EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 88/700

(2004/C 88 E/0720)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0569/04

by Herbert Bösch (PSE) to the Commission

(26 February 2004)

Subject: Leonardo da Vinci programme

The Commission's Leonardo da Vinci programme is intended to help implement EU vocational training policy. The European Union needs to ensure its citizens are better prepared for entry into the job market and, in doing so, reduce the number of unemployed. The economy is also in need of a skilled workforce in order to keep up with the rapid scientific and technological developments. Against this backdrop, the Leonardo da Vinci programme serves as a laboratory of innovation in the field of lifelong learning.

Can the Commission provide a list of the projects that have been approved under the Leonardo programme over the last three years, including details of the promoters and the level of funding, stating how much has been paid out and how much is outstanding?

Are there any noticeable differences in outlook between the countries and the project managers with regard to various criteria, such as budget, share of funding and the actual results?

How does the Commission ensure that an audit of the funded projects is carried out quickly and efficiently, and how much time elapses on average between a project's completion and the audit?

In which countries do difficulties frequently arise when it comes to the audit?

Supplementary answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(11 June 2004)

The Commission shares the Honourable Member's concerns regarding the quality of the results of innovative Leonardo da Vinci projects and the need for effective management procedures.

Between 2000 and 2003, almost 1 100 innovative projects were selected by the Commission, with a total budget of around EUR 350 million. Lists of the projects selected, including, in particular, each project's budget and the name of the project promoter, were sent to Parliament at the time of their selection, in accordance with the comitology rules.

After selection by the Commission, projects are managed (signature of contracts with the promoters, project monitoring, analysis of reports, payments), in more than 90 % of cases, by a network of national agencies appointed by the national authorities of the participating countries. Only a small minority of projects are managed directly by the Commission.

The first projects started in December 2000. They usually last for 36 months, with the promoter's final report due two months after the project ends.

In order to ensure the proper management of Community funds, the final payments are evaluated on the basis of an audit of the expenditure and the results obtained. The Commission or the national agencies must be provided with supporting documents for each item of expenditure.

When the final reports are submitted, the results are analysed by the Commission or national agencies and an independent expert.

The national agencies are currently processing the final reports on the projects selected in 2000 and, for the first time, will submit their own report to the Commission in the summer of 2004. It should be noted that the Commission has already transferred sufficient funds to the national agencies for them to pay the balance of the contracts to the promoters as soon as they have completed the evaluation and accepted the final reports.

It is still too early to say whether there will be more problematic cases in certain countries than in others or more evaluation differences between the agencies and the promoters.

The Commission has already received around thirty final reports for the projects it is managing directly. The final payment has already been made for half of them. The remaining dossiers are still being analysed or are about to be paid. The final report and the results of each project are analysed in parallel by a person working at the Commission and by an external expert recruited for this purpose, with logistical support from a Technical Assistance Office.

Promoters often fail to include certain documents with their final reports, leading to additional requests and slowing down the process.

The Commission will use the lessons learnt in analysing these initial dossiers to cut the time taken to evaluate the final reports and to make the payments, thanks to better follow-up and simplification of the evaluation procedures.