Public Procurement for EU-Funded Projects - Euroacad.eu

European Seminar
Public Procurement for EU-Funded Projects
17 th – 18 th October 2013, Berlin
WORKSHOP WITH EXPERTS FROM
THE EUROPEAN COURT OF AUDITORS
Brochure
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EUROPEAN SEMINAR
Public Procurement for EU-Funded Projects
Breach of public procurement rules still causes too many
irregularities in EU-funded projects
In current times of tight budgetary discipline, it is more important than ever
for public bodies involved in EU funds administration to manage funds cost
effectively, efficiently and in accordance with the law.
The use of EU funding has not only to comply with the regulations on structural
funds but also with public procurement legislation. As this field of law is especially
complex and both national and EU procurement legislation have to be respected,
the correct application of procurement law causes many practical problems to
stakeholders. So far, controls have shown that incorrect application of European
legislation in the field of public procurement is one of the most common sources
of irregularities. Issues like choice of the correct procedure, drafting technical
specifications as well as the decision to merge or to split tenders are still the
biggest challenges for involved authorities.
Financial consequences of the EU procurement law infringement
can be considerable - Fulfilling the EU procurement legislation
requirements is essential
When irregularities in public procurement are identified, corrections have to be
made. If an irregularity resulted in an unduly payment to the beneficiary that
cannot be recovered and this loss was caused by a fault or negligence of the
authority, the Member State is obligated to reimburse the amounts lost to the
general budget of the EU. Therefore, there are huge financial costs at stake for
Member States if public procurement law requirements are not met.
To avoid this, all bodies involved in EU funds administration and their staff need
to be familiar with the regulations concerning their particular fund and with the
requirements of EU procurement law, thresholds and exceptions. This concerns
private beneficiaries as well.When applying for tenders from EU-funded projects,
private bidders need to be aware of the implications surrounding the field of
public procurement and EU structural funding and show evidence of a fair and
transparent process
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„Very good and worth it“
Henry Shaun, Director, Special EU Programmes Body, United Kingdom
Who is this seminar for?
Directors, Heads of Units, Experts,
Managers, Auditors, Officers,
Lawyers and other members of staff
dealing with public procurement
for EU funded projects from:
• Managing Authorities
• Intermediate Bodies
• Certifying Authorities
• Audit Authorities
• Public and private Beneficiaries of
EU structural funds
• Other bodies responsible for
EU funded projects or other
multilateral and bilateral projects

What will you learn at this seminar?
• What are the public procurement rules and principles that have to be followed
when dealing with EU-funded projects?
• What are the practical issues of tender procedures within EU-funded projects?
• How to choose the most appropriate procurement route and contract award
criteria?
• How to make sure that your tender specification includes all necessary
details?
• What are typical problems in contract award procedures related to EU-funded
projects?
• How to best use the MEAT criteria?
• What are the challenges of authorities and beneficiaries in the executions of
public contracts?
• How can authorities and beneficiaries manage the administrative burden
related to public procurements? What is the ECJ case law in the field of public
procurement?
• What is the European Court of Auditors’ approach to the audits of EU-funded
projects?
• How does an Audit Authority check public procurement procedures in
practice?
• What can be expected from the modernisation of EU public procurement
rules and how will it influence your work?
Optional Course for the „Master of Management in EU
Funds“
This European Seminar is also an compulsory Course for
the „Master of Management in EU Funds“
For further Information, please click here.
„Interesting, useful and informative“
Mark Ashton, Scottish Goverrnment, United Kingdom
Your benefits
• Gain certainty about legal and
practical issues of public
procurement for EU-funded projects
• Learn from experts from
experienced authorities how to
manage and control the
procurement system efficiently,
effectively and in accordance with
the law
• Receive a thorough overview on
the latest European legislation and
understand how it affects your work
and how to deal with grey area
• Enhance your know-how on all
the fine details regarding designing,
awarding, evaluating and auditing
public procurement
• Avoid cancellation and withdrawal
of funds due to incorrect and
ineligible financing of projects
• Learn about the European Court of
Auditors’ methods and procedures
in auditing public procurements in
the area of Cohesion and thus
prevent mistakes in your work
• Stay updated on the current
developments regarding the
EU public procurement rules
modernisation
• Improve your checklists and simplify
your work load
• Consult your individual questions
and problems with our experts
• Network and exchange experience
with European colleagues who deal
with public procurement issues for
EU-funded projects
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PROGRAMME DAY 1
Public Procurement for EU-Funded Projects
8.30-9.00
Registration and Hand-out of Seminar Material
9.00-9.05
Opening Remarks from the European Academy for Taxes, Economics & Law
9.05-9.30
Welcome Note from the Chair and Round of
Introductions
Phil McVey, former Director of European Policy and
Programmes in the South West of England Regional
Development Agency, United Kingdom
9.30-10.15
What Needs to be Taken into Account during the
Procurement Design Process?
• Role of Managing Authorities and Intermediate Bodies in procurement
• Most important legal background to procurement and legislation
• How can projects be helped to select the right procurement route?
Phil McVey, former Director of European Policy and
Programmes in the South West of England Regional
Development Agency, United Kingdom
10.15-10.30
Discussion Round
10.30-11.30
Complying with Public Procurement Rules
in Practice
• Practical example from 2007-2013 programmes:
Managing Authority’s approach to procurement
• Summary of lessons learned
Phil McVey, former Director of European Policy and
Programmes in the South West of England Regional
Development Agency, United Kingdom
11.30-12.00
Coffee Break and Networking Opportunity
12.00-12.45
EU-Funded Procurement in the Context of ECJ
Rulings and National Practices
• Current status of the EU procurement law modernisation
• Drafting requirements related to tenderers
• Drafting technical specifications
• Choosing appropriate contract award criteria
• Issues related to conduct of procurement process
Spyros Panagopoulos, Legal Adviser on EU and Public
Economic Law, Centre of International and European
Economic Law, Greece
12.45-13.00
Discussion Round
13.00-14.15
Lunch Break and Networking Opportunity
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PHIL MCVEY
Former Director of European
Policy and Programmes in
the South West of England
Regional Development Agency,
United Kingdom
Phil McVey was Director of European
Policy and Programmes in the South
West of England Regional Development Agency from
2006 to 2011. He has an overall thirteen years’ direct
experienceofworkingwithEuropeandtheUKgovernment
at strategic and operational levels. He was responsible
for the transition of European Programmes from the
Regional Development Agencies to the Department for
Communities and Local Government in 2011. Before
this, he was Assistant Director with responsibility for
European Structural Fund Programmes for 2007-2013
and Deputy Director for Sustainability and Rural Affairs at
the Government Office for the South West. Additionally,
Phil McVey spend two years in Prague advising the
Czech government on its preparations for European
Union membership focusing on structural funds. Before
he joined the Government Office for the South West in
1999 he gained a years’ management experience within
the public sector improving public sector services and
financial and performance management. Currently Phil
McVey is Owner and Director of Vlasska Limited.
SPYROS
PANAGOPOULOS
Legal Adviser on EU and
Public Economic Law, Centre
of International and European
Economic Law, Greece
Spyros Panagopoulos is a lawyer
and has been a legal advisor and
researcher at the Centre of International and European
Economic Law in the area of EU public procurement law
since 2002. He also advises Greek public authorities
on the application of the EU public procurement and
concessions rules. In his capacity as a public procurement
& PPPs legal professional, he has participated as expert
in a series of EU technical assistance, institution building
and legislative reform projects in the CEE and SEE
regions, aiming at transposing the acquis communautaire
and the European best practices in the fields of public
procurement, PPPs and concessions law to the
beneficiary countries. Spyros Panagopoulos is licensed
to the Greek Supreme Court and Council of State.
Moreover, he is partner at the law office A. Panagopoulos
& Partners and works in the fields of public procurement,
concessions and PPPs law as well as EU and public law.

14.15-15.00
ECJ Case Law in the Field of Public Procurement
– Current Trends and Possible Developments
• Concept of a contracting authority
• Use of exceptions and negotiated procedures
• Evaluation of bids
• Procurement contract performance
• Possible developments of the EU public procurement legislation
Spyros Panagopoulos, Legal Adviser on EU and Public
Economic Law, Centre of International and European
Economic Law, Greece
15.00-15.15
Discussion Round
15.15-15.45
Coffee Break and Networking Opportunity
15.45-16.30
Managing Public Procurement Risks
• Relationship between structural fund programmes and procurement law
• Most common procurement errors
• Managing the consequences of detected procurement errors
• Preventive actions to avoid procurement errors
• Most frequent procurement problems faced by ETC-projects
Dr Christina Bauer, Legal Expert and Strategy
Development Project Manager, Regional Development
and European Regional Policy Section, Department for
Economy, Tourism and Energy, Managing Authority of the
“Alpine Space” Programme, Government Office of the
Land Salzburg, Austria
16.30-16.45
Discussion Round
Workshop
16.45-17.30
Detecting Procurement Errors and
Finding Adequate Procurement
Procedures
• Division of participants into small groups
• Group work
• Presentation and discussion of group results
Dr Christina Bauer, Legal Expert and Strategy
Development Project Manager, Regional Development
and European Regional Policy Section, Department for
Economy, Tourism and Energy, Managing Authority of the
“Alpine Space” Programme, Government Office of the
Land Salzburg, Austria
17.30-18.00
Discussion Round
18.00
End of Day One
DR CHRISTINA BAUER
Legal Expert and Strategy
Development Project Manager,
Regional Development and
European Regional Policy
Section, Department for
Economy, Tourism and Energy,
Managing Authority of the
“Alpine Space” Programme, Government
Office of the Land Salzburg, Austria
Dr Christina Bauer has been working for the section
for regional development and EU regional policy of the
government office of the Government Office of the Land
Salzburg since 2001. For more than 10 years she has
been acting as legal expert in the Managing Authority
of the “Alpine Space” programme where she supports
programme bodies and project partners of this and other
EU Structural Funds programmes in legal questions. Dr
Christina Bauer has published articles and a book on
procurement in EU Structural Funds programmes and
regularly holds lectures on this subject.
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PROGRAMME DAY 2
Public Procurement for EU-Funded Projects
9.00-9.10
Welcome Note from the Chair
Dr Balázs Dencső, Director General, Directorate General
for Audit of European Funds, EU Funds Audit Authority,
Ministry of National Economy, Hungary
9.10-10.00
Tasks of “Second-level” Audit Regarding Public
Procurement
• Difficulties during ex post audit of public procurement
• Enforcing sound financial management
• Consequences/Sanctions
• Typical problems, cases, examples: audit scope for Cohesion,
Transport & Energy
Dr Balázs Dencső, Director General, Directorate General
for Audit of European Funds, EU Funds Audit Authority,
Ministry of National Economy, Hungary
10.00-10.15
Discussion Round
10.15-10.45
Coffee Break and Networking Opportunity
10.15-10.45
Audit of Public Procurement in the
Area of Cohesion
• ECA’s approach towards audit of public procurement
• Highlighting of the areas prone to frequent errors
• Real life examples of errors in the procurement
Remus Blidar, Auditor, Transport and Energy – Financial
Audit, European Court of Auditors (tbc)
Jiří Beneš, Auditor, ERDF, Transport and Energy – Financial
Audit, European Court of Auditors (tbc)
11.45-12.00
Discussion Round
12.00-13.00
Lunch Break and Networking Opportunity
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DR BALÁZS DENCSŐ
Director General, Directorate
General for Audit of European
Funds, EU Funds Audit
Authority, Ministry of National
Economy, Hungary
Dr Balázs Dencső has been Head
of the Directorate General for Audit
of European Funds (DGAEF), which is Hungarian Audit
Authority for structural funds under the Ministry of National
Economy. The DGAEF is responsible for preparing
the strategy and planning, performing auditing as well
as preparing control reports and closure declarations.
Between 2003 and 2010, Dr Balázs Dencső was working
at the Ministry of Finance in the Central Harmonisation
Unit which was responsible for the coordination and
harmonisation of the European and national funds’
control and audit.
REMUS BLIDAR
Auditor, Transport and Energy
– Financial Audit, European
Court of Auditors (tbc)
Remus Blidar has been working as
an Auditor in the ERDF, Transport
and Energy — Financial Audit Unit
since he joined the European Court
of Auditors in 2007. Previously he
worked as financial auditor in the private sector for four
years. Remus Blidar is a qualified member of the ACCA.
JIŘÍ BENEŠ
Auditor, ERDF, Transport and
Energy – Financial Audit,
European Court of Auditors
(tbc)
Jiri Benes is Auditor in the ERDF,
Transport and Energy Unit at the
European Court of Auditors where
he is mainly engaged in financial audits in the Czech
Republic, Slovakia and Germany. Before joining the
Court, he was working as an auditor in the private sector
in Austria.
„A very well organised seminar, interesting topics discussed, very
friendly atmosphere and highly qualified speakers“
Joseph Borg Camilleri, Malta Council for Science and Technology, Malta

Workshop
13.00-13.45
Audit of Public Procurement in the Area
of Cohesion, Part I
In this workshop, you will practice your techniques and strategies in
auditing public procurements. By solving real-life case studies you will
learn about practical solutions of procurement problems that you might
face in your projects.
Presentation of Complex Practical Group Tasks
Division of Participants into Small Groups
Group Work
Identification of errors in the procurement process
Remus Blidar, Auditor, Transport and Energy – Financial
Audit, European Court of Auditors (tbc)
Jiří Beneš, Auditor, ERDF, Transport and Energy – Financial
Audit, European Court of Auditors (tbc)
13.45-14.15
Coffee Break and Networking Opportunity
Workshop
14.45-15.45
Audit of Public Procurement in the Area
of Cohesion, Part II
Presentation of Group Results
Evaluation of Workshop Results, Problems Found,
Possible Solutions
Remus Blidar, Auditor, Transport and Energy – Financial
Audit, European Court of Auditors (tbc)
Jiří Beneš, Auditor, ERDF, Transport and Energy – Financial
Audit, European Court of Auditors (tbc)
15.45-16.00
Final Discussion Round
16.00
End of Seminar and Hand-out of Certificates
„Very useful - different topics according to public procurement“
Eva Bursikova, Ministry of Regional Development Czech Republic
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ORGANISATIONAL MATTERS
Public Procurement for EU-Funded Projects
Date of Event
17 th – 18 th October 2013
Booking Number
S-642 MC
Event Language
The event language will be English.
Event Price
Early booking contingent until the 30 th of August 2013:
989,- Euro, excl. German VAT (19%)
Normal price from the 31 st of August 2013:
1.289,- Euro, excl. German VAT (19%)
The above price covers the following:
• Entrance on event days
• Hand-out documents in printed and digital form
• Seminar certificate, if seminar fully attended
• Soft drinks and coffee/tea
• Lunch on both event days
Booking Modalities
It is recommended to book soon as seats are limited. For
organisational matters, we kindly ask you to complete the booking
form in capital letters.
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E-mail: booking@euroacad.eu
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For online booking please visit
our website: www.euroacad.eu
Contact
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Hausvogteiplatz 13, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49 (0)30 80 20 80 230
Fax: +49 (0)30 80 20 80 250
E-Mail: info@euroacad.eu
Internet: www.euroacad.eu
Your contact persons for the programme:
Regina Lüning, M. Sc. econ.
Head of Marketing and Sales
Phone: +49 (0)30 80 20 80 246
Fax: +49 (0)30 80 20 80 259
E-mail: regina.luening@euroacad.eu
Magdalena Hawrysz, M.A.
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Phone: +49 30 80 20 80 242
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