Francesco Palazzo

Since October 2015, I work as a Legal and Financial Officer in the Research Executive Agency of the European Commission, Unit C3, Participant, Validation and Support. My main task is to verify the legal and financial status of Third Parties (Grants and Tenderers) and the appointment of their legal representative under the "Single Electronic Data Interchange Area (SEDIA)". I verify files prepared by colleagues based on the legal and financial supporting documents submitted by the Third Parties, in order to comply with the four eyes principle and in conformity with official regulations and validation rules and procedures. I process, create, and keep up-to-date legal and financial dossiers, documents and data in the appropriate files or IT databases (particularly ABAC and PDM). I contribute to the elaboration of guidelines, proposals for simplification for the validation processes and update of manuals concerning the internal procedures and handbooks relevant for the interpretation of validation rules and procedures. In addition, I assess change requests related to ex-post Validation, Universal and Partial Takeovers and ICM. Finally, I support the financial sector of the Unit to perform the financial capacity assessment of beneficiaries, contribute to develop the SEDIA communication strategy and provide training to newcomers. Prior to that, I have worked as a Legal Officer in the Unit A.1 of the REA, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks. Amongst my tasks, I verified the validity and conformity of amendment files with the grant agreements, which included terminations of beneficiaries in consortia based projects, processed Internal Control Standards procedures, followed up bankruptcies of beneficiaries with liquidators and internally liaised with DG Budget on waivers of debt and enforced recoveries and drafted exception and non-compliance notes. I replied to questions on legal and operational issues posed by Project, Financial Officers and the management within the framework of the programmes implemented by the Unit and provided general project/programme management support. My educational background is firmly based in legal affairs. I completed my studies in Law at the “Universitá degli studi di Roma Tor Vergata”. Following this, I have a Postgraduate Master degree in "Lobbying and decisional processes in Italy and Europe". Before joining the Research Executive Agency, I have been working in two different Law firms in Italy. Among my tasks, I have defended cases before the court, drafted legal documents and settled litigation out of court.