Annex 8. Table with other not related to the draft JOP questions, remarks/opinions submitted via on-line forms and during public conferences LIST OF ACRONYMS USED IN THE TABLE AA Audit Authority AF Application Form CBC Cross-border Cooperation CCP Control Contact Point CfP Call for Proposals EC European Commission EU European Union GoA Group of Auditors IR Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 897/2014 of 18 August 2014 laying down specific provisions for the implementation of cross-border cooperation programmes financed under Regulation (EU) No 232/2014 of the European Parliament and the Council establishing a European Neighbourhood Instrument JMA Joint Managing Authority JOP Joint Operational Programme JPC Joint Programming Committee JTS Joint Technical Secretariat of the Programme 2007-2013 which will be playing the role of Intermediate Body in the Programme 2014-2020 MF Ministry of Finance MFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs NA National Authority NGO Non-governmental organization PRAG Practical Guide for Procurement and Grants for European Union external actions SEA Strategic Environmental Assessment SME Small and Medium-size Enterprise TO Thematic objective № Institution that Content of the remark / suggested change Response submits remarks 1 Green Eco-tourism, Belarusian partners have interest in finding partners in Poland. Request to create Organisation of activities and events contributing to development of Belarus a list of Polish partners for further cooperation in order to facilitate the partnership will be possible once the Programme is approved by the EC. Then, procedure of further cooperation. partner search forums will be organised. Furthermore, a section devoted to developing project partnerships will be available on the Programme website. 2 National Tourist- Suggestion to increase the level of trust in auditors within new Programme. In Belarus a three-level monitoring system was proposed for the Programme Sports Union, implementation (the decision was taken by mutual consent and entered into Grodno, Belarus the minutes of the Working Group for CBC at the MFA of Belarus (1) MFA – a body responsible for the overall Programme implementation; (2) CCP – the TACIS National Coordinating Unit; its functions will be specified in the future (so far an indicative range of functions has been prepared); (3) audit level – the MF of Belarus; a selected representative of the MF will participate in the GoA responsible for preparation of a list of audit companies from which beneficiaries will choose an auditor for their project; each audit company included in the auditors’ list will be provided with special training. 3 National Tourist- Request to determine strict boundaries as regards the processing of information Expenditure verification done by the JTS is one of the stages of the multi-level Sports Union, and auditing of the accounts not only for Belarus, but also for the JTS. verification system that in verification involves external auditors, JTS and JMA, Grodno, Belarus CCP, GoA, AA, EC and European Tribunals. 4 Yanka Kupala State Who may make comments/remarks to the report after the auditor verified the Expenditure verification done by the JTS is one of the stages of the multi-level University of Grodno, beneficiaries expenditures? verification system that in verification involves external auditors, JTS and JMA, Belarus CCP, GoA, AA, EC and European Tribunals. 5 National Tourist- a) the varied approach to tax exemption with reference to EU co-funding Pursuant to the Decision of the Council of Ministers of Republic of Belarus Sports Union, and own contribution; (RB) No 1522 of 21.11.2003, own contribution of Belarusian partners is not Grodno, Belarus b) a VAT exemption for the main contractor and no such exemption for exempt from tax. According to the EC, it is against the current framework subcontractors; agreement of 2008. The Decree of the President of RB No 460 of 22.10.2003 These are connected with the difficulty in dividing costs (and consequently tax states that only technical assistance funds (co-funded by the EU) shall be exemption) of a specific comprehensive product (action), e.g. the road exempt from taxes, VAT, customs duties and other charges. As of today, no construction, in case of the implementation of investment projects; it causes final solution has been reached as the Belarusian Ministry of Finance has repeated conflicts arising between beneficiaries (or project partners) and some questions. implementing organisations and the legislation. 6 Yanka Kupala State Will the procurement under the programme PBU 2014–2020 be a subject to the Procurement procedures within the Programme may be specified in Financing University of Grodno, national legislation? Agreement between EC and Belarus, however provisions of article 52 of IR Belarus shall also be observed. 7 Dneper-Bug Request for increasing of requirements for audit procedures. The CCP will act as a coordinator of auditors’ work; there will be possibility of waterway, Pinsk, Delays in auditing negatively affect the project implementation schedule. selecting an audit company from the recommended list. All selected audit Belarus companies will receive additional trainings. 8 Svislach Regional Will the Belarusian authorities simplify the project approval procedure? The proposals for amending the Decisions of the Council of Ministers of RB No Executive Committee, Procedure for project selection by the Belarusian authorities after receiving a 1522 and 1513 were submitted to the Council of Ministers of RB. They include Svislach, Belarus grant is extremely long. corresponding changes of the procedures and their facilitation. If they are approved, the process will become much easier and faster. 9 Ministry of Internal How to address the issues of audit, inspection, monitoring of the activities taken Spending of EU funds for the Programme will be verified by independent audit Affairs, Belarus under projects in the case of law enforcement authorities? Will an auditing companies, included on the list approved by the CCP of Republic of Belarus. opinion issued by an internal department be considered lawful? The control over So far, there have been no problems in this regard also with respect to central the financial activities of law enforcement authorities, such as the MIA public offices of Belarus (e.g. State Customs Office). Departments, the Boarder Guard or the Customs Guard, can be effected, according to the law, only by the competent government authorities. 10 Grodno Regional Possibility of presenting of project’s drafts (initial version of projects); submission This solution was analysed at the stage of Programme development. So far, no Blood Transfusion of a draft project version will limit the necessity of developing comprehensive decision has been taken on introducing the so-called concept note (restricted Station, Belarus and complete project proposals and all annexes to them only to those applicants call for proposals)The issue will be the subject of JMC decision. who will pass through the evaluation stage of draft project versions. 11 Grodno Regional Possibility of submitting a project proposal in a Polish language version; Polish is Representatives of three countries participating in the Programme have Blood Transfusion more widespread in the region. decided that English is an official language of the Programme; consequently, Station, Belarus project proposals will be submitted in English. Nevertheless, for the purposes of any guidelines/instructions/guides for applicants/beneficiaries, the organisation of training courses and workshops, etc. it will be also possible to use national languages. 12 Grodno Regional Possibility of reading of a successful project that has been approved. In the “About projects” section on the Programme official website a list of Blood Transfusion contracted projects along with information on partners’ contact data is Station, Belarus available. The same approach will be used in the new Programme. 13 Yanka Kupala State Form of proposal submission: will it be possible to submit a proposal both in an .Electronic application process will be possible. An electronic proposal University of Grodno, electronic and paper form? Is either of the forms preferred? generator is being developed. Belarus 14 Lviv Regional Branch The first CfP was launched in November 2009 and the Programme started to The Programme was accepted by the EC in November 2008, while the of National Institute seek for external experts for proposals’ assessment only in June 2011. Why did it structures regarding the Programme implementation have been created of Strategic take so long to launch the assessment process, who carried out the assessment immediately after this. In the beginning of 2009 the first meeting of JMC took Researches, Ukraine and whether representatives of all participating countries were involved in that place and the first CfP was launched in November 2009. It came to an end on process? March 1, 2010 followed by the administrative assessment part. The fact that the quality assessment of AFs started only in summer does not mean delay, for it is the result of step-by-step activities. And the best evidence proving that everything took place correctly and was successfully over, were the results of selection available back in November 2010. Thus, the whole selection process, considering the number of AFs, actually lasted for a very short period. Speaking of nationality of experts, they represent all three participating countries. It allows to say