Project timeline

After a successful application, the implementing Body concludes a funding agreement with the project organiser (beneficiary) in which all of the rights and obligations of the subsidised entity are laid down.

 Now the realisation of the project can begin!

When the project period comes to an end, the project organisers are responsible for providing a detailed account of the project expenditure. This has to be carried out within three months of the end of the project period. Depending on how this is regulated in the funding agreement, an interim settlement of the expenditure incurred is also possible.

The project is then audited as part of the first level control audit (FLC audit). In this process, it is established whether the expenditure submitted for reimbursement is actually eligible for subsidies. The final subsidy amount is then transferred to the project organisers.

Even after the payment of subsidies, random checks are carried out, for example by the auditing and certifying authority and by the European Commission.

Combating fraud

In accordance with Article 125 para. 4 letter c of the Regulation (EU) no. 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council of 17 December 2013, the managing authority has to take effective and appropriate preventive measures against fraud while taking into account the risks which have been established.

The establishment and announcement of procedures to report fraud is an important aspect of preventing fraud. The Austrian managing authority uses the internet-based anonymous reporting system of the Central Public Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Economic Crime and Corruption (WKStA).

This whistleblower system was specially developed for investigations in the field of offences related to economic crime and corruption. If you wish to report offences in the field of economic crime and corruption in relation to the European Social Fund in Austria, you can use the whistleblower system of the WKstA.

During the reporting process the informant can decide whether to use the system under their own name or anonymously. In the whistleblower system it is not possible to trace the IP address of an informant.

Direct link to the electronic reporting system

• All of the important materials on the fight against fraud, such as the strategy of the managing authority and the guidelines of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) are available in the media centre.