Case Study

The project consisted of two main components, the first component aiming to bring the National Fund (NF), the Central Finance and Contract Unit (CFCU) and other relevant institutions involved in the programming and implementation of the EU pre-accession assistance to a higher level of management performance within the Decentralised Management system and to align with the requirements of the EU Financial Perspectives. This was mostly done through support to these institutions in adjusting the Decentralised Management system in order to comply with the requirements of new Financial Perspectives, as well as an analysis of the remaining medium risk audit findings attached to the Conferral of Management and the development of a detailed action plan to respond to those findings. In addition, the Ecorys team provided guidance to beneficiary institutions for the effective functioning of the management control system and delivered related tailor-made trainings. The second component was more specific: it aimed to improve the institutional capacity for management of Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA) Component V with regard to the NF and IPARD (Instrument for Pre-Accession in Rural Development) Operating Structure. The key activities in that component included the mapping of the state of play of IPARD preparation and a review of the current legal basis and operational procedures for IPA V and their updating in line with the new EU financial regulation; Tailor-made trainings for NF and IPARD Operating Structure staff were also designed and provided, as well as coaching and on-the-job training through case studies.

The project contributed mainly to the strengthening of the financial management and to increasing the absorption of the EU pre-accession funds by the Serbian authorities. It strengthened in parallel the capacity of the NF and Operating structures under the Decentralised Management modality.