During the 3rd Community Support Framework, the MOU established Expert Teams to provide advisory, managerial and technical support to various bodies (Final Beneficiaries) implementing EU-funded programmes.
Specifically:
A. It established Teams to support Final Beneficiaries which had weaknesses in terms of technical infrastructure and staffing. They were staffed by experts with special training and experience in the management of CSF projects and programmes and offered operational and technical support in the following fields:
- Project planning and coordination
- Drawing-up of specifications for invitations to tender
- Expediting of permits and other operations required for projects to proceed
- Drafting the necessary Technical Bulletins
- Project Filing
- Monitoring systems for project implementation
- Training and transfer of know-how
Β. It seconded experts to government departments (including the then Ministry of Economics and Finance, the then Ministry of Development and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) who provided advice and technical support on the implementation of CSF III projects (application of the Ν+2 rule).
When did the Teams intervene?
MOU Teams intervened to support final beneficiaries with weaknesses in technical infrastructure, expertise and staffing, following consultation with the competent Managing Authority. The projects for which assistance could be sought should have met certain basic criteria:
- A project for which support was requested should have been approved by the competent authorities
- It should have been eligible as an action under the Programme Complement of the Operational Programme
- They should have secured funding for the studies required (either from own resources or some other source)
- The project should meet the criteria laid down by the Managing Authority for inclusion in the Operational Programme.
The following Expert Teams operated during the period 2000 - 2006:
- Expert Team for European Social Fund Projects
- Task Force for Remote and Island Areas
- Technical Support Unit for Solid waste and Waste Water Projects
- Expert Team for Minority Groups’ Projects
- Expert Team for IT Applications of the Management Information System (MIS) of the CSF
