders), rules are defined to ensure open competition and adequate publicity	Y/N
2	Selection criteria will comply with the minimum criteria defined in the basic act	Y/N
3	Procedures are defined for the receipt of proposals (or tenders)	Y/N
4	Procedures are defined to ensure that the proposals (or tenders) are assessed against the predefined rules and criteria in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner	Y/N
5	The award decisions and the contracts/grant agreements will be approved by a duly authorised person	Y/N
6	Procedures are defined to ensure adequate ex-post information on the results of the selection process to the applicants	Y/N
7	Procedures are defined to ensure the monitoring of the implementation of grant agreements/contracts according to the contractual terms	Y/N

3.6. Monitoring of the projects implemented by the final beneficiaries
Short description of the process[This description should include the responsible authority and the delegated authority(ies)]
	Key targets	Achieved?	Comments
1	Key operational and financial indicators will be established, monitored and communicated to the responsible authority for each project	Y/N
2	On-the-spot verifications by the responsible authority are foreseen to allow monitoring (of both the operational and financial aspects) of the projects	Y/N
3	The responsible authority will ensure that final beneficiaries make use of an appropriate accounting system in computerised form	Y/N
4	The responsible authority will ensure that final beneficiaries implement the provisions on the visibility of the EU funding	Y/N

3.7. Financial management of the project
Short description of the process[involves the responsible authority and the delegated authority(ies)]
	Key targets	Achieved?	Comments
1	Financial transactions will be approved by duly authorised persons	Y/N
2	Prior to making any payments/recoveries, verifications will be carried out in particular in order to monitor: the accuracy and the regularity of the payment request, with regard to the eligibility rules for the Fund(s) that products and/or services co-financed by the project have actually been delivered the accuracy, completeness and effective payment of other contributions received from public or private resources that the results of any audit activity have been taken into account	Y/N
3	Verifications will be carried out in order to have a reasonable assurance of the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions	Y/N
4	Supervisory controls will be carried out throughout the programming period to ensure that the established financial procedures are respected	Y/N
5	Verifications will be performed on the complementarity with other Community financial programmes in order to avoid double funding	Y/N

3.8. Irregularities, corrections and recoveries
Short description of the process[This description should include the responsible authority, the delegated authority(ies) and the certifying authority]
	Key targets	Achieved?	Comments
1	Definitions of irregularities are established and comply with the Community requirements	Y/N
2	Mechanisms are in place to ensure that irregularities can be detected in due time and immediate corrective measure are taken	Y/N
3	Procedures are in place to ensure that the Commission is kept informed of irregularities detected, and if appropriate, of any corrective measures taken in accordance with the obligations set out in this decision	Y/N
4	Procedures are in place to ensure a proper follow-up of recovery orders issued and, if applicable, of default interest	Y/N
5	In case recovery orders cannot be cashed in, causes will be identified to evaluate whether Member States should reimburse the funds to the Community Budget or not	Y/N

3.9. Preparation and implementation of audit missions
Short description of the process[This description should include the audit authority and, as potential auditees, the responsible authority and the delegated authority(ies) and, as recipient of the conclusions, the certifying authority]
	Key targets	Achieved?	Comments
1	The audit practice is in line with internationally accepted standards	Y/N
2	An audit manual is established for use by the auditors on the basis of the requirements defined in the basic act	Y/N
3	Audits will be carried out to verify the effective functioning of the management and control systems	Y/N
4	The checks to be carried on the eligible expenditure will be based on an appropriate sample, and will consist of at least 10 % of eligible expenses	Y/N
5	The verifications on eligible expenses will verify at least the compliance, effectiveness and efficiency of the following elements: selection procedure, objectives of the project, reality of the achievements, eligibility of the expenses, valid supporting documents for the expenses, national co-financing, audit trail	Y/N
6	A follow-up of earlier recommendations will take place on a regular basis	Y/N
7	The projects implemented by the responsible authority will be subject to robust scrutiny	Y/N

3.10. Audit report on annual programmes and related declarations
Short description of the process[This description should involved the audit authority]
	Key targets	Achieved?	Comments
1	Procedures are established to consolidate the conclusions of the systems audit and the audit of projects for each annual programme	Y/N
2	Checks will be performed to assess the validity of the requests for payment	Y/N
3	Further examination will be launched in case of systemic errors or errors over the materiality threshold are detected	Y/N
4	The report and the related declarations will be approved by a duly authorised person	Y/N

3.11. Certification of expenditure
Short description of the process[involves primarily the certifying authority but also the responsible authority and the delegated authority(ies)]
	Key targets	Achieved?	Comments
1	Procedures are established to ensure that the necessary information is received from the responsible authority for the purpose of certification	Y/N
2	Procedures are established to ensure that the audit report on each annual programme and the related declarations are received from the audit authority	Y/N
3	Procedures are established to ensure that recoveries are taken into account for the final declaration of expenditure and to follow on-going legal proceedings or administrative appeals with suspensive effect regarding recoveries	Y/N
4	Verifications will be performed to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the declaration of expenditure (in particular, on any interest generated by the pre-financing received from the Commission as well as its effective use as national contribution)	Y/N
5	In case of local currency, the methods used for the calculation in Euro comply with the rules defined by the Commission	Y/N

3.12. Evaluation of the programme
Short description of the process[involves the responsible authority and the delegated authority(ies)]
	Key targets	Achieved?	Comments
1	The guidance documents from the Commission on evaluations are disseminated widely and made available to all potential final beneficiaries and other interested parties	Y/N
2	The key operational and financial indicators provided by the final beneficiaries to measure the achievements of the project will be recorded	Y/N
3	The responsible authority (and/or delegated authorities) will ensure that the indicators provided are appropriate to measure the outcome and results of each project	Y/N
4	Procedures are in place to ensure that the necessary evaluation will be carried out as required by the basic act	Y/N