CONT Mission to Turkey 01 to 04 November 2016
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CONT mission to Turkey within the context of the use of pre-accession funds & visit to Syrian refugee camp 01 to 04 November 2016 © carte du monde Committee on Budgetary Control Programme Fact-finding mission of the Budgetary Control Committee (CONT) to Turkey 01 to 04 November 2016 Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union Directorate for Budgetary Affairs Secretariat of the Committee on Budgetary Control - Brussels, 21 October 2016 Fact-finding mission of the Budgetary Control Committee (CONT) to Turkey 01 - 04 November 2016 DRAFT PROGRAMME Tuesday 1 November 2016 16.20 Arrival at Ankara Esenboğa Airport 17:30 – 18:00 Briefing session with Head of EU delegation, Ambassador Berger (Confirmed) Venue: EUD, Uğur Mumcu cad. No.88 Kat.5 GOP, Cankaya 18:00 – 19:30 Debriefing session with UN Agencies (UNHCR, WFP, UNFPA, UNDP, IOM) (Confirmed) Venue: EUD 20:00 Private Dinner Venue: Günaydın Restaurant, Gaziosmanpaşa, Attar Sk. No:6, Çankaya Night in Hilton Hotel Wednesday 2 November 2016 - Ankara 09:00-10:00 Courtesy call to İsmail Kahraman, Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) and tour of TGNA (TBC) Venue: TGNA 10:30-11:30 Meeting with Mr. Ömer Çelik, Minister for EU Affairs & Chief Negotiator (TBC) Venue: Ministry for EU Affairs 12:00-13:00 Meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Şimşek (TBC) Venue: Treasury 13:15-14:00 Private Lunch Venue: ? 14:15-15:30 Roundtable with key Turkish actors in indirect management of EU funding (NIPAC, NAO, CFCU and Operating Structures) - (TBC) Venue: Treasury 16:00-17:00 Visit to a school in Altındağ, funded by the Facility Special Measure, where Syrian students are enrolled (Confirmed) Venue: Fatih Sultan Mehmet İlköğretim Okulu, Önder mah. 931. Sok. No:13, Altındağ / Ankara 17:30-18:30 Roundtable with EUD Heads of Sections and Finance & Contracts, including detailed briefing for visits (confirmed) Venue: EUD 19:30 Dinner hosted by Head of Delegation, Christian Berger (TBC) Night in Hilton Hotel 2 Thursday 3 November 2016 – Ankara, Kayseri and Kahramanmaraş 08:00 Departure from Hilton Hotel 08:30 – 09:30 Meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak (TBC) Venue: Prime Ministry 09:30 - 14:30 Departure from Ankara to Kayseri by bus (one hour break on the way for lunch) 14:30 - 15:15 Courtesy Visit to Governor of Kayseri (TBC) Venue: ? 15:30 – 16:30 Visit to Removal Center for asylum seekers, refugees and illegal migrants (IPA National Programme) - Confirmed Venue: 16:45 – 17:45 Visit to ASAM Field Office for Syrian and non-Syrians (IcSP project) - Confirmed Venue: ? 18:00 – 19:00 Visit to Erciyes Technology Development Zone (IPA National Programme) - Confirmed Venue: ? 19:00 - 22:00 Departure from Kayseri to Kahramanmaraş by bus (3 hours) (Dinner box during the trip) Night in Clarion Hotel Kahramanmaraş 3 Friday 4 November 2016 – Kahramanmaraş 09:00 – 10:00 Courtesy visit to Governor and Mayor of Kahramanmaraş (TBC) Venue: Kahramanmaraş Valiliği 10:30 - 11:30 Visit to Kahramanmaraş Merkez Refugee Camp (with District Governor) The camp is currently under renovation to move refugees from tents into containers and is not open for external visits ahead of winter. External visit of the camp by bus followed by meetings with Camp Authorities and possibly Syrian refugees. Venue: Kahramanmaraş Governor's office (TBC) 12:00 – 13:15 Visit to Facility funded Temporary Education Center for Syrian Children in Kahramanmaraş City Center (UNICEF as implementing partner, ECHO project) 13:30 Official end of the programme and Departure from Kahramanmaraş Airport 4 DG NEAR follow-up of the discussions in the EP CONT Committee on 12 October 2016, additional information Fact-finding mission of the Budgetary Control Committee (CONT) to Turkey 01 to 04 November 2016 EP CONT mission to Turkey 2-4 November 2016 DG NEAR follow-up of the discussions in the EP CONT Committee on 12 October 2016, additional information Table of Contents 1. Transparency...........................................................................................................................3 Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA II) ....................................................................................4 2. Overall level of funding .........................................................................................................4 3. Contracting and disbursement, backlog ...............................................................................6 4. Performance indicators and targets ......................................................................................7 5. Continuation of the EU financial assistance to Turkey despite the Turkish Government's strong reaction post-coup ...................................................................................................... 12 6. Irregularities ........................................................................................................................ 13 Facility for Refugees in Turkey (FRIT) .................................................................................................. 15 7. Overview and breakdown of EU spending for refugees in Turkey and selection of priorities/projects ................................................................................................................... 15 8. Education and psychosocial support: linguistic issue and coverage ................................. 17 9. Cost per refugee in education and health sector ............................................................... 20 10. European Commission's controls applicable to the Facility for Refugees in Turkey ...... 21 11. Examples of positive and challenging projects under the Facility for Refugees in Turkey financing ................................................................................................................................... 22 12. Methodology applied in Progress Report and Turkey Progress Report 2015 ................ 23 13. Methodological point to CONT ........................................................................................ 24 1 Annexes 1. IATI 2016 report and link ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…….3 2. Latest Facility for Refugees in Turkey fact sheet, link to the website ……………………………………………3 3. Latest information sheet on commitments and disbursements …………………………………………….…….6 4. Indicative Country Strategy paper 2014-2020 …………………………………………………………………………….10 5. Letter from Commissioners Hahn and Moedas on Horizon 2020 ……………………………………………….12 6. Letter from Commissioners Hahn and Navracsics on Education …………………………………………………12 7. Guidance note in regards to EU cooperation and financial assistance to Turkey following the attempted coup on 15 July ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..12 8. Table on recoveries-Turkey Central Finance and Contract Unit of Turkish administration …………14 9. Letter sent to NAO on recoveries of ineligible funds financed in support of the establishment of Courts of Appeal in Turkey ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….….14 10. Annex: Table on of projects funded under the Facility for Refugees in Turkey ………………………..15 11. Annex: Note on Controls on Humanitarian Actions ……………………………………………………………….…21 12. Note on Controls on Non-Humanitarian Actions ………………………………………………………………….….21 13. Methodology for assessment of progress in the Commission reports ……………..………………………23 14. Turkey Progress Report 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………23 2 1. Transparency DG NEAR pays careful attention to the transparency of the pre-accession funding. As of 2013 comprehensive data is published on all pre-accession assistance on a monthly basis through the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) Registry, a public domain, where the information can be freely accessed. Such data is further linked to DG NEAR's website. According to the 2016 Index, DG NEAR registered important achievements and progress and ranks 13 (out of 46 in the donor ranking of the index). DG NEAR has made significant progress since 2013 and is one of the biggest improvers increasing its score by 26%. DG NEAR has published four new indicators in the IATI Standard since the 2015 EU Aid Transparency Review, including budget documents, conditions and impact appraisals Annex 1: IATI 2016 report and link http://ati.publishwhatyoufund.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/ATI- 2016_Report_Proof_DIGITAL.pdf We are making progress in more user friendly presentation of key funding data on our websites including the aid to refugees. During summer, DG NEAR developed an interactive map for the Facility for Refugees in Turkey in close collaboration with ECHO, pinning all the ongoing projects in Turkey. The map was launched in the beginning of September and promoted successfully on all of DG NEAR's social media platforms. It reached more than 500, 000 people on Facebook with over 2k likes, and was retweeted by numerous influencers in Turkey and EU. Annex 2: Latest Facility for Refugees in Turkey fact sheet, link to the website: Link to factsheet: http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/news_corner/migration/20161013-frit- factsheet.pdf Link to Facility webpage: http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/news_corner/migration/index_en.htm 3 Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA II) 2. Overall level of funding The indicative allocations as discussed with the European Parliament in the Strategic Dialogue are set out in the Indicative Strategy Papers. They are defined through an assessment of a combination of the needs, the accession priorities, level of allocations in the past as well as the absorption capacity.