department or body of an EU Member State which receives funding made available to that Member State by the European Commission in order to make payments to beneficiaries of EU funding based in that Member State, the financial institution which holds funds and executes payments on the instruction of the Commission (EDF accounting officer or heads of delegation), one or more national, regional or local authorities or bodies designated by the Member States for the purposes of drawing up and submitting payment applications and receiving payments from the Commission, riiklik asutus, mille EL liikmesriik on määranud struktuurifondide üldmääruse alusel selleks, et taotleda Euroopa Komisjonilt EL struktuurifondide ja Ühtekuuluvusfondi vahendeid, teha toetuse väljamakseid ja kinnitada tehtud kulud