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European Commission

EUROPEAN CIVIL PROTECTION AND HUMANITARIAN AID OPERATIONS

DG ECHO PARTNERS' WEBSITE

WORKING WITH DG ECHO AS AN NGO PARTNER | 2021 - 2027

MULTI-BENEFICIARY GRANTS

FAQ 82 - Will the so-called co-partners in multi beneficiary grants also have to be Certified ECHO Partners?

IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS | CO-BENEFICIARIES | CO-BENEFICIARIES | CONSORTIUM

Yes, the principle is that it will not be possible to use certified partners as implementing partners: they will have to be associated to the lead certified partners in the grant agreement as co-partners (co-beneficiaries).

FAQ 161 - Can the coordinator request a termination for himself?

Yes, following the conditions and procedures set out in art. 32.2.1 of the MGA.

The coordinator may request the termination of the participation of one or more beneficiaries, on request of the beneficiary concerned or on behalf of the other beneficiaries. The coordinator must submit a request for amendment (see Article 39), with:

  1. the reasons why
  2. the opinion of the beneficiary concerned (or proof that this opinion has been requested in writing)
  3. the date the beneficiary ends work on the action (‘end of work date’)
  4. the date the termination takes effect (‘termination date’); this date must be after the date of the submission of the amendment request. If the termination concerns the coordinator and is done without its agreement, the amendment request must be submitted by another beneficiary (acting on behalf of the consortium).

The termination will take effect on the termination date specified in the amendment. If no information is given or if the granting authority considers that the reasons do not justify termination, it may consider the beneficiary to have been terminated improperly.

FAQ 162 - What are the possibilities to transfer the grant agreement to another coordinator in the case of a multi-beneficiary grant?

The change of coordinator is foreseen in art. 39 – Amendments of the MGA. According to it the request for amendment must include the reasons why, the appropriate supporting documents and  for a change of coordinator without its agreement: the opinion of the coordinator (or proof that this opinion has been requested in writing).

FAQ 163 - Is it possible for the coordinator to have a direct relationship with co-beneficiary 1, while co-beneficiary 1 “sub-grants” to co-beneficiary 2, meaning that the coordinator does not have a direct relationship with co-beneficiary 2?

The term sub-granting is not appropriate here, because all co-partners are the recipients of the grant from DG ECHO. It is for the co-partners to decide how they organise the funds transfers between coordinator and co-beneficiaries/co-partners.

FAQ 164 - In case of multi-beneficiary grant agreement with some benefitting VAT exemptions and others not; can they indicate their different VAT status in the SF? Proposal and final report stage?

Partners have the possibility to provide information on their VAT status as well as co-beneficiaries’ VAT status, in the dedicated section of the Single Form, namely 13.8.1 – Details on VAT exemption.

FAQ 165 - When the Coordinator has general accounts established in euro and one of the co-Partners does not, should the co-Partner report to the Coordinator according to the exchange rate rule (art. 21.3 of the MGA)? Or can they agree internally on a different system?
FAQ 166 - In Chapter 4 of the MGA - Implementation, Section 1, Article 7, it is stated that “the coordinator must: (i) monitor that the action is implemented properly (see Article 11)”. In what way could the coordinator be held responsible (financially) in case of non-compliance (that could lead to ineligibility of costs) by a co-partner during the project implementation phase?

Joint liability is linked to non-repayment of an amount by a beneficiary, not to the fact that a partner implements the action properly.

FAQ 167 - In case an ECHO certified partner implements a short emergency response project (e. g. one month long) under a longer ERM Action (12 months), will the joint technical responsibility for implementation of the entire action be optional?

No, it will not

FAQ 168 - Article 22.3.1 of the MGA states that “pre-financing payments may be offset (without the beneficiaries’ consent) against amounts owed by a beneficiary to the granting authority — up to the amount due to that beneficiary”.
Will DG ECHO liaise with the coordinator before offsetting any amount for a co-beneficiary?

Yes

FAQ 169 - Article 22.3.5 refers to revised final grant amount after audit. Will DG ECHO issue the debit note to and recover payment directly from the beneficiary concerned (not the Coordinator)?
Will the Coordinator be informed?

Yes, firstly DG-ECHO will send a pre-information letter to the beneficiary concerned and if no observation are submitted (within 30 days of receiving notification) DG-ECHO will confirm the amount to be recovered together with a debit note.

 

No, as the recovery will be executed on the beneficiary and not on the coordinator the latter will not be informed.

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