Lump sum grants for EU projects rise

The maximum lump sum amounts granted for projects financed from the EU Home Affairs Funds rise from EUR 10,000 to 100,000, said the Ministry of the Interior in an official press release

Based on feedback from beneficiaries, EUR 10,000 was considered as too low to enable the practical implementation of projects, which is why a decision was made to raise it. According to the amendment to the Home Affairs Funds Act, other public funding and returns of the project are also taken into account when establishing the lump sum amounts, which means that all types of revenue must be declared in the payment application.

In future the wages of a part-time employee payable for the time of sickness absence are an eligible cost. Wages payable for the time of sick of absence are allocated to a project relative to the employee’s working hours. Wages payable for the time of sickness absence are eligible only to the extent that there are no benefits from Kela (the Finnish Social Insurance Institution) involved.

The amendments enable the use of standard scales unit costs for granting support concerning the subsidy and reimbursement referred to in the Act on the Reception of Persons Applying for International Protection and on Identifying and Assisting Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings. The standard scale unit cost model is one of the simplified cost models where the key idea is that compensation for the costs is paid on the basis of a predetermined unit cost.

In addition, certain technical details of the decree were amended.

The aim is to reduce unnecessary administrative burden, update the decree as necessary and, through this, enable the efficient utilisation of the Home Affairs Funds. The amendments respond to the needs for changes that came out in the mid-term evaluation of the funds. The amended decree enters into force in the beginning of 2018 after adoption of the decree on 28 December 2017.