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European Commission

EUROPEAN CIVIL PROTECTION AND HUMANITARIAN AID OPERATIONS

DG ECHO PARTNERS' WEBSITE

WORKING WITH DG ECHO AS AN NGO PARTNER | 2021 - 2027

MULTI-BENEFICIARY GRANTS

FAQ 82 - Will the NGO co-partners in multi beneficiary grants also have to be Certified DG ECHO Partner?

IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS | CO-BENEFICIARIES | CO-BENEFICIARIES | CONSORTIUM

Yes, the principle is that it will not be possible to use certified NGO partners as implementing partners: they will have to be associated to the lead certified NGO partners in the grant agreement as co-partners (co-beneficiaries). It has to be noted that International Organisations and Member State Specialised Agencies which are DG ECHO Partners can also be co-beneficiaries under the MGA (see FAQ 29).

FAQ 161 - Can the coordinator request a termination for himself?

Yes, following the conditions and procedures set out in art. 32.2.1 of the MGA.

The coordinator may request the termination of the participation of one or more beneficiaries, on request of the beneficiary concerned or on behalf of the other beneficiaries. The coordinator must submit a request for amendment (see Article 39), with:

  1. the reasons why
  2. the opinion of the beneficiary concerned (or proof that this opinion has been requested in writing)
  3. the date the beneficiary ends work on the action (‘end of work date’)
  4. the date the termination takes effect (‘termination date’); this date must be after the date of the submission of the amendment request. If the termination concerns the coordinator and is done without its agreement, the amendment request must be submitted by another beneficiary (acting on behalf of the consortium).

The termination will take effect on the termination date specified in the amendment. If no information is given or if the granting authority considers that the reasons do not justify termination, it may consider the beneficiary to have been terminated improperly.

FAQ 162 - What are the possibilities to transfer the grant agreement to another coordinator in the case of a multi-beneficiary grant?

This option is explicitly foreseen in article 41 of the MGA – transfer of the agreement. Only in justified cases the beneficiary of a mono-beneficiary grant may request the transfer of the grant to a new beneficiary. The procedure is done via a modification request (according to article 39 MGA) in which the beneficiary has to provide on top of the grounds of the request, the accession form signed by the new beneficiary and any other document requested by the Commission.

 

In case of change of coordinator, in the context of a multi-beneficiary grant, the procedure is foreseen in article 39 – Amendments of the MGA.

FAQ 163 - Is it possible for the coordinator to have a direct relationship with co-beneficiary 1, while co-beneficiary 1 “sub-grants” to co-beneficiary 2, meaning that the coordinator does not have a direct relationship with co-beneficiary 2?

The term sub-granting is not appropriate here, because all co-partners are the recipients of the grant from DG ECHO. It is for the co-partners to decide how they organise the funds transfers between coordinator and co-beneficiaries/co-partners.

FAQ 164 - In case of multi-beneficiary grant agreement with some benefitting VAT exemptions and others not; can they indicate their different VAT status in the SF? Proposal and final report stage?

Partners have the possibility to provide information on their VAT status as well as co-beneficiaries’ VAT status, in the dedicated section of the Single Form, namely Chapter 13.8.1 of the Single Form – Details on VAT exemption.

FAQ 166 - In Article 7 of the MGA, it is stated that “the coordinator must: (i) monitor that the action is implemented properly (see Article 11)”. In what way could the coordinator be held responsible (financially) in case of non-compliance (that could lead to ineligibility of costs) by a co-partner during the project implementation phase?

Joint liability is linked to non-repayment of an amount by a beneficiary, not to the fact that a partner implements the action properly.

FAQ 167 - In case a DG ECHO certified partner implements a short emergency response project (e. g. one month long) under a longer ERM Action (12 months), will the joint technical responsibility for implementation of the entire action be optional?

No, it will not.

FAQ 168 - Article 22.3.1 of the MGA states that “pre-financing payments may be offset (without the beneficiaries’ consent) against amounts owed by a beneficiary to the granting authority — up to the amount due to that beneficiary”.
Will DG ECHO liaise with the coordinator before offsetting any amount for a co-beneficiary?

Yes

FAQ 169 - Article 22.3.5 refers to revised final grant amount after audit. Will DG ECHO issue the debit note to and recover payment directly from the beneficiary concerned (not the Coordinator)?
Will the Coordinator be informed?

Yes, firstly DG-ECHO will send a pre-information letter to the beneficiary concerned and if no observation are submitted (within 30 days of receiving notification) DG-ECHO will confirm the amount to be recovered together with a debit note.

 

No, as the recovery will be executed on the beneficiary and not on the coordinator the latter will not be informed.

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