In Focus: CEF Contributes to More Efficient Use of EU Funds

The CEF designs learning events on the European Union Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) to help our member countries keep pace with reform efforts and achieve better results.

The IPA is an EU financial instrument to help candidate and potential candidate countries introduce the political, economic, and institutional reforms they need to align with EU standards. In designing this curriculum, we take into consideration the changes and challenges posed by the new EU Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020.

On February 4-6, 2013, we are organizing a workshop on IPA Funds in the EU Financial Framework 2014-2020. It will provide a detailed overview, supported by practical examples and group work, of the process of programming, implementation, realization, and evaluation of the IPA for EU candidate and potential candidate countries. Lecturers Mojmir Mrak, professor at the Faculty of Economics, Ljubljana, and Andreja Jerina, the European Policy/EUSDR National Contact Point at Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will deliver the workshop. We plan to repeat the workshop in autumn 2013.

This year we will also offer two workshops on the audit of IPA projects: Audit of IPA Projects this spring and IPA Audit Approach and Methodology in the fall. The first will provide a detailed overview of audit procedures for projects financed through the IPA. To make full use of the IPA’s benefits, it is essential to understand and perform audits in line with the applicable rules for EU candidate and potential candidate countries. The second workshop will solve common problems such as audit criteria, evidence, and scope.

The CEF has been organizing learning events on the topic of EU funds since 2004, and we have steadily increased our attention to this field. To date we have organized 11 workshops attended by 232 participants. For a full view of our future course offerings, please refer to our Workshops and Seminars Catalog 2013. We look forward to welcoming you at our courses.