The Monitoring Committee is the body that oversees the implementation of the programme and approves key documents – above all the criteria for project selection, annual implementation reports and programme changes. It meets several times a year, and its members, besides representatives of the managing authority, also include partners: local governments, employers' associations, trade unions, non-governmental organisations, academia, and representatives of the European Commission with an advisory vote. For applicants, the committee is of interest for one specific reason – the materials and minutes from meetings tend to be public and reveal which criteria are being prepared and which calls are being planned, often months before they are announced. It is one of the cheapest sources of information for planning project ideas. Equally, they reveal which measures are lagging in drawdown, which tends to be a signal that the provider is preparing another round.
See also: Evaluation criteria, Managing Authority (MA), Partnership principle.
