EaSI–EURES: Targeted Mobility Scheme "YOUR FIRST EURES JOB" VP/2016/009

Date de clôture : 7 oct. 2016  
APPEL À PROJET CLÔTURÉ

1. INTRODUCTION - BACKGROUND

1.1. Programme /Legal base

This call for proposals is published under REGULATION (EU) N° 1296/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on an European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation ("EaSI")1 and amending Decision No 283/2010/EU establishing a European Progress Microfinance Facility for employment and social inclusion.

The call is financed under the European Programme for Employment and Social Innovation "EaSI" 2014-20202 is a European-level financing instrument managed directly by the European Commission to contribute to the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy, by providing financial support for the Union's objectives in terms of promoting a high level of quality and sustainable employment, guaranteeing adequate and decent social protection, combating social exclusion and poverty and improving working conditions.

The EaSI Programme shall, in all its axes and actions, aim to:

1. a)  pay particular attention to vulnerable groups, such as young people;

2. b)  promote equality between women and men,

3. c)  combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation;

4. d)  promote a high-level of quality and sustainable employment, guarantee adequate and decent social protection, combat long-term unemployment and fight against poverty and social exclusion.

Hence, in designing, implementing and reporting on the activity, beneficiaries/contractors must address the issues noted above and will be required to provide detail, in the final activity report on the steps and achievements made towards addressing those aims.

1.2. The EURES axis

The EURES axis of the EaSI programme aims basically at fostering workers' geographical mobility and boosting cross border employment opportunities. It has the following general objectives:

 Transparency of job vacancies, applications and any related information for jobseekers, workers and employer

 Development of services for the recruitment and placing of workers in employment

 Cross-border partnerships

 

The EURES axis may be used to finance actions to promote voluntary mobility of individuals in the Union, on a fair basis, and to remove mobility obstacles. 

In this context, those objectives may be achieved with the implementation of 'targeted mobility schemes'. Targeted mobility schemes aim to test innovative methods to implement cross border job mobility and tackle the needs of specific target groups, economic sectors, occupations or countries.

Vulnerable groups such as young people are a key priority. Recital 18 of the EaSI programme sets out as follows:

“The scope of EURES should be broadened to include developing and supporting targeted mobility schemes, after calls for proposals, at Union level with a view to filling vacancies where labour market shortcomings have been identified. In accordance with Art 47 TFEU, those schemes should support facilitating voluntary mobility among young workers in the Union. Targeted mobility schemes, such as those based on the preparatory action 'Your first EURES job', should make it easier for young people to access employment opportunities and to take up a job in another Member State, and should also encourage employers to create job openings for young mobile workers. Nevertheless, mobility schemes should not discourage the Union and Member States from helping young people to find a job in their home country”.

1.3. Main purposes

This call aims to finance projects to implement the Targeted Mobility Scheme "Your first EURES job" (hereinafter referred to as TMS-YFEJ). The scheme is featured to help young EU citizens aged 18-35 to find a job, traineeship or apprenticeship in another Member State and employers, SMEs in particular, to find the skills they need for their businesses. It is an intra-EU labour market activation measure, combining tailor-made recruitment, matching and placement services with financial support for jobseekers and employers (SMEs).

 

2. POLICY AND ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

The economic recovery continued to strengthen in most Member States and the employment rate for the EU as a whole has now returned to its pre-crisis level (70.6%). Labour shortages increased and hiring activity was up, with 2.7% more people starting a new job compared to the previous year. In February 2016, the overall unemployment at EU level remains high with 21.7 million people unemployed (8.9%), with some countries having still some way to go to recover from the crisis e.g. Greece, Spain, Croatia and Cyprus.

For young people, recent developments are modest but encouraging. The unemployment rate amongst the age group 15-24 has also been decreasing, standing at 19.4% in February 2016 (19.7% in December 2015), i.e. affecting around 4.4 million young people. Youth unemployment continues to vary widely between Member States with unemployment rates ranging (for the age group 15-24) from less than 12% (e.g. Germany, Denmark, Czech Republic, The Netherlands and Malta) to more than 40% of the young active people (e.g. Greece, Spain and Croatia).

Despite the positive developments above, certain groups of the young population are particularly exposed to the risks of (long-term) unemployment, competence erosion and lack of skill acquisition. The fact that young people are over-represented in temporary and part-time work means that they are often trapped in the lower end of the labour market, with less on-the-job training, lower wage levels and weaker long- term employment and career prospects.

2.1. EU employment policy action in support of young people

President Juncker stressed in his political guidelines that this Commission will promote labour mobility not only as a right to free movement of workers, but also as an economic opportunity - especially in the face of persistent vacancies and skills mismatches and globalised economy challenge.

The Europe 2020 strategy4 aims at achieving the target of 75% employment rate for women and men aged between 20 and 64. Young people are a priority target group for which several policy measures and initiatives are being developed.

One of the flagship initiatives of the current Commission is the implementation of the Youth Guarantee (Council Recommendation of 22 April 2013). The objective is that all young people up to age 25 receive a good quality offer for a job, apprenticeship, traineeship or continued education within four months of leaving formal education or becoming unemployed. Early intervention and activation are key and, in many cases, reforms are needed, such as improving vocational education and training systems.

The Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) is one of the main EU financial instruments to support the implementation of Youth Guarantee schemes, in addition to the youth- oriented activities supported by the European Social Fund (ESF). The total budget of the YEI is €6.4 billion for the period 2014-20, frontloaded in the period 2014-2015. The YEI is implemented in accordance with ESF rules. It was launched to provide extra support to young people aged below 25 (or where relevant below 29) and living in regions where youth unemployment was higher than 25% in 2012. The YEI exclusively targets young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEETs), including long-term unemployed and inactive young people.

In parallel, action is being taken to reform the vocational training systems in Europe for young people. In this respect, a European Alliance for Apprenticeships5 was launched in July 2013 with a view to improve the quality and supply of apprenticeships across Europe. A Council Recommendation for a European Quality Framework for Traineeships 6 adopted in March 2014 aims to make sure that traineeships on offer in the Member States satisfy minimum learning and working quality standards. In November 2015 the European Commission and business leaders launched the 'European Pact for Youth' to improve partnerships between business and education to boost the chances of young people getting access to more jobs. The Pact aims to develop or consolidate partnerships in support of youth employability and inclusion, fostering the creation, of new quality apprenticeships, traineeships or entry-level jobs at European level. 

 

2.2. Intra-EU labour mobility

Labour mobility is a strategic tool in addressing economic and social challenges and a potential trigger of economic growth. It includes all forms of job mobility, whether occupational (within the job, from job-to-job) or geographical (between regions or countries). In the case of geographical mobility, the freedom of movement for workers in the European Union is a right enshrined in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (Art.45) and further regulated by specific EU legislation7.

Labour market data show that even in these times of economic downturn, Europe has shortages and surpluses of skilled labour, i.e. there are many job vacancies that remain unfilled due to the lack of suitable work force. Across the EU, bottleneck vacancies do not only occur in high skilled occupations but are also found in skilled and low skilled manual occupations. This is due both to mismatch in educational choices at high skill level, to poor wage or working conditions leading to high turnover and difficulties to replace ageing workers at lower skill levels and also to limited labour mobility.

Geographical mobility in particular can contribute to improving the allocation of resources and serves as an adjustment mechanism for unbalanced labour markets whilst enabling economies to cope better with sudden shocks. Mobile EU citizens are, on average more likely to be employed than nationals and tend to have higher employment rates.

Although mobility has been increasing in the EU over the past decades, it remains relatively low - only around 4% of the EU population aged between15-64 is living in a Member State other than their country of birth. With a view to improving the EU long- term growth performance in the light of demographic ageing and workforce decline, mobility has been "underused" as a tool to boost higher employment rates and productivity growth.

 

3. EU INSTRUMENTS TO FACILITATE INTRA-EU LABOUR MOBILITY

3.1. EURES

The EU facilitates the exercise of the free movement for workers and intra-EU labour mobility by supporting EURES9. EURES is the network between the Public Employment Services (PES) of the EU-28 countries, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein (Switzerland also participates) and the Commission which aims at ensuring the transparency of labour markets. Launched in 1993, EURES exchanges job vacancies and applications for employment and provides information concerning living and working conditions. It facilitates intra-EU mobility for all categories of workers and age brackets. EURES has a human network of more than 1000 EURES Advisers. At EU level the European Commission runs a portal which provides access to job vacancies, an online CV database and information on living and working conditions in Member States. 

Other EURES-related tools in support of intra-EU mobility are: 1) the European Job Days platform: it supports the organisation of job recruitment events, by enabling the matching between offers and candidates either online or on site); 2) the Drop'pin Platform: it helps young people boost their employability and skills by connecting them with concrete opportunities, including apprenticeships and traineeships, across Europe offered directly on the platform by organisations, including corporates, SMEs and NGOs.

In parallel, during the budget period 2011-2013, the Commission tested the YFEJ scheme which aimed at providing tailor-made job search assistance and recruitment services to young people aged 18-30, combined with financial support.

Unlike the ERASMUS+ learning-based activities, YFEJ offered a service to find a work- based placement – remunerated job, traineeship or apprenticeship - in another Member State with minimum 6 month duration. A total of 15 projects (EUR 12 million) have helped around 4300 young EU citizens.

In 2013, the European Council specified that "new efforts will be made to promote the mobility of young jobseekers, including by strengthening 'Your first EURES job'"10. Following the 2013-2014 interim evaluation11, a study on the 2011-2013 YFEJ mobility scheme and options for future EU measures on youth intra-EU labour mobility is on- going. It comprises the ex-post evaluation of the scheme and a prospective analysis of policy options for the future. The study will be finalised by the end of 2016.

YFEJ accompanies the EURES reform. It contributes in particular to strengthening the EURES result-oriented objectives laid down in the EURES Decision12. In January 2014 the European Commission brought forward a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on a European Network of Employment Services, to replace Chapter II of Regulation (EU) No 492/2011 and further modernise EURES (hereinafter referred to as "EURES Regulation")13.

The EURES Regulation is a key EU instrument for promoting mobility across the EU in accordance with article 45 TFEU. It will re-establish and re-organise the EURES network, with obligations for Member States and EURES Members. Concrete provisions in the regulation aim to give workers easy access to all European job vacancies (jobs, traineeships and apprenticeships) and job applications online (EURES portal), clear information on where and how to find employment in other EU countries and minimum services to be expected when looking for assistance with job search and CV's, matching and recruitment. Specific provisions define the need to provide tailor-made support services to both workers and employers from information to placement and post-placement support.

To increase the impact of the network on the ground the regulation introduces a pathway in all Member States to open the network to other labour market players, e.g. private employment services, VET organisations, Chambers of Commerce, etc. 

The EURES Regulation also sets out broadening EURES membership to improve efficiency in service delivery. It should be possible for any organisation, including public, private or third sector employment services, which undertakes to fulfil all criteria and the full range of tasks set out in the Regulation, to become a EURES Member. Certain organisations unable to perform the full range of tasks required of EURES Members under the Regulation but having the capacity to give an important potential contribution to the EURES network can become EURES Partners14.

3.2. The TMS-YFEJ scheme

The TMS-YFEJ scheme is deemed to become a EURES instrument to help implement and accomplish the EURES Regulation objectives. It is designed as an EU active labour market measure to help young people, including the most vulnerable e.g. unemployed or low-skilled young people, to get a foothold in the labour market. TMS-YFEJ can also complement any national Youth Guarantee scheme by offering job or work-based training opportunities for young people in other Member States. Promoting labour mobility is also specifically recommended as part of the Youth Guarantee Council Recommendation15.

The TMS-YFEJ scheme aims:

1. to foster the exercise of workers' freedom of movement as set out in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU, Art. 45 & 46);

2. to be an EU labour market activation and inclusion measure for unemployed young people;

3. to contribute to

   •   filling hard to fill vacancies with available youth workforce at EU EFTA/EEA16 level;

   •   developing tailor-made and quality support services in EU EFTA/EEA countries for both jobseekers and employers;

   •   boosting cross border matching and placement services for apprentices and trainees as a critical element to help transition from education or unemployment to work;

   •   addressing labour mobility obstacles e.g. the costs of moving abroad, the cost with recognition of qualifications, the (lack of) knowledge of languages, etc.;

   •   enhancing the integration of young mobile workers, trainees and apprentices in the countries of destination;

   •   fostering intra-EU networking, notably through partnerships between employment services and/or other labour market players with expertise in specific areas of the recruitment, matching, placement and integration process.

The TMS-YFEJ activities, targeting young jobseekers and employers, consist of:

•  support services such as information, recruitment, matching and placement, pre- and post-placement support to customers (e. g. profiling and pre- selection of candidates, language training or other training needs, mentoring support for trainees and apprentices, etc.); 

• direct financial support to young jobseekers and SMEs (e.g. interview trip costs, relocation and integration support, language trainings, recognition of qualifications, induction training programmes by SMEs, etc.). 

 

4. OBJECTIVES - PRIORITIES – TYPE OF ACTION AND EXPECTED RESULTS

IMPORTANT NOTICE

The operational framework and implementing guidelines concerning the TMS-YFEJ scheme are laid down in the enclosed TMS-YFEJ Implementing Guide which is an integral part of this call for proposals (Annex I). 

4.1. Objectives - priorities

The objective of the call is to support the development of actions for the work placement of young EU citizens aged 18-35 in an EU EFTA/EEA territory country other than their country of residence and to help address mobility obstacles.

Jobseekers and employers (SMEs in particular) are the main target groups. Priority will be given to vulnerable sub-groups, notably unemployed young people, including long- term unemployed.

Projects can cover all economic sectors and types of occupations, though specific sectors may be given priority in accordance with the demand side or the supply side needs in the countries covered by the action. Support can be provided not only to candidates who wish to find work in a new country but also to those you may wish to return to their country of origin or former country of residence.

4.2. Types of action

The name of the action proposal must be (mandatory):

"Your first EURES job" – Targeted mobility scheme

The actions which many be funded under this call shall support the implementation of the TMS-YFEJ scheme, i.e. they will ensure the provision of customised employment

services and include innovative working methods to foster the placement and integration of mobile young workers in the host country(ies), combined with financial incentives (cf. section 3.2).

To this end, the action supported by the projects shall have at least the five following components:

1) the creation of partnerships, involving as much as possible different labour market organisations dealing with specific work-integration fields and support to jobseekers (in particular for the most vulnerable). The partnership approach under TMS-YFEJ could help to pave the way for opening up the network to other actors (either as EURES Members or EURES Partners) as set out in the EURES Regulation;

2)  the provision of services comprising at least labour market information and assistance with offers and vacancies, matching these with candidates and the preparation of the placement /recruitment in the Member States covered by the action;

3)  in the context of the services indicated under 2) above, provision of support measures and direct financial support to both young people and employers (in particular SME's) as laid down in Annex I;

4)  Development of post-placement support measures (welcome and integration services) and other tailor-made support like coaching packs.

5)  Testing the feasibility of the services and support measures referred to under points 2 to 4 also for placement of candidates in traineeships and/or apprenticeships in another country17, given the diversity (or lack) of regulatory frameworks at national level (notably for open-market traineeships). For those placements, applicant organisations could identify one or more economic sector(s) and/or country(ies) offering such vacancies and provide support services adapted to the specificity and needs of both candidates and employers. The scope of the action in terms of traineeship and apprenticeship placements could represent a small percentage of the overall number of expected placements. 

 

Applicants shall submit proposals focusing on

 Job placements
and also on at least one of following types of placements:

 Traineeships

 Apprenticeships

The TMS-YFEJ basic requirements applicable to job or work-based placements are set out in section B.2 of Annex I. If applicant organisations do not deal with traineeships and/or apprenticeships or are not experienced in this field, they could attract other public or private co-applicant organisation(s) to their projects, with proven knowledge and experience in this domain e.g. VET providers or Chambers of Commerce.

Applicants involved in the European Alliance for Apprenticeships19 could also explore the potential of the alliance signatory employer organisations to offer work-based opportunities for mobile candidates20.

The choice of the countries involved in the action must be based on the analysis of labour market situation and identification of labour shortages and surpluses in the Member States. The sources of evidence and the basis for this choice must be explained in the proposal (description of the action under SWIM). 

 

Role of applicants and other organisations

The lead applicant should ensure that the action covers the overall objectives and activities set out in sections 4.1 and 4.2 above, in compliance with Annex I. Co- applicants may be responsible for similar or complementary services only.

Depending on the scope of the action, other organisations – associate organisations (i.e. organisations which are not applicants, co-applicants or affiliated entities21) can participate where their contribution may be necessary to the accomplishment of the objectives of the call. Associate organisations can be involved in the action at different levels but their costs will not be eligible. The nature and scope of the activities under their responsibility needs to be specified in the application.

Applicant organisations should also be ready to provide information and support to nationals from other EU EFTA/EEA countries with no services or other facilities involved in this action.

4.3. Expected outputs/results

The actions will be quality-oriented and outcome-driven, i.e. they must offer quality work opportunities and employment services with a view to enhance the skills and employability of young candidates.

Applicants are free to choose the methods, tools, etc. to implement the action, provided they comply with the TMS-YFEJ Guidelines (Annex I). This call aims to ensure around 2000 work placements22 for young mobile candidates in the EU EFTA/EEA countries23, other than their country of residence.

Proposals submitted under this call shall clearly indicate the expected outcome in the area of youth placement, labour market integration services, after individual support and/or training measures. This information will be included in the "description of the action" (SWIM application). The expected outcome must be quantified according to the relevant economic sectors and type of placement.

4.4. Monitoring

Lead applicants shall monitor the action and make data available. The Commission, with the support of separate external contractors, will monitor regularly the action at two different levels:

a) During the lifetime of the TMS-YFEJ projects: collection of data on qualitative and quantitative indicators (in principle twice a year). These data will be analysed and compiled in a monitoring report (for more info, please see also section 16.1.4 of the call and Annex I, part E).

b) For the EaSI Programme: The Commission, with the support of an external contractor, will monitor regularly the EaSI Programme. Therefore, beneficiaries will have to transmit qualitative and quantitative monitoring data on the results of the activities. These will include the extent to which the principles of equality between women and men has been applied, as well as how anti-discrimination considerations, including accessibility issues, have been addressed through the activities. Related templates are attached or will be provided. 

 

The Commission will also follow the implementation of the TMS-YFEJ scheme as whole and promote networking among the project beneficiaries. To that end, maximum four meetings will be held with the Commission in Brussels (one meeting every six months). The purpose is to provide guidance and take stock of progress made. The lead applicant must nominate the project coordinator and will participate in the networking meetings with the Commission.

Lead applicants may also be invited to other ad hoc meetings or events during the lifetime of the action. These venues can be an opportunity for raising awareness to the action and disseminating information.

The estimated budget should include provisions for participation in the monitoring activities and meetings above as well as in, at least, two EU level events (for further information, see section 16). In setting up the action, beneficiaries must foresee the necessary funding for monitoring and reporting to the Commission.

As the monitoring of the EaSI Programme involves the collection and further processing of personal data, Regulation (EC) 45/2001, of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community Institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data, is applicable.

 

5. TIMETABLE

Deadline for proposal submission: 7 OCTOBER 2016

The indicative timetable for this call for proposals is as follows:

 

 

Publication of the call for proposals

June 2016

 

Deadline for submitting applications

7 October 2016

 

Evaluation period

October – November 2016

 

Information to applicants (indicative)

November – December 2016

 

Signature of grant agreement or notification of grant decision

December 2016

 

Starting date of the action/ work programme

as of January 2017

 

5.1. Starting date and duration of projects

The actual starting date of the action will either be the first day following the date when the last of the two parties signs the grant agreement, the first day of the month following the date when the last of the two parties signs or a date agreed upon between the parties.

Applicants should note that if their project is selected, they may receive the grant agreement after the start date of the action that they have indicatively set in the application form. It is therefore advisable to number the months in the work programme instead of indicating the name of the months, for ease of reference.

Any expenditure incurred before the signature of the Grant Agreement will be at the applicant's risk. No expenditure can be incurred before the deadline for submission.

The indicative duration of projects should be 24 months. 

 

6. AVAILABLE BUDGET AND CO-FINCANCING RATE

6.1. Available budget

The total budget earmarked for the EU co-financing of projects under this call is estimated at EUR 7,000,000.

The EU grant requested should indicatively be between EUR 2,500,000 and 3,500,000, thus the Commission expects to fund 2 to 3 projects. The Commission reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

6.2. Co-financing rate

Under this call for proposals, the EU grant may not exceed 95% of the total eligible costs of the actions. The applicants must guarantee their co-financing of the remaining amount covered by the applicants' own resources of from other sources other than the European Union budget. Contributions in kind will not be taken into account.

7. ADMISSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

•   Applications must be sent no later than the deadline for submission referred to

  in section 5;

•   Applications must be submitted using the electronic submission system available at https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/swim,, and by sending a signed, printed version of the application form and its annexes by post or courier service (see section 14).

Failure to comply with the above requirements will lead to the rejection of the application.

Applicants are encouraged to submit their project proposal in English, French or German in order to facilitate treatment of the proposals and speed up the evaluation process. It should be noted, however, that proposals in all official languages of the EU will be accepted.

 

8. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
8.1. Eligibility of applicants (lead and co-applicants) and affiliated entities 

a) Place of establishment

Legal entities properly established and registered in the following countries are eligible as lead applicants and co-applicants: 

•   EU Member States

•   Iceland and Norway in accordance with the EEA Agreement  

b) Type of entities

To be eligible, lead applicants and co-applicants must be:
 legal entities properly constituted and registered in an EU Member State or

another EaSI-EURES participating country.

To be eligible, lead applicants must be:

EURES National Coordination Offices which are placed in organisations whose main mission is to ensure the provision of employment and placement services to jobseekers, job changers, trainee/apprentice candidates and employers covering jobs and/or work-based trainings. Those services must include information, recruitment, matching and pre- and post-placement support;

To be eligible, co-applicants must be:

•   EURES member organisations (i.e. National Coordination Offices, EURES Members and EURES Partners25), and other public or private labour market actors (including the third sector);

•   Providers of the same services as lead applicants and/or complementary customer-oriented services in other expertise fields such as information, training, education, career guidance, mentoring, legal advice, integration support or other equivalent.

c) Consortia

To be eligible, actions must have the involvement of a minimum of seven organisations established in at least seven different EaSI-EURES participating countries. At least five of these organisations must be EURES member organisations. Besides the lead applicant, members of the consortia can be co-applicants and associate organisations.

d) Affiliated entities

Legal entities having a legal or capital link with applicants, which is neither limited to the action nor established for the sole purpose of its implementation and which satisfy the eligibility criteria, may take part in the action as affiliated entities, and may declare eligible costs.

For that purpose, applicants shall identify such affiliated entities in the SWIM application form. 

 

8.2. Eligible activities

a) Geographical location

To be eligible, applications must demonstrate that the proposed activities are fully carried out in the EaSI-EURES participating countries and have a meaningful dimension by ensuring the implementation of the action in at least seven different eligible countries;

b) Types of activities

The grant will finance the activities indicated in section 4 of this call text and in Annex I.

c) Core activities

The following activities are considered to be core activities and may not be subcontracted:

 Project coordination and management

d) Financial support to third parties

Financial support to third parties as defined in point 3 of the Financial Guidelines is eligible under this call provided that the overall amount allocated to this type of support does not exceed EUR 30 000 per third party (see also section 16.1.3 and Annex I, part D, 3.2.6). For further details on the rules and ceilings governing financial support to third parties (i.e. young people and employers) please refer to Annex I.

 

9. EXCLUSION CRITERIA

Applicants (lead and co-applicants) must sign a declaration on their honour certifying that they are not in one of the situations referred to in article 106(1) and 107.1(b) and (c) of the Financial Regulation concerning exclusion and rejection from the procedure respectively, using the relevant form attached to the application form available at https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/swim/external/displayWelcome.do.

The same exclusion criteria apply to any affiliated entities.

Only proposals which comply with the requirements of the above eligibility and exclusion criteria will be considered for further evaluation.

10. SELECTION CRITERIA

The applicant (lead and co-applicant) must have the financial and operational capacity to complete the activity for which funding is requested. Only organisations with the necessary financial and operational capacity may be considered for a grant.

10.1. Financial capacity

Applicants (lead applicant and co-applicants) must have access to solid and adequate funding to maintain their activities for the period of the action and to help finance it as necessary. The verification of financial capacity will not apply to public bodies. 

The applicant's (lead applicant and co-applicants) financial capacity will be assessed on the basis of the following supporting documents to be submitted with the application:

• –  Declaration on honour (including financial capacity to carry out the activity) (section 16, checklist, point 3);

• –  The annual balance sheet and profit and loss accounts available for the last financial year (section 16, checklist, point 13).

• –  Summary balance sheet and profit and loss accounts using the template provided in SWIM (see section 14), and signed by the legal representative, for the lead and co-applicant organisations.

• –  For grants of EUR 750 000 or more, an audit report produced by an approved external auditor certifying the accounts for the last financial year available (see section 16, checklist point 17).

10.2. Operational capacity

Applicants (lead applicant and co-applicants) must have the professional competencies as well as appropriate qualifications necessary to complete the proposed action. In particular, applicants (lead and co-applicants) must have:

• -  a strong track record of competence and experience in the field of at least three years and in particular in the type of action proposed.

• -  the necessary operational resources (technical, management) to carry out the action.

  The operational capacity of the applicant (lead and co-applicant) to complete the proposed action must be confirmed by the submission in the proposal of the following:

• -  A list of the main projects carried out, if any, in the last three years relating to the subject of the call (section 16, checklist, point 16).

• -  The curriculum vitae of the persons responsible for managing the action and the persons who will perform the main tasks (section 16, checklist, point 15).

• -  Declaration on honour signed by the legal representative (including operational capacity to carry out the activity) (see section 16, checklist point 3).

If the lead applicant is considered not to have the required financial and operational capacity, the application as a whole will be rejected. If a co-applicant is considered not to have the required financial and operational capacity, this co-applicant will be removed from the consortium and the application will be evaluated without this co- applicant27. In addition, the costs that are allocated to the non-selected co-applicant will be removed from the budget. If the application is accepted, the work programme will have to be adapted as appropriate.

Only proposals which comply with the requirements of the above selection criteria will be considered for further evaluation. 

 

11. AWARD CRITERIA
The proposals which fulfil the eligibility and selection criteria will be assessed

according to the following award criteria:

 Relevance of the proposal to the call (max. 25 points)

•   The degree to which the proposal meets the objectives and priorities of the call.

•   The reasons for the choice of the geographical scope of the action, the member organisations of the consortium and their role in each participating country.

•   The mobility flows (inward/outward mobility) to be supported and the reasons underlying the option(s).

•   The degree to which young people and employers, SMEs in particular, are duly targeted by the proposal and in particular specific youth and/or business sub-groups.

•   The extent to which the proposal provides an explanation how specific sectors or categories of vacancies will be given priority and the strategy to make adjustments over the life cycle of the project in light of the evolution of labour market needs.

•   The extent to which the problem of hard to fill vacancies and/or availability of work-based training opportunities is addressed, based on labour market data sources.

•   The degree to which the specificity of traineeships and/or apprenticeships is duly taken into consideration.

•   The measures to ensure fair mobility and the minimum quality and contractual standards for jobs, traineeships and apprenticeships.

 

Quality of the methodology and the proposed activities (max. 25 points)

• Clarity and consistency of the methodology of the proposed action.
• The detailed description of the tasks, responsibilities, resources and management tools of the consortium (lead and co-applicants).
• The extent to which the methodology and proposed activities are adequate to ensure an efficient delivery of services to the target groups.
• The outreach strategy and customer-oriented approach by the consortium to mobilise the target groups.
• The degree of co-applicants' involvement in the action as well as the plans for cooperating with other labour market organisations (e.g. associates or other not directly involved in the action).
• The nature of the tailor-made service package for young jobseekers, trainees, apprentices and employers.
• The degree to which the inclusion of "Other support measures" is consistent, including the corresponding operational and financial resources. The activities that will be outsourced and the reasons for the choice.
• The methods and procedures for securing effective and prompt financial support for target groups and monitoring of expenditure.
• The measures to ensure adequate quality control of vacancies and activities in general as well as the measures to ensure the adequate monitoring of activities. The proposal should also indicate the risks that can be encountered and the corresponding mitigation measures.
• The consistency of the planned timetable for activities. 

 

Expected impact of the proposal (max. 20 points)

•   The added value and expected impact of the action at both national and EU level.

•   The extent to which the proposal is likely to contribute to the overall expected number of work placements (be them jobs or work-based training opportunities) of young people in other Member States. The estimate should be justified.

•   The degree to which applicant organisations and co-applicants managing other European actions e.g. EURES or other EU programmes can capitalise on existing resources to boost the success of the action. 

  Visibility of the action (max. 10 points)

•   The suitability of the information and communication activities (including online information and social media).

•   The on-line facilities for target groups, enabling access to information and participation and the measures to ensure regular up-dating of information.

•   The appropriateness of the activities to ensure the exploitation and dissemination of project results.

•   Compliance with the EU visual identity rules.

  The cost-effectiveness of the operation (max. 20 points)

•   Coherence of the overall budget breakdown.

•   Clarity and consistency of the estimated budget description and justification of costs.

•   The degree to which the level of output and impact of the project is proportional to the amount of the requested grant. 

 

Applications will be ranked according to the total score awarded. Taking into account the available budget, the proposals with the highest total scores will be recommended for award, on condition that:​

 The total score reaches at least 70% of the total (100) available points. 

 

12. LEGAL COMMITMENTS

In the event of a grant awarded by the Commission, a grant agreement, drawn up in euro and detailing the conditions and level of funding, will be sent to the beneficiary, or to the coordinator in the case of multi-beneficiary grant agreements.

The two copies of the original agreement must be signed by the beneficiary, or the coordinator in the case of multi-beneficiary grant agreements, and returned to the Commission immediately. The Commission will sign it last.

The grant agreement may include corrections and deletion of ineligible costs or activities made by the Commission – therefore the applicant should carefully read the whole agreement and the budget and work programme sections in particular, before signing and returning the copies to the Commission.

A model Grant Agreement is published on the Europa website under the relevant call: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=629&langId=en. Please note that the award of a grant does not establish an entitlement for subsequent years. 

 

12.1. Sources of Funding

In addition to the obligations with regard to visibility of Union funding foreseen in the General conditions to the grant agreement, beneficiaries must acknowledge in writing that the project has been supported by the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation ("EaSI") 2014-2020. In practice, all products (publications, brochures, press releases, videos, CDs, posters and banners, and especially those associated with conferences, seminars and information campaigns) must state the following:

This (publication, conference, video, xxx) has received financial support from the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation "EaSI" (2014-2020). For further information please consult: http://ec.europa.eu/social/easi

The European emblem must appear on every publication or other material produced. Please see:

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/communication/services/visual_identity/pdf/use-emblem_en.pdf

Every publication must include the following:

The information contained in this publication does not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Commission. 

 

13. FINANCIAL PROVISIONS

Details on financial provisions are laid out in the Financial Guidelines for Applicants and the model Grant Agreement, both published on the Europa website under the relevant call: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=629&langId=en.

The above mentioned documents, together with Annex I (TMS-YFEJ Implementing Guide) to the present call for proposals provide more details for the applicant organisations, especially guidelines for presenting the proposals' provisional budget along with the rules governing which categories of expenditure are eligible and which are not.

Applicant organisations must take the appropriate measures to avoid double financing of the action from other EU budget sources.

 

14. SUBMISSION PROCEDURES

The procedure to submit proposals electronically is explained in section 14 of the "Financial Guidelines for Applicants". Before starting, please read carefully the SWIM user manual: http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/calls/pdf/swim_manual_en.pdf

Once the application form is filled in, applicants must submit it both electronically and in hard copy, before the deadline set in section 5 above.

The SWIM electronic application form is available until midnight on the day of the submission deadline. Since the applicants must first submit the form electronically, and then print, sign and send it by post service or hand delivery by the submission deadline, it is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that the appropriate postal or courier services are locally available on the day of the deadline. 

 

The hard copy of the proposal must be duly signed and sent in duplicate (one marked “original” and one marked “copy”), including all documents listed in the checklist (section 16), by the deadline (the postmark or the express courier receipt date serving as proof) to the following address: 

European Commission
Call for proposals VP/2016/009 – DG EMPL.D.1 J-27 – 05/050
B-1049 Brussels
BELGIUM 

Please send your proposal by registered post, express courier service or by hand delivery only. Proof of posting or express courier receipt should be kept as it could be requested by the European Commission in cases of doubt regarding the date of submission.

Hand-delivered proposals must be received by the European Commission before 4 p.m. on the date of the deadline for submission as indicated in section 5 at the following address: 

European Commission
Service central de réception du courrier Call for proposals VP/2016/009 – DG EMPL.D.1 Avenue du Bourget, 1
B-1140 Evere
BELGIUM 

 

At that time the European Commission's Mail Service will provide a signed receipt which should be conserved as proof of delivery.

If an applicant submits more than one proposal, each proposal must be submitted separately.

Additional documents sent by post, by fax or by electronic mail after the deadlines mentioned above will not be considered for evaluation unless requested by the European Commission.

The applicant's attention is also drawn to the fact that incomplete or unsigned forms, hand-written forms and those sent by fax or e-mail may not be taken into consideration (see checklist, section 16).

 

15. COMMUNICATION

The information contained in the present call document together with the Financial Guidelines for Applicants provides all the information you require to submit an application. Please read it carefully before doing so, paying particular attention to the priorities of the present call. 

European Commission
Call for proposals VP/2016/009 – DG EMPL.D.1 J-27 – 05/050
B-1049 Brussels
BELGIUM

European Commission
Service central de réception du courrier Call for proposals VP/2016/009 – DG EMPL.D.1 Avenue du Bourget, 1
B-1140 Evere
BELGIUM

All enquiries must be made by e-mail only to:

empl-vp-2016-009@ec.europa.eu

For any technical problem please contact: empl-swim-support@ec.europa.eu 

 

Questions may be sent to the above address no later than 10 days before the deadline for the submission of proposals.

The Commission has no obligation to provide clarifications to questions received after this date.

Replies will be given no later than 5 days before the deadline for submission of proposals. To ensure equal treatment of applicants, the Commission will not give a prior opinion on the eligibility of applicants, or affiliated entity(ies), an action or specific activities.

No individual replies to questions will be sent but all questions together with the answers and other important notices will be published (FAQ in EN) at regular intervals on the Europa website under the relevant call: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=629&langId=en.

The Commission may, on its own initiative, inform interested parties of any error, inaccuracy, omission or clerical error in the text of the call for proposals on the mentioned Europa website. It is therefore advisable to consult the above mentioned website regularly in order to be informed of the questions and answers published.

No modification to the proposal is allowed once the deadline for submission has elapsed. If there is a need to clarify certain aspects or to correct clerical mistakes, the Commission may contact the applicant for this purpose during the evaluation process.

Applicants will be informed in writing about the results of the selection process. Unsuccessful applicants will be informed of the reasons for rejection. No information regarding the award procedure will be disclosed until the notification letters have been sent to the beneficiaries.

 

16. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PRESENTATION OF THE PROPOSALS AND REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

16.1. Instructions for the presentation of the proposal

The template for submission of the 'description of the action' and 'work plan' is provided in the SWIM application (see checklist, point 11). It follows the structure of the 'Award criteria' listed in section 11, complementing thus the specifications in the SWIM application.

In case of subcontracting any tasks comprising part of the action (see the Financial Guidelines), the description of the action must provide details on the tasks to be subcontracted and the reasons for doing so and these tasks must be clearly identified in the budget. Core tasks as defined in section 8.2(c) of the call cannot be subcontracted.

Proposals should include inter alia the following mandatory activities in the description of the action and the work plan and foresee the corresponding expenditure in the budget estimate.

16.1.1. Travel and subsistence costs

As indicated in section 4.4, applicant organisations must include in their budget proposal a provision to cover the costs for the participation of 

1. the lead applicant in the steering meetings with the Commission in Brussels (four meetings over the lifetime of the action, and maximum two attendants/two days);

2. one representative of co-applicant organisations in one networking meeting only;

3. the lead applicant (maximum two persons, project coordinator included ) in communication or large public events at European level, consisting in two events during the lifecycle of the project ((two days per event). These events shall be included in the budget proposal, indicating 'EU level or EU Presidency event" in Brussels or other European city;

4.  project staff in other activities required by the action as, for instance, national visits or working groups with co-applicants in other project countries. 

16.1.2. 'TMS-YfEj' online information costs

Applicant organisations must include an estimate of costs to create a TMS-YfEj webpage on their national EURES website or a dedicated website. This requirement is mandatory for the lead applicant.

Co-applicants must also ensure online information, at least through links to the lead applicants' web address.

Further information on the above is provided in part C 2.1.2. of Annex I.

Links to the websites/webpages of the project beneficiaries (lead applicant and co- applicants) will be posted on the TMS-YFEJ sections of the EURES portal.

16.1.3. Financial support to target groups

Applicant organisations must earmark credits and specify the requested amount for direct support to young people and SMEs as well as for “Other support measures” under the heading 'Costs of services', item 'Other services' of the estimated budget in SWIM (see section 14). The application must include, in the description of the action, a detailed breakdown of costs per support measure and direct funding, in line with the guidelines set out in Annex I, part D and Annex II.

16.1.4. Monitoring of activities

Applicant organisations must make a provision in their budget proposal for the costs of staff involved in the monitoring activities specified in section 4.4 and Annex I, part E.

16.1.5. Audit costs

Applicants (i.e. lead applicant) must submit certified final accounts after the end of the action as laid down in the grant agreement conditions. They must therefore make a provision for audit costs in their budget proposal (for further details, please consult Annex II). 

16.1.6. Other action costs

According to the project needs, applicants may also consider budget entries to cover the costs of videoconference interviews for pre-selected candidates as well as of print- outs of publications and/or translations of online/ printed information material or other eligible project needs (please see parts C 2 and D 3.1. of Annex I).

Applicants are reminded to, in setting up the project, budget the necessary funding for the final reporting (final technical implementation report and final financial statement) to the Commission (please see Annex II).

16.2. Required documents

The table hereunder specifies the documents that must be provided on submission of the proposal. It also indicates where originals are required. We recommend that applicants use the table as a checklist in order to verify compliance with all requirements.

While some information must be supplied using the templates available in the SWIM, other documents may need to be completed and/or attached electronically, usually either administrative documents or free format text descriptions. The SWIM application indicates in each section where SWIM templates should be used as well as which and where free format documents can be uploaded electronically.

At the submission of the application, copies of the signed originals will be accepted for most of the documents to be submitted by the co-applicants. However, the lead applicant shall keep the original signed versions for its records, because originals may have to be submitted for certain documents at a later stage. If the lead applicant fails to submit these original documents within the deadline given by the Commission, the proposal will be rejected for lack of administrative compliance.

Regarding the compilation of the application file, it is recommended to:

1) follow the order of documents as listed in the checklist (and attach a ticked checklist as below to the proposal);

2) print the documents double-sided;
3) use 2-hole folders (do not bind or glue; stapling is acceptable). 

 

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