EUAF – Staff Exchange – 2021

Objectives:

• To protect the EU financial interests by preventing and combatting fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities affecting the EU financial interests;
• To increase the abilities of professionals involved in the protection of the Union’s financial interests through the acquisition of new skills, knowledge of specialised methodologies and techniques as well as an increased awareness of fraud risk indicators and the Union’s anti-fraud policy priorities;
• To increase network and exchange of best practices opportunities.

Priorities:

• EU and national measures to support the new anti-fraud landscape against the background of the establishment  of the EPPO and the revision of the OLAF legal framework;
• Cooperation between EU bodies involved in protecting the EU financial interests;
• OLAF’s revised framework for investigations, with special reference to the exercise and enforcement of its powers, its cooperation with national partners, the operation of the AFCOS in Member States, the evidential value of OLAF’s reports, or the follow-up by relevant national authorities;
• The fight against revenue fraud, including customs data analysis and new challenges in the field;
• Protection of the EU internal market against counterfeits, tobacco smuggling and goods dangerous for health, security or the environment – border protection, customs cooperation and exchange of information;
• Research on fraud and irregularities in EU funds in the area of migration and refugees, as well as humanitarian and external aid;
• The fight against fraud in EU funds in the areas of environment, climate and food security (‘Green Deal’-related actions);
• Emerging challenges in the fight against expenditure fraud in the context of the new MFF and new instruments such as the Recovery and Resilience Facility;
• Assessment of the scale, nature and causes of fraud affecting the EU budget, and methodologies for the assessment;
• National and EU anti-fraud strategies and comparisons of the relevant frameworks of different Member States;
• Effectiveness of controls and the development of cost effective approaches, including determining fraud risks and comparing control strategies, in selected areas.

Among financed actions:

• Organising staff exchanges between national and regional administrations (including candidate and neighbouring countries) to help to further develop, improve and update staff’s skills and competences in protecting the EU financial interests.

Additional information:

• This call for proposals is an open call for proposals.
• Initial duration of the action: between 12 and 24 months.

Eligibility

• Be a national or regional public authority;
• Be an international organisation that can help to achieve a EUAF objective;
• Be a research and educational institute;
• Be a non-profit making entity that can help to achieve the objectives of the EUAF Programme.

• Indicative budget per lot:  1.6 million euro divided between the 4 grants of the call.
• Co-financing rate: Up to 80% of the total eligible costs, but projects categorised as ‘priority action’ can apply for a rate of 90%.