EN    EN EN 
 
EN    EN  COMMISSION OF THE E UROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 8.4.2009 
SEC(2009) 477 final 
COMMUNICATION FROM MRS GRYBAUSKAIT Ė  
IN AGREEMENT WITH THE PRES IDENT TO THE COMMISSION 
Streamlining financial rules and acceleratin g budget implementation to help economic 
recovery 
 
EN 2   EN COMMUNICATION FROM MRS GRYBAUSKAIT Ė  
IN AGREEMENT WITH THE PRES IDENT TO THE COMMISSION 
Streamlining financial rules and acceleratin g budget implementation to help economic 
recovery  
In the face of the current acute economic crisis, every possible measure needs to be taken to 
ensure that public funds are im plemented in the most efficien t and effective manner: delivery 
should be quicker and administra tive procedures should be adjusted to respond to the 
developing circumstances without compromi sing the quality of the projects or the 
indispensible checks that ensure  sound financial management. 
The simplification and streamlining of financial rules and procedures, which is a prerequisite 
for better implementation, has been one of th e main objectives of this Commission since 
2004. A first step in this dynamic process was a ccomplished with the revision of the Financial 
Regulation1 (FR) in 2007, in particular through the improvement of delivery methods 
(contracts and grants) and accrued transparency. In parallel, the new generation of spending 
programmes 2007-2013 also brought in  significant simplifications  and further enhanced the 
efficiency of spending of EU money: the num ber of programmes has been reduced and legal 
instruments have been put on the same wave length as the multiannual financial framework. 
As a result, the action of the EU has gained in  visibility and budget ex ecution has significantly 
improved throughout the mandate of this Commi ssion, ensuring that EU resources are spent 
on the right things in the ri ght place at the right time. 
The next major step will be the forthcoming re vision of the financial rules in 2010 (Financial 
Regulation and its Implementing Rules2) and the "reforming the budget, changing Europe" 
process, which will also focus on the deliver y mechanisms, including simplification, of the 
EU budget. Indeed, this has been identified as a continuing priori ty following the public 
consultation held in 2008. Both these tracks offer the potential for more significant 
improvements, but they will take time to co me into effect because they entail long 
interinstitutional negotiations.  
With this in mind and building upon the reform s already introduced in 2007, the Commission 
believes that certain immediat e measures can be taken, wit hout reopening the existing legal 
texts, in order to generate some additional "quick wins", further enhancing budget execution 
and speeding the flow of EU res ources to beneficiaries, thus contributing to the Commission's 
strategy to help economic recovery. The measures  will focus on the part of the budget that the 
Commission implements directly (centralised ma nagement), so as to maximise the impact of 
public spending in a minimum time.  
This is the purpose of the present Communication. 
                                                 
1 OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. 
2 OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 1. 
 
EN 3   EN This Communication is presented together with  a Commission proposal to reduce delays in 
payments by the Member States of  invoices in commercial transactions3 (i.e. contracts) to 30 
days. It aims at applying the same time-limits  to the payments made by the Commission. Its 
scope is even larger, as the proposed targets for reduced time-limits concern both contracts 
and grants. 
The following measures are envisaged: 
1. QUICKER RELEASE OF EU FUNDS  
The Commission has always been concerned and engaged to ensu re that payments 
are made as rapidly as possible4. The last revision of the Financial Regulation 
introduced a series of measures in orde r to improve payment delays, including the 
mandatory payment of interest for late  payments. Significant progress has been 
achieved since 2005, thanks to the measures  taken by the Commission to address the 
reasons for late payments, the number of  late payments has been reduced from 
approximately 43% to 22%. However, more needs to be done in these difficult times given the crucial importance of the need for increased fluidity of funds for all 
beneficiaries, and especia lly for the SME and NGOS.  
This is why the Commission is now propos ing to go a step further by implementing 
the following measures.  
Measure 1: Speed up 'first' pre-financ ing payments under 20 calendar days 
Pre-financing payments, by definition, do not  involve as many checks as interim or 
final payments, which depend on the comple tion of a phase of a project and the 
approval of the corresponding reports a nd relevant supporting documents. Pre-
financing payments which are not subject to any further check or condition and are 
due upon signature of the contr act, grant agreement or decisi on ('first pre-financing'), 
should be made well before the 45 days (or 30 days for service and supply contracts) 
time-limit foreseen in the Implementi ng Rules (Article 106). The Commission 
therefore aims at achieving a target date for first pre-financing payment below 20 
days , from the date of the conclusion (signa ture) of the contract, grant agreement or 
decision to the day on which the Commission bank account is debited
5.  
Measure 2: Speed up all other payments 
For all other payments –i.e. 'renewed pre-fi nancing', interim and final payments-, the 
Commission will apply a 30-day time limit  where currently 45 days apply (in the 
case of grants). When cumulated with the limits foreseen in the Implementing Rules 
for the approval of reports or cer tificates (Article 106), the following maximum  
time-limits should be respected by all Commi ssion services for both the approval of 
                                                 
3 See Commission proposal of a recast of Directive 2000/35/EC on combating late payment in 
commercial transactions (COM(2009) 126 final). 
4 This concern is particularly shared by the European Ombudsman who has recently launched an own 
initiative enquiry on the issue, following the one conducted in 2008.  
5 Due to the constraints linked to the annual budgetary closure and th e making available of carryovers, 
the period between 15 December and 15 January will not be taken into account for the delay targeted 
under this measure. 
 
EN 4   EN reports and  the related payments (overall):  
- for contracts: 60 days (versu s 90 days at the moment);  
- for grants: 90 days (versu s 105 days at the moment). 
In calendar days
No report or 
certificateIncl. report or 
certificateTOTALNo report or 
certificateIncl. report or 
certificateTOTAL
First pre-financing (service 
& supply contracts)30 none 30 20 none 20
First pre-financing
(other contracts & grants)45 none 45 20 none 20
Other payments
(contracts)30 20/45/60 50/75/90 30 20/30 50/60
Other payments
(grants)45 45/60 90/105 30 45/60 75/90TARGET CURRENT TIME-LIMITS
 
Meeting this ambitious target will require  a specific effort, given the number and 
volume of payments handled by the Co mmission and the proportion which is 
currently overdue compared to existing time-limits6.  
The Commission believes that measures 1 and 2 should facilitate the start up and 
steer progress in the implem entation of projects so as to further reduce the under-
execution of EU funds. These measures ar e also in line with the Commission's 
announcements in the recovery plan7 and its proposal on late payments in 
commercial transactions. 
Services ensure that effective payment times for interim and final payments only 
exceed the objectives set in the present comm unication if duly justified in the light of 
particular circumstances such as an object ive need to schedule payment over a longer 
period. Payments times however remain w ithin the limits set by the Implementing 
Rules. 
The services of the Accounting Officer will monitor regularly progress in the 
implementation of the above measures on a quarterly basis in  line with the 
Commission's commitment to the Ombudsman on this issue. The first appraisal will 
be made on the basis of payment delays  observed during the last quarter of 2009. 
Interests for late payments will continue  to be applied in accordance with the 
regulatory time-limits, as set in Arti cle 106(5) of the Implementing Rules. 
In addition, the Commission recalls that: 
• Invoices and cost statements should be re gistered as soon as they are received; 
• Time-limit of 60 days for the approval of  reports or certifi cates should only be 
used in particularly complex circumst ances, in accordance with Article 106(3), 
second subparagraph.  
                                                 
6 In 2007, 22% payments were late in number, representing 12% in volume.  
7 COM(2008)800 final, 26.11.2008. 
 
EN 5   EN • In the cases where a report or a certi ficate cannot be approved, for instance 
because some documents are missing, servic es should not hesitate to suspend the 
time-limit payment as it is foreseen in the financial rules. In such cases naturally, the time of the suspension is not c ounted for the purpose of the present 
Communication. However, any suspension mu st be justified in accordance with 
the financial rules and the benefici ary concerned must be duly informed
8. 
Measure 3: Promote the use of flat rates and lump-sums for grants 
Grants awarded from EU funds may take the form of: a) the reimbursement of part or 
all of the eligible costs of a project, b) a lump-sum (fixed amount) or c) a flat rate (a 
scale-of-unit cost). It can also combine these forms. 
In order to accelerate the payment of gr ants, the Commission will make further 
efforts to promote the use of flat rates, for which there is no limit in the Implementing Rules, and lump sums. This should be implemented wherever it is 
appropriate, depending on the na ture of grants awarded and provided that there is no 
obstacle in the legal bases. It is recalle d that the Commission may authorise one or 
more lump sums up to EUR 25,000 to cove r one or more different categories of 
eligible costs (Article 181( 1) (a) Implementing Rules).  
Services are therefore invi ted, and DG Budget will assist them, to prepare the 
decisions fixing flat rates and lump sums so as to extend their use. 
In the same perspective, a nd in line with its proposals for the modification of the 
European Social Fund Regulation
9, the Commission will propose that, when current 
programmes and actions are reviewed a nd new legislative proposals made, they 
include higher lump sums (Article 181(2)  Implementing Rules), where appropriate.  
2. FLEXIBILITY IN THE INTERPRETATION OF FINANCIAL RULES  
In the day-to-day application of the fina ncial rules, it is normal practice for the 
Commission to interpret them or define guidelines so that a common practice among 
its services is put in place. 
In order to find as much flexibility as possible in interpreting the existing financial 
rules and thereby ease management, the Commission will focus on the following: 
Measure 4: Possibility to launch call s for proposals covering 2 years  
The launching of calls for proposals is au thorised by a financing decision adopted 
with due regard to the principle of annua lity. Therefore, under current guidelines, 
Commission's services should not launch a call allowing applicants to submit 
proposals within multiple deadlines spread throughout two successive years, even if 
the criteria of the call remain the same. Tw o financing decisions leading to two calls 
for proposals are necessary. 
                                                 
8 See Implementing Rules, Article 106 (1), third subparagraph, 106(3), forth subparagraph and 106(4). 
9 COM(2008)813 final, 26.11.2008.  
 
EN 6   EN Launching a call for proposals covering two successive years will be authorised 
provided that Commission services optimis e the adoption schedule for financing 
decisions and insert the appropria te specific clause in the call. 
This means that instead of having two sepa rate calls for proposals, one launched for 
year N and the other launche d for year N+1, one single  call will be launched and 
potential beneficiaries will submit thei r proposals only once. The Commission may 
authorise immediately after the adoption of  the Preliminary Draft Budget for year 
N+1 to complement with N+1 appropriati ons a call for proposals already launched 
with a specific clause allowing such complement.  In the same way, a call for 
proposal with only one deadline may be re inforced with N+1 appropriations. This 
measure will save time, energy and resources, thereby benefiting all stakeholders. 
Measure 5: Lighten the cont ent of calls for proposals 
For several policies, in particular Educa tion and Culture, some Research programmes 
(Marie Curie) or Development Aid, calls for proposals are very repetitive and/or standardised. They usually ar e long and complex documents. 
In such cases of repetitive and/or standardised calls, the Commission will, wherever 
possible, produce documentation distinguishing  the stable information that is in 
principle valid for several calls, from information that is specific for a particular call. 
Subject to feasibility and the complexity  of projects, the Authorising Officer 
concerned could then author ise its services to opt for a two-steps approach for 
defining the framework for the award of grants.  
(1) The first step would be for the Commi ssion to establish a practical guide for 
the award of grants, which would c ontain all the general information, 
guidelines and financial rules forming the bulk of calls for proposals. This 
guide would be published on the internet  site of the concerned programme. 
(2) The second step would be the adoption of the annual financing decision and 
the publication of the calls for proposal s themselves, whose content should be 
limited to the strictly specific and variable elements, such as the budget foreseen for the call, the dates for th e submission of the proposals and other 
elements which are new or differ from  the guide (i.e. new priorities). The 
calls for proposals shall explicitly refer to the corresponding documentation. 
These elements will also be published on the internet site of the programme together with detailed applica tion forms that can be downloaded. 
Such an approach, which is already bei ng applied for the education and culture 
programmes, should be promoted in other pol icy areas in order to  lighten their task 
and make the launch of calls for proposals easier, once the guide has been elaborated. 
For the potential beneficiarie s of EU funds, this approach would be more user-
friendly and provide a better oversight: even tually, it should help them answering 
calls for proposals faster and more accuratel y, and thereby contribute to grants being 
awarded in a shorter time-span. 
This measure will be carried out progressively and be assessed by the end of the year 
2009 in order to evaluate th e effects of the approach. 
 
EN 7   EN 3. INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL SUPPORT  
In order to facilitate and accelerate imple mentation of the Budget, the Commission 
hereby proposes the following progressive  approach, to be implemented both at 
internal and external levels. 
3.1. Support from DG Budget to other Commission services 
Measure 6: Reinforce proactive advice by DG Budget 
The Financial Regulation (Article 75(2)) re quires as a pre-condition that any use of 
EU money be preceded by the adoption of  a financing decision, which marks the 
political endorsement, by the Commission, of the financing of a project. In order to 
help the services in the preparatory pha se and thereby accelerate the adoption of 
financing decisions by the Commission,  DG Budget will provide the following 
additional guidance to facilitate the wo rk of the services, in particular: 
• Propose a model for all financ ing decisions: today, financ ing decisions adopted by 
the Commission often contain much more information than the requirements set in 
the financial rules and the basic act. A simple and streamlined model will 
therefore be proposed to ease the draf ting by operational services directly 
managing Community funds. It should also  allow for a quick appraisal in inter-
service consultations, reduce the vol ume of documents and of required 
translations. This model is envisaged as a support tool only and services who wish 
to continue using their own model agr eed with DG Budget may chose to do so. 
The model prepared by DG Budget will be su bsequently annexed to the Internal 
Rules adopted by the Commission each year. This model will be made available 
by the end of May 2009 so that services can use it as from 1.6.2009. 
• Encourage the services to make more use of the flexibility offered by the financial 
rules (Article 90.4 Implementing Rules) for the modification of the financing 
decisions: this notably allows Author ising Officers to a dopt non-substantial 
modifications of the implementing condi tions of the action without having to 
modify the initial financing decision by a new Commission decision (by means of 
a written procedure, by empowerment or  delegation). Such flexibility clause 
would notably be most appropriate when the complete implementation of the action authorised by the College requires to increase the appropriations up to 20% of the initial amount approved or to extend the initial duration of the 
implementation period up to 20%. DG Budge t will provide the re levant flexibility 
clause to the services and will include it in the financing decision model. This measure should be operational by the end of April 2009. 
• Encourage the full use of other flexibility measures foreseen in the financial rules 
as, for instance, where services can d ecide whether appropr iate to waive the 
obligation of candidates to produce docum ents they have already produced in 
another procedure, pursuant to Article 134( 6) IR), or where the presentation of 
financial guarantees and other documents  by procurement contractors and grant 
beneficiaries is optional. In this context,  guidelines will be drafted in order to 
 
EN 8   EN underline the optional character of such requirements and to  assist the services to 
evaluate the related risks10.  
• Encourage where appropriate the serv ices to prepare their financing 
decisions/annual programmes as early as  possible after the adoption of the 
Preliminary Draft Budget, in order to have them adopted by the Commission 
immediately afterwards. 
• Optimising the use of framework contracts: as far as possible, services will be 
further encouraged to share the use of their future framework contracts to the 
profit of other Directorates General or agencies in or der to avoid duplication of 
unnecessary procurement procedures. This approach will be sought systematically for standard procurements (e.g. furniture,  communication) or, for more specialised 
services, within the same family of pr ogrammes such as external actions or 
research (ongoing). 
• Promote the use of partnerships for grants : over the life time of projects, the use of 
partnerships can significantly avoid dupli cation of the same formalities. Within 
the frame of the internal guidelines av ailable, the Commission will therefore 
further encourage the use of such partnerships.  A framework partnership arrangement may be establishe d as a long-term 
cooperation mechanism between the Comm ission and some beneficiaries of 
grants, where appropriate (Article 163 of the Implementing Rules). The 
partnership specifies the co mmon objectives, the nature and the general conditions 
for the planned actions and the procedure for the award of grants. The grants are 
subsequently awarded through specific agreements implementing the partnership, which fix the modalities, the grant amount and the duration of the grant. Only specific agreements require in advance a budgetary commitment, allowing therefore a long–term cooperation with some  beneficiaries without committing at 
once all the necessary appropriations. 
3.2. Support from the Commission to potentia l contractors and other beneficiaries 
from EU funds 
Measure 7: accelerated procedures for procurement and grants 
• The Commission will con tinue its efforts to simplify procurement procedures  
and reduce their overall time span, in par ticular for big-valu e contracts. In 
addition to this, the minimum time limits foreseen in restricted and negotiated procedures with prior publication for the receipt of requests to participate and, in 
case of restricted procedures, also for th e receipt of tenders, will be, whenever 
appropriate and justified in view of the economic crisis, reduced as provided in 
Article 142 of the Implementing Rules.  This provision allows, under certain 
conditions, to reduce these time limits from 77 to 20 days in cases where urgency 
renders impracticable the regular time lim its. This is coherent with the guideline 
                                                
 
10 These documents will be available online on BUDGWEB, the internal Commission website dedicated 
to all financial and management issues. They will also be presented to all Commission services through 
the RUF (Réseau des unités financières). http://www.cc.cec/budg/index_en.html  
 
EN 9   EN adopted by the European Council in order to reduce the overall time limits for 
major public projects from 87 to 30 days11 in Member States.  
• A similar approach should be applied in order to reduce the overall time span in 
the grant awarding procedures , taking into account that the Financial 
Regulation does not impose time limits. Th is may involve in particular the 
following:   The acceleration of the selection process by using the flexibility offered in the Implementing Rules (Article 178(1a)). In  particular when a call for proposals 
envisages that applicants submit their proposals in two st ages (two stage 
submission procedure), the first stage should involve minimum efforts from 
applicants: for instance, applicants should be required to submit only a short 
concept note describing, in general lines, the principal elements of their project 
(summary description, objectives, results, time frame and implementing 
framework) together with a summa ry implementing budget. Only those 
applications upheld in the first pha se will submit a complete proposal.  
 This mechanism is particularly relevant for programmes which traditionally encounter a high rate of submission and ma y save costs for applicants. It allows 
the Commission to concentrate its resour ces on the best proposals, by effecting 
early elimination of many proposals. Se veral services appl y this two-phased 
submission and evaluation procedure (e.g. EAC, AIDCO and RTD) and the 
feedback has generally  been positive.  
 However, where outline proposals require su bstantial efforts as in the case of 
complex projects, this procedure may en tail a longer process and thus a heavy 
burden for applicants. To be efficient, it should therefore be privileged when 
outline proposals are straightforward.   Alternatively, a call for proposals may pr ovide that the applicants submit a 
complete proposal, but only the proposals which pass the first stage of evaluation 
against a limited set of crit eria would go forward for further evaluation (two-stage 
evaluation procedure). 
• Accelerated procedures for contracts and gr ants also concern de veloping countries 
in particularly difficult situations for which the Commission has declared a 
"situation of crisis". The Commission will regularly monitor the situation of the 
most vulnerable developing countries and ad apt the list of countries in "crisis 
situation" accordingly.
12 
Measure 8: Simplify and lighten control measures wherever possible 
                                                 
11 Cf. European Council conclusions, 12 December 2008, point 11, bullet point 8. The Commission 
endorsed this approach in Press Re lease IP/08/2040, dated 19.12.2008, recognizing that the exceptional 
nature of the current economic situation could jus tify the use of the accelerat ed procurement procedure 
according to Article 38(8) of Directive 2004/18/EC, wh ich reduces the relevant time limits to 10 days. 
12 Cf. COM(2009)160. In accordance with article 168 (2) of the Implementing Rules, crisis situations 
allow for the use of more flexible procedures.  
 
EN 10   EN The Commission will seek a better balance between cost and efficiency in its 
financial management and control measur es: the objective would be to reduce the 
number of intervening agents (as an exampl e: the lightest financial circuit should be 
systematically implemented for pre-fina ncing payments due upon signature of the 
contract – Cf. Measure 1), to reduce the delays in the control and management 
circuits, and possibly to review their orga nisational structures. Another objective will 
be to rationalise the reporting process li nked to payment with the evaluation of 
various supporting documents and the financia l statements running in parallel instead 
of consecutively.   This approach requires that services r econsider their systems in the light of 
experience gained in the implementation of their programmes, in order to identify 
bottlenecks or unnecessary checks. It also needs to take into  account the risks 
analysis made by authorising officers according to the type of action. The success of such approach lies primarily with operational services, since they hold the responsibility for the internal organisati on of their own management and control 
circuits.  
4. C
ONCLUSION  
The measures proposed in this Communication are in line with the Comm ission's objective to 
simplify and improve delivery in the implementation of the budget and give it a new impetus in order to accompany its recovery plan submitted to Parliament and Council. The success of the measures requires not only the continuous co mmitment and efforts of the services to 
achieve the goals but also th e understanding and cooperation of  all the stakeholders. They 
should be appreciated as further steps in a c ontinuing process of simplification to which the 
forthcoming budget review and the tri-annual re vision of the Financial Regulation will also 
contribute.  
All the voluntary measures presented in secti ons 2 and 3 aim at help ing Commission services 
reach the objectives set in secti on 1 for the reduction of payment dela ys. It is up to services to 
assess which of these measures are the most appropriate for them to reach the targeted 
payment periods. However, services will be re quired to justify their choice if they cannot 
reach the targets for payments periods. 
These measures will be included in a continui ng process of simplification of the financial 
rules to which the Commissi on is firmly committed.  
The Commission instructs its services to impl ement all the above measures. In particular, 
services should start working without delay on  reducing current payment times in view of 
reaching the targets set in measures 1 and 2 on 1 October 2009. The Commission Accounting 
Officer is entrusted with monitoring progress in the delivery of results of these measures, for 
the first time on the basis of payment time- limits observed in the last quarter of 2009. 
Finally, stock-taking will be ma de in the Annual Activity Reports (AARs) to be provided by 
Directors-General and Heads of Service for th e year 2009, as well as in the Annual synthesis 
report on management achievements by the Commission for 2009.