All youth projects are paid based on the lump-sum principle. This means that payments are made once the project delivers the agreed deliverables for the reporting period, just like reaching a milestone. The payment amounts and milestones will be decided between the Lead Partner and the NPA programme once the project is approved.
To release the payment, the Joint Secretariat will check whether the submitted deliverables correspond to what was approved in the project application and agreed to in the pre-contracting phase.
Payment schedule
When a milestone is completed (usually at the end of the 6-month period) and approved by the Joint Secretariat, the payment will be released. It doesn’t matter if the actual costs were higher or lower. Partners do not need to submit any receipts, just to evidence that the milestone has been reached.
Start-up payment
Youth projects have several payment milestones. First, the start-up payment is released once the partnership agreement is delivered. The start-up payment can be up to 35.000 EUR, or maximum 50% of the total project budget, whichever is lowest. Out of the start-up payment, Interreg NPA will cover 65% (50% for Norwegian partners).
Following payments
Secondly, after each 6-month period there will be a progress report (to be submitted by the Lead Partner within 3 months after the period ended) presenting what has been achieved and a corresponding payment will be released. Lastly, when the project closes, the Lead Partner will submit a final report(within 3 months). Once this report is assessed by the Joint Secretariat, the final payment will be released
Click to enlarge the payment schedule
Your questions
How will the start-up payment be handled?
Start-up payment refers to a portion of the project budget that can be released at the beginning of the project to help cover initial costs. This payment can be up to 35.000 EUR or 50% of the project budget, whichever is lower. Of this amount, the Interreg NPA grant covers 65% (or 50% for Norwegian partners).
The start-up payment is released once a signed Partnership Agreement has been uploaded in JEMS. This option is mainly intended to support smaller organisations in launching project activities. Larger and more established organisations will need to justify the need for a start-up payment.
Will all partners receive payments directly from the NPA Secretariat?
All the payments are made by the Interreg NPA Managing authority and are sent to Lead Partner’s bank account. It is Lead Partner’s responsibility to distribute the payments to individual partner organisations.
What happens if my expenses are in NOK, SEK or Icelandic króna?
Interreg NPA uses EUR as an official currency. Therefore, all the budgets are requested to be in EUR, and all the payments will also be made in EUR
What happens if the project’s deliverable spreads across 12 months, how will the payment be done?
The payments and corresponding deliverables will be adjusted in the pre-contracting period by the Lead Partner and Joint Secretariat. It is possible that some longer deliverables would be split to fit better the 6-months periodical payments. If, for any reason, the deliverable cannot be split, the Lead Partner and the Desk Officer can agree on a mid-term milestone that will indicate that the project is progressing well towards finalizing the deliverable and the payment can be released.
