Since the current programming period (2014-2020) of the Common Agricultural Policy, the European Commission offers the possibility to claim costs for projects in a simplified way (European Commission, 2015). When applied, eligible costs are calculated according to a pre-defined method based on performance, results or some other costs. In doing so, it is no longer necessary to trace each euro of co-financed expenditure to individual accounting vouchers, which represents a significant simplification of management and control. There are basically three possibilities of simplified cost optio-ns, namely lump sum financing, standard scales of unit costs and lump sums.
For the current program period, training providers who carry out projects in the priority area "Promotion of lifelong learning and vocational training in the LuFW" must document chargeable costs by means of receipts. This ties up administrative resources for the training providers and for the granting and monitoring bodies. By allowing for simplified costs, administrative simplification can be achieved in this area, with the goal that human and administrative resources can be used to a greater extent to implement policy goals, rather than for the collection and review of financial records. The project aims to implement a simplified cost option in the priority area "Promotion of Lifelong Learning and Vocational Training in LuFW" of Priority 1 "Knowledge Transfer and Innovation" of Rural Development. In cooperation with the BMLRT, the AMA and granting agencies, a suitable solution for the implementation of the simplified cost option is to be developed for the priority area.
Work 2021
The Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics and Mining as an external body will take over the calculation of uniform cost rates based on AMA data from completed projects of the current period. In 2020, in cooperation with BMLRT and AMA, categories of training providers with suitable reference values were formed (costs/unit of instruction, costs/course, etc.), for which unit cost rates were calculated. Furthermore, a rough version of the do-cumentation of the calculation was prepared. The preliminary results were presented to the BMLRT and will be evaluated in expert groups within the framework of the National Strategic Plan of the CAP.
For the year 2021, possible reconciliations and changes of the calculations and selection of categories as well as reference values are expected through the involvement of internal and external stakeholders (BMLRT, granting agencies, certified training providers). Furthermore, a documentation of the calculation is to be created from the raw version, which can be submitted to the European Commission for review.
Conclusion
In the course of 2021, after several rounds of discussions, the project "Flat-rate cost rates for education providers" was declared terminated by the BMLRT due to disagreement on the choice of the optimal calculation method. BAB developed different models and calculation variants. The current status of the calculations was documented and can be taken up again in the event of a possible reactivation of the project.
Schedule
Project start: January 2021
End of project: December 2021
