EGF Certifying Authority

The Certifying Authority is a separate body within the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. It has responsibility for certifying the eligibility and accuracy of final claims submitted to the European Commission in respect of EGF programmes. In carrying out this function there are a number of levels of checking that it undertakes.

The Certifying Authority’s responsibilities include drawing up and submitting a statement justifying the expenditure associated with each EGF programme for submission to the European Commission in line with EGF Regulations. The Certifying Authority must ensure that:

  • the expenditure is accurate, results from reliable accounting systems, and is based on verifiable supporting documents;
  • the expenditure complies with applicable European Community and national rules and has been incurred in respect of operations funded in accordance with the criteria applicable to the EGF programme;
  • for the purpose of certification, it has received adequate information from the EGF Managing Authority on the procedures and verifications carried out in relation to expenditure included in statements of expenditure;
  • it takes account for certification purposes of the results of all control checks carried out on the expenditure; and,
  • it maintains accounting records of expenditure declared to the European Commission.