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Internal monitoring tasks under operational manager's responsibility/supervision
INCEPTION STAGE

  • Reassess and, if necessary, readjust the risks and logframe matrices.*
  • Assess the monitoring capacity of the implementing partner and its monitoring systems (if not done before or if any changes occurred on the partner's side) and plan for support (if needed)*.
  • Finalise the monitoring arrangements developed with the implementing partner at the design stage.
  • In case of a baseline study: provide feedback on the terms of reference and resulting report, and whether those constitute a sufficient basis for setting the targets.
  • Participate in the kick-off meeting, as a lead*.
  • Analyse the inception report and provide feedback on analysis and updated planning*.

    Note that for Calls for Proposals, Contribution Agreements, Trust Funds, inception reports can be the first interim (annual) reports, so the format of the initial follow-up can be agreed with the partners, while contracting.
  • Support timely disbursement of Commission resources, based on approved work plans and finalised inception report*.

IMPLEMENTATION PHASE Documents to be reviewed

  • Contract(s) with implementing partner(s), including annexes
  • Any documents on the partner country's commitments (endorsement and commitment letters)
  • Kick-off proceedings records
  • Inception report
  • Logframe matrix (for project modality) / intervention logic table (for budget support)
  • Risk Assessment Matrix
  • Steering Committee (or a similar consultative group's) meeting minutes
  • Progress reports (annually on average, depending on contractual provisions; see model in PRAG for example)
  • Official requests for any changes and adaptations to the framework of the intervention by the implementing partner or partner country
  • Final report (see model in PRAG for example)


PERFORMANCE STAGE

At intervention level - monitoring progress and achievement of objectives:

  • Regularly review the relevance of the logframe matrix and risks, adjust where appropriate. If any risks are realised, ensure mitigation measures are deployed and recorded in progress reports*.
  • Participate in the Steering Committee (most of the time as an observer, usually once or twice a year)*.
  • Analyse progress reports: provide feedback and cross-check data with the plans.
  • Respond to Key Performance Indicators in the External Assistance Management Report *.
  • Contribute to corporate results reporting*
  • Conduct field visits with implementing partners and beneficiaries to get first-hand knowledge of the intervention's activities, results and issues. Conduct visits jointly with development partners and/or other Delegation sections when possible, ensure findings are recorded and shared (i.e. through a flash note/brief report).
  • Activate/coordinate ROM reviews and evaluations as needed* (see ROM Handbook).
  • Participate in Steering Committees and discuss any issues related to the above-mentioned managerial activities*.
  • Analyse and decide on any requests for modifications – plans, results, resources*.

Not within the scope of this guidance
At intervention level - monitoring financial and contractual compliance and disbursement
At corporate level - EU Results Framework and contributions to the EAMR (see Common Emphasis on Results)

* Mandatory task.

Monitoring generates information on the status of an intervention for further analysis (review and evaluation) and for informed decision-making by identifying actual implementation problems. Monitoring and reporting requirements should follow several important principles, defined in the Better Regulation package.

Regular reviews provide the opportunity to further analyse information collected through monitoring, make informed decisions and take appropriate management action to support effective implementation. Regular reviews may be conducted at different levels (field, headquarters) at different times and with varying frequency; the point is that they be regular and have a clear agenda and structure.

The monitoring process begins as soon as the financing agreement or contract is signed, even without or before a field visit. The existing documentation (contract general and special conditions, project document, description of the action, logframe, organisation and methodology) can serve as a basis for monitoring.

During implementation, the monitoring framework agreed upon with partners (usually an intervention logic with the corresponding logframe and risk matrices) should be reviewed to check its relevance and ensure that the risks and assumptions remain unchanged. Updates should be made where necessary. This review should be done at least once a year.