The EU's Pandemic Response: Lessons Learned from Managing & Auditing COVID-19 Funds

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought major challenges for our society. The health and private sector in particular required public sector interventions. The Commission, therefore, swiftly launched two packages of measures: the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative (CRII) and the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative Plus (CRII+). This was followed by the REACT-EU package. Existing funds were re-oriented and new funds were made available in all EU countries to tackle the crisis.

As we slowly exit the pandemic, it’s important to not only understand how public resources were spent, but also learn lessons for the future. This is especially important because Covid funds follow different rules. Indeed, the pandemic is one of the key reasons for shifting EU policies towards a performance-based system. This is a shift from the cost-reimbursement system. This means that auditors may have less oversight over the spending of funds. Most importantly, one must ask if subsidies achieve their objectives? What are the risks and opportunities of Covid-19 funding? How to detect fraud during lockdowns? Our experts will offer a comprehensive view of the current situation and provide advice on the most important topics.

Starting from € 990,- (excl. VAT)

Details

Methodology

A workshop by Lexxion Publisher offers the possibility to meet with experts from Member States and EU institutions, as well as the private sector. The different perspectives of our experienced trainers will support you in applying complex rules to your practical day-to-day work. To achieve the best results, we employ a mixture of learning methods.

Our approach combines the three stages of learning to ensure that the participants obtain the best possible understanding of the applied rules:

1) Identification of the main rules and principles,
2) Appreciation of the complexities and limitation of the principles,
3) Application of the rules and principles.

The participants will be actively involved in the course. The sessions will combine presentations, case studies and discussion of practical problems. You will have ample opportunity to present your own issues and discuss them with the speakers and participants from other Member States.

You can send to us your cases and questions in advance! We will forward them to our speakers, who will include your issues in the programme and answer them during the course. All information concerning such problems and cases will be treated confidentially.

Course materials will be available to download after the event.

Who should participate?

Representatives from public authorities in charge of management and audit of Covid funds, especially from:
- Managing Authorities;
- Certifying Authorities;
- Audit Authorities;
- Intermediate Bodies;
- Regional and local authorities; and
- Beneficiaries of EU funded projects, such as:
  - - private and public
      companies
    - research institutes.