The good practice you submit to the Interreg Europe website goes through a validation process. The good practice linked ot a project will be reviewed by the project web administrator that is appointed at the start of the project. If the project web administrator approves the good practice, it is published on your project website and will be sent to the Policy Officer of the Joint Secreatriat for further validation.

Interreg Europe recommends that a project’s total ERDF budget ranges from 1 MEUR up to 2 MEUR. The average ERDF budget of projects approved under the 1st call is 1.4 MEUR. In any case, the total budget of a project depends on different parameters and in particular on the number of partners involved as well as on the number and nature of the activities envisaged.

The project's budget must be proportionate to: the activities planned, the project's duration and the number of partners involved. The allocation among the partners must reflect the activities and outputs planned each semester, as well as each partner's responsibilities. To plan the budget, the partnership should identify the resources needed by each partner to complete the activities and estimate the related costs and when they will be paid. Based on experience of previous programmes, a project's total ERDF budget usually ranges from 1 MEUR to 2 MEUR.

The total budget of the project includes the costs foreseen for both the core phase and the follow-up phase. However, in the planning phase of the budget, especially when preparing the project's spending plan, it is important to take into consideration the activities foreseen. The main activities of the follow-up phase are related to monitoring the results, exchange of experience on policy improvements if relevant and pilot actions if relevant. Considering these activities might be less intense than the activities expected during the core-phase, this should be taken into consideration when drawing up the project's budget and should be reflected in the spending plan.

Budget amounts can be reallocated from one cost category to another, and the budget of a cost category can be exceeded (without a maximum limit) if this is fully justified by a project’s needs and the project’s activities remain in line with the application form. Budget amounts can be re-allocated between partners too. Two types of budget change between partners are possible: 1. A budget reallocation of up to 20% of the total partner budget stated in the latest approved application form (flexibility rule) A partner’s total budget can be exceeded by a maximum of 20 % of the original total amount if this is compensated by an underspend in the budget(s) of other partner(s). This type of budget reallocation does not require the programme’s formal prior approval but must be reported and justified through the progress report. 2. A budget reallocation of over 20% of the total partner budget stated in the latest approved application form A budget reallocation between partners greater than the 20% budget flexibility limit requires a formal approval by the managing authority/ joint secretariat and it must be incorporated in the application form through a request for change procedure (“major budget change”). In principle, a major budget change should happen only once during a project’s lifetime. Budget reallocations between partners and cost categories are possible on the condition that the total amount(s) of ERDF and/or Norwegian funding awarded to a project are not exceeded.

National public co-financing is ensured in certain member states. For more information, please contact your national point of contact (contact details can be found in the country specific information section).

Based on Regulation (EU) No 2021/1059, the different cost categories applicable in the programme are: • staff • office and administration • travel and accommodation • external expertise and services • equipment • infrastructure and works (only for pilot actions)

In accordance with Regulation (EU) No 2021/1060 Article 64 (1) (c) i, VAT is eligible for projects the total cost of which is below EUR 5,000,000 (including VAT). Considering their usual budget (between 1 MEUR and 2MEUR), VAT is eligible for Interreg Europe projects.

We expect that most regions will reach policy improvements during the core phase. For the rest of the regions, the action plans will be integrated directly in the relevant section of the last progress report of the core phase. We estimate that such a task should be easily performed using internal resources (staff costs). Therefore, we do not expect project partners to plan costs for the elaboration of the action plan at application stage.

Control costs for the verification of expenditure are considered eligible unless there are stricter national rules established at partner state level. Projects should therefore foresee a budget for these controls depending on the control arrangements applicable in the relevant Partner States (EU Member States and Norway) for each of the project partners. This point should be carefully checked in the specific-country requirements available on the Interreg Europe website.

Costs related to the preparation of the project are covered for approved projects. These costs are fixed in the form of a lump sum of EUR 17,500 ERDF for approved projects (EUR 14,000 ERDF and EUR 8,750 Nowegian funding). This amount is automatically included in the lead partner’s budget in the application form and will be added to the reported expenditure of the lead partner in the first progress report. However, even if the preparation costs are allocated to the lead partner’s budget, the partnership should share them to reflect the involvement of the partners in the preparation of the application form. This distribution should be done in a fair and transparent way and included in the partnership agreement.

Costs for project activities are eligible from the date of the monitoring committee’s approval of the project until the end date of the project. The end date of the project marks the end of the eligibility period for expenditure, and it is the date by which the last progress report must be submitted to the joint secretariat.

Under Interreg Europe programme rules, staff costs can only be reported according to the fixed percentage method. It is therefore not possible to use other methods such as the calculation of staff costs on an hourly basis with timesheets. The staff costs of employees working part-time on the project must be calculated on a real costs basis using a fixed percentage of the gross employment cost (incl. employer’s contributions) in accordance with article 55 (5) of Regulation (EU) No 2021/1060.

Staff costs should be planned in order to reflect the involvement of the staff member(s) working on the project. Applicants should estimate how many staff members will work on the project and how much time they will dedicate to project tasks, and plan the budget accordingly. For employees working full time on the project, the total monthly gross employment cost (incl. employer’s social contributions) can be claimed. For Interreg Europe, the staff costs of employees working part-time on the project must be calculated on a real costs basis using a fixed percentage of the gross employment cost (incl. employer’s contributions). This fixed percentage should be an average of the time spent by the staff member(s) on the project activities.

Staff costs cover costs for staff members employed by the partner organisation and who work on the project directly. Staff costs refers to the partner organisation’s gross employment costs, which usually comprise: • Salary payments (specified in an employment/ work contract) • Other costs directly linked to salary payments paid and not recoverable by the employer: - Employment taxes - Social security (including health coverage and pension contributions). In accordance with the partner organisation’s personnel policy, costs such as bonuses, fuel, lease car, relocation benefits, luncheon vouchers, etc. can be fully or partly claimed after calculating the share eligible for the project. Only the costs or the share of the costs that are not recoverable by the employer are eligible.

The task assignment letter is a document setting out the fixed percentage worked on the project by a staff member of a partner organisation. Unless this percentage is indicated in an another document (e.g. the employment contract), the task assignment letter should be provided as a supporting document when reporting the costs. It usually: • is issued for the specific employee at the beginning of the period to which it applies • is dated and signed by the employee and a line manager/ supervisor • contains the percentage of time dedicated to the project per month and a description of the projectrelated role, responsibilities, and monthly tasks assigned to the employee in question and which provides sufficient evidence for the time allocation • Is reviewed (e.g., during the annual staff appraisal) and the percentage and/or description of tasks adjusted, if really needed (e.g., if the role, tasks and/or responsibilities of the employee change). A template is available on Interreg Europe website.

With the 15% flat rate, projects do not need to plan a detailed budget for the ‘travel and accommodation’ cost category. The application form will automatically calculate a budget corresponding to 15% of the planned staff costs. When it comes to reporting travel and accommodation expenditure, the flat rate of 15% is automatically applied to the reported eligible staff costs of each project partner concerned. Project partners do not need to provide justification or supporting documents for travel and accommodation costs. Nor do they need to document that the expenditure has been incurred and paid or that the flat rate corresponds to reality.

In Interreg Europe, the travel and accommodation costs are calculated: 1) as a flat rate of 15% of the partner’s staff costs 2) or on a real cost basis, only when the flat rate is not an appropriate method for the partner for justified reasons (e.g., the project partner comes from an outermost or remote region). For the sake of simplification, project partners are asked to choose option 1 (flat rate). If a project partner chooses option 2 (real costs), they must justify why in the application form. Each project partner will have to indicate their choice between options 1 and 2 in the application form. It will not be possible to change this choice after the signature of the subsidy contract. The flat rate for travel and accommodation costs represents a major simplification. With the 15% flat rate, projects do not need to plan a detailed budget for the ‘travel and accommodation’ cost category. The application form will automatically calculate a budget corresponding to 15% of the planned staff costs for each partner choosing this option. When it comes to reporting travel and accommodation expenditure, the flat rate of 15% is automatically applied to the reported eligible staff costs of each project partner concerned. Project partners do not need to provide justification or supporting documents for travel and accommodation costs. Nor do they need to document that the expenditure has been incurred and paid or that the flat rate corresponds to reality.

External expertise and service costs include expenditure paid, based on contracts or written agreements, and related invoices or requests for reimbursement to external service providers who are subcontracted to carry out certain tasks or activities linked to delivering the project. In accordance with Regulation (EU) No 2021/1059 Article 42, expenditure on external expertise and service are limited to the following services and expertise provided by an organisation other than the project partner: • studies or surveys (such as evaluations, strategies, concept notes, design plans, handbooks) • training • translations • development, modifications and updates to IT systems and website • promotion, communication, publicity, promotional items and activities or information linked to an project or to a programme as such • financial management • services related to the organisation and implementation of events or meetings (including rent, catering, or interpretation) • participation in events (such as registration fees) • legal consultancy and notarial services, technical and financial expertise, other consultancy and accountancy services • intellectual property rights • verifications pursuant to point (a) of Article 74(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 and Article 46(1) of Regulation (EU) No 2021/1059 (i.e. cost of expenditure control) • the provision of guarantees by a bank or other financial institution where required by Union or national law or by a programming document adopted by the monitoring committee • travel and accommodation for external experts, speakers, chairpersons of meetings and service providers • other specific expertise and services needed for projects. In the project budget in the application form, the following types of external expertise and services costs can be selected: include list