Germany

This page contains information on the bodies responsible for Structural Funds programmes and on the project control system in Germany. You can also find the list of contacts to the German Länder representatives to ask for country-specific information relevant for Interreg Europe.

See the list below for the contacts in each German Land.

This section provides information on the system set up for control in Germany for 2021-2027.

Please see with the representatives of specific German Länder for more information and details about the managing authorities and intermediate bodies of the Structural Funds programmes in Germany. The contact list is available at the top of this page.

Germany uses a decentralised control system.

The approbation body will approve an independent, qualified controller based on a proposal made by the project partner.

The costs resulting from the control are borne by the project partners and can be reported as eligible costs in compliance with the relevant EU regulations and programme rules. These costs should therefore be planned in the project budget.

For projects with a pilot action  including infrastructure and/or equipment costs, a compulsory on-the-spot check has to be carried out. The check should be carried out once the relevant costs incurred. A proper timing has to be ensured by the designated controller.

In addition and for all other projects also, on-the-spot-checks can be carried out if the designated controller deems that is has an added value.

On-the-spot-checks may be performed remotely in justified cases.

Check below the list of approbation bodies.

This section provides information on the system set up for first level control in Germany.

Germany uses a decentralised first level control system. The project partners must therefore propose an independent internal or external, public or private controller to the responsible body in their Land. 

This body will approve the controller proposed by the project partner after checking that the controller is sufficiently independent from project activities and finances and qualified to carry out the control of an Interreg Europe project.

The project partner and the chosen controller must fill in and sign a partner questionnaire in which they both confirm the specific performance demands of a qualified first level control. This partner questionnaire must be presented for confirmation to the respective approbation body. The responsible approbation body will confirm/not confirm the auditors qualification and independence by signing a letter of acknowledgement.

The partner proposes a controller from the public sector

Qualified controllers in the public sector are all public bodies authorised to carry out independent financial audits and controls, e.g.

• Rechnungsprüfungsämter (offices for auditing and accounting control), 
• so-called Unabhängige Stellen (Independent Bodies), 
• unabhängige interne Prüfstellen (independent internal departments for audit and controls).

The partner proposes a controller from the private sector 

Qualified controllers in the private sector are all members of professions officially approved for dealing with audit and controls. 

Regarding Germany and the German part of the programme, tax practitioners are tasked with assessing the compliance of expenditure reported by private beneficiaries. 

Tax practitioners include:

• Steuerberater and Steuerberatungsgesellschaften (tax consultants or consultancy firms) 
• Steuerbevollmächtigte (tax agents) 
• Wirtschaftsprüfer and Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaften (chartered certified accountants or accountancy firms) 
• vereidigte Buchprüfer and Buchprüfungsgesellschaften (sworn accountants or accountancy firms)

In this case the general accountant's qualification must be confirmed. Therefore the general accountant's qualification will be confirmed either by the state supervised Chambers of Tax Consultants or by the state supervised Chambers of Public Accountants by a confirmation of membership for the chosen controller.

The costs resulting from the control can be reported as eligible costs in compliance with the relevant EU regulations and programme rules.

In compliance with the article 23 (4) of Regulation (EU) No 1299/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 and article 125 (5) and (6) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013, on-the-spot verifications will be carried out for each project partner at least once during the project lifetime. For first level controllers controlling more than one project partner, sampling may be possible on the conditions that the method is well justified and documented.

Check below the list of approbation bodies.

Check the 'manual' on how to benefit from the Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform services prepared by Hessen.

Have a look at the German content on our website. Scroll through our project ideas and good practices or contact our German community members and organisations.