Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 481/2014 of 4 March 2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1299/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to specific rules on eligibility of expenditure for cooperation programmes

Without prejudice to the eligibility rules laid down in or on the basis of Articles 65 to 71 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, this Regulation sets out specific rules on eligibility of expenditure for cooperation programmes with regard to the following expenditure categories:

1. staff costs;

2. office and administrative expenditure;

3. travel and accommodation costs;

4. external expertise and services costs; and

5. equipment expenditure.

The participating Member States in the monitoring committee of a cooperation programme may agree that, expenditure falling under one or more of the categories referred to in paragraph 1 shall not be eligible under one or more priority axes.

Any expenditure eligible in accordance with this Regulation, paid by or on behalf of the beneficiary, shall relate to the costs of initiating or initiating and implementing an operation or part of an operation

The following costs are not eligible:

1. fines, financial penalties and expenditure on legal disputes and litigation;

2. costs of gifts, except those not exceeding EUR 50 per gift where related to promotion, communication, publicity or information;

3. costs related to fluctuation of foreign exchange rate.

Expenditure on staff costs shall consist of gross employment costs of staff employed by the beneficiary in one of the following ways:

1. full time;

2. part-time with a fixed percentage of time worked per month;

3. part-time with a flexible number of hours worked per month; or

4. on an hourly basis.

Expenditure on staff costs shall be limited to the following:

1. salary payments related to the activities which the entity would not carry out if the operation concerned was not undertaken, fixed in an employment/work contract, an appointment decision (both hereinafter referred to as ‘employment document’) or by law, relating to responsibilities specified in the job description of the staff member concerned;

2. any other costs directly linked to salary payments incurred and paid by the employer, such as employment taxes and social security including pensions as covered by Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽¹⁾ provided that they are:

   1. fixed in an employment document or by law;

   2. in accordance with the legislation referred to in the employment document and with standard practices in the country and/or organisation where the individual staff member is actually working; and

   3. not recoverable by the employer.

With regard to point (a), payments to natural persons working for the beneficiary under a contract other than an employment/work contract may be assimilated to salary payments and such a contract considered as an employment document.

Staff costs may be reimbursed either:

1. in accordance with point (a) of Article 67(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 (as proven by the employment document and payslips); or

2. in the form of standard scales of unit costs in accordance with point (b) of Article 67(1), with paragraph (2), the first subparagraph of paragraph (3) and paragraph (4) of Article 68a of that Regulation; or

3. in the form of lump sums in accordance with point (c) of Article 67(1); or

4. in the form of flat-rate financing in accordance with point (d) of Article 67(1) and with Article 68a(1) of that Regulation.

Staff costs related to individuals who work on part-time assignment on the operation, shall be calculated as either:

1. a fixed percentage of the gross employment costs in accordance with Article 68a(5) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013; or

2. a flexible share of the gross employment cost, in line with a number of hours varying from one month to the other worked on the operation, based on a time registration system covering 100 % of the working time of the employee.

For part-time assignments under point (b) of paragraph 4, the reimbursement of staff costs shall be calculated on a single hourly rate basis determined either by:

1. dividing the monthly gross employment cost by the average monthly working time expressed in hours taking into account the working time as fixed in the employment document as well as fixed by law or agreements between the social partners on the relevant level; or

2. dividing the latest documented annual gross employment cost by 1 720 hours.

The hourly rate shall be multiplied by the number of hours actually worked on the operation.

As regards staff costs related to individuals who, according to the employment document, work on an hourly basis, such costs shall be eligible applying the number of hours actually worked on the operation to the hourly rate agreed in the employment document based on a working time registration system.

Expenditure on travel and accommodation costs shall be limited to the following elements:

1. travel costs (e.g. tickets, travel and car insurance, fuel, car mileage, toll, and parking fees);

2. the costs of meals;

3. accommodation costs;

4. visa costs;

5. daily allowances.

Any element listed in points (a) to (d) of paragraph 1 covered by a daily allowance shall not be reimbursed in addition to the daily allowance..

The travel and accommodation expenses of external experts and service providers fall under external expertise and services costs listed in Article 6.

Direct payment of expenditure under this Article by an employee of the beneficiary shall be supported by a proof of reimbursement by the beneficiary to that employee.

For operations concerning technical assistance or promotional activities and capacity-building, expenditure incurred outside the Union part of the programme area shall be eligible, if incurred in accordance with Article 20(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1299/2013.

The managing authority may accept the costs of accommodation and meals taken in establishments located outside the Union part of the programme area as eligible, if incurred in accordance with Article 20(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1299/2013. This shall also apply to local travel costs at the location of an event or an action outside the Union part of the programme area.

For the staff of beneficiaries located outside the Union part of the programme area, the managing authority may accept costs referred to in paragraph 1, including costs of travel to and from the location of an event or an action inside or outside the Union part of the programme area, as eligible, if incurred in accordance with Article 20(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1299/2013.

For the staff of beneficiaries located inside the Union part of the programme area the costs referred to in paragraph 1, including costs of travel to and from location of an event or an action inside or outside the Union part of the programme area, shall be considered eligible in accordance with Article 20(1) of the Regulation (EU) No 1299/2013.