IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS AND SUBDELEGATEES

In order to achieve EU objectives, the Indirect Management Delegation Agreement allows the International Organizations partners to work with other entities, such as Implementing Partners and subdelegatees.

An implementing partner is a natural or legal person to whom a grant has been awarded by the International Organization. It can sub-grant and procure for the implementation of their activities.

The decision to entrust implementing partners should be declared in the Section 6.7.1 of the Single Form and in the Section 6.7.4 the partner should present and explain which coordination, supervision and controls measures have been put into place in order to ensure an effective management and control of the whole Action.
 

The International Organizations can carry out the Action by themselves and/or by delegating activities to one or more Sub-delegatees as described in the Single Form.

Sub–delegatees can be:

• International Organisations, one of their agencies or

• Local authorities

that have been positively assessed ex ante by the Commission, to work in indirect management, or, alternatively, by the partner, through a pillars assessment equivalent to the one performed by the Commission on it.

When they are known since the beginning, sub-delegatees have to be included in the section 6.8 of the Single Form and they will appear in the Article 1.6 of the Special Conditions of the IMDA, otherwise, the partner will be required to inform ECHO once they are identified, asking a prior written approval of the Commission.

When the partner decides to Sub-delegate some activities it shall ensure that:

• the necessary ex-post controls are in place in order to guarantee the sound financial management of EU contribution;

• the partner entrusts to the Sub-delegatee a part of the Action as described in the Single Form, including Budget Implementation Tasks.

• Sub-delegatees carry out the activities entrusted to them according to the IMDA.

• the costs incurred by the Sub-delegatees are eligible in accordance the conditions and rules established by Article 19 of the General Conditions.

• provisions regarding General obligations, Reporting, Liability, Conflict of interest, Confidentiality, Data protection, Communication and Visibility, Ex-post publication of Contractors and Grant Beneficiaries, Ownership, right to use and transfer of results and equipment, Evaluation and monitoring of the Action, Contracting and Central Exclusion Database and Accounts, technical and financial checks, apply mutatis mutandis to Sub-delegatees.

Once they have been sub-delegated the Sub-delegatee may not further sub-delegate the activities.

When working through implementing partners or sub-delegates, International Organization remains fully responsible for the implementation of the Action and for ensuring compliance with the provisions of the Agreement.

For this reason, it is required to take all necessary measures to resolve problems encountered in proportion to their seriousness, including the suspension of the agreements with Sub-delegatees and the suspension of payments.

Furthermore, the partner has also full financial responsibility towards the Commission for all funds unduly paid or incorrectly used by them and shall take all necessary measures to recover them. In doing so, legal proceedings can be brought both against Sub-delegatees and/or the contracts with Implementing Partners.

The Commission will be entitled to recover itself funds from the Sub-delegatees only when the partner could not recover itself from the Sub-delegatees but has included in the agreements with Sub-delegatees the right of the Commission to proceed to the recovery by any means if the Sub-delegatee does not reimburse the International Organisation.

The partner shall ensure that the actions financed by the EU are effectively carried out and implemented correctly and that all the cost are eligible according to article 19 of the General Conditions regardless of whom have incurred them.

Finally, for a period of five years from the end date or up to the date of the limitation period of any claim pursuant to the applicable law governing the Agreement and any contracts or grants concluded, the partner shall keep and make available all relevant financial information in its original form (electronic as the case may be) or, in exceptional and duly justified cases, certified copies of grant agreements concluded under the IMDA.

In order to comply with all these provision and in accordance with the principle of proportionality, the partner shall conduct ex ante and ex post controls including, where appropriate, on-the-spot checks on representative and/or risk-based samples of transactions.