Beneficiaries Of EU Funds: We Need A White List Of Good Consultants

05.19.2011 ZF English

Putting together a "white list" of consultants and experts in drawing up and implementing projects financed with EU funds based on past experience could be one of the measures that would lead to a high rate of absorption of EU funds, say project beneficiaries and representatives of banks that grant loans for EU-funded programs.

The advice of those who accessed EU funds for future and even for current beneficiaries is to find the consultant who drew up the project and keep them close for the entire implementation period, in order for the rate of absorption of EU money to be as high as possible, said participants at the conference "The caravan of EU funds 2011 - How will EU funds change Romania?," organized yesterday by Ziarul Financiar in Constanta in partnership with AMPOSDRU, the management authority that handles EUR4.25 billion in human resources funds, and with Banca Transilvania bank.

Cristina Predea, general manager of BrainWave Communication, the company currently implementing a project financed with HR European funds, which has 1,700 people as a target group, says one needs to choose the project team very carefully for a European project, because nobody, neither the auditor, nor the consultant or the certified accountant takes responsibility for problems that may occur.

"The team is the core element that sees the project through because getting the project approved is only the first step, implementation is the major problem. It was impossible for us to implement the project because we did not have a relationship with those who drew up the project. We were completely unprepared when we accessed the funds, the consultant wrote indicators and targets that sent us banging our heads against the wall when it came to implementation. Working with one's own team of consultants is vital, because otherwise, no matter how well a project is drawn up, the chances of implementing it correctly are very slim," Predea said.