FAQ's

The frequently asked questions (FAQ) listed below are relevant to the entire project management cycle. They originate from enquiries submitted by participants of the TEN-T Project Management Workshop held in December 2008 and have since been updated with the most recent information.

Section 1: General questions on planning, procedures, organisation
Section 2: Calls for proposals and Decisions
Section 3: Project implementation
Section 4: Reporting

Section 5: Payments

If, after consulting this section, you still have an issue that you would like clarify, please contact us! Questions regarding TEN-T policy fall directly under the competence of the Commission's Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, and are not addressed here.

For specific questions regarding the Calls for Proposals, see the dedicated FAQ sections on the calls pages.

What are the main differences in responsibilities between the Agency and the European Commission desk officers?

The Agency has assigned for each project a “project manager” who is the focal point at the Agency for all issues relating to the project's implementation and administrative follow-up throughout the full project life-cycle, from preparation of the funding Decision until final closure.

The Commission's "desk officers" are not involved in the projects' implementation phase. However, they remain in charge of all policy-related matters and representing the Commission in the countries to which they are assigned.

Is it possible to have one single point of contact that has a good knowledge of the project subsidies and grant processes?

The Agency's aim is to create a one-stop shop for information and guidance. Each project is assigned to a project manager who is the single point of contact for beneficiaries. They can also contact her/him for non-project-related questions. Potential project applicants can contact the Agency at tent-agency@ec.europa.eu. Their inquiry will be directed to the most relevant person who will reply at his/her earliest convenience.

For Multi-Annual Programmes, what are the main actions to be taken by the beneficiary and when?

Referring to the model Decision, the main elements of the timeline are:

- Strategic Action Plan (SAP): must be provided for each project by the beneficiaries to the Agency within three months of the date of the notification of the Decision (article II.2.4 of Commission Decision granting financial aid)

- Annual Status Reports (ASRs): cover an entire calendar year and must be provided by the beneficiaries to the Agency annually within Q1 of the next calendar year (i.e. n+1) - by 31 March at the latest (article I.3.2 of Commission Decision granting financial aid). They contain information on the operational and financial progress of a project

- Payments: detailed explanations are provided in Section 5 below. In summary, the payments can have one of the following forms:

Pre-financing payments: the first pre-financing payment is made within 45 days of the notification of the Decision (or of the reception of the guarantee when required). Further pre-financing payments may be paid in each subsequent year, depending on several criteria. Beneficiaries will be informed about decisions regarding further pre-financing together with the feedback on their ASRs by 30 June each year.

Interim payments: Requests for interim payments corresponding to a given year may be submitted by the beneficiaries when the cumulated costs incurred reach a level such that, when applying the rate of financing, the resulting EU contribution exceeds the instalment made for the previous year(s). In practice, the Agency will review the costs declared in the ASR and will inform the beneficiary whether the criteria to submit a cost claim are met and if more than one calendar year should be covered.

Final payment: A final payment will be made upon submission of a final payment claim by the beneficiary and subject to the project achieving its operational and financial targets.

Can the possibility for PPP (Public-Private Partnership) participation be extended for TEN-T projects?

PPP schemes in TEN-T projects are not only allowed, but they are strongly encouraged. There is nothing to prevent a project promoter who is implementing a project through PPP procurement from applying for funding through the TEN-T Programme for either works or studies. In the 2010 Annual Call, targeted support for PPPs was offered for projects with PPP potential to undertake feasibility studies to develop a value-for-money assessment or, for projects where a PPP procurement option has been chosen, to undertake the technical and/or financial studies necessary to further develop the PPP model.

Using TEN-T grants for studies to develop the PPP model, therefore, is fairly straightforward. However, to use TEN-T grants for funding the works component of a PPP has proven to be more difficult due to various constraints imposed through the Financial Regulations. In order to provide financial support for the implementation of a PPP within the TEN-T, the TEN Regulation (Regulation 680/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2007) which governs the TEN-T programme, includes the following specific non-grant financial instruments:

i) risk capital participation, delivered through a contribution to the Marguerite Fund, an independent fund with a mandate that includes the provision of equity participation to eligible TEN-T PPP projects. For more information on the Marguerite Fund: http://margueritefund.eu/index.php?pageid=1

ii) The Loan Guarantee Instrument for TEN-T Projects, which is managed directly by the European Investment Bank to support the early stage operations of a project using user charges for its debt service. For more information: http://www.eib.org/about/documents/lgtt-fact-sheet.htm?lang=-en

See the Financial Engineering section for more information.

Is there such a thing as good practice promoted by the Agency?

Following a suggestion made by a beneficiary during the Project Management Workshop in 2010, a Good Practice Working Group was established. The group reported to the Project Management Workshop in February 2011, and identified directly applicable good practices, as well as suggestions for simplification to be further worked on in cooperation with the Agency and the Member States.

In 2011, the Working Group launched a survey to assess the extent to which beneficiaries support further work in this area, and to identify new members and new good practices. The results of its work are available on the dedicated Good Practice Working Group section of the site.

If more than one Member State is involved in a TEN-T proposal, should a joint proposal or individual proposals be submitted?

The TEN-T Programme has a strong European dimension. Therefore, TEN-T supported projects better fulfil the policy objectives when Member States closely collaborate at every stage of the project - from its concept to final implementation. Applications involving several Member States must be submitted jointly in one single proposal. However, their implementation may fall under the responsibility of one or several (jointly or individually) Member States.

If the Commission proposes to reduce the budget for an activity as compared to the proposal, should the beneficiary update the project's budget?

All decisions relating to budget and corresponding activities are taken by the Commission during the selection and award procedure. During the preparation of the Commission Decision, the Agency will implement these and can advise the beneficiaries in this area. The SAPs need to provide an update on all related aspects (costs, durations, scope, etc.).

Is it possible to submit a proposal for “works" while the present action for “studies” is not yet completed?

Studies and works over the same physical section of infrastructure cannot normally be carried out during the same period of time. In addition, due to the applicable contract awarding and other possible works authorisation procedures, the physical start of the works normally takes place several months or even years after the end of the technical studies.

As the maturity of the project is a key criterion assessed in the evaluation process, it is therefore not advisable to include preparatory studies and subsequent works in the same proposal. In general, it is suggested to submit proposals for projects for which the contracts are awarded or are at the final award stage. This reduces the risk of a budget change or delays and helps make the best use of available TEN-T funding.

In 2011 the calls clearly state that a proposal must address either works or studies (including those with physical interventions), unless it is clearly demonstrated that the undertaking of the works is not dependent on the execution and/or conclusion of the study(ies).

When and by who are applicants informed whether their proposal is successful?

Applicants whose proposal does not meet the eligibility criteria are informed by registered mail.

For all proposals meeting the eligibility criteria, the Commission establishes its own proposal on projects to be funded and those not to be retained. This is established on the basis of the outcome of the evaluation and is accompanied by detailed justification for all submitted proposals. The Commission’s proposal receives the approval of Member States (TEN-T Financial Assistance Committee) and is also considered by the European Parliament.

For further information, please see the Guide for Applicants, which is available on individual Calls webpages.

Will there be a fully electronic application form in the future?

Applicants must currently submit their proposal both electronically and in hard copy.

Regarding the electronic version: Application Form Part A is completed online using the eSubmission module, whereas the other sections are included as attachments in electronic format.

In addition to electronic submission, it is necessary to submit a hard copy for legal reasons (notably the requirement of the forms to be signed and stamped).

What are the common mistakes made in applications which are submitted?

For best practice hints and tips on preparing your proposal, please refer to the following presentations:

- http://tentea.ec.europa.eu/download/events/12-13_January_Workshop/presentations/giorgiworkshop_jan2010_superfinal.pdf

- http://tentea.ec.europa.eu/download/events/june2010infoday/northcalls_for_proposals_hints_and_tips_superfinal.pdf

In the 2006 Annual Programme, in the EC Decision article X.2. "Amendment of the decision granting Community aid" there is the following text: “Without prejudice to Annex II, point 13, decisions may be amended with a view to extending the period of implementation of the project or modifying other parameters relating to the project only in duly justified cases.” What are the general rules for the extension of the implementation period of the Action? For what period could it be extended in a duly justified case? Is any n+2 rule applicable? What about the extension of the implementation period in the 2007-2013 Multi-Annual Programme?

Each request for extension (or other proposed modification) is examined individually, considering all related factors. This may include possible award criteria applicable at the time of the selection of the project in question, the implementation timeframe of the programme, past modifications, etc.

Each request should provide explanations on why the delays and other changes occurred, and also sufficient assurances, including measures taken, about the feasibility of the estimated revised completion date (and on any other revision).

In the 2007-2013  Multi-Annual Programme, it is stated that the Commission shall cancel, except in duly justified cases, financial aid granted for actions which have not been started in the two years following the start date of the Action established in the conditions governing the granting of financial aid. What is meant by “the start of the actions”? Would the preparation of procurement documents be enough for the start of the actions? What should be done in order that the actions are treated as started?

The possibility for cancellation and all related conditions derive from Regulation (EC) No 680/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2007 laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of the trans-European transport and energy networks (known as the “TEN-T Regulation”) and in particular, its article 13, paragraph 1(a).

The start event of the Action, as described in the Decision, determines the commencement of the implementation phase. In the case where this event is not clearly defined in the Decision, the date of the physical commencement of the first activity is deemed to be the start up date for the Action.

Are there any specific requirements for contracting the activities of the proposed Action? Is it required that tender procedures are carried out every time a task is to be assigned? Which procedure must be followed? Should it comply with national legislation or EU legislation?

Yes, the beneficiary must respect Union legislation on public procurement.

Is it possible to transfer funds from one activity to another and to what extent?

The beneficiary may, when carrying out the Action, face fluctuations of the actual costs as compared to those stated in the Decision, the SAPs or the ASRs. It may use the savings made in some activities to finance cost overruns in others. Adjustments to the costs of individual activities which are described in the breakdown of the budget are therefore possible, provided that they are necessary for meeting the objectives of the Action.

Ideally, a transfer of budget between activities should be limited in proportion of the total eligible costs foreseen. The Decision foresees in its article III.2.7 the possibility to the transfer the budget between activities up to 20% of the total eligible cost of the Action.

If exceptional circumstances lead to a need to transfer more than 20% of the total eligible cost of the Action - even when the threshold of 20% is exceeded due to the cumulative effect of different minor adjustments - good project management requires that the beneficiaries report this situation in the next ASR as soon as the situation is identified.

What are the specific requirements for reporting and monitoring of the results of the proposed Action?

The regular reporting requirements are stated in the model Action Status Reports (ASRs) and must be certified by the Member State concerned. The content of the ASRs should normally provide:

• a description of past events (past progress), in particular during the reporting period, 
• an update on the plans and other estimates for the remaining activities.

The Agency/Commission may request additional information on any issue relating to the implementation of the Action. The beneficiary is obliged to provide this information.

However, the beneficiaries are expected to report important or unforeseen events in good time so that the Agency is aware as soon as possible about all issues that impact on the implementation of the projects. This good practice is expected to facilitate the examination of possible required remedial measures in line with the provisions of the financing Decisions, in the interest of the project and the beneficiaries.

What are the aims, objectives and timescales involved in some of the project administration, such as modification letters, reporting exercises, audits, ASRs?

All administrative requirements related to the implementation of the Action are included and described in the Decision granting the financial aid. In particular, rules about reporting (including technical implementation reports, financial statements, final payments claim, etc) are detailed in article I.3 of the Decision. Rules about the Strategic Action Plan (SAP) are explained in article II.2.4 of the Decision.

Please clarify what is expected with the SAP and what is the minimum information required?

Article II.2.4 of the Commission Decision granting Community financial aid introduced the requirement for a submission of a Strategic Action Plan (SAP) that is expected to form the basis for monitoring and controlling progress throughout the implementation period of the Action.

The SAP is primarily a tool for the project/Action implementers and managers to steer and facilitate the implementation and monitoring, which is shared with the Agency.

The SAP should play a two-fold role, namely to:

1. Describe the project management system applied to the preparation, planning and implementation of the Action up until the final completion.
2. Provide decision-makers, during implementation, with all relevant information and analysis. This will allow them to take informed decisions whenever deviations from the SAP are encountered during implementation, as well as assess the impact of such decisions over the remaining implementation period.

As such, SAPs will greatly facilitate the preparation and examination of the Action Status Reports (ASRs) and eventual requests for modifications of Decisions.

To facilitate SAP preparation, the Agency has issued a set of guidelines including a model which can be used.

What are the requirements for releasing the first pre-financing payment?

The first pre-financing payments are due within 45 days of the receipt of the notified Decision (or of the reception of a guarantee, if the latter is required). The amount foreseen is stipulated in article I.2.1 of the Decision for calls under Annual Work Programmes and in article II.3.5. of the Decision for calls under Multi-Annual Work Programmes.

No formal request from beneficiaries is required to launch the payment of a pre-financing. The beneficiary will receive a letter informing them of the amount.

For Multi-Annual Work Programmes, what are the requirements for releasing further pre-financing payments (ref. article I.2.1 and II 3.5)?

The Agency may decide to make further pre-financing against subsequent instalment depending on the:

1. availability of funding
2. actual eligible cost incurred in implementing the action over the previous periods and
3. planned costs for the period covered as estimated by the beneficiary in the Action Status Report (ASR).

This is possible for a second and a third pre-financing only.  Indeed, article I.2.1.2 foresees that no more than three pre-financings can be open at any time.

To receive further funding, a pre-financing must be cleared. To this end, beneficiaries should introduce a request for a first interim payment, as per article I.2.2. This is possible when eligible costs are incurred for an amount exceeding the amount foreseen in article II.3.3 for the relevant year. When executing an interim payment, the Agency clears the related pre-financing with the interim payment and makes a next pre-financing possible.

How long will it take until interim payments are made?

For calls under Annual Work Programmes, generally no interim payments are foreseen. There are only two payments: a pre-financing and a final payment.

Under Multi-Annual Work Programmes, interim payments will be made within 45 calendar days after the approval of the technical and financial report, which the Agency has 60 calendar days to approve.

The Agency may stop the period for approving the documents and/or the period for payment if clarifications or supporting documents are needed to assess the work progress or the eligibility of costs (article III.3.6). The period restarts when the answer received from the beneficiaries is accepted by the Agency.

The Agency will most likely ask for supporting documentation for a sample of cost items selected from the financial report.

What kind of evidence has to be submitted to the Agency for an interim payment in order to prove the declared costs? This refers to internal and external manpower, business operation costs and all further costs incurred by the working groups, which are exclusively performing works for our project. Do the costs have to be broken down in a specific cost breakdown structure?

Article I.2.2 provides the modalities for interim payments and article I.3 the rules for reporting. An interim payment request must be accompanied by a technical and financial report.

Notably the required financial information includes, for each beneficiary/bank account, a workbook showing the:

1. overview of eligible costs
2. detail of actual expenditures

To assist beneficiaries in reporting, the Agency has designed the overview worksheet in such a way that most cells are filled automatically from the data input in the detail of actual expenditure.

The detail of actual expenditure shows one line per individual expenditure incurred.  This involves invoices from suppliers and internal costs directly allocated to the project, such as personnel or travel costs.

This detail of actual expenditure may be used by the Agency as a basis to select a sample of transactions for which supporting evidence will be asked. 

In order to limit the administrative burden, beneficiaries are encouraged to reach agreements with their suppliers to reduce number of invoices, e.g. through a monthly invoice from a travel agency instead of a daily one.

In addition, interim payments are only admissible if the:

1. Agency has notified the acceptance of the relevant Action Status Report (ASR)
2. request for payment complies with the requirements of article I.3.1 (timing and respect of form)
3. eligible costs incurred and declared exceed the amount of the corresponding budget for the oldest instalment which has not been fully paid.

The cost breakdown must correspond to the activities breakdown foreseen under article II.3.3.

Which costs are eligible? (Administration costs, staff, equipment, ...)

Article III.3.7 of the General Conditions addresses the eligibility of costs. Six general criteria are identified. Costs must:

1. Be incurred during the duration of the Action
2. Be connected with the subject of the Action and indicated in the estimated overall budget of the Action
3. Be necessary for the implementation of the Action
4. Be identifiable, verifiable and recorded in the accounting records of the Beneficiary
5. Comply with the requirements of applicable tax and social legislation
6. Be reasonable, justified and comply with the requirements of sound financial management, in particular regarding economy and efficiency.

For criteria 1, the date at which costs are incurred is the relevant date to decide to which period the costs are related. Therefore, advance payments made during Year 1 for work to be done during Year 2 will not be eligible expenditures for Year 1. (It might become eligible in year 2 if the work is achieved as planned).

Regarding criteria 2, the Agency requires that costs are foreseen in the description of the action, in annex II of the Decision.

Eventually, for criteria 6, the Agency will consider that costs are justified only if it has been paid before the due date for submitting the final report, i.e. within 12 months of the completion of the action. 

For additional details, please refer to the model Decision. It involves a list of non-eligible costs, including, among others, VAT, exchange losses and excessive or reckless expenditures.

Indirect costs incurred are eligible for a flat rate funding up to 7%. The percentage requested (between 0-7%) will be explained in the proposition. If a flat rate funding is specified in the Decision, no supporting accounting documents will be requested to determine eligibility of costs. 

Could the cost of office equipment for the administration for our projects be eligible as indirect costs?

Yes, as long as the Decision includes such provision. According to Article 108a of the Financial Regulation, the category of expenditures covered by the flat rate should be clearly identified in advance.

This option would allow our respective services to rationalise efforts for the development of the TEN-T network by reducing the administrative burden.

Buying equipment is needed for projects itself - not for its administration. In this case, if the equipment is no longer going to be used after the project, is it allowed to charge the full cost instead of just the depreciation?

Equipment is covered by Article III.3.7(d). It clearly stipulates that only the proportion of the depreciation corresponding to the duration of the Action is eligible. In addition, if the equipment is also used for other projects, only the actual rate of use for the action will be eligible. As a result, it is clear that it is not allowed to charge the cost of the equipment. Only the relevant share of the depreciation is eligible.

Article III.3.7(d) also foresees an exception when the nature and/or the context of the equipment use justifies a different treatment. Such exception will either be explained in the annex II of the decision or be approved in writing by the Agency.

How to report cost incurred in currency other than euro?

As a tool to help beneficiaries, the Agency has prepared a template (an excel workbook) for submitting the financial information required for an interim payment or a payment of the balance.

Beneficiaries should report the detail of actual expenditures incurred in local currency.

The table includes a cell to encode the exchange rate for translating the local currency into Euro. Beneficiaries should use the rate applicable for the month following the end of the reporting period, established by the Commission and published on its website. See:

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/inforeuro/index.cfm?fuseaction=home&Language=fr

Based in the data in local currency and the exchange rate encoded by the beneficiary, the workbook shows, in a separate worksheet, the overview of costs per Activity. This is automated and requires no intervention from the beneficiary. 

Please note that the amounts in euro are only indicative. The actual rate used for the payment will be the rate on the date the payment is made by the Agency.

What kind of checks take place in the Agency before an interim or a final payment is made?

Ex-ante control usually foresees sampling. This means that several transactions are selected from the cost claim for which supporting documentation is requested. This includes:

• a copy of the invoice,
• information on procurement references, 
• a declaration for costs of personnel.

As part of the work of the Good Practice Working Group, you can consult the sampling methodology. In short, we first select key items on the basis of certain factors (high amount, dates of invoice close to the start or end date, invoice labelling) and then apply a random selection on the residual items. The size of the samples should cover at least 10% of the costs declared. Random sampling enables the Agency to propose to the beneficiary to calculate the sampling error for the residual items (all costs minus the key items).

In certain circumstances no sampling is made, such as when an audit certificate is provided together with the cost claim if certain criteria are met. The Agency may, on the basis of the residual risk, decide to rely on the audit certificate and execute the payment without further ex-ante controls. This decision does not preempt any further decision to perform an ex-post audit.

What checks take place regarding staff costs?

The model Decision defines staff costs (Article III.3.7.3 (a)) and indirect costs (article III.3.7.4) separately. The definition for staff costs includes actual salaries, plus social security charges and any other statutory costs included in the remuneration. It does not include any overhead or indirect costs attributed to staff. Indirect costs are eligible if reported separately as indirect costs, but may not be included in the direct staff costs.

To ensure that this is well understood and respected, if cost items involving staff costs are selected at the ex-ante sampling stage, the Agency requires the beneficiary to fill in a declaration on staff costs instead of asking them to send documentation of the actual staff costs (time sheets and salary slips) by post. Nevertheless, detailed supporting documentation has to remain available on site. The form for the declaration can be downloaded from the Useful documents & forms page.

In its fiche n°11, the Good Practice Working Group gives one concrete example of the kind of costs included in direct staff costs and the calculation of the hourly rate: .pdf (169.1 KB)

Why, how and when will external audits be done by TEN-T EA? How the beneficiary can contribute to the efficient execution of the audit?

Amongst its responsibilities for implementing TEN-T projects, the Agency is in charge of performing financial auditing of beneficiaries in charge of the implementation of the co-financed projects, aiming at providing assurance on the eligibility of expenditure and reliability of cost statements accompanying requests for payments submitted by contractors.

The External Audit function covers a wide range of control techniques: transactional control, control of financial statements, financial audit, system audit, performance audit, documentary control, qualitative assessment of the implementation of the work programme, etc. 

The selection of beneficiaries to be audited uses risk-based approach. Audits are performed by the External Audit function of the Agency or subcontracted to external professional audit firms.

Audits may be carried out throughout the period of implementation of the Decision until the balance is paid and for a period of five years from the date of payment of the balance.

To facilitate an efficient on-the-spot audit, it is important that the beneficiary ensures that all relevant documentation is available at the time of the audit. The beneficiary’s accounting and internal/external auditing procedures must permit a direct reconciliation of the costs and revenue declared in respect of the project with the accounting statements and corresponding supporting documents.