Legal Advice at the Audit and Inspection Stage

GJW Gramza i Wspólnicy provides legal support at the stage of audits of projects co-financed from EU funds (EU funds control) as well as in matters related to state aid. We advise in situations where the risk no longer concerns the mere “description of the project,” but specific consequences of an audit, such as the challenge of expenses, financial corrections, reduction of funding, the obligation to return EU grants, requests for repayment, or findings that the aid was granted or used in breach of the conditions under which it was awarded.

We focus on rapidly organising the material, preparing the legal and factual arguments, and developing a position tailored to the type of alleged breach (eligibility, competitiveness, durability, incentive effect, cumulation of aid, cross-financing).

EU Project Audit and EU Funds Inspection

The scope of our services includes in particular:

• analysis of inspection-related risks and mapping of potential consequences (financial correction, reduction of funding, repayment of EU funding, interest; risk of breach of state aid rules),

• preparation of the beneficiary for an inspection: review of project documentation (application, grant agreement, amendments, payment claims, accounting records, indicators, durability, archiving),

• support during an EU project inspection and expenditure audit: defence of cost eligibility (including reasonableness, link to the project, correctness of documents, timing of expenditure, depreciation, personnel, subcontractors),

• handling allegations related to the competitiveness principle / Public Procurement Law (PZP) (description of the subject matter of the contract, criteria, value estimation, procedure, conflict of interest, contract amendments, splitting of contracts),

• conducting an EU project audit and a preparatory audit: we analyse the documentation and identify risks of breaches of public procurement law,

• preparation of explanations, objections, and formal positions in response to inspection findings, together with legal and evidentiary argumentation (including curing deficiencies “without admitting fault”), in particular in cases involving a demand for repayment of the grant

• assessment of and strategy in relation to a proposed financial correction: verification of the legal basis, methodology, and rate; arguments for reduction or withdrawal,

• handling matters in the area of state aid: classification of support, verification of the incentive effect, aid intensity, eligible costs, cumulation, reporting obligations, and conditions for granting aid,

• support in cases involving allegations of breach of aid conditions: maintenance of durability, prohibition of relocation, prohibition of double financing, ownership changes and their impact on the permissibility of support,

• preparation and negotiation of remedial solutions: corrective measures, amendments, adjustment of indicators, supplementation of procedures, and organisation of the audit trail,

• representation in follow-up proceedings after an inspection (depending on the procedure): legal remedies, appeals / requests for reconsideration, disputes concerning recovery of funds and repayment of EU funding,

• support for management boards and persons responsible for the project: preparation for meetings with the inspecting institution, communication rules, securing key evidence, and preparation for an EU project audit (including in relation to costs).

Our approach

We combine a procedural approach with the practical realities of project settlement. Our objective is to achieve rational and commercially workable outcomes that are favourable to our clients. Our actions are aimed at securing results such as minimising the financial correction, preserving funding, protecting liquidity, and closing the matter in a way that effectively limits the risk of further inspections and recovery procedures.

We support clients in matters involving the inspection of public expenditure, the risk of costs being challenged, and the obligation to repay an EU grant or EU funding, with the aim of limiting adverse consequences and minimising the risk of further inspections and recovery procedures.