Information and training measures for workers' organisations

Date de clôture : 27 mai 2016  
APPEL À PROJET CLÔTURÉ

1. INTRODUCTION – BACKGROUND

1.1. Legal base

In line with the remarks in the budget of the European Union, budget heading 04 03 01 05 is intended to cover grants for information and training measures for workers' organisations in accordance with Article 154 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The measures should help workers' organisations to contribute to addressing the overarching EU employment and social policy challenges as laid down in particular in:

• the Commission Communication On steps towards Completing Economic and Monetary Union (COM(2015)600);

• the Annual Growth Survey, the Joint Employment Report and the recommendations addressed to the Member States in the context of the European Semester;

the Political Guidelines presented by Jean-Claude Juncker in the Agenda for Jobs, Growth, Fairness and Democratic Change and the Commission Work Programmes.

The budget heading can be used to finance actions involving representatives of workers' organisations from the Candidate Countries1.

It is also intended to promote equal participation of women and men in the decision- making bodies of workers' organisations.

2. OBJECTIVES – PRIORITIES – EXPECTED RESULTS – ACTIVITIES

2.1. Objectives – Priorities – Expected results

Objectives of this call include measures and initiatives to strengthen the capacity of workers' organisations to address, at EU/transnational level, changes in employment and work and social dialogue related challenges, such as: modernisation of the labour market, job creation and job matching, quality of work, anticipation, preparation and management of change and restructuring, digitalisation of the economy and society, the greening of the economy, flexicurity, skills, (intra-EU) labour mobility, migration, youth employment, health and safety at work, modernisation of social protection systems, reconciliation of work and family life, gender equality, action in the field of anti-discrimination, active ageing, healthier and longer working lives, active inclusion and decent work.

Actions are also expected to contribute to the priorities and activities of European social dialogue, including those laid down in the work programmes of the EU cross-industry and sectoral social dialogue committees, as well as those that form part of the European

Commission's commitment to strengthen social dialogue. In that context, particular emphasis is put on strengthening the involvement of social partners in the European Semester and enhancing their contribution to EU policy making.

Measures which contribute to addressing the employment, social and economic dimensions of EU priorities relating to the recovery from the crisis, taking into account the need for social convergence between Member States, and to reaching the objectives and targets of the Europe 2020 Strategy and its flagship initiatives, will also be particularly welcome.

Access for people with disabilities should be guaranteed for measures funded under this call for proposals.

Applications will be examined and selected taking account of the remarks in the EU budget and the criteria laid down in this document.

2.2. Type of activities to be funded

The types of activities which may be funded under this call for proposals include: conferences, seminars, round tables, studies, surveys, publications, training courses, training tools, the setting up of networks and the development and exchange of best practices.

2.3. Other elements to be taken into account

When drafting the proposal, applicants are invited to pay particular attention to the following elements:

• The proposal should provide a clear explanation of the rationale and problem definition/analysis underpinning the proposed action, as well as the specific contribution of the action to the objectives of the call for proposals and its expected impact.

• In case of recurrent applications by the same applicant on similar or related topics, the added value of the new project proposal as compared to ongoing and previous actions2 should be clearly explained.

• The choice of organisations involved and countries covered should be duly explained and justified as regards their relevance towards the specific objectives of the action.

Taking account of beneficiaries' interest, the Commission may organise a networking day in Brussels for beneficiaries under the 2016 call (date to be defined). Applicants must therefore ensure that the travel, daily subsistence allowances and accommodation costs for up to 2 persons – the Project Manager and possibly the Financial Manager – to attend this meeting are included in their proposed project budget. If the applicant fails to do this, the Commission will not be able to fund the beneficiary's participation in the networking day.

3. TIMETABLE

a) Publication of the call : March 2016

b) Deadline for submitting proposals : 27 May 2016

c) Evaluation period (indicative) : Until end July 2016

d) Information to applicants (indicative) : From mid-September 20163

e) Signature of the grant agreement (indicative) : By end September 20164

3.1. Starting date and duration of the projects

The actual starting date of the action will be the first day of the month following the date when the last of the two parties signs the grant agreement.

Since the actual starting date may not correspond to the start date of the action that applicants have set in their application file, it is advisable to number the months in the work programme instead of indicating the precise name of the months.

The Commission welcomes in particular projects that provide for a full project cycle, including preparatory, implementation and dissemination, follow-up and reporting activities. The indicative duration of projects is 24 months.

4. AVAILABLE BUDGET

The total budget earmarked for the EU co-financing of projects under this call is estimated at EUR 4 050 000.

As an indication, the requested EU grants are expected to be between EUR 150 000 and EUR 500 000.

The Commission reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

4.1. Co-financing rate

Under this call for proposals, the EU grant may not exceed 90 % 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.