INVITATIONEACEA No 02/2017

NATIONAL COORDINATORS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR ADULT LEARNING

ANNEX VI

GUIDELINES AND TEMPLATES

FOR REPORTING AND AMENDMENTS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. AMENDMENTS..............................................................................................................3

I.1 Changes which require an amendment request form sent as an attachment to an email...................................................................................................................4

I.2 Changes which do not require an amendment request form..................................4

II. REPORTING..................................................................................................................6

II.1 Purpose of the reports............................................................................................6II.2 Reporting Period...................................................................................................6II.3 Instructions to complete the reports......................................................................6II.4 Narrative and financial parts.................................................................................7II.5 Possible reimbursement of part of the grant.........................................................8II.6 Processing the Reports..........................................................................................8Annex 1: Template for Reports.................................................................................10Annex II: Amendment Request Form........................................................................22

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I. AMENDMENTS

An amendment is an act modifying the grant conditions initially agreed or established in clauses of the grant agreement or grant decision. It requires that one party requests a change that the other party agrees to. Beneficiaries have to inform the Agency of any changes they wish to introduce in advance in order to allow the necessary time for the analysis of the request. In most cases, the amendment will be made by an exchange of letters which implies that the agreement between the two parties will not be reached by countersigning the very same document but by exchanging two separate documents (letters).A request for amendment has to be submitted two months before the end of the eligibility period as provided in the grant agreement. However, exceptions to this rule are possible when there is a duly justified reason substantiated by the beneficiary and accepted by the Agency, provided this does not question the principles of amendments.

Four principles apply:

An amendment cannot question the decision to award the grant; An amendment cannot result in unequal treatment of applicants; An amendment can be made only in writing; The modification to a grant agreement/grant decision has to be authorised by the

same parties who have signed the initial agreement/decision.

Therefore, any request for modification must be accepted by the Agency in advance of your proposed change and must comply with the eligibility criteria set out in the Invitation.

The amendment request has to:

- be submitted by email (EACEA-EPLUS-AL@ec.europa.eu) to the Agency by an official letter or request form signed by the legal representative of the beneficiary, that is, the person who signed the Grant Agreement or his/her legal replacement; in some specific cases outlined below, a simple e-mail (without a letter) can be sent but the legal representative should at least be in copy of the email;

- be made, where required, on the specific amendment request form provided by the Agency under the link mentioned below;

- be submitted to the Agency normally before the change occurs and at least two months before the end of the eligibility period (Article I.10.6 of the Grant Agreement);

- duly justify the reasons for the proposed changes.

The Agency reserves the right to reject an amendment request that is not sufficiently justified. Once the amendment is made, it becomes an integral part of the initial Grant Agreement. The modifications to a Grant Agreement have to be authorised by the same parties who have signed the initial agreement. Furthermore, the amendment must be signed by the legal representative of the beneficiary organisation, i.e. the person who has the necessary powers to commit the entity. This can be the same person as the one who signed the Grant Agreement or it could be another person replacing the initial representative or a person to whom the

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authorisation to represent and commit the entity has been given by means of a specific mandate. If the person signing is not the legal representative identified as such in the Grant Agreement, a supporting document proving the authority to sign on behalf of the beneficiary should be submitted along with the request for amendment.

I.1 Changes which require an amendment request form sent as an attachment to an email

An amendment request form must be completed to request the following modifications on the Grant Agreement. The amendment request form contains further guidance and is available at: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/beneficiaries-space_en

i) Changes to the budget breakdown

Concerning adjustments to the budget breakdown, an amendment is not necessary provided that this adjustment does not affect the implementation of the action and the transfer between budget categories of eligible direct costs (see annex 1) does not exceed 10% of the amount of the category for which the transfer is intended (the category that increases), irrespective of the adjustment made between items of operational costs.

Please note that it is not possible to modify the total eligible budget, the amount of the EU Grant or the co-financing percentage.

ii) Change of bank account

If the bank account of the Beneficiary changes, please submit the financial identification form Sheet downloadable from the website: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/financial_id/financial_id_en.cfmThe form must be signed by the account holder in original and either stamped and signed by the bank concerned or accompanied by a recent bank statement.

iii) Changes to the work programme

Please note that an amendment request is only necessary for major changes to the work programme (e.g. changing original activities/products etc., adding new products, activities etc., skipping some original activities/products etc.). In case of doubt whether or not it is need to request a formal amendment, please contact the Agency.

iv) Change of beneficiary

In the very exceptional case where the beneficiary changes, a new designation letter must be sent to the European Commission, informing about the new designated body. Please contact the Agency if this situation applies.

Please note that an extension of the eligibility period is not possible.

I.2 Changes which do not require an amendment request form

The following section describes those cases where the use of the amendment request form is not needed.

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i) Changes via the Participant Portal

The Participant Portal is the platform where the LEAR (Legal Entity Appointed Representative) of each beneficiary registers any changes related to their legal entity. The accuracy of these changes and any supporting documents are checked and validated by the Research Executive Agency (REA). Once REA has validated these changes, they notify the beneficiary that this information is up to date in the database of the Commission (i.e. URF/PDM and ABAC).It is not required to send an amendment request to the Agency for these modifications. However, it is recommended to inform the Agency by email of the specific changes introduced via the Participant Portal for a better follow-up.

Address of the Participant Portal:http://ec.europa.eu/education/participants/portal/desktop/en/organisations/register.html

- In case of problems linked to your PIC or changes of legal entity's data, please follow these instructions:

• If you are a Self-registrant/LEAR please contact the Validation Services via the messaging tab of the PIC in the Participant Portal Beneficiary Register: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/organisations/register.html (log in with your ECAS account)

• For technical questions, please address your request to the IT helpdesk: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/api//contact/index.html

The modifications that must be made via the Participant Portal are the following:

Change of the legal status of the beneficiary:

The new legal status of the beneficiary must fulfil all the eligibility and selection criteria originally applied. If this change results in non-fulfilment of the eligibility and/or selection criteria, participation will be terminated. It will also be verified whether the eligibility criteria at project level are still respected. If this is not the case, the Agreement will be terminated.

change of legal name of the beneficiary

In certain cases, what appears to be a change of name may in reality be a different change (e.g. new legal entity, transfer of rights and obligations) which may require other supporting documents and a different treatment. In this case the Agency will inform you what documents are needed.

change of address of the beneficiary

The change will be accepted by the Agency provided that it is compatible with the eligibility criteria.

ii) Change of legal representative in the beneficiary organisation (person who signed the Grant Agreement)

An e-mail or letter signed by the new legal representative together with an official document confirming the name of this new legal representative is sufficient. If the e-mail is not sent by

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the new legal representative, he/she should be in copy. Examples of official documents include statutes and/or minutes of the Board.

iii) Change of contact person in the beneficiary organisation

A change of contact person in the beneficiary organisation (person indicated in Article I.6.3 of the Grant Agreement) does not require the use of the amendment request form. An e-mail or a letter signed by the legal representative of the beneficiary organisation must be submitted to the Agency outlining the reasons for the envisaged change. If the e-mail is not sent by the legal representative, he/she should be in copy.

II. REPORTING

II.1 Purpose of the reports

Reporting on your project's progress and achievements is both a crucial and beneficial part of the project management process.

In order to provide a practical and structured means for a project to report its achievements, the Agency has report templates – including a financial reporting table. The link to the reporting templates is: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/beneficiaries-space_en (see your particular action).

II.2 Reporting Period

The mid-term reporting period and deadline for submission of the progress Report is specified in the grant agreement, Article I.4.1. A Progress Report providing the Agency with a mid-term update on how a project is advancing against original plans and budgets must be submitted at the latest on the 30-11-2018.

A Final Report, covering the reporting for the entire project duration, must be submitted at the latest two months after the end of the project, i.e., on the 29-02-2020. The Final Report is due at the end of the project and allows the overall evaluation of the project.

II.3 Instructions to complete the reports

Please note the following points before you produce and submit your report to the Agency:• You must use the appropriate reporting templates and financial tables provided on the

Agency's website.• All sections and tables of the report templates must be completed.• The report should be written in one of the official working languages of the EU (English,

French or German). • The report should not be used as a means to signal major changes. These are subject to

formal amendment requests that should be submitted separately, at any event, within a minimum of 60 days before the end of the eligibility period.

• Even if the progress report (if applicable) is not linked to a payment (article 1.4.1 of the grant agreement), you are still required to submit the Statement of account. Please note that the purpose of the financial analysis is to provide beneficiaries with relevant feedback and time to take appropriate measures accordingly. The total eligible costs will be determined

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only at the reception of the Final Report.

II.3 How to submit the reports

Reports must be submitted using the eReports system, available in the Research and Innovation Participant Portal (https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/home.html).

You can find further information about the submission of the eReport under the 'Beneficiaries space': http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/beneficiaries-space_en

II.4 Narrative and financial parts

Narrative part

You will be requested to describe the project implementation in detail. The final report template can be downloaded in the 'Beneficiaries space'

Reports include a Declaration of honour by the beneficiary. This is a formal declaration of the accuracy of the information provided in your report. Make sure that this declaration is signed by the legal representative (the same person who signed the Grant Agreement or a person who has the mandate to sign). If the declaration page is signed by a different person, the Agency will not be in a position to accept the report, which would delay the due payment.

The report style and language should be accurate and concise. Copying content from the original application does not suit the external communication purpose of the report and is to be avoided. The report should include details of all /results produced within the reporting period in accordance with the approved work programme. It may contain diagrams and pictures illustrating the work of the project. It should be of a quality that allows it to be published without further revision or editing.

Financial part

You will be requested to present the financial aspects of the project implementation in detail. The budget table template can be downloaded in the 'Beneficiaries space': http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/beneficiaries-space_en

You must keep all supporting documents and records for a period of five years after the final balance of the grant is paid in case of audit. This period shall be limited to three years in case the maximum amount specified in Article I.3 of the grant agreement is lower than EUR 60 000.

Depending on the value of the grant the following shall be submitted:a) In case of grants for an action equal or inferior to EUR 60.000, the beneficiary is required

to submit the following sample of supporting documents:

Budget item/heading Sample to be annexed to the Final Financial ReportStaff The three highest consolidated staff costs (i.e. staff member

costs) for the whole eligibility periodSubcontracting The three highest value subcontractsTravel and 25% of the highest costs declared under this budget item

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subsistence

b) In case of grants for an action of more than EUR 60.000, but less than EUR 750.000 the beneficiary is required to submit, in support of the final financial statement, a “Report of Factual Findings on the Final Financial Report - Type I” as per instructions available in section "Audit procedure type I" on: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/about/eacea_documents_register_en.php

c) In case of grants for an action of grants equal to or more than EUR 750.000 the beneficiary is required to submit, in support of the final payment, a “Report of Factual Findings on the Final Financial Report - Type II” as per instructions available in section "Audit procedure type II" on: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/about/eacea_documents_register_en.php .

II.5 Possible reimbursement of part of the grant

The Agency will analyse the declaration of expenditure in order to arrive at the final EU grant. This analysis may lead to a request for reimbursement of a certain amount. If the beneficiary has to reimburse a certain amount a recovery order will be issued by the Agency for the agreement in question. The financial analysis of the Final Report will be explained to the Beneficiary in a settlement letter.

II.6 Processing the Reports

This document will be assessed by representatives of the Agency with in most cases the support of independent experts, to judge the project performance and decide upon the payment of the due part of the grant.

- Incompleteness of a reportIf a report is incomplete (for instance, some parts are missing or incorrect), the Agency may request that further information be supplied and provided through the submission of a new, updated version of the report. The submission of a new version of the report is especially important if it is not of sufficient quality for its publication. The Agency will specify the form in which the additional information should be submitted. In these cases, the period foreseen in the contract for payment will be suspended until the additional information has been received by the Agency.

- Rejection of a reportIn addition, there are a number of elements that are indispensable for the Agency to carry out an analysis of the report. The absence of any of these elements would render the Agency unable to assess the report and would thus lead to a rejection of the report until the missing information had been provided. The rejection letter is addressed to the beneficiary and mentions the reasons which justify the rejection.The consequence is the application of the article II.24.5 of the grant agreement "Suspension of the time limit for payment".

Hereafter the most common reasons for rejecting reports:

– the signature of the legal representative is missing

– there are parts missing

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– the financial part is missing or the amounts presented are not in accordance with the initially agreed budget

– the report has been submitted using wrong templates and/or the excel reporting tool

– the report has been submitted in a language other than English, French or German

In case that a report is not complete and additional information needs to be submitted, the related payment is likely to be delayed.

Once the assessment is complete, the Agency will inform the project with an acceptance letter, on the final evaluation results e.g. its decision and feedback on the project's progress and achievements.

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Annex 1: Template for Reports

ERASMUS+ PROGRAMME

National Coordinators for the Implementation of the European Agenda for Adult Learning

EACEA 02/2017

Enter the country here

Select Progress or Final Report

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GENERAL INFORMATION

Title: Enter your text here

Agreement/Decision number: Enter your text here

Website: Enter your text here

Reporting period

Progress report: From 01/11/2017

To 31/10/2018

Final report: From 01/11/2017

To 31/12/2019

Date of submission: Enter date

Beneficiary organisation: Enter your text here

Coordinator (contact person): Enter your text here

Coordinator email address: Enter your text here

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.

This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Please note that by the time of the submission of the Progress and Final reports, the Agency will have started using the e-reporting.

All beneficiaries will receive timely information including all the necessary technicalities on how to proceed with the e-reporting.

For questions, please contact us via the functional mailbox: EACEA-EPLUS-AL@ec.europa.eu

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Part 1 - General Description and Achievements1. Objectives (Present the objectives, the potential impact and benefits to the target user group.)

Please enter your text here

2. Methodology (Describe the methodology for achieving the objectives, including the evaluation strategy.)

Please enter your text here

3. Achievements (Describe the major achievements and results for the reporting period.)

Please enter your text here

Complete the following table (leave a blank space if not relevant).

Type of achievement Short Description (2 lines maximum)Permanent coordination mechanism between all stakeholdersIncreasing the supply of the adult learning provision

Measures to improve adults' basic skills

Measures to engage employers in workplace learningMeasures to improve the quality of adult learning

Improved knowledge base (study, research)

Procedures to assess and validate skills

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Meetings / conferences / seminars with stakeholders at regional and national levels

Peer learning activities / study visits

Participation in events of other National Coordinators / National Agencies or EPALE NSSsApplication of EU quality and transparency tools (EQF, EQAVET...)

Regular inputs to EPALE

Other achievement

4. Dissemination / Awareness raising on adult learning (Describe how awareness raising activities have supported national debates and dialogue on adult learning policies. Explain the type of collaboration established with the EPALE NSS and how results were transferred to the platform as well as other means of communication with stakeholders / target groups )

Please enter your text here

Complete the following table (leave a blank space if not relevant).

Means of communication with the target groups

Short description (provide address or type of outputs.)

Website of NC and other websites

EPALE

Social Media (Facebook, twitter..)

Folders/Brochures/Newsletters..

Radio/TV/Newspaper campaigns

Fairs/Lifelong learning days

Other

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5. Contribution to EU Policies and Impact (Describe the contribution in implementing the European Agenda for Adult Learning and the Impact on National Policies and on target groups)

Complete the following table (leave a blank space if not relevant).

Type of Impact Short description (5 lines maximum)

Increased participation of low skilled /low qualified adults in learning

Increased involvement of stakeholders at National, regional and local level

Increased involvement of the broader socio-economic area including social partners and individual employers

Policy reforms, action plans, strategies

Transnational cooperation resulting in knowledge transfer and exchange of good practices

Other impact

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6. Lessons learned (Address how the achievements or the problems incurred of this contractual period impact on your future strategies or activities)

Please enter your text here

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Part 2 - Implementation of the Work Programme -

Overview

This part comprises the following sections:

Section 1 Declaration of honour by the Beneficiary

Section 2 Implementation of the work programme and management

Section 3 Financial Reporting Table

It is mandatory to complete all parts in full.

The Financial Reporting Table (Section 3) is available on the Agency's webpage: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/beneficiaries-space_en

(Choose the action Key Action 3 – Support for Policy Reform – National Coordinators for the implementation of the European Agenda for Adult Learning, and click on "Filter" and then select "Reporting").

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SECTION 1 - DECLARATION OF HONOUR BY THE BENEFICIARY

Grant Agreement number: 2017 - nnnnn

I, the undersigned, hereby declare that the information contained in this Report is accurate and in accordance with the facts. In particular, I certify that the Financial Statement, provided as an Excel spreadsheet with this report, properly reflects the financial transactions made in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement and its Annexes signed with the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency and that full supporting documentation to justify the costs and revenues is available for checks and audits.

(Only for Final Report) I herewith request payment of the outstanding balance for the grant, in accordance with the terms of the Grant Agreement, which is EUR ………………

Signed in:       on    /    /     

Signature of the beneficiary's legal representative

Seal/stamp of the organisation

Name and function in capital letters

     

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SECTION 2 - IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WORK PROGRAMME AND MANAGEMENT

2.1 Implementation of work programme activities Please describe the implementation of the activities described in the work programme, including the list of all deliverables/ achievements. In case of problems encountered describe the solutions that have been either implemented (progress/final report) or are proposed (progress report). Copy the table as required in order to provide information on each activity of the work programme.

Work package number: Activity title:StartMonth number:

EndMonth number:

Duration in number of months

Fully accomplished Partially accomplished Not accomplished[x] [x] [x]

Description of activity and related sub-activities

Deliverables: outputs / results / achievementsDeviations (if any) from the initial planning (activities/deliverables) and implemented or proposed solutionsList of products attached to your report (for example list of participants; agenda and minutes of meetings; products; newsletters, etc…). Please number the products themselves and use the same numbering in the list that you provide here.

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Tasks that were subcontracted N° days (where appropriate)

Brief description of task Name and address of subcontractor

2.2 Update of the work programme (only for progress reports)

Please describe the planned activities until the end of the period

Work Package Number

Activity Title

Copy table as required

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2.2 Overall management

Please explain the methodology put in place to manage the activities, the coordination with the different stakeholders and the implementation of quality assurance tools. Report on any particular difficulty encountered related to the management.

Please enter your text here

Agreement Number:

SECTION 3 - FINANCIAL REPORTING TABLE

The financial reporting must be carried out using the Excel workbook that has been provided by the Agency for that purpose.

The template can be found on the following Executive Agency's beneficiary's space http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/beneficiaries-space_en

(Choose the action Key Action 3 – Support for Policy Reform – National Coordinators for the implementation of the European Agenda for Adult Learning, click on "Filter" and then select "Reporting")

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Agreement Number:

Annex II: Amendment Request Form

ERASMUS+ PROGRAMME

Amendment Request Form

National Coordinators for the Implementation of the European Agenda for Adult Learning (AL-AGENDA)

Agreement Number:Title:

Beneficiary organisation:

DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY

I, the undersigned, hereby declare that the information attached is accurate and in accordance with the facts.

(Original signature of the person legally authorised to act onbehalf of the beneficiary organisation and who signed the original agreement)

Name of legal representative: ………………………………………………..……………………Position within the beneficiary organisation: ................…………………………..……………… Place & Date: ………………………………………………………......………………………

Form to be returned by e-mail to EACEA-EPLUS-AL-AGENDA@ec.europa.eu

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Agreement Number:

AMENDMENTS: INTRODUCTION

Amendments to the agreement are subject to written requests, dated and signed by the beneficiary's legal representative. These amendments are also subject to formal endorsement by the Agency. Please note that an amendment only takes effect when the Agency has formally accepted it by sending an acceptance letter.

Following the completion of the appropriate section(s) of this form, please print, sign, date and return it by email (see previous page for email address), together with all appropriate annexes, to the Agency. Only relevant completed sections of this form need to be sent.

This request for amendment to the initial grant agreement (including previous amendments), concerns the following item(s) (please, tick the box(es), as appropriate):

A Changes to the budget breakdown B Change of bank account C Changes to the work programme

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Agreement Number:

A Changes to the budget breakdown

Please note that: The initial amount of the grant cannot be increased

It is not possible to retroactively change the eligibility of costs through an amendment

An amendment request relating to an adjustment to the budget breakdown is not necessary when the transfer between budget categories of eligible direct costs i.e. between staff costs and operational costs (travel and subsistence, equipment, subcontracting, others) does not exceed 10% of the amount of the category of eligible direct costs for which the transfer is intended (the category that increases), irrespective of the adjustment made between items of operational costs

New subcontracting costs cannot be executed before prior approval of the Agency

Doubleclick on the following table to fill it in.

Direct costs 0Category A- Staff costsCategory B- operational costs: 0Travel and subsistenceEquipment 0Subcontracting 0Other 0Total direct costs 0 0 0

0

TOTAL BUDGET (EURO) DIFFERENCE (EURO)

Initial allocation

Allocation with requested changes

Indirect costs (max 7% of total direct costs)

Reasons for requesting these changes (max 1/2 page)

Please attach to your request an updated version of the financial table used for the project application.

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Agreement Number:

B. Change of bank account

If the bank account of the Beneficiary changes, please submit the financial identification form Sheet downloadable from the website: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/financial_id/financial_id_en.cfm

The form must be signed by the account holder in original and either stamped and signed by the bank concerned or accompanied by a recent bank statement. Please note we cannot accept a financial identification form which does not bear an original signature.

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Agreement Number:

C. Changes to the work programme

Please note that a formal amendment request is only necessary for major changes to the work programme (e.g. changing original activities/products etc., adding new products, activities etc., skipping some original activities/products etc.). If you are in doubt whether or not you need to request a formal amendment, please contact the Agency.

Activity Title Proposed changes

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