Fondos 2007

INTRODUCTION

The Fondos 2007 IT system provides a comprehensive service for the management of Community Funds in the period 2007-2013, based on three functional pillars: Management, Certification (Payments) and Audit (Control). This is an updated version of the Fondos 2000 system.

In addition to existing procedures together with their modifications, the new system will incorporate a number of new features, many in connection with the notion of e-Government:

Exchange of information with the Community Information System (SFC 2007). This will be carried out through web services established by the latter system.
Exchange of information with the information systems of other bodies involved in management. This will be carried out through web services provided by Fondos 2007.
Financial management procedure. This will incorporate electronic signatures where required.
Processing of payments and receipts related to the Treasury. Through access to the web services provided by Certex.

MODULES

The system consists of four different modules, two specifically for management (Convergence and competitiveness, and European territorial cooperation) and two that serve the previous ones (Government and Information channel). There are several reasons for having two different management modules:

The Community funds involved are different: ERDF, Cohesion Fund and ESF Convergence and Competitiveness, and ERDF exclusively for European territorial cooperation.
The powers of the Directorate General of Community Funds in relation to these latter are different. In Convergence and competitiveness and for the ERDF and Cohesion Fund, the Managing Authority and Certification Authority are bodies of this centre. By contrast, there is a wide range of different cases in European territorial cooperation and it depends on the particular programme being co-financed. Sometimes, the Directorate General of Community Funds acts merely as the Managing Authority, while, at other times, it is only the Paying Authority; at other times, it is neither one nor the other, acting instead as the National Correspondent (supervisor) of the authorities.
The information structure and management procedures are different: while objectives 1 and 2 are based on programmes, objective 3 concerns specific projects (hence, it can be regarded as being similar to the processing for the Cohesion Fund of earlier periods).
As the Units involved in the Directorate General of Community Funds are different as are the executing agencies that are beneficiaries of the assistance.