project handbook guidelines for administrative and...

ERASMUS + PROGRAMME

Project Handbook

Guidelines for Administrative and Financial Management and Reporting

(Version 2015)

eTwinning National Support Services

eTwinning Plus Partner Support Agency

1st version April 2015

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Table of Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 4

1. Overview Project Life Cycle ..................................................................................................... 5

(from the signature of your contract until audit) ........................................................................ 5

1.1 Your project in the lifecycle of the Erasmus + Programme ................................................... 6

2. Monitoring of the actions by the Agency ................................................................................. 7

2.1 Purpose ................................................................................................................................... 7

2.2 What kind of monitoring ........................................................................................................ 7

3. Reporting .................................................................................................................................... 7

3.1 Structure of the reports ........................................................................................................... 8

3.2 Structure of the General Section............................................................................................. 8

3.3 Structure of the Specific Section ............................................................................................ 9

3.4 How to send the Report ........................................................................................................ 10

3.5 Processing the Report ........................................................................................................... 10

3.5.1 Incompleteness of a report ............................................................................................. 11

3.5.2 Rejection of a report ...................................................................................................... 11

4. Financial rules .......................................................................................................................... 11

4.1 General Provisions on Eligibility of Costs ........................................................................... 11

4.2 Principles applied to the different categories of expenditures.............................................. 14

4.2.1 Staff costs ....................................................................................................................... 14

4.2.2 Travel and subsistence costs (staff) ............................................................................... 16

4.2.3 Information and Communication ................................................................................... 18

4.2.4 Other Costs .................................................................................................................... 20

4.2.5 Indirect costs (overheads) .............................................................................................. 21

4.3 Calculation of the final grant amount and supporting documents ........................................ 21

4.4 Checks and Audits ................................................................................................................ 24

4.5 Claims/Appeals .................................................................................................................... 26

5. Amendments ............................................................................................................................. 26

5.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 26

5.2 Changes which require an amendment request form ........................................................... 27

5.3 Changes which do not require an amendment request form ................................................ 27

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5.3.1 Changes via the Participant Portal ................................................................................. 28

5.3.2 Change of legal representative of the beneficiary organisation ..................................... 28

5.3.3 Change of contact person in the beneficiary organisation ............................................. 28

6. Dissemination and Exploitation of Results ............................................................................ 29

6.1 Dissemination and exploitation ............................................................................................ 29

6.2 Recognition of Commission funding and use of Erasmus + logo ........................................ 29

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Introduction

Purpose of the Handbook

This Handbook applies to grants under the Erasmus + Programme for the actions: eTwinning

National Support Services (NSS) and eTwinning Plus Partner Support Agency (PSA).

Its principal aims are to:

help beneficiaries to manage their project and run them efficiently;

clarify matters arising from the grant decision/agreement and its annexes;

provide practical information that may be referred to throughout the project's life;

provide guidance on how to handle the financial side of projects in such a way that

financial statement can be readily drawn up;

promote the sound financial management and ensure that the best

results/products are delivered at reasonable cost;

encourage smooth relations between the parties involved by setting out an

operational framework for the project.

Other Documents

This document should be read in conjunction with your grant decision/agreement and the

Restricted Calls for proposals addessed to the designated Institutions in 2014:

EACEA/21/2014, EACEA/35/2014, and EACEA/37/2014) .

For further information

For further information or clarifications on the content of this handbook, please contact us via

the functional mailbox for this action: [email protected]

http://new.eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.C_.2013.362.01.0062.01.ENG



mailto:[email protected]

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ELIGIBILITY PERIOD AND PROJECT ACTIVITIES

MONITORING OF PROJECT

REPORTING SUBMISSION OF FINAL REPORT & AUDIT

1. Overview Project Life Cycle

(from the signature of your contract until audit)

Applicants who have been successful in the selection process receive a grant decision/agreement

from the Agency. The decision/agreement indicates the grant awarded and sets out the Financial

rules to be applied. Payments are usually made in instalment.

.

The Eligibility Period is the time during which expenses can be

incurred and covered by the European Union grant. The length of

the eligibility period depends on the project duration. Planned

project activities are carried out.

The European Commission/Executive Agency monitors the

implementation of the project through its life-cycle. In situ project

visits and Monitoring initiatives are undertaken in some cases.

At the end of the project, a Final Report is submitted which

provides information on project implementation, results achieved

and expenditure incurred. The report is assessed and given an

appreciation. Once the project has been closed, the

Agency/Commission may elect to carry out an audit within 5 years

of the closure date.

CONTRACTUALISATION

DISSEMINATION AND EXPLOITATION

OF RESULTS WITHIN AND BEYOND

PROJECT LIFETIME

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1.1 Your project in the lifecycle of the Erasmus + Programme

Policy

The Erasmus + Programme is implemented via Calls for proposals and it is expected that

your project will contribute to the policy priorities of this programme. Check the web pages

of DG EAC (Directorate General for Education and Culture), CEDEFOP (European Centre

for the Development of Vocational Training), DG EMPL (Directorate General for

Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion) and other relevant bodies regularly in order to keep

your project in line with the latest policy development in the field and priority your project is

linked to. Eligibility of costs and guarantee

The Agency co-finances the costs of the project activities from the beginning until the end of

the eligibility period. Any project activities occurring outside of the eligibility period are not

eligible for funding. Depending on the evaluation of the financial capacity of the beneficiary organisation, the

Agency may seek a financial guarantee before the pre-financing payment(s) are made. At the beginning of the project the Agency transfers to you a first pre-financing payment

which amounts to the percentage of the European Union's contribution to the project costs set

out in the grant decision/agreement. Depending on the duration of the project, there may be a

second pre-financing payment. At the end of the project and after approval of the project

results, analysis and approval of the costs incurred, the Agency will execute the final

payment which is made up of the contractual percentage of the total eligible actual costs less

the payments already made less the interests earned on the pre-financing payments. Monitoring and reports

As part of the monitoring activity, the Agency may organise a meeting with the key people

on your project (in Brussels or at your premises).

To enable the Agency to assess the achievements of your project, you are required to

submit a final report. Changes

If during the project's lifetime the need for changes to the grant decision/agreement arises,

you must request an amendment to the Agency PRIOR to the change(s).

You can also make some modifications via the Participant Portal, if the nature of the changes

needed allows you to do so.

Keeping documents

After the project's closure, independently of the report on factual findings made by an

auditor to be transmitted with the final report, the Agency reserves the right to launch an

audit to verify the accounts. The grant decision/agreement includes a specific requirement to

keep records (accounts and all supporting documents) for 5 years after the final payment is

transferred to the beneficiary's account.

These areas are now presented in more detail.

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2. Monitoring of the actions by the Agency

2.1 Purpose

The main purpose of the monitoring is to provide support for each project, to offer guidance

and advice which can be integrated by the project team as it endeavours to achieve a

successful outcome. Monitoring also ensures that projects fulfil their stated objectives and

allows the identification of good practices and lessons learned so that others may benefit from

them.

2.2 What kind of monitoring

A performance oriented monitoring is more relevant in the first half of the project and will

target more at the way the project is being managed and how activities are developing as

compared to initial plans. A result oriented approach is more relevant in the second half of

project implementation and will focus more on the produced deliverables, their outreach,

dissemination, future exploitation and sustainability.

The Agency's monitoring may cover operational and/or financial aspects and may be

performed through face to face meetings or remotely. Monitoring can be performed

through different means:

• Agency's desk monitoring;

• Agency's monitoring visits: monitoring visits may consist of a visit by Agency’s

representatives or experts to the premises of the beneficiary (in situ visit); • Meeting with a project at the Agency's premises: a visit by project representatives to

the Agency. These meetings may be organised in conjunction with other meetings or events

organised by the Agency or in the framework of the action.

The above list is not exhaustive; additional project monitoring methods may be developed.

3. Reporting

The Agency is currently revising its reporting procedure and is moving towards an

eReporting system. This section of the Handbook will be updated as soon as the new

rules for submitting reports are in place. Meanwhile, please refer to the currently

available documents for preparing the reports as the information required will not be

modified, only the procedure for submitting reports.

A Final Report, covering the reporting for the entire project duration must be submitted two

months after the end of the project. In order to provide a practical and structured means for a

project to report its achievements, the Agency has report templates – including a financial

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reporting table – accompanied by instructions on how to complete them. The links to the

templates are respectively: https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/beneficiaries-space/etwinning-nss_en

https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/beneficiaries-space/etwinning-psa_en

(Choose the action Key Action 2 – Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices –

eTwinning and eTwinning Plus)

3.1 Structure of the reports

The Final Report consists of two sections:

• a General Section;

• a Specific Section.

The General Section presents a summary of the content of the project and its achievements.

This part will be used for the Executive Agency and the European Commission as a feedback

to be taken into account for further improvements of the action.

The Specific Section contains information about the execution of individual activities, the

management of the project, the project finances, and any supplementary information the

beneficiary would like to communicate to the Agency. The legal representative of the

beneficiary organisation must confirm that the data and information contained in the report

are accurate and in accordance with the facts.

Please note: the General and Specific sections of the report when put together should offer the

complete picture of a project thus enabling it to be fully evaluated. However, the two parts

should not contain the same information.

A complete financial analysis of the project's expenses will be done only at the submission of

the Final Report.

3.2 Structure of the General Section

This part of the report should include information on the 5 following headings:

1. Approach to achieve objectives: please describe the approach you have followed in order to

achieve the objectives and priorities given in your Activity Plan for this period.

2. Activities carried out: please describe the activities carried out at national/regional level

and your contribution to the collaborative activities carried out at European level.

3. Outcomes and results: please describe your achievements in the different field of activity.

4. Lessons learnt and plans for the future: please include a description of Lessons learnt and

address how the achievements or the problems incurred of this contractual period impact on

your future strategies or activities.

5. Extra Heading Section: is provided for observations or analysis you wish to include, but do

not find appropriate to insert in the previous chapters. Please remove it, if you do not make

use of this chapter.

https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/beneficiaries-space/etwinning-nss_en


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The report should include details of all products/results produced within the reporting period

in accordance with the approved Activity Plan. It may contain diagrams and pictures

illustrating the work of the project. In terms of quality, copying content from the original

application into the General Section is to be avoided.

3.3 Structure of Specific Section

This part of the Final Report includes the following sections:

Section 1- Declaration of honour by the Beneficiary

Formal declaration of the accuracy of the information provided in your report.

Make sure that the declaration is signed by the legal representative (the same person who

signed the grant decision/agreement). If the declaration page is signed by a different person,

the Agency will not be in a position to accept the report. In this case either a subdelegation

proving the power of attorney or a new report bearing the signature of the legal representative

will be requested by the Agency.

Section 2 - Description of activities, products and results

Describe in detail the activities, products and results for the whole duration of the agreement,

including a list of achievements and indicators that give a picture of the overall situation at the

end of the agreement period. Particular emphasis should be placed on the description of

promotional, training, monitoring and dissemination activities at national and regional level,

as well as type of actions, tasks assigned and the overall frameworks for action. Provide the

targets and the indicators you used to measure progress obtained and explain in detail the

efficiency and effectiveness of the activities carried out.

Explain the methodology put in place to manage the action, the coordination arrangements

with the different stakeholders and the implementation of quality assurance tools. Report on

any particular difficulty encountered related to the management.

Describe the strategies and means you used to increase the number of eTwinning projects and

to foster their quality, as well as which were the main achievements.

In case of problems encountered or any deviation from the approved Activity Plan, describe

the solutions that have been implemented.

You have to attach to the Specific Section any document produced within the project that

provides useful information for the assessment of the project performance. For instance,

minutes of the meetings, any dissemination material you have produced such as publications,

CD-ROMs, DVD, promotional material, articles published, etc..

Section 3 - Financial Statement

The financial reporting for your project must be carried out using the Excel workbook that has

been provided by the Agency for that purpose and is available from the following webpages: https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/beneficiaries-space/etwinning-nss_en




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Please ensure that also the financial tables are written in English, in French or in

German as the rest of the report. If this is not the case, the Agency will request to put the

financial sheets in conformity with the other parts of the final report, with a delay in the due

payment.

More information on the financial reporting is given in part 4. Financial Rules of this

Handbook.

Section 4 - Other Supplementary Information (optional)

In this section you should include information or issue you do not consider suitable for Part 1

and 2 but that you wish to communicate to the Agency.

3.4 How to send the Report

The complete report should be sent in the following way:

• 1 original copy of the final report on PAPER (report drafted on the template). This

original copy has the signature of the legal representative. No supporting documents

(results) or financial report (excel sheets) should be attached.

• 2 electronic storage devices (e.g. 2 USB sticks, 2 CD ROM…) with copies of the final

report, of the financial statement (Excel) and of all products (publications, agendas of

meetings and conferences, folders, photos of promotional gadgets …). For supporting

documents on the financial report, please consult part 4.3 Calculation of the final grant

amount and supporting documents.

Please send 2 separate devices. One of them needs to be sent to an external expert.

The address is:

Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency

Erasmus+ A5: Vocational Training, Adult Education, Platforms

Office: BOU2 02/145

Av. du Bourget 1

BE - 1049 Brussels

BELGIUM

3.5 Processing the Report

Each report must be submitted to the Agency by the deadline indicated in the grant decision/

agreement. Late submission may considerably delay the process of analysing and assessing

the report.

In general, the Agency uses external experts to help with the analysis of the report, the

evaluation of the quality of the work accomplished and the formulation of an overall

assessment.

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The experts engaged by the Agency are obliged to declare in advance that no conflict of

interest exists in relation to the projects they will assess.

3.5.1 Incompleteness of a report

If a report is incomplete (for instance, some parts are missing or incorrect), the Agency may

request that further information be supplied and provided through the submission of a new,

updated version of the report. Nonetheless, if the missing or incomplete information relates to

the Specific Section, the Agency may decide that the additional information can be submitted

separately e.g. without the project having to submit a new version of the report. The Agency

will specify the form in which the additional information should be submitted. In these cases,

the period foreseen in the contract for payment will be suspended until the additional

information has been received by the Agency.

3.5.2 Rejection of a report

In addition, there are a number of elements that are indispensable for the Agency to carry out

an analysis of the report. The absence of any of these elements would render the Agency

unable to assess the report and would thus lead to a rejection of the report until the missing

information had been provided.

Reasons for rejecting reports:

• no original version of the report is received;

• the original signature of the legal representative is missing;

• the General or the Specific Section is missing;

• the financial report (electronic version) is missing or the amounts presented are not in

accordance with the initially agreed budget;

• the report, including the financial report, has been submitted using different templates

than the ones provided by the Agency;

• the report has been submitted in a language other than English, French or German.

Based on the experts' assessment and their recommendations, the Agency takes a final

decision with regard to the payment of the due part of the grant. In case that a report is not

complete and additional information needs to be submitted, the related payment will be

delayed.

Once the assessment is complete, the Agency will inform the project of the final evaluation

e.g. its decision and feedback on the project's progress and achievements.

4. Financial rules

4.1 General Provisions on Eligibility of Costs

Eligible costs

The general context, nature and amount of expenditure will be considered when

assessing eligibility of costs.

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Costs linked to Professional Development Workshop (PDW) activities should be declared

under the appropriate categories. The worksheet "Revenue from PDWs" shall be filled in

accordingly in order to make clear which part of the costs have been reimbursed and which

part is claimed in the final report by the organising NSS/PSA.

The parts of the costs reimbursed by other NSS/PSA attending the PDW are not eligible for

the organising NSS and they must be deducted from the different budget categories by

inserting negative amounts in the appropriate worksheets.

To be considered as eligible costs, they must satisfy the following general criteria:

• they must be related to activities described in the approved Activity Plan and targeted to

the eligible countries listed in the call "eTwinning National Support Services and

eTwinning Plus Partner Support Agency".

• they must be incurred by the legal entity mentioned in the decision/agreement;

• they must be connected with the project (i.e. relevant for the action and be directly

connected with execution of the project in accordance with the Activity Plan);

• they must be foreseen in the estimated overall budget of the project. Should the

Beneficiary anticipate incurring costs that were not foreseen in the estimated budget, the

prior approval of the Agency should be sought. In some specific cases an amendment

will be necessary (see section 5);

• they must be necessary for the performance of the project;

• they must be reasonable and justified and they must be in accordance with the principles

of sound financial management1, in particular in terms of value for money and cost-

effectiveness;

• they must be generated during the contractual lifetime of the project2

as defined in

the decision/agreement, with the only exception of costs relating to the staff completing

1 Costs shall be defined in accordance with the principle of sound financial management, namely with the principles of economy, efficiency

and effectiveness. The principle of economy requires that costs shall be defined in due time, in appropriate quantity and quality and at the

best price. The principle of efficiency is concerned with the best relationship between resources employed and results achieved. The principle of effectiveness is concerned with attaining the specific objectives set and achieving the intended results.

2 e.g. generated by an activity that takes place during the lifetime (legal duration) of the project / action. Activities taking place before or after

the period specified in a grant decision/agreement are not eligible for funding.

Description Budget category

Amount declared in the Final Report by

the organising NSS/PSA

Amount reimbursed by the attending

NSS/PSA

Amount claimed by the organising NSS/PSA after reduction of

reimbursed amounts Hotel Invoice I.B-I.C Travel and subsistence 50.000 + 40.000 - 10.000 + Catering I.C Subcontracting 10.000 + 9.000 - 1.000 + Bus/Local Transports I.C Subcontracting 5.000 + 4.000 - 1.000 + Printed material I.C Other communication costs 2.000 + 1.000 - 1.000 + Promotional materials I.C Other communication costs 3.000 + 2.000 - 1.000 +

70.000 + 56.000 - 14.000 +

Organisation of a PDW

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the final reports and the "Report of Factual Findings" as defined in the

decision/agreement in the agreement.

• they must be actually incurred by the beneficiary and be recorded in its accounts in

accordance with the applicable accounting principles and be declared in accordance

with the requirements of the applicable tax and social legislation; costs which are not

paid yet at the time of submission of the report cannot be recorded in the final financial

statement.

• they must be identifiable and verifiable and determined according to the applicable

accounting standards of the country where the beneficiary is established and according

to the usual cost-accounting practices of the beneficiary.

The beneficiary's internal accounting and auditing procedures must allow direct reconciliation

of the costs and revenue declared in respect of the project with the corresponding accounting

statements and supporting documents.

Where national taxation and accounting rules do not require an invoice, an accounting

document of equivalent value means any document produced in order to prove that the

accounting entry is accurate and complies with the applicable accounting law.

The beneficiary must keep all supporting documents relating to the project.

Unjustified costs will not be considered as eligible by the Agency and/or by the

auditors.

Non-eligible costs

The following items of costs are not eligible and should therefore not be included under any

headings in the Budget:

- contributions in kind;

- return on capital;

- debt and debt service charges;

- provisions for losses or potential future liabilities (provisions for contractual and moral

obligations, fines, financial penalties and legal costs);

- interest owed;

- doubtful debts;

- exchange losses;

- VAT3;

- costs declared by the applicant and covered by another action or work programme

receiving an EU grant4;

- excessive or reckless expenditure;

- purchase of capital assets;

- in the case of rental or leasing of equipment, the cost of any buy-out option at the end of

the lease or rental period;

- costs associated with the preparation of the application;

- costs of opening and operating bank accounts (costs of transferring funds are eligible);

3 The VAT paid by public bodies or private bodies that cannot be recovered according to national legislation is an eligible cost. 4 The beneficiary who already receives an operating grant financed from the Union budget during the period in question can not claim

indirect costs, e.g. it cannot ask the 7% overheads (section 4.2.5);

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- cost of transfer from the Agency charged by the bank of the beneficiary;

- cost of replacing staff involved in the action;

- expenses for travel to/from countries other than those participating in the

project/programme, unless explicit prior authorisation is granted by the Agency,

In particular, if the eTwinning Support Service is a National Agency, it will take care to avoid

dual funding, i.e. both as an activity supported under the Operating grant of the National

Agency concerned and as an activity supported under the present call. Similarly, there may be

no duplicate funding of staff costs already covered by the Operating grant of the National

Agency.

Costs which could be considered as eligible according to the criteria detailed under section

4.1 become ineligible if they are not supported by adequate supporting accounting

documents.

In addition, internal invoices will not be accepted as valid supporting documents.

For more information regarding costs linked to bank transfers, please read article 24.11 and

II.24.11 of the grant decision/agreement.

You are reminded about two additional important points:

1. EU logo and communication:

The Agency reserves the right to reject costs relating to documents and materials

which do not state the EU logo and funding disclaimer as defined in the Special

Conditions of the grant decision/agreement (see section 6.2 below). 2. Timely recording of costs:

Expenses must be recorded in the accounting system on the basis of adequate

supporting documents at the time the costs were incurred. Documents created after

the period in which the costs were incurred, will be declared ineligible (e.g.

declaration of costs incurred in 2014, created/dated in 2016).

4.2 Principles applied to the different categories of expenditures

4.2.1 Staff costs

Costs relating to the following categories of staff are considered eligible:

• Statutory staff, having either a permanent or a temporary employment contract with the

contracting organisation or equivalent appointing act;

• temporary staff, recruited through a specialised external Agency;

• other types of contracts as far as the national labour law assimilates them to

employment contracts/staff .

Learners/Trainees, volunteers and persons working through subcontracting (e.g. freelancers,

self-employed person, sole traders) cannot be considered as staff member.

Staff costs must be broken down into four categories:

• Staff category 1 Manager

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• Staff category 2 Researcher, Teacher, Trainer

• Staff category 3 Technical

• Staff category 4 Administrative

Beneficiaries should report staff costs based on real daily staff cost rates, corresponding to

the beneficiary's usual policy on remuneration, comprising actual salaries plus social security

charges and other statutory costs included in the remuneration, respecting the non-profit

making principle which applies to EU grants.

Non-statutory costs like bonuses, lease car, expense account schemes, incentive payments or

profit-sharing schemes are excluded. Salary policy shall be the same for all staff no matter if

they work or not in the project: the use of grid of salary for staff working in the frame of

beneficiary activities in parallel with different rates for staff working on an EU project is not

acceptable. In case of ad-hoc staff daily rates on EU funded actions, this one will be

considered ineligible. The veracity of these costs may be the subject of an audit.

Staff costs should be claimed on the basis of the actual daily salary/fees of the

employee/interim staff and multiplied by the number of days spent on the action and

supported by time sheets.

i.e.:

Please note that work outside regular working hours (like weekends), substantial increase of

the number of working days and/or a significant shift between the categories in the final

report in comparison to the initial estimated budget must be duly justified.

Staff members of the beneficiary are not allowed to operate in a subcontracting capacity

for the action. Costs related to persons working through subcontracting shall be included

under the appropriate category.

To be noted:

This cost must be the actual cost incurred by the beneficiary; staff cost of other

organisations is eligible only if it is paid directly or reimbursed by the beneficiary. These

costs may include additional remuneration, including payments on the basis of supplementary

contracts regardless of their nature, provided that it is paid in a consistent manner whenever

the same kind of work or expertise is required and independently from the source of funding

used.

The corresponding salary costs of personnel of national administrations are eligible to the

extent that they relate to the cost of activities which the relevant public authority would not

carry out if the concerned action (eTwinning) was not undertaken.

Costs for replacing staff involved in the action are not eligible.

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4.2.2 Travel and subsistence costs (staff)

4.2.2.1 Travel costs

Travel costs are considered eligible, provided that they are in line with the beneficiary

organisation’s usual practices on travel costs;

Costs may be claimed only for journeys directly connected to specific and clearly

identifiable project-related activities.

Reimbursement must be based on real costs, regardless the means of travel chosen (rail,

bus, taxi, plane, hire car, etc.). Beneficiaries are required to use the cheapest means of

travel (e.g. use Apex tickets for air travel and take advantage of reduced fares; where this is

not the case, a full explanation should be provided).

The travel cost for a journey should include all costs and all means for travel from the point

of origin to the point of destination (and vice versa) and includes visa fees, travel insurance,

cancellation costs and travel agency fees if applicable. Once the point of destination reached,

local transports from should be considered in the subsistence costs (see section 4.2.2.2).

Expenses for private car travel (personal or company cars), where substantiated and where

the price is not excessive, will be reimbursed as follows (whichever is the cheapest):

• either a rate per km in accordance with the internal rules of the organisation concerned

up to a max of EUR 0.22;

• or price of a rail, bus or plane ticket shall be reimbursed, independently of the number

of people travelling in the same vehicle.

For hired cars (maximum category B or equivalent) or taxis: the actual cost will be considered

eligible where this is not excessive compared with other means of travel (also taking account

of any influencing factors e.g. time, excessive luggage).

Travel costs incurred outside the countries participating in this action of the Eramus+

Programme are not eligible, unless explicit written prior authorisation is granted by the

Agency.

4.2.2.2 Subsistence costs

Subsistence costs are eligible under this budget heading.

Costs may be claimed only for journeys directly connected to specific and clearly

identifiable project-related activities.

Subsistence rates cover accommodation, meals and local travel costs (except local travel

costs incurred to travel from point of origin to point of destination).

The maximum number of days that can be claimed is the number of

event/conference/meeting days + 1 (this additional day is eligible in case of prior arrival or

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late departure due to flight/train/means of transports schedule). A full day normally includes

an overnight stay. Without an overnight stay, the allowance is adapted with a pro-rata

reduction for accommodation (costs limited to 50% of the maximum rate).

A pro-rata reduction must also be applied if accommodation, meals or local travel costs are

provided for by a third party.

In all cases, proof of attendance and overnight accommodation may be required to

substantiate the costs declared.

Within these limits, subsistence expenses may be reimbursed on an actual or daily allowance

basis as per beneficiaries' usual practices on subsistence costs and, in any case, they cannot

exceed the following ceilings established in Euros:

Belgium BE 232 Malta MT 205

Bulgaria BG 227 Netherlands NL 263

Czech Republic CZ 230 Austria AT 225

Denmark DK 270 Poland PL 217

Germany DE 208 Portugal PT 204

Estonia EE 181 Romania RO 222

Greece EL 222 Slovenia SI 180

Spain ES 212 Slovak Republic SK 205

France FR 245 Finland FI 244

Ireland IE 254 Sweden SE 257

Italy IT 230 United Kingdom UK 276

Cyprus CY 238 Iceland IS 261

Latvia LV 211 Norway NO 260

Lithuania LT 183 Croatia HR 180

Luxembourg LU 237 Turkey TR 142

Hungary HU 222 FYROM MK 171

Albania 233 Bosnia and Herzegovina 130

Montenegro 143 Serbia 158

Armenia 138 Moldova 173

Azerbaijan 311 Ukraine 316

Georgia 209 Tunisia 156

Costs in countries other than the ones listed are not eligible.

Subsistence policy should be the same for all staff no matter if they work or not in the

project: the use of a grid of subsistence for staff working in the frame of beneficiary activities

in parallel with different rates for staff working on an EU project is not acceptable. Ad-hoc

subsistence rates on EU projects will be considered ineligible. The veracity of these costs

may be the subject of an audit.

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To be noted: Reimbursement of travel and subsistence expenses will be limited to one representative from

each NSS and PSA for Management meetings and two for Working Group meetings.

If the beneficiary calls on the services of outside experts (i.e. a person not on the payroll of

the beneficiary organisation) the costs for travel and subsistence must be declared under the

sub-contracting budget heading and be included and detailed in the contract signed with the

sub-contractor in order to be sure to respect the conditions laid down in the section 4.2.3.3.

4.2.3 Information and Communication

The Heading "Information and communication" is based on 4 sub-categories:

1. Travel and subsistence for non staff attendants

2. Equipment

3. Subcontracting (max 35% of the total direct expenses)

4. Other costs linked to information and communication

Those categories refer to costs in connection with:

- travel and subsistence costs incurred for the participation of selected teachers and other

educational staff (experts, school authorities) in professional development events,

conferences, workshops organised by the NSS itself, by another NSS/PSA or by the CSS;

- organising conferences, seminars, meetings;

- publications (including electronic-publications);

- advertising;

- translation;

- distribution and other dissemination activities.

4.2.3.1 Travel and subsistence costs (non staff)

The same rules mentioned in section 4.2.2 apply to costs for travel and subsistence of non staff who do not belong to the category of staff as defined in section 4.2.1.

4.2.3.2 Equipment

Purchase, rent or lease of equipment (new or second-hand), including the installation,

maintenance and insurance costs, are considered eligible costs:

• only when specific and necessary for achieving the goals of the project. Proposed

equipment costs must always be duly justified. The rules for procurement defined in

the grant decision/agreement apply; • provided that it is written off in accordance with the tax and accounting rules

applicable to the beneficiary and generally accepted for items of the same kind. Only

the portion of the equipment's depreciation corresponding to the duration of the action

and the rate of actual use for the purposes of the action may be taken into account by

the Agency. The beneficiary shall explain the rules applied. If the nature and/or the

context of its use justify different treatment, this should be duly justified.

All equipment related to the administration of the project (e.g. PCs, portables, etc.) and all

equipment purchased before the start of the action is covered by indirect costs of the project

(see below).

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4.2.3.3 Subcontrating costs

Any amount paid to an outside body, organisation or individual5 which carries out specific

and limited work for the project through procurement contracts, shall be charged to this

heading.

The beneficiary shall award the contract to the tenderer offering best value for money, that is

to say, to the tender offering the best price-quality ratio, in compliance with the principles of

transparency and equal treatment for potential contractors, care being taken to avoid any

conflict of interests.

The beneficiary is expected to clearly document the tendering procedure and retain the

documentations for the event of an audit.

Sub-contracting must satisfy the following conditions:

• the essential activities of the project may not be subcontracted;

• it may only cover the implementation of a limited part of the action, and in any case not

more than 35% of the total direct costs;

• it must be justified having regard to the nature of the action and what is necessary for its

implementation;

• it must be clearly stated in the proposal or prior written authorisation from the Agency

must be obtained.

Essential activities which cannot be subcontracted include:

• management and general administration of the action;

• coordination and steering of activities;

• reporting to the Commission on policy developments at national/regional levels,

reporting to EACEA on administrative issues;

• liaising with relevant national bodies,

• content related activities that are at the core of the action.

Parts of the action which can be subcontracted (non-exhaustive list):

• translation, interpretation, design and printing costs for brochures and publicity

materials;

• organisation of logistics aspects of seminars/events (including rent of rooms, catering

services, the production of proceedings of a seminar, posters, badges, banners,

programmes, interpretation booths, local transport, the purchase of product-related

consumables such as reams of paper for printing of publications, blank DVD);

• production of videos or short promotional films;

• participation of experts in focus groups, seminars;

• technical development of websites.

If the beneficiary calls on the services of an outside expert (i.e. a person not on the payroll of

the beneficiary organisation) as a consultant, the costs will be eligible subject to the

conditions mentioned above and provided that they are strictly necessary for the performance

of the action and are reasonable in amount. All the costs directly connected with sub-

contracting must be declared under the sub-contracting budget heading whatever the nature of

the costs concerned (e.g. subcontracting staff costs and travel costs, etc.) and be included and

detailed in the contract signed with the sub-contractor.

5 This refers to individuals who may be self-employed i.e. who are responsible for their own social security or social contributions, pensions

and taxes. National legislation on the definition of these individuals can vary and should always be considered.

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A subcontract must at least indicate:

• the reference to the tender and offer;

• the reference to the EU project;

• the start/end date;

• the tasks to be implemented within a certain time schedule;

• the value of the contract;

• the payment modalities (amount or percentage and deliverables to be achieved; law

applicable in case of contestation, etc.)

• date of signature of the decision/agreement.

For translations carried out by an outside body, only expenditure directly related to

translations from and into the official languages of the countries formally participating in the

action will be accepted, unless explicitly mentioned in the approved application or prior

authorisation was granted by the Agency.

Translation costs may not be higher than the market prices in the country where the

translation is done.

To be noted:

When the rules of your institution oblige you to work with a unique supplier for each

assignment with the aim of obtaining the fairest economic conditions, this situation can be

accepted provided that you can prove that a procurement procedure was launched in order

to choose this subcontractor in tempore non suspecto (i.e. existing framework contract).

4.2.3.4 Other costs linked to information and communication

Other direct costs, arising directly from requirements linked to the performance of the action

in terms of information and communication costs (publications, prizes, promotional gadgets,

supplies, etc.) are eligible provided that they are:

• necessary for the performance of the action;

• reasonable in amount;

• fully documented and clearly itemised in the application;

• not indicated under another heading or item of expenditure.

A clear description must be provided in the report.

Example of costs under this category are:

the organisation of seminars such as rent of rooms, catering services, the production of

proceedings of a seminar (posters, badges, banners, programmes...), interpretation booths,

local transport, etc; however, if the costs incurred for conferences and seminars are made

under a subcontracting agreement, they should be included under subcontracting costs.

4.2.4 Other Costs

Other direct costs are reimbursed on the basis of real costs.

Specific items of expenditure eligible under this heading include:

• costs arising for a specific evaluation of the action;

• costs to cover the Report of Factual Findings on the Final Financial Report - Type I or

II, required by the grant decision/agreement (see part 4.3 of this Handbook);

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• bank transfer and exchange costs (but excluding exchange losses) relating to receipts

and payments for eligible expenditure under the action;

• costs relating to a pre-financing guarantee lodged by the beneficiary of the grant, where

required;

Please note:

All costs related to the administration of the action (i.e. consumables, supplies, photocopying

costs, telephone costs, internet access, paper, etc.) are not eligible under this sub-heading.

They are covered by Indirect costs.

4.2.5 Indirect costs (overheads)

The eligible indirect costs for the project represent the beneficiary's general administrative

costs, with due regard to the conditions of eligibility described above.

Indirect costs are costs, which are recorded in the project's accounts and incurred in

connection with the implementation of the action, but which are not identifiable as specific

costs. They cannot be included under any other eligible direct costs.

The indirect costs of the project eligible for European Union funding is a flat rate amount set

at a maximum of 7% of the total amount of eligible direct costs. This indirect cost rate was

contractually6 agreed and is given in Annex III of the grant decision/agreement. The

corresponding costs do not need be justified by accounting documents.

This percentage may not be modified once the budget is approved. Indirect costs cannot

be transferred to another category.

In addition indirect costs shall not be eligible under a project grant awarded to a beneficiary

who already receives an operating grant from the Commission during the period in question

for the same activities.

Examples of indirect costs are: • all costs for equipment related to the administration of the project (e.g. PCs, portables,

etc.); • communication costs (postage, fax, telephone, internet access, mailing, etc.);

• infrastructure costs (rent, electricity, etc.) of the premises where the project is being

carried out; • office supplies;

• photocopies.

4.3 Calculation of the final grant amount and supporting documents

The final amount of the grant to be awarded to the beneficiary is established after completion

of the action, upon approval of the request for payment containing the following documents:

- a final report providing details of the implementation and results of the action;

- the final financial statement of costs actually incurred.

Supporting documents to be provided with the financial statement are as follows:

6 See Special Conditions of the grant decision/agreement: article 3 and 1.3 respectively.

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Option 1

In case of grants for an action equal or inferior to EUR 60.000, the beneficiary is required to

submit the following sample of supporting documents:

Budget item/heading Sample to be annexed to the Final Financial Report

Staff 5% of all costs declared under this budget item

Subcontracting The three highest value subcontracts

Travel and subsistence 25% of the highest costs declared under this budget item

Example of underlining documents to be submitted in support of the final payment:

1) Staff costs: employment contract (or equivalent document), payslips (or remuneration’s

receipts), proof of payments (if applicable) and, if foreseen by the call for proposals, the time

sheets or equivalent documents showing the manpower’s work effort (i.e. number of working

days);

2) Subcontracting: quotes (if applicable), contracts, invoices and proofs of payments;

3) Travel and subsistence: copy of tickets and boarding passes, hotel invoices (and proof of

payments).

Option 2

In case of grants for an action of more than EUR 60.000, but less than EUR 750.000.

The beneficiary is required to submit, in support of the final payment, a “Report of Factual

Findings on the Final Financial Report - Type I” produced by an approved auditor or in

case of public bodies, by a competent and independent public officer.

The procedure and the format to be followed by an approved auditor or in case of public

bodies, by a competent and independent public officer, are detailed in the “Guidance Notes”

provided in the Audit procedure available at:

https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/about-eacea/document-register_en. The use of the report format

set by the “Guidance Notes” is compulsory.

Option 3

In case of grants for an action of EUR 750.000 and more.

The beneficiary is required to submit, in support of the final payment, a “Report of Factual

Findings on the Final Financial Report - Type II” produced by an approved auditor or in case

of public bodies, by a competent and independent public officer. The certificate shall certify,

in accordance with a methodology approved by the Agency, that the costs declared by the

beneficiary in the financial statements on which the request for payment is based are real,

accurately recorded and eligible in accordance with the grant decision/agreement.

The procedure and the format to be followed by an approved auditor or in case of public

bodies, by a competent and independent public officer, are detailed in the following

“Guidance Notes”:

https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/about-eacea/document-register_en



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The use of the report format set by the “Guidance Notes” is compulsory.

The "Report of Factual Findings on the Final Financial Report" – Type I or II is an integral

part of the final report.

Please note that the text of the Independent Report of Factual Findings, signed by the Auditor

should respect the template provided and cannot be modified.

The "Report of Factual Findings on the Final Financial Report" is considered complete when

all the compulsory parts are submitted:

• Cover letter;

• Annex 1 – Information about the Grant Agreement/Decision;

• Annex 2 – List of specific procedures to be performed;

• Annex 3 – Compulsory report format and procedures to be performed.

The non-compliance with the official template of the "Report of Factual Findings" will result

in the rejection of the final report.

The submission of a proper Report of Factual Findings on the Final Financial Report doesn't

prevent the Agency to request additional supporting documents inquiring on the triggering

event generating the costs and proving the direct links with eligible staff working days.

EU grants may not have the purpose or effect of producing a profit within the framework of

the action of the beneficiary. Profit shall be defined as a surplus of receipts over the

eligible costs incurred by the beneficiary, when the request is made for payment of the

balance. In this respect, where a profit is made, the Agency shall be entitled to recover a

percentage of the profit corresponding to the Union contribution to the eligible costs actually

incurred by the beneficiary to carry out the action.

If the eligible costs actually incurred by the beneficiary are lower than anticipated, the Agency

will apply the rate of co-financing stated in the grant decision/agreement to the expenditure

actually incurred.

As mentioned in article 25.4 and II.25.4 of the grant decision/agreement, in the event of non-

execution or clearly inadequate execution of an activity planned in the application attached to

the funding decision/agreement, the final grant will be reduced accordingly.

The following documents are to be kept as supporting evidence for the costs that will be

submitted in the Final Report

• Staff costs: • employment contract

• salary payslip (monthly or annual slip)

• time sheets confirming the number of days worked will need to fulfil the

following minimum requirements:

• to have the title and reference number of the EU project;

• have to be done for each person working on the EU project;

• have to be filled in as a minimum on a monthly basis;

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• have to mention the hours spent on the EU project versus total

working hours on other normal activities with indication of

activity title and tasks;

• have to be signed and dated by the person and by an authorised

person

• annual accounts

• Equipment costs: • contracts and invoices, proof of payment

• Travel costs: • original plane/train ticket, original boarding pass or e-ticket and e-

boarding pass

• invoice from the travel agency

• Subsistence costs: • internal rules pre-existing to the project

• method of calculation

• attendance list of participants or, if not available, minutes of meetings or

invitation to meeting

• hotel/accommodation invoices

• Subcontracting costs: • tendering specifications/terms of reference (if applicable)

• dated and signed received offers (if applicable)

• evaluation report, award decision, notification letters (if applicable)

• procurement contract

• invoices

• Other costs: • invoices of the specified costs (only real incurred costs are considered for

this sub-heading)

Internal and non official documents (e.g. self declarations) are not acceptable as

supporting documents.

All documents mentioned above (invoices, employment contracts, salary payslips,

subcontracting contracts) need to fulfil the respective requirements imposed by the

national legislation.

4.4 Checks and Audits

The audit we are referring to here are the ones launched a posteriori by the Commission,

the Agency or the Court of Auditors. It does not refer to the audit certificate ("Report of

Factual Findings on the Final Financial Report" – Type I or II requested with the final report).

Please refer to Articles 20 and 27 of the grant decision and II.20 and II.27 of the grant

agreement for more information on possible checks and audits.

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We draw your attention to the fact that monitoring missions, ex-post controls and external

audits can be carried out at any time during the implementation of the project or up to 5 years

after the final payment. This period shall be longer if there are on-going audits, appeals,

litigation or pursuit of claims concerning the grant, including in the case referred to in Article

27.7 and II.27.7 of the grant decision/agreement. In such cases, the beneficiaries shall keep

the documents until such audits, appeals, litigation or pursuits of claims are closed.

The filing system of all documents relating to the project should be organised from the start

of the project and all accounting documents should be duly classified. However, when a

project is informed that it will be audited, the following measures should be taken:

• check that all adequate supporting documents (accounting and operational material)

exist and are duly classified;

• check that all the supporting documents are adequate and incurred during the

eligible period;

• check that the allocation of costs is consistent within each budget category: e.g. do

not reallocate "staff costs" to the category "other costs" because the budget category

"Staff costs" is overspent.

Please note that costs which are not duly justified by adequate supporting documents

will be rejected by the Agency/auditors. Moreover, the Agency reserves its right not to

accept late reception of documents (late meaning after the contractual deadlines have

passed or, in case of an audit, after the transmission of the final audit report by the auditors

to the Agency).

Be aware that the most frequent reasons for the Agency/auditors to reject the costs are:

1) The lack of supporting documents relating to expenses claimed: missing invoices,

inconsistent allocation of costs, inadequately supported expenses coming from project

beneficiaries;

2) Ineligibility of costs: unforeseen costs for which no prior authorisation has been

requested to the Agency, overhead expenditure exceeding the maximum ceiling,

contribution in kind claimed, costs incurred outside the eligibility period. Costs that

do not meet the criteria set out in the legal basis/guidelines or contradict with sound

financial management;

3) The non-respect of accommodation/subsistence EU rates, the wrong application of

exchange rates, depreciation error, recalculation of overheads due to ineligible costs,

reclassification of costs between headings/categories, dual claiming and declared

expenses exceeding real costs;

4) Inadequate audit trail: missing papers or electronic trail that gives a step by step

documented history of a transaction.

Therefore, it is worth insisting on the following:

• all supporting documents relating to the costs of the action's implementation must

be gathered; • all invoices should state the action's reference and possibly the reference to the related

task in the Activity Plan;

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• the importance of having a separate bank account (or sub account that allows

identification of payments made) for the project funds;

• the need to justify not only the "EU funds" part, but also the "own contribution" part,

as the final calculation of eligible amounts to be covered is calculated based on the total

expenditure;

• the need to have a good internal control system leading to transparency. This has to

be reflected in a reliable and easy audit trail, where financial data can be traced from

general ledger to source documents and which constitutes a basis of objectivity.

4.5 Claims/Appeals

Any complaint/appeal against the analysis made by the Agency in its "closure letter" must be

in line with the following conditions:

• a formal complaint is to be submitted in writing by the beneficiary after checking the

validity of its arguments and documents. It further must address the arguments stated by

the Agency in the closure letter;

• the deadline for requesting information on the determination of the final grant is two

months from the date of notification by the Agency of the final amount of the grant

determining the amount of the payment of the balance or the recovery order or, failing

that, of the date on which the payment of the balance is received. After this time such

requests will no longer be considered.

All justifying documents must be annexed to the complaint and organised by the beneficiary

with clear reference to the budget line(s) concerned in the Excel table, together with a short

translation of the key words if necessary.

The Agency will only consider official documents (i.e. no self-declarations) and new evidence

not yet submitted with the final report.

5. Amendments

5.1. Introduction

An amendment is an act modifying the grant conditions initially agreed or established in the

clauses of the grant decision/agreement.

Any amendment to the grant decision/agreement must be subject to a prior written agreement.

An amendment request should not be made retrospectively e.g. changes that have in reality

already been carried out.

The modifications to a grant decision/agreement have to be authorised by the same party who

has signed the initial decision/agreement.

If the person signing is not the legal representative identified as such in the grant

decision/agreement, a supporting document proving the authority to sign on behalf of the

beneficiary should be submitted along with the request for amendment.

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The amendment request has to:

• be submitted by email ([email protected]) to the Agency

by an official letter or request form duly signed by the legal representative of the

beneficiary, that is, the person who signed the grant decision/agreement or his/her legal

replacement; in some specific cases outlined below, a simple e-mail (without a letter)

can be sent, but the legal representative should at least be in copy of the email;

• be made, where required, on the specific amendment request form provided by the

Agency under the link mentioned below;

• be submitted to the Agency before the change occurs;

• be submitted to the Agency at the latest one month before the closing date of the action;

• duly justify the reasons for the proposed changes.

The Agency reserves the right to reject an amendment request that is not sufficiently justified.

Once the amendment is made, it becomes an integral part of the initial grant

decision/agreement.

5.2 Changes which require an amendment request form

An amendment request form must be completed to request the following modifications on the

grant decision/agreement:

• Change of the beneficiary organisation.

• Changes to the eligibility period.

• Change of bank account.

• Changes to the budget breakdown.

• Changes to the Activity Plan.

The amendment request form contains further guidance and is available at: https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/beneficiaries-space/etwinning-nss_en


Concerning adjustments to the budget breakdown, an amendment is not necessary provided

that this adjustment does not affect the implementation of the action and the transfer between

budget headings of eligible direct costs (between Heading A: staff costs and Heading B:

operational costs including travel and subsistence; equipment; subcontracting; conferences,

seminars; others ) does not exceed 10% of the amount of the heading for which the transfer is

intended (the heading that increases), irrespective of the adjustment made between items of

operational costs. Please note that it is not possible to modify the total eligible budget, the

amount of the Community grant or the co-financing percentage.

5.3 Changes which do not require an amendment request form

The following section describes those cases where the use of the amendment request form is

not needed.

mailto:[email protected]



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5.3.1 Changes via the Participant Portal

The Participant Portal is the platform where the LEAR (Legal Entity Appointed

Representative) of each beneficiary registers any changes related to their legal entity. The

accuracy of these changes and any supporting documents are checked and validated by the

Research Executive Agency (REA). Once REA has validated these changes, they notify the

beneficiary that this information is up to date in the database of the Commission (i.e.

URF/PDM and ABAC).

It is not required to send an amendment request to the Agency for these modifications.

However, it is recommended to inform the Agency by email of the specific changes

introduced via the Participation Portal for a better follow-up.

The following modifications must be made via the Participant Portal:

• Change of the legal status of the beneficiary organisation

The new legal status of the beneficiary must fulfil all the eligibility and selection criteria

originally applied. If this change results in non-fulfilment of the eligibility and/or selection

criteria, the grant will be terminated. It will also be verified whether the eligibility criteria at

project level are still respected. If this is not the case, the agreement will be terminated.

• Change of legal name of the beneficiary

In certain cases, what appears to be a change of name may in reality be a different change

(e.g. new legal entity, transfer of rights and obligations) which may require other supporting

documents and a different treatment. In this case the Agency will inform you what

documents are needed.

• Change of address of the beneficiary

Address of Participation Portal:

http://ec.europa.eu/education/participants/portal/desktop/en/organisations/register.html

5.3.2 Change of legal representative of the beneficiary organisation

In this case it is not necessary to use the amendment request form. An e-mail or letter signed

by the new legal representative together with an official document confirming the name of

this new legal representative is sufficient. If the e-mail is not sent by the new legal

representative, he/she should be in copy. Examples of official documents include statutes

and/or minutes of the Board.

5.3.3 Change of contact person in the beneficiary organisation

A change of contact person in the beneficiary organisation (person indicated in Article 6.3

and I.6.3 of the decision/agreement) does not require the use of the amendment request form.

An e-mail or a letter signed by the legal representative of the beneficiary organisation must be

submitted to the Agency outlining the reasons for the envisaged change.

http://ec.europa.eu/education/participants/portal/desktop/en/organisations/register.html

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6. Dissemination and Exploitation of Results

This section should be read in conjunction with the Grant agreement provisions dealing

with publicity, dissemination (including Annex II - General conditions – points 7 & 8 of

the grant decision and points II.7 & II.8 of the grant agreement)

6.1 Dissemination and exploitation

Significant emphasis is placed on the impact of EU co-financed projects/actions and on

ensuring that what they produce will be widely known and widely used. The results

generated, lessons learned and the experience gained should be made available to the widest

possible national education community.

The effective dissemination of good practice is the most powerful way of promoting the

quality of eTwinning and eTwinning Plus projects. NSS and PSA shall devote adequate

resources to this important task. Therefore, the quality of the products/results/promotion

activities to be disseminated shall be monitored throughout the project implementation by

establishing a monitoring and evaluation system, based on tailored targets and indicators on

the basis of the identified priorities in the Activity Plan.

The identification and dissemination of good practice makes possible to give recognition to

good projects, inspire teachers for their own project work and thus promote quality and

diversity in eTwinning and eTwinning Plus. Each NSS and PSA shall analyse project

registrations, quality label and prizes entries, Project Cards and public TwinSpaces in order to

identify good practices and project examples to be showcased through the national and

European eTwinning and eTwinning Plus websites, publications and any other adequate

means. NSS shall cooperate in this field with Erasmus+ National Agency.

Each NSS and PSA should strive to contribute to the overall action with a number of projects

proportional to its share of the European school population. It should also try to ensure a

balanced distribution of projects in terms of geographical coverage, types of schools, age

ranges and subject areas.

NSSs and PSAs shall ensure teachers receive adequate training and professional development

opportunities (on line, on site, blended courses) in order to exploit the potential of ICT for

innovation and collaborative work in education and to successfully participate in projects.

NSSs and PSAs shall in particular collect, adapt, locate, create and share educational material

for teacher training relevant to eTwinning and eTwinning Plus.

The NSS and PSA shall keep track of the traffic visiting the eTwinning and eTwinning Plus

national website or web pages and submit data on the subject on demand and in the Final

Report.

6.2 Recognition of Commission funding and use of Erasmus + logo

The obligations linked to publicity and using of the logo are defined in Article I.10.3 of the

grant agreement and in Article 10.3 of the grant decision.

Promotional activities, shall clearly identify eTwinning and eTwinning Plus as actions of the

Eramus + programme.

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Any national eTwinning and eTwinning Plus webpage, publication, project visibility

activities or other products realised under the co-financed project that are distributed must

have clearly display the Erasmus + logo and the mention "Co-funded by the Erasmus+

programme of the European Union" or "With the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the

European Union".

Please note that two positions for the EU flag are possible:

In relation to the publicity and the Eramus + logo please follow the instructions available on

the following Internet site:

https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/about-eacea/visual-identity_en

In any communication or publication the following disclaimer should be added (article 7.2

and II.7.2 of the General Conditions of the grant decision/agreement): "The European

Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute endorsement of

the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held

responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein". You will

find the other EU official language versions at the following link:

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/publ/graphics/beneficiaries_all.pdf

Please be aware that the Agency reserves the right to reduce the grant relating to

documents and materials which do not state the EU logo and funding disclaimer as defined in

the Other special conditions of the grant decision/agreement and in the article 7 and II.7 of

the General Conditions.

Please be informed that the eTwinning logo may still be used jointly with the EU logo.

https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/about-eacea/visual-identity_en

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/publ/graphics/beneficiaries_all.pdf