FAMENET frequently asked questions - European Commission
Skip to main content
European Commission logo
Oceans and fisheries

FAMENET frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Frequently asked questions on the programming, monitoring and evaluation of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund 2014-2020 (EMFF) and the European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund 2021-2027 (EMFAF)

Disclaimer

FAMENET (Fisheries and Aquaculture Monitoring, Evaluation and Local Support Network) is a support unit to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE).

Through its network of experts, FAMENET supports the Commission and the Member States in the monitoring and evaluation of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF), as well as the implementation of CLLD financed from these Funds.

The information and views included on this FAQ webpage are those of the FAMENET experts only and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the Commission. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf may be held responsible for the use that may be made of the information contained therein.

The guidance provided here is based on the technical know-how of FAMENET. It is not intended to be exhaustive and does not constitute legal advice or interpretation. If you require legal advice or interpretation please contact DG MARE directly at: MARE-D3@ec.europa.eu

1. EMFAF Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (MEF) 2021-2027

Questions on the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (MEF) of the EMFAF 2021-2027, including the development of national strategies, EMFAF programmes and the intervention logic of the MEF

2. EMFAF data reporting requirements

Details on data reporting requirements and timeline for the EMFAF 2021-2027

3. EMFAF Infosys data fields

Questions on specific data fields reported in the Infosys database of EMFAF operations

4. Reporting EMFAF types of interventions

Selecting types of interventions for operations in Infosys

5. Reporting EMFAF types of operations

Questions regarding the reporting of types of operations in Infosys for the EMFAF

6. Reporting EMFAF common result indicators

Specific questions on selecting and calculating values of common result indicators for EMFAF-funded operations in Infosys

7. Selecting EMFAF result indicators

Questions on which result indicators to select for certain operations in Infosys

8. Calculating EMFAF result indicators

Questions on how to calculate values for specific common result indicators for EMFAF-funded operations

9. Adjusting Infosys for EMFAF operations abandoned or withdrawn

How should we deal with Infosys and CPR data reporting for EMFAF operations with commitments/expenditures that have been changed to zero euros? This can happen for various reasons, for instance with operations abandoned or 'withdrawn'.

Aside from financial data fields and ‘state of progress’ field, what other data needs to be adjusted in the event of a zero commitment (in Infosys, CPR and ‘disclosure’) if partial payments have already been made but the project(s) are ‘de-committed’)?

Will this affect certain values of CPR tables 1, 4, 5 and 9 (particularly ‘operations carried out’ table 5 and result indicator values table 9?

Most importantly, the ‘state of progress’ field 16, and the financial values of fields 17-19 and 21-23 should be adjusted to reflect the current contractual situation of the selected operations. There are two options when adjusting funding for abandoned operations, depending on the situation at hand:

  1. For any operations interrupted/abandoned for which all funds will be de-committed and no expenditure was or will be declared by the beneficiary to the Managing Authority, the code should be changed to code 01 for field 16, and fields 17-19 and 21-23 should be reported as 0. It is assumed here that ‘abandoning’ an operation means that no further action will be taken and thus all funds need to be de-committed (or else are “lost”).
  2. For operations interrupted/abandoned following partial implementation, and for which some expenditure was declared by the beneficiary to the Managing Authority, FAMENET recommends entering a value of 01 for field 16, and subtracting from fields 17-19 and 21-23 the amount of funds recovered. Any funds already paid and not recovered should remain accounted for in these Infosys financial fields.

Additionally, some other values of Infosys fields should be changed, if needed, to most accurately reflect the outcomes of the operation at hand:

  • Field 24 – ‘Date of final payment to beneficiary’: Should be the date of the last payment received by the beneficiary, if some expenditures were reported/reimbursed. If no expenditures were reported (value of zero for fields 21-23), no value should be reported.
     
  • Fields 38, 39, 40 – Baseline value, indicative result, ex-post result: Baseline values and indicative result values of common result indicators (field 38 and 39) should remain unchanged. When aggregating for CPR reporting using the FAMENET Infosys validation tool, operations abandoned will be subtracted and so values of common result indicators will not be affected. The ex-post value of common result indicators (field 40) may need to be adjusted to reflect the actual results of actions undertaken by an operation as much as possible. If an operation was abandoned/de-committed before any activities were undertaken on a project, then report values of zero for fields 38-40. If the operation was under implementation for some time, leading to a measurable effect, then you should report the value of result indicators must accurately reflecting the real effects of the operation.

In SFC, all financial values should be the same as in Infosys. And to calculate the number of operations, as mentioned in the MEF working paper: COUNT of field 02, for all operations where field 16 = 00, 02, 03, 04 (interrupted/abandoned operations are excluded).For common result indicators, the data in SFC shall also be the same as in Infosys (unless correcting for double counting).

If using the FAMENET Infosys validation tool to aggregate CPR ‘transmission of data’ data from Infosys, abandoned operations will be automatically removed from the calculation of tables 1, 4, 5, and 9, so result indicator/financial values for abandoned operations will not be aggregated into CPR reports. 

 

Most projects are interrupted/abandoned with absolutely zero implementation and with no expenditure declared. Should these projects still be reported as code 02 'partial implementation' in Infosys field 16 'State of progress of the operation'?

Codes for the 'state of progress' of EMFAF funded operations can be found in CIR 2022/79 Annex II, table 6.

Any project approved/selected for funding and then abandoned must be reported as code 01 'Operation interrupted/abandoned following partial implementation', regardless of how soon the operation was abandoned after approval and whether or not any expenditure occurred.

For any operations interrupted/abandoned for which all funds will be de-committed and no expenditure was or will be declared by the beneficiary to the Managing Authority, the code should be changed to code 01 for field 16 (‘state of progress’), and fields 17-19 and 21-23 should be reported as 0. It is assumed here that ‘abandoning’ an operation means that no further action will be taken and thus all funds need to be de-committed (or else are “lost”).

 

How should we report EMFAF operations in infosys, if some funds are recovered after the operation has been reported as complete and all funds have been paid?

When adjusting Infosys for operations where some funds have been recovered, the same steps should be followed whether the operation is in progress or has already been reported as completed.

Most importantly, as you already mentioned, MAs should subtract from fields 17-19 and 21-23 the amount of funds recovered.

The state of progress (field 16) should remain 04 ‘operation completed’ for operations already reported as completed. The date of approval (field 20) and date of final payment (field 24) do not need to be adjusted if funds are recovered from a project already reported as complete.

10. EMFAF evaluation activities

Questions regarding evaluations required under the EMFAF by Member States and the European Commission

11. Community-Led Local Development (CLLD)

Questions about Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) under the EMFF/EMFAF

12. Simplified Cost Options

Questions regarding the use of Simplified Cost Options (SCO's) under the EMFF/EMFAF

13. EMFF data reporting

Questions on specific aspects of EMFF data reporting, in line with EMFF article 97.1.a.

14. EMFF operations abandoned or withdrawn

Questions regarding how to handle EMFF operations abandoned or withdrawn in Infosys

15. EMFF evaluation activities

Questions regarding evaluations to be completed for the EMFF 2014-2020