Preparation of project proposals to be financed from EU funds

Ovaj rad bavi se temom izrade projektnih prijedloga koji se financiraju iz fondova Europske unije. U radu se razjašnjavaju osnovni pojmovi: što je Europska unija, što su njezine zajedničke (javne) politike i na koji se način financiraju, što je to kohezijska politika i koji su to financijski instrumenti kojima se služi u njezinu provođenju, a sve u cilju lakšeg razumijevanja što se sve može financirati sredstvima Europske unije. Fokus rada stavljen je na pripremu projektnih prijedloga koji se financiraju iz fondova Europske unije te su detaljno opisane sve faze u tom procesu: definira se pojam projekta i opisuje njegov životni ciklus, zatim se opisuje priprema projektnih prijedloga koji se financiraju iz europskih sredstava (što uključuje fazu analize u kojoj se proučavaju svi faktori koji mogu utjecati na ishod projekta i planiranje, gdje je potrebno detaljno utvrditi sve potrebne korake u pripremi nekog projekta), govori se o fazama projektnog ciklusa projekta EU-a, pojašnjava kako izraditi logičku matricu (u kojoj su na logički način povezani svi elementi projekta) te se opisuje raspored svih planiranih aktivnosti i proračun nekog projekta, s posebnim osvrtom na prihvatljivost troškova projekta. Govori se i o projektnim metodama i projektnim rizicima te o pojmu održivosti projekta. Objašnjava se tko je tko u projektu i koje sve korake uključuje provedba nekog projekta. Opisuje se proces javne nabave u projektima, kao i najčešće pogreške u procesu nabave. Govori se i o izvještavanju i o praćenju provedbe nekog projekta, kao i o informiranju i vidljivosti projekta. Na kraju se na sažet način daju preporuke kako kvalitetno pripremiti jedan europski projekt.This paper talks about the creating of project proposals financed from the European Union funds. The paper explains basic concepts: what is the European Union, what are its common (public) policies and how they are financed, what is the cohesion policy and what are the financial instruments used in its implementation, all with the purpose of an easier understanding of all that can be financed with the European Union funds. The paper focuses on the creation of project proposals financed from the European Union funds, with the stages of the process explained in detail: the concept of the project is defined and its life cycle is described; further, the preparation of project proposals financed from European funds is described (including the analysis phase in which all the factors that can affect the outcome of the project and planning are studied, where all the necessary steps in the preparation of a project must be determined in detail), the phases of an EU project cycle are discussed, the creating of a logical matrix is explained (wherein all project elements are logically connected), and finally, the schedule of all planned activities and the budget of a project are described, with special reference to the acceptability of project costs. Project methods and risks, as well as project sustainability are discussed. Who is who of the project is also clarified, and which individual steps the implementation of a project includes. The project public procurement process is also explained, including the most common errors in the procurement process. This paper also discusses project reporting and implementation monitoring, as well as informing about the project and is visibility. The paper concludes with recommendations given in a concise manner as to how to prepare a European project