Establishment of four-year Framework Partnership Agreements to support European networks active in the area of rights of persons with disabilities - VP/2017/014

Date de clôture : 22 sept. 2017  
APPEL À PROJET CLÔTURÉ

1. INTRODUCTION – BACKGROUND

1.1. Programme/Legal base

This Call for Proposals for the establishment of four year Framework Partnership Agreements and the first annual operating grant for 2018 is published under the Regulation (EU) No 1381/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme for the period 2014 to 2020 ('REC Programme')1.

It implements the respective activities set out in the 2017 Annual Work Programme for the REC Programme adopted on 1 March 2017, and aims to fund proposals with EU added value.2

1.2. Policy and economic background

Around 110 million people aged 16 and over have a disability that ranges from mild to severe. The share of women with disabilities in the overall population is higher than the share of men (29.5% vs 24.5%)3. These numbers are set to rise as the EU population grows progressively older: it is expected that, by 2020, approximately 120 million Europeans will have a disability. Many people with disabilities are all too often prevented from fully participating in society and in the economy because of physical or other types of barriers, and because of discrimination.

The European Commission promotes the active inclusion and full participation of disabled people in society, and adopted in 2010 the European Disability Strategy 2010-20204. This Strategy identifies actions at EU level to complement and support national efforts in eight priority areas: (1) Accessibility, (2) Participation, (3) Equality, (4) Employment, (5) Education and Training, (6) Social protection, (7) Health, and (8) External Action. It is underpinned by awareness-raising, financial support, statistics and data collection.

The Disability Strategy aims to support the full and effective implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)5 by the EU and its Member States. The EU became a party to the UNCRPD in 2011. The purpose of the UNCRPD is to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities.

The Commission published the first report on the implementation of the UNCRPD by the EU in June 2014. In 2015 the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities reviewed how the EU had been implementing its obligations, and issued concluding observations with recommendations ("the concluding observations").6 In 

January 2017 the Commission reported to the UN on the progress achieved by the EU on three main recommendations: the withdrawal of the Commission of the EU monitoring Framework, the adoption of the European Accessibility Act and the update of the EU Declaration of Competences under the UNCRPD.

In February 2017 the European Commission published a Progress Report on the implementation of the European Disability Strategy. The Report gave an overview of what has been achieved since 2010 and highlighted the key ongoing actions to be completed. The Report included in annex a table monitoring the implementation of the Strategy, a copy of the concluding observations of the UN committee, a summary of the contributions to the Report received from other EU institutions and from civil society, and a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of EU legal acts with an impact on disability matters.

Finally, the Progress Report also included the results of the public consultation on the review of the Strategy.7 The consultation confirmed that despite progress achieved in the 8 priority areas of the Strategy, the situation of people with disabilities remains challenging in terms of participation in everyday activities, rights, employment, accessibility, discrimination and mobility within the EU.

In June 2016, the European Parliament published a report on the implementation of the UNCRPD, with a particular focus on the matters highlighted in the concluding observations8. Moreover, the Parliament is preparing in 2017 a report on the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 to give detailed insight into the gaps between the Progress Report and the concluding observations.

1.3. Main Purposes

This Call for proposals aims to establish four-year Framework Partnership Agreements (2018-2021) with European networks whose statutory aim is to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities, and to award annual operating grants for 2018.

The operating grants will enhance the capacities of the networks to contribute actively to the development and implementation of all relevant policies. The grants will fund operating costs and those activities of the networks which have EU added value and which contribute to the implementation of the objectives of the REC Programme for the year 2018.

1.4. Overview of the selection procedure

The proposals submitted under this Call will be selected as follows:

Submitted proposals must contain the following: 1) a four-year strategic plan including an overview of the four-year budget outlining the estimated costs necessary to implement the strategic plan 2018-2021 and 2) the annual work programme for 2018 together with the corresponding detailed budget.

The Commission will first evaluate the documentation relevant to the network's four-year action plan for 2018-2021. Based on this evaluation the Commission will select the organisations which will be invited to sign four-year Framework Partnership Agreements 

with the Commission. For detailed information on this selection procedure, see section 6 below.

For organisations selected for signing a Framework Partnership Agreement, the Commission will evaluate the network's detailed activities for 2018 and the corresponding budget. After this evaluation and subject to the availability of funds, selected organisations will be invited to sign Specific Agreements for a 2018 Operating Grant. It should be noted; therefore, that the award of a Framework Partnership Agreement may not necessarily be followed by the award of an annual operating grant for 2018.

For detailed information on this the selection procedure, see section 7 below.

 

2. OBJECTIVE(S) – PRIORITIES – TYPES OF ACTIONS - EXPECTED RESULTS

2.1. Objectives – Priorities

The objective of the Call is to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities, to ensure that people with disabilities can fully enjoy their rights.

More specifically, the activities of the applicant should contribute to one or more of the following priorities:

•   supporting the implementation of the priorities of the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020, taking into account both the Progress Report on its implementation and the main results of the public consultation as mentioned above; contributing to the reflection on the post European Disability Strategy 2010-2020.

•   contributing to the implementation of the UNCRPD and promoting the involvement of the national member organisations in the implementation;

•   support the human rights model of disability, including in disability assessment and determination as well as in social protection matters;

•   supporting and contributing to implement the UN Concluding Observations on the report on the implementation of the UNCRPD by the EU;

•   supporting the achievement of the Europe 2020 strategy targets on employment, poverty and education;

•   supporting the development, implementation and monitoring of EU and national policies and legislation in the area of disability, including the development of statistical data;

•   contributing to mainstreaming different aspects of disability matters in EU and national policies and legislation, particularly in the areas of accessibility, employment, education, social inclusion, social protection, health – including mental health -, human rights, international cooperation and development to make sure that the rights and needs of persons with disabilities are properly addressed;

•   supporting the European Pillar of Social Rights, including contributing to its implementation and mainstreaming disability in all its relevant areas;

•   contributing to improving the accessibility of products and services, including by supporting the work on the European Accessibility Act and other EU accessibility legislation;

•   supporting the achievement of the Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, notably those with a direct impact for people with disabilities;

•   supporting and contributing to EU youth initiatives targeted at young people, including those with disabilities, to encourage inclusive education and training, access to employment, participation and independent living, and including new initiatives such as the European Solidarity Corps;

•   contributing to the development of specific policies relevant to disability in the area of independent living, in particular as regards the transition from institutional to community-based care.

Finally, applicants are also expected to contribute to a number of specific initiatives where their role has a clear added-value, such as:

• the annual Work Forum on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the EU and the Member States;
• the European Commission Conference on the European day of persons with disabilities in November/December;
• the Access City Award, the European Prize for making cities more accessible to people with disabilities and older people;
• the EU Disability Card project and its promotion;
• the Commission's civil dialogue in relevant fields, and in particular the Annual Convention for Inclusive Growth and the accompanying strategic dialogue meetings.

Description of the activities to be funded / Type of actions

Applicants are expected to focus particularly on the following areas of activity:

•   supporting the European Commission in implementing the above-mentioned priorities by providing analysis and data for critical or emerging issues, especially those where there is a knowledge-gap;

•   providing input to European Commission's Public Consultations and drafting position papers in relevant EU policy areas.

•   supporting national member organisations in their involvement in the implementation, at national level, of main political EU driven processes;

•   equipping member organisations with the necessary skills and competences to promote the interests and rights of people with disabilities, in particular to enhance equality of opportunities for people with disabilities, namely in employment, and combat discrimination on the basis of disability;

•  developing information and campaigning tools (websites, publications or other means) to inform about EU objectives, policies and actions in the disability field, increasing the network capacity and raising public awareness.

The types of activities which may be funded under this Call for proposals include:

•   analytical activities, such as the collection of data and statistics; the development of common methodologies and, where appropriate, indicators or benchmarks; studies, researches, analyses and surveys; evaluations; the elaboration and publication of guides, reports and educational material; workshops, seminars, experts' meetings and conferences;

•   training activities, such as staff exchanges, workshops, seminars, train-the-trainer events and the development of online training tools or other training modules;

•   mutual learning, cooperation, awareness-raising and dissemination activities, such as the identification of, and exchanges concerning, good practices, innovative approaches and experiences; the organisation of peer reviews and mutual learning; the organisation of conferences, seminars, media campaigns, including in the online media, information campaigns, including institutional communication on the political priorities of the Union as far as they relate to the objectives of the Programme; the compilation and publication of materials to disseminate information about the Programme and its results; the development, operation and maintenance of systems and tools using information and communication technologies;

•   management activities to support the operations of the network.

In order to ensure an inclusive perspective, beneficiaries shall encourage the participation of relevant target groups in actions financed by the Programme, and in particular of people with disabilities, and their families and representative organisations.

2.3. Expected outputs/results

The European Commission supports an output-oriented approach, looking at the quality, relevance and sustainability of the results reached. The work plan should therefore clearly demonstrate the organisation's potential and capacity to generate concrete impacts in the objectives and priorities defined in 2.1.

Applicants are therefore advised to:

 clearly identify the main outputs and their contribution to European policy

processes, as well as to demonstrate the added value of their activities and their concrete contribution to policy development in the thematic areas identified by this call;

 describe their monitoring system and the way in which they use monitoring and external evaluations in order to assess, on the one hand, their overall performance and, on the other hand, the relevance and impact of their outputs.

 provide a clear description of the methodology demonstrating a result oriented approach aimed at contributing to the priorities identified by this call.

 

3. TIMETABLE

a) Publication of the call

July 2017

 

b) Deadline for submitting proposals

22 September 2017

 

c) Evaluation period (indicative) FPA

September-November 2017

 

d) Information to applicants – FPA (indicative)

November 20179

 

e) Signature of the FPA (indicative)

December 201710

 

g) Evaluation period (indicative) annual operating grant 2018

November- December 2017

 

f) Information to applicants – annual operating grant 2018

January 201811

 

h) Signature of the specific annual grant agreement (indicative)

February 201812

 

i) Starting date of the action

1 January 2018

 

 

3.1. Starting date and duration of the framework partnerships and the operating grants

The actual starting date of the action will either be the first day following the date when the last of the two parties signs respectively the FPA and 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 month.

Any expenditure incurred before the signature of the Grant Agreement will be at the applicant’s risk. No expenditure can be incurred before the date of submission.

The duration of the Strategic Plan should be 4 years.

The duration of the action to be covered by the 2018 operating grant should coincide with the budgetary (financial) year of the applicant (12 months).

 

4. AVAILABLE BUDGET

There is no allocation of funds covering the full period 2018-2021.

The indicative amount available for the annual operating grant for 2018, as defined in the 2018 Annual Work Programme of the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme, can be found under section 7.1.1.

The funds available for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021 will be defined in the corresponding Annual Work Programmes of the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme.

 

5. ADMISSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Applications must be sent no later than the deadline for submission referred to in section 3

 Applications (4-year strategic plan 2018-2021 including budget overview, application form including budget for 2018, annual work programme 2018) 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 the other afore-mentioned documents by post or courier service (one original dossier and one copy; see also section 10).

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 in order to facilitate the 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. In this case, applications should be accompanied by an executive summary in English (see section 12, checklist point 2).

 

6. FOUR-YEAR FRAMEWORK PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS

The conclusion of framework partnership agreements will help to forge strong and enriching relations with a number of key EU networks whilst affording a more stable and structured environment of mutual benefit for the Commission and the selected organisations.

The framework partnership agreement will set out the conditions governing grants to partners on the basis of a quadrennial strategic plan. The strategic plan will present the vision, the mission and the value of the organization as well as the strategic objectives the organization is committed to implement with European Union's support.

Framework partnership agreements define the respective roles and responsibilities of the Commission and the networks in implementing the partnership. They present the common objectives agreed by the networks and the Commission; the type of activities envisaged; the procedure for awarding a specific agreement for an annual operating grant; the general rights and the obligations of each party under the specific agreements.

This first-level agreement does not constitute an obligation for the Commission to award a specific agreement for an annual operating grant.

6.1. Eligibility Criteria for the Framework Partnership

6.1.1. Eligibility of the applicants13
To be eligible, applicants must comply with all of the following criteria:

 

6.1.2.

be a private non-profit-oriented organisation, duly established in one of the countries participating in the Programme, namely all EU Member States, Iceland and Liechtenstein

be:

an established formal network with its own legal personality or representing (as a joint secretariat or officially appointed coordinator) an established formal network;

organised at European level and have member organisations/bodies or authorities in at least 14 participating countries. Only the network or the organisation appointed as the joint secretariat/officially appointed coordinator may submit an application, the member organisations are not eligible to apply.

the network's statutory aims must fall under the objectives of the Programme in the area of rights of persons with disabilities.

Eligible activities

The points under the present sub-section and under 6.1.3 will be assessed at the same time as the evaluation of the award criteria indicated in section 6.4 and 7.2 below.

a) Geographical Location
To be eligible, actions must be fully carried out in eligible participating REC countries:

  All EU Members States

  Iceland and Liechtenstein

Activities taking place in other countries are therefore not eligible in this Call for proposals. However, where the Beneficiary can adequately justify that participation in such activities are fundamental for the implementation of its annual work programme and maximise its European added value, and where they contribute to achieving the objectives of the funding programme, related costs could be accepted as eligible provided that they are incurred in a REC programme country, and subject to prior explicit approval by the Commission.

13 See section 2 of the Financial Guidelines for definitions. -9-

b) Types of activities
The grant will finance inter alia the activities indicated in section 2.2.

6.1.3. Ineligible activities

Financial support to third parties as defined in point 3 of the Financial Guidelines is not eligible under this call.

The following types of activities are not eligible for EU funding:

 

• sponsorships/scholarships to individuals for their participation in workshops, seminars, conferences, congresses, training courses etc. (i.e. fees to attend an event) ;
• activities supporting individual political parties;
• legal actions before national or international courts regardless of their grounds or objectives;
• membership fees to other networks supported by EU grants.

6.2. Exclusion Criteria

The applicant 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.

6.3. Selection criteria

The 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.

6.3.1. Financial capacity

The applicant should have stable and sufficient sources of funding to maintain its activity throughout the 4-year period during which the proposed strategic plan is being carried out and to participate in its funding.

The applicant's 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) (see section 12, checklist point 3);

•   Annual balance sheets and profit and loss accounts for the last two financial years available (see section 12, checklist point 11);

•   Summary balance sheet and profit and loss accounts using the template provided in SWIM (see section 10) and signed by the legal representative (see section 12, checklist point 13).

•   For grants exceeding EUR 100 000, an audit report produced by an approved external auditor certifying the accounts for the last two financial years available (see section 12, checklist point 12).

  In addition, the Commission will take into account any other relevant information on financial capacity provided by the applicant and in particular the information provided in section F.2 of the SWIM application form.

6.3.2. Operational capacity

The applicant must have the professional competencies as well as appropriate qualifications necessary to complete the proposed 4-year strategic plan. In particular, applicants must have:

•   Carried out projects relating to the subject of the call in the last three years;

•   The necessary operational resources (technical, management) to carry out the action;

  The operational capacity of the applicant to complete the proposed action must be confirmed by the submission in the proposal of the following:

•   A list of the main projects relating to the subject of the call carried out in the last three years (see section 12, checklist point 10);

•   The CVs of the proposed project co-ordinator and of the persons who will perform the main tasks, showing all their relevant professional experience (see section 12, checklist point 9);

•   Declaration on honour signed by the legal representative (including operational capacity to carry out the activity) (see section 12, checklist point 3).

If the applicant is considered not to have the required financial or operational capacity, the application as a whole will be rejected.

6.4. Award criteria

The proposals for the 4-year strategic plan which fulfil the eligibility and selection criteria will be assessed according to the following award criteria:

 Relevance to the priorities of the call (Max. 20 point) Particular attention will be paid to:

o the contribution of the proposal to the objectives and priorities of the Call o the coherence between the aims and objectives of the applicant and the

activities and outputs planned
o the complementarity of the proposal with other Union activities, avoiding

duplication with activities funded by other Union programmes

 Quality of the outline 4-year work programme (Max. 30 point) - 11 -

Particular attention will be paid to:

o how the activities are presented, in particular if they are clear, linked to the priorities of the Call, and realistic

o the distribution of the work among the network and its members, which should be efficient and balanced

o the allocation of human resources and the time schedule
o the evaluation and monitoring strategy, including measures to assess the

success of the activities and the indicators to be used

 European added value of the outline 4-year work programme (Max. 10 point) Particular attention will be paid to:

o transnational impact, including transnational aspect of the activities and the outputs

o contribution to the elaboration and dissemination of best practices or their potential to create practical tools and solutions that address cross-border or Union-wide challenges

o contribution to the consistent and coherent implementation of Union law and policies and to wide public awareness about the rights deriving from it

o potential to improve cross-border cooperation and to voice stakeholders' concerns from different regions of the Union

 Expected results, dissemination, sustainability and long-term impact (Max. 30 point)

Particular attention will be paid to:

o the relevance of the expected results to achieve the network's objectives for the four-year period, and in particular of the proposed contribution/recommendations to be addressed to policy makers and to stakeholders at European, national, regional and/or local level

o the expected long-term quantitative and qualitative impact of the activities and outputs on the target groups and/or the general public, and, beyond these groups, policies, strategies or systems at European, national, regional and/or local level

o the existence of a clear, targeted and appropriate dissemination strategy, which will ensure that the results efficiently reach the target groups and/or the general public, that they are accessible and that they are optimally used

o the sustainability of the activities after the EU funding  Cost-effectiveness (Max. 10 point)

Particular attention will be paid to:

o the financial feasibility of the 4-year strategic plan
o the appropriateness of the amounts requested in relation to the scale and type

of the activities, to the expected results and to the size of the network. Applications will be ranked according to the total score awarded. The proposals with the

highest total scores will be recommended for award, on condition that:

•   the total score reaches at least 70% of the maximum possible mark;

•   the score for each criterion is at least 50% of the maximum possible mark for that criterion.

 

 

7. OPERATING GRANTS FOR 2018

The operating grants aim to support the annual work programmes of European networks active in the area of rights of persons with disabilities and which have signed Framework Partnership Agreements with the Commission.

The grants will fund operating costs and those activities of the network which have EU added value and contribute to the implementation of the objectives of the Programme, among others: analytical activities, training activities, mutual learning, cooperation, awareness-raising and dissemination activities.

The Commission will evaluate the proposed annual work programme for 2018 and the 2018 budget only for those organisations selected as framework partners.

The eligibility criteria and exclusion criteria detailed respectively in points 6.1 and 6.2 de facto apply to the operating grants. The assessment of the selection criteria is not necessary for operating grants awarded in the context of Framework Partnership Agreements.

7.1. Available Budget and co-financing rate

7.1.1. Available budget

The total budget earmarked for the EU co-financing of projects under this call is estimated at EUR 3 500 000.

The Commission expects to fund between 8 and 12 proposals.
The Commission reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

7.1.2. Co-financing rate

Under this call for proposals, the EU grant may not exceed 80% of the total eligible costs of the action. The applicants must guarantee their co-financing of the remaining amount covered by the applicants' own resources or from other sources other than the European Union budget.14.

 

7.2. Award Criteria

The annual work programmes for 2018 submitted by organisations selected for a FPA will be assessed on the basis of the following award criteria:

•   Extent to which the proposed annual work programme addresses the priorities announced by the Commission under section 2.1 above and is coherent with the organisation's 4 year Action plan annexed to the Framework Partnership Agreement (Max. 20 point)

•   Quality of the annual work programme, which must be clear, realistic and well detailed (Max. 30 point)

•   European added value of the annual work programme (Max. 10 point)

•   Expected results, dissemination, sustainability and long-term impact (Max. 30

  point)

•   Cost-effectiveness (Max. 10 point) Particular attention will be paid to:

o financial feasibility of the proposed activities by means of a clear, detailed, realistic and reasonable budget, coherent with the 2018 annual work programme of the applicant.

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 maximum possible mark;

  the score for each criterion is at least 50% of the maximum possible mark for that criterion.

 

8. LEGAL COMMITMENTS

In the event of a grant being 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 2 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 before signing and returning the copies to the Commission.

The applicable 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. 

 

9. 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.

10. PROCEDURE FOR THE SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

The procedure to submit proposals electronically is explained in point 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 3 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 two copies (one marked “original” and one marked “copy”), including all documents listed in section 12, by the deadline (the postmark or the express courier receipt date serving as proof) to the following address:

 

European Commission
(NOT TO BE OPENED BY CENTRAL MAIL SERVICES) Call for proposals VP/2017/014 – DG EMPL.C3
J-27 – 02/241
B-1049 Bruxelles - 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 3 at the following address:

 

European Commission
Service central de réception du courrier
(NOT TO BE OPENED BY CENTRAL MAIL SERVICES) Call for proposals VP/2017/014 – DG EMPL.C3 Avenue du Bourget, 1
B-1140 Evere

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

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 will not be taken into consideration.

 

11. 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.

 

All enquiries must be made by e-mail only to: empl-vp-2017-014@ec.europa.eu
For any technical problems please contact: empl-swim-support@ec.europa.eu

 

 

Questions may be sent by 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 this website regularly in order to be informed of any updates and 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.

 

 

12. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PRESENTATION OF THE APPLICATION AND REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

12.1. Instructions for the presentation of the application

The application comprises an application form including the budget for 2018, a description of the action and work plan - one for the period 2018-2021 and one for the year 2018 - plus a series of other required documents (see section 12.2).

The description of the action and work programmes must be written using the templates available in SWIM. The budget must be presented using the application form in SWIM.

In the description of the action, the role of all applicants must be clearly explained.

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.

12.2. Required documents

The table in annex includes the documents that should be provided including the documents mentioned in 12.1. Except for items 14, 15 and 1615 which can be submitted only for successful applications, please note that all other documents are necessary either for the admissibility (see section 5) or for the analysis of the eligibility (see section 6.1) or selection criteria (see section 6.3). 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.

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

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

2. 2)  print the documents double-sided;

3. 3)  use 2-hole folders (do not bind or glue; stapling is acceptable).

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