Award of a project appraisal service within the framework of the "Brexit Adjustment Reserve"
According to Art. 14 Paragraph 4 of the BAR Regulation must ensure that projects are examined with regard to the expenditure declared. Notwithstanding Art. 14 para. 4 BAR-VO, a full examination of all measures carried out within the framework of the BAR-VO is carried out by the contractor.
The agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community entered into force on 1 February 2020. Following the end of the transition period on 31.12.2020, barriers to trade and barriers to cross-border trade and the free movement of persons, services and capital between the Union and the United Kingdom have materialised, having a significant and far-reaching impact on businesses, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their employees, as well as on local communities, public administrations and citizens.
The Brexit Adjustment Reserve ('BAR') was established by the European Union to mitigate the adverse economic, social, territorial and, where appropriate, environmental consequences of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the Union and to show solidarity with all Member States, including their regions and local communities, as well as with economic sectors, in particular those most detrimental to those affected by those exceptional circumstances. are affected.
The legal basis for the SFA is Regulation (EU) 2021/1755 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 October 2021 establishing the reserve for Brexit adjustment ('the BAR Regulation'). The maximum amount of the reserve shall be EUR 5 470 435 000. A maximum of around EUR 646.6 million is available for Germany.
The Member States have already received funds from the SFA for pre-financing (Art. 9 BAR Regulation) and have implemented measures. The final application for a financial amount from the reserve must be submitted to the Commission by 30 September 2024. If a Member State does not submit a request for a financial contribution from the reserve by that date, the Commission shall recover the entire amount paid as pre-financing to that Member State.
The BAR Regulation obliges the Member States to set up an independent inspection body (hereinafter referred to as the BAR inspection body) in accordance with Art. 14 of the BAR-VO in conjunction with Art. 63 (3) of the EU Financial Regulation. On 19.10.2022, the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control was commissioned with this task. The tasks of the SFA inspection body include Art. 14 para. 4 BAR-VO in particular:
- establish an audit strategy based on Article 78 of Regulation (EU) No 2021/1060;
- Implementation and organisation of audits of the management and control system (system audits) as well as project audits in accordance with the BAR Regulation;
- Review of the implementation report of the SFA Managing Authority pursuant to Art. 11(2) BARVO;
- checking the accounts of the BAR Managing Authority for completeness, accuracy and veracity;
- regular exchange with the federal and state agencies involved in the implementation of the SFA (holding of working meetings);
- in the aforementioned function, transmission of summaries of the final audit reports and the inspections carried out as well as the opinions, including of the independent audit bodies of the Länder, if the Länder are appointed by a federal ministry as an intermediate body or are obliged by law to implement them.
- Prepare the audit opinion (result of the audit activities) on the basis of the model in Annex II BAR-VO and submit it to the European Commission by 30 September 2024.
Within the framework of these calls for tenders, the examination of the measures carried out in accordance with the BAR Regulation (project appraisal) is to be awarded to an external contractor. Under the responsibility of the BAR Inspection Agency, it will primarily examine all projects in compliance with international auditing standards.
Systems audits (audit of the management and control system) are not covered by this call for tenders. These checks shall be carried out by the client's personnel. The preparation of the audit opinion in accordance with the model in Annex II of the BAR Regulation is also the responsibility of the client.