186-07cdo-bijlage.doc
European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) Dr. P. Engel Onze Lieve Vrouweplein 21 6211 HE Maastricht |
Cultural Co-operation, Education and Research Department Research and Communication Division Bezuidenhoutseweg 67 2594 AC The Hague |
||
Date |
March 1 6, 2007 |
Contact |
Desirée Ooft |
Our ref. |
DCO/OC- 112/07 |
Tel. |
+31 (0)70 348 52 65 |
Page |
11/11 |
Fax |
+31 (0)70 348 64 36 |
Encl. |
1 decision & 4 appendices |
dm.ooft@minbuza.nl |
|
Re |
ECDPM strategy programme 2007-2011 activity no. 15272 - DCO0093187 and activity no. 3033 – DCO 0014065 |
www.minbuza.nl |
|
Cc |
|||
Dear D r. Engel,
I hereby enclose the decision making av ailable a grant for the activities referred to above.
The disbursement of the first instalment amounting to EUR 1.000.000 will be made within 6 weeks after the date of this letter. The transfer will be made to the following bank-account: 55.75.46.761, ABNAMRO te Maastricht
IBAN: NL54ABNA0557546761 .
DCO/OC appreciates receiving 3 copies of all relevant publications that result from this contribution.
Yours sincerely ,
Caroline Wiedenhof
Head, Research and Communication Department
For the Minister for Development Co-operation
DECISION of March 16, 2007
Ref. no. DCO/OC- 112/07
The Minister for Development Cooperation (‘the Minister’),
CONSIDERING
that the European Centre for Development Policy Management (‘the grant recipient’), established and with offices at Maastricht, Onze Lieve Vrouweplein 21, 6211 HE, Maastricht, submitted an application for a grant by letter dated October 31, 2006, ref. no. PE/cb/06.832,
HAVING REGARD TO
section 2 of the Foreign Affairs (Grants) Framework Act
and
articles 6.2 and 6.3 of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Grant Regulations,
HAS DECIDED
1.
t o extend the financing agreement with ECDPM for another period of five years, till December 31, 2011. During this period the Centre will retain access to the revenues of the 1986 endowment fund, for “strengthening the cooperation between EU and ACP-countries”, under the same investment conditions as in the past five years (act. nr. 3033), and the obligations mentioned below,
a nd
2.
to add to the endowment fund a grant to the amount of € 10.000.000 (ten million Euro) for activities to be implemented as described in the above-mentioned letter and in the ECDPM Strategy Plan 2007-2011, dated October 31, 2006, for the same period of 1 January, 2007 – 31 December, 2011. The grant has been allocated activity number 15272 in the Minister’s records.
The following obligations are attached to the use of the revenues and grant of the endowment fund:
The activities being subsidised shall be implemented under the responsibility of the grant recipient in the manner described in the above-mentioned application, more specifically, in the ECDPM Strategy Plan 2007 – 2011, and in annual working plans, which consist of an activity plan, a budget and a liquidity forecast. The above-mentioned application and the ECDPM Strategy Plan 2007-2011 are appended to this decision together as Appendix 1.
The grant period shall run from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2011.
Every two years, the grant recipient will submit an overview of results to be achieved and will indicate how these results can be measured and compared to implemented activities and budget used.
The first overview of results to be achieved (2007-2008) will be submitted within two months after approval of this decision. For each subsequent two-year period the overview of results will be submitted before November 1 of the preceding year (i.e. November 1, 2008; November 1, 2010).
The grant recipient will annually submit the joint activity plan, budget and liquidity forecast in which inputs and outputs of all donors are registered. The activity plan shall contain an overview of the activities, the staffing and equipment requirements and the objectives of the activities.
The budget shall contain an overview of the grant recipient’s estimated revenue s (including the grant added to and the revenues accrued of the endowment fund for the EU-ACP cooperation, the grant recipient’s own contribution, funds provided by third parties and interest accrued) and expenditure, where relevant to the subsidised activities, to avoid unforeseen depletion of the fund. The budget should balance. Each budget item will be accompanied by a short explanatory note.
The Minister is entitled to request the grant recipient to enter into one or more implementation agreements with the Ministry as indicated in article 4:36 of the General Administrative Law Act to an annual maximum of 10% of the grant added to the endowment fund, or no more than EUR 200.000 a year. The corresponding part of the grant is awarded under the condition that the implementation agreement or agreements will be concluded.
The terms of reference for the assignment to the grant recipient must be related to the strategic goals of the endowment fund in general, i.e. strengthening the EU-ACP partnership.
This drawing right for the Ministry will be administered and accounted for by the grant recipient. The conditions regarding these drawing rights will be sent to the grant recipient within four weeks after the date of this grant decision .
The annual financial statement (art. 7) shall also include an overview of the drawing rights used by the ministry.Any changes in the manner of implementation of the activities subsidised or in the budget shall be submitted in writing to the Minister for approval in advance. If the Minister does not propose any adjustments within 13 weeks of the submission of the changes, they shall be deemed to have been approved.
Within four months of the end of each twelve-month period, the grant recipient should submit to the Minister a narrative report and a financial
statement on this period, both in the English language. The first reporting period shall be from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007; the report will be submitted before 30 April, 2008.
The narrative report shall include an overview of the activities and objectives contained in the Activity Plans and the ECDPM Strategy Plan 2007-2011 which have been implemented, and an explanation of any discrepancies.
The report shall also list the staff and equipment required for each activity.
The report shall mention specifically outputs and outcomes related to the following activities mentioned in the ECDPM Strategy Plan 2007-2011:
a. Direct facilitation support to key development policy processes in ACP-EU cooperation;
b. Strategic research, knowledge management, networking and information services for enhancing ACP-EU cooperation;
c. Strategic partnerships to support institutional development by key ACP policy actors.
ECDPM’s ‘management letter’ will be part of the narrative and financial reports.
The financial statement shall include an overview of the grant recipient’s estimated and actual revenues and expenditures in EURO’s, where relevant to the activities funded, and – if applicable – an overview of prepayments made by the Minister. The statement will also include revenues and interest accrued from the Endowment Fund. Each budget item must be accompanied by a separate explanatory note, in conformity with the approved budget structure and the report mechanism at ECDPM.
The financial statement shall be accompanied by an auditors ’ report, in conformity with the present audit regulations at ECDPM. The audit should be carried out by the external auditor engaged by the grant recipient to audit its annual accounts. Appendix 3 contains a description of the requested audit information. A different auditor may be used if the Minister gives his consent. The costs of the audit shall be borne by the grant recipient.
The funds shall be transferred in advance in six-monthly instalments of € 1.000.000 amounting to a maximum of 95% of the total grant. The first instalment of € 1.000.000 shall be paid to bank account number:
55.75.46.761, ABNAMRO Maastricht, IBAN: NL54ABNA0557546761.
Subsequent instalments shall be paid upon receipt of requests for payment and a liquidity forecast from the grant recipient. Request and forecast should be sent at least one month before the next six-monthly period, i.e. before June 1 (payment in July) and December 1 (payment in January), and shall be addressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attn. FEZ/FB/DC, POBox 20061, 2500 EB Den Haag (Appendix 2).
Payment of instalments shall take place only after timely receipt of the annual financial and narrative reports and annual activity plans and budgets, and shall take account of the progress made in implementing the project, the liquidity needs indicated by the grant recipient and any prepayments made.
The last instalment of maximum € 500.000 shall be paid after the definitive amount of the grant has been determined.
Within six months of the end of the grant period the grant recipient shall request that the definitive amount of the grant be determined on the basis of the last activities report and the last financial and audited statement (i.e. regarding the year 2011).
After receipt of the request referred to in article 9, the Minister shall determine the definitive amount of the grant within 13 weeks. On this basis, accounts shall be settled with the grant recipient. Funds made available by the Minister which remain unspent after determination of the definitive amount shall be repaid immediately and unconditionally to the Minister.
The grant recipient is responsible for maintaining sound management procedures and keeping proper accounts. Any agreements with third parties regarding the implementation of the subsidised activities shall be laid down in writing.
The Minister shall be entitled to make use, free of charge, for the purpose of her policy on international cooperation, of all documents and other products produced in connection with the present grant to which the grant recipient may have intellectual property rights. Where appropriate, the grant recipient shall issue the necessary licences to the State of the Netherlands free of charge and shall incorporate a clause to this end in any legal arrangements with third parties.
If the Minister is of the opinion that the specific way in which the activity plan is implemented or changes in circumstances have led to a situation in which the financing of an activity is incompatible with the Netherlands Government's foreign policy, he shall propose consultations with the grant recipient. On the basis of such consultations, the Minister may give further written instructions regarding the implementation of the activity plan.
In implementing the activity plan the grant recipient shall take account of the fact that the Netherlands Government may be held responsible under international law for such implementation. With this in mind, the grant recipient shall refrain from supporting activities whose aim is to undermine the political autonomy of a state or to bring down a lawful government by unlawful means. Whether the one or the other is lawful or unlawful shall be determined not only by the views of the government of the country in question, but also in accordance with international (or international law) standards.
The following specific obligations are attached to the award of the grant:
- in 2011 an external evaluation will be carried out. ECDPM will give an estimate of these costs in 2011.The Minister may inspect or instruct others to inspect the activities carried out pursuant to this decision, including the grant recipient's reports and financial accounts. The grant recipient shall render every assistance to the official or officials appointed by the Minister to carry out such an inspection and shall allow them access to the documents relating to the endowment fund and related grant. The costs of any such inspection shall be borne by the Minister.
The Minister may withdraw or amend the decision awarding the grant or determining the definitive amount of the grant, reduce the grant, suspend the transfer of instalments or demand repayment of all or part of the funds already transferred if the grant recipient fails to fulfil its obligations under this decision or fails to fulfil them on time, fails to follow the instructions given by the Minister as referred to in article 11 of this decision, uses the funds for a purpose other than that for which the Minister made them available or if a third party has provided co -financing without the Minister's knowledge, the consequences of which for the budget have not been approved.
The grant recipient shall not offer to third parties or seek or accept from or be promised by third parties, for himself or for any other party, any gift, remuneration, compensation or benefit of any kind whatsoever, which could be interpreted as an illegal or corrupt practice. Such practices may provide grounds for the withdrawal of this decision or part thereof.
The Minister shall withdraw or amend the decision awarding the grant or determining the definitive amount only after consultation with the grant recipient. Accounts shall then be settled on the basis of the costs properly incurred and taking into account any financial commitments for the future that have reasonably been entered into pursuant to the decision. A reduction in the amount determined shall also take place only after consultation with the grant recipient.
For the purposes of this decision the following persons shall be responsible for liaison:
on behalf of the Minister on behalf of the grant recipient
Desirée Ooft Paul Engel
Research and Communication Division Director ECDPM
Unless this decision expressly stipulates otherwise, all correspondence relating to this decision shall be in English and addressed to the above persons.
Yours sincerely,
Caroline Wiedenhof
Head, Research and Communication Division
For the Minister for Development Cooperation
postal address
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Postbus 20061
2500 EB Den Haag
telephone: +31 70 348 6480
fax: +31 70 348 6436
Within six weeks after this decision is sent, a written objection may be lodged with the Minister of Foreign Affairs/the Minister for Development Cooperation, Po Box 20061, 2500 EB Den Haag. Under section 6:5 of the General Administrative Law Act, the notice of objection must be signed and dated and include the name and address of the person submitting it, a description of the decision against which the objection is being lodged and the grounds on which it is based. Where possible a copy of the contested decision should be enclosed.
A ppendix 1: application dated October 31, 2006
Appendix 2: request for payment and liquidity forecast
Appendix 3: audit protocol