Accounting of the projects funded by European Union grants in Turkish universities and problems that arise from practice

Turkey, as the beneficiary of the European Union's (EU) financial assistance since signing the Ankara Treaty with the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1963, has entered a new era in terms of EU grants after it was given the status of candidate country in 1999. After this period, Turkey has begun to benefit Union's programmes in the form of grants provided only for the candidate countries via Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). In Turkey, many public institutions, non-govermental organizations, associations and foundations benefit from EU grants. This diversity of grant beneficiaries has reflections on the recognition of EU grants, too. The differences in many stages of the accounting systems applied by those beneficiaries cause various problems in regard to recognition of EU grants. It was seen that majority of the problems encountered in the accounting process of the projects carried out by universities in Turkey was because of differences in legislation. Some of the problems arise from the resistance of the project coordinators and bureaucrats in Turkey to co-administer Turkish legislation with EU legislation simultaneously. Within this context, in the first part of the study, the concept of grants is discussed in terms of EU projects. Thus, after explaining the reasons and resources of EU grants, the development of EU grants in Turkey is discussed in the second part. In the third part of the study, the expenditure and accounting procedures of the EU projects and subsequently in the forth part, the problems in these processes are examined. Solutions for some of these problems have been tried to be proposed while evaluating the problems. Accordingly, it has been predicted that, this study might be a comprehensive and an up to date study in troubleshooting some of the uncertainties and problems encountered in the accounting process of EU-funded projects carried out in all public institutions, particularly universities in Turkey.