The blog about the most common issues faced by applicants and funding recipients.
I cover, among other things, adverse assessments of funding applications, formal protests, project controls, financial corrections, repayment of funding, project modifications, liability of management board members for repayment of funding, and project-related disputes with funding institutions.
Does a sale of shares result in loss of SME status on the transaction date? This is a key question in investments, acquisitions and publicly funded projects.
Can failure to include required information in a contract notice lead to a financial correction? Yes. Certain errors in a procurement procedure may result in the funding recipient losing part of the funding received.
The sale of a company that has received public funding may affect the funding recipient’s status, project sustainability and the risk of repayment. What do businesses often overlook before a transaction?
Formal completion of a project does not always mean that the risk has ended. Institutions may return to projects years later to examine the documentation, project sustainability and compliance with the funding conditions.
Repayment of funding is not always inevitable following a project control or receipt of a demand from the funding institution. In many cases, the situation at this stage still requires an assessment of the project documentation and of the grounds relied on by the institution.
For many funding recipients, a demand for repayment is the first point at which there is a real concern that the project may ultimately result in repayment of funding. The demand does not, however, mean that the funding recipient must repay the funds. The way in which such a letter is handled may affect the subsequent course of the dispute with the funding institution.
Dr Anna Kulińska is an attorney-at-law specialising in State aid law, administrative law, EU law, and the legal aspects of public funding. She advises businesses and organisations implementing projects financed from EU funds and national support programmes, in particular on project modifications, project controls, audits, and administrative proceedings concerning repayment of funding.
