tenders and grants

partnership

INTRODUCTION
On 29 June 2000 and on 27 November 2000, the Council adopted three major instruments designed to prevent and combat discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, age, disability and sexual orientation.
- the directive 2000/78/EC prohibiting discrimination in employment. This directive outlaws discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation;
- the directive 2000/43/EC prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin in a wider range of areas - employment, education, the provision of goods and services and social protection;
- A Community Action Programme to combat discrimination (Council Decision 2000/750/EC). The Council Decision provides the legal framework for the implementation of the programme and the associated line in the Community Budget (currently B5-803). The programme will support and supplement efforts at Community level and in the Member States to promote measures to prevent and to combat direct or indirect discrimination based on racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, whether based on one or on multiple factors. Notably it is designed to support and complement implementation of the directives through the exchange of information and experience and the dissemination of best practices in both legislative and non-legislative areas. In so doing, the programme will also contribute to eliminating inequalities and to promoting equality between men and women.

II.- REINFORCING THE CAPACITY BUILDING OF ACTORS INVOLVED IN THE FIGHT AGAINST DISCRIMINATION
The programme has the objective to develop the capacity to prevent and address discrimination effectively, in particular by strengthening organisations' means of action through support to networking at European level, while taking into account the specific characteristics of the different forms of discrimination. In this context, it provides that the Community will contribute to the running costs of European-level umbrella networks of non-governmental organisations representing and defending the rights of people exposed to discrimination (hereinafter called "umbrella organisations". Such networks have an important contribution to make towards a better understanding of the diverse forms and effects of discrimination and to ensuring that the design, implementation and follow-up of the programme take account of the experience of people exposed to discrimination. Reinforcing the capacity-building of European level non-governmental organisations means a commitment taken by these organisations to take into account members' concerns and to strengthen their abilities to tackle discrimination issues within their domestic context. They can help their membership to enhance their abilities to help and defend themselves through advocacy schemes. Umbrella organisations must focus on issues which are of interest to their members in the context of the fight against discrimination. It is a prerequisite to ensure a better investment of their members and thus the achievement of the objectives jointly determined by the umbrella organisations together with their membership. They have an equally important contribution to make towards affecting and/or accompanying change in anti-discrimination legislation and policies.Making a difference requires a sustained, cohesive coalition capable of mobilising and analysing information, making that information available to key actors and mobilising many sources of influence. Umbrella organisations are in a central position to influence policy in the European Community and in the Member states through their national members. Influence is gained through the increased expertise and information which are important to policy formulation and implementation. It is also gained through the setting-up of coalitions capable of affecting change. A growing body of literature shows the crucial role played by mediating factors, whether institutions or private actors, in affecting changes. Empirical experience in the gender field demonstrates the role of independent and specialised equality organisms in translating pressure into domestic change. Umbrella organisations must have as an overall objective to produce effective political demands for action on others. By concluding alliances with relevant institutions or actors, umbrella organisations can contribute to make other actors, also involved in the fight against discrimination, acknowledge problems and be accountable to commitments they have made.

III.- FINANCIAL CONDITIONS
In this context, the Commission is calling on European level organisations representing and defending the rights of people exposed to discrimination and made up of national members IN ALL Member States to submit proposals with a view to obtaining a financial contribution to their running costs. Only organisations whose main purpose is to contribute to the fight against discrimination on grounds of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation and which are directly made up of organisations which represent the interests of potential victims of discrimination are entitled to submit applications. Applicants must show how they will mainstream equality between men and women in their work. The Community contribution would be towards costs inherent in carrying out the activities normally provided for in the organisations' annual work programmes (covering a maximum period of twenty-four months starting on 1 st May 2002 for a two-year period ending on 30 April 2004. However, subsidy agreements will be signed for one year and be subject to an annual and conditional renewal). As a matter of principle, the percentage of Community funding to be granted in 2002-2003 will remain either stable or decrease for the European organisations which have benefited from such funding in the past three years. Equally, the maximum amount of subsidy to be given for the twelve-month period in 2002-2003 will not exceed the amount granted for a twelve-month period in 2001-2002 without proper justification . Financial support for annual co-ordination activities will only be granted to European umbrella organisations which fulfil the conditions and criteria set out under the eligibility and selection criteria of this notice. Applicant organisations must be operating at a European level. This means that their structure and activities must cover all Member States of the EU.

Only one European umbrella organisation per ground of discrimination will be selected following this Call.
European umbrella organisations to be funded further to the completion of the present Call will not be allowed to submit similar requests for subsidies with a view to obtaining a financial contribution to their running costs to other Commission's services. Failure to comply with this specific requirement will entitle the Commission to unilaterally terminate the grant agreement in addition to demanding the full repayment of all sums received by the beneficiary under the said grant agreement. In addition, European umbrella organisations to be funded further to the completion of the present Call will not be allowed to claim for overheads costs identified in the provisional budget as "indirect eligible costs" in requests for subsidies towards the costs of specific activities or projects if any. The Commission is assisted by a Committee made up of representatives of the Member States while implementing the Programme in accordance with the Commission's internal rules of management procedure. Accordingly, the list of pre-selected beneficiaries further to the publication of this call for proposals must be discussed with the Programme Committee.
Organisations' attention is drawn to the fact that a separate call for proposals designed to support the running costs of smaller European level non-governmental organisations and active in the fight against discrimination is likely to be issued beginning of next year, should the Programme committee agree.

The total budget made available under this Call is approximately . 3.000.000.
The financial contribution will not exceed 90% of the total costs. Organisations are required to guarantee in cash the remaining amount. Contributions in kind are not accepted. Co-funding may be obtained from the lead organisation, from any or all of the project partners, from an external organisation or from any combination of the above. Co-funding may NOT be obtained from other sources within the European Community budget. Organisations are asked to submit with their application an explicit written undertaking from each co-financing organisation, including the applicant's organisation if appropriate, to provide the amount of funding stated in the grant application for the operation. The written undertakings provided must cover no less than the full amount of project funding which is not to be covered by the Community subsidy. Applicants' attention is drawn to the fact that reception of a co-financing guarantee from third parties may take several weeks. The failure to provide such supporting documents will entail the automatic ineligibility of the request of subsidy.

IV.- PRIORITIES FOR FUNDING IN 2002-2004
Umbrella organisations are free to set up their own agenda and work programme for the two forthcoming years. However, the Community's financial support intervenes only in the context of the Community Action programme against discrimination and the objectives which are laid down therein. As stated in the introduction, the Programme aims at supporting and supplementing efforts at Community level and in the Member States to promote measures to prevent and to combat discrimination. It is designed in particular to support and complement the implementation of the directives through the exchange of information and experience and the dissemination of good practices in both legislative and non-legislative areas. Both directives have to be transposed into national law. The Member States have until 19 July 2003 to transpose the Racial Discrimination Directive and until 2 December 2003 to transpose the Employment Discrimination Directive (with a possibility of an extension of up to a further three years for the provisions on discrimination on grounds of disability and age). The two-year funding to be provided for European-level umbrella organisations will thus occur at a key time. All appropriate steps must be taken to support the process of transposition in the Member States. By acknowledging the contribution of umbrella organisations to the fight against discrimination, the Community expects tangible results from their contribution to the Programme. Umbrella organisations must therefore endeavour to focus their work programme on priorities designed to foster the achievement of the general objectives of the Community Action Programme against discrimination. Among these priorities, the Commission has identified the following which it would like the umbrella organisation to take on board when drafting their work programme:

1. Consolidating their membership - as stressed above, the strength of European level organisations lies in their capacity and capability to gather relevant national members into an open forum of discussion or exchange of expertise and experience. The legitimacy of umbrella organisations is also dependent on the extent of representativeness and official recognition of their members in their own country. European-level organisations must ensure that their foundations i.e. their membership are solid which will in turn increase the probability of meeting their objectives. Action to reinforce the capacity of member organisations, eg through training, the provision of information or exchanges of good practice, may therefore be appropriate in some cases;

2. Building bridges with other relevant mediating institutions or actors -advocacy coalition plays a major role in tackling policy issues for change. Advocacy coalitions gather a series of institutions or actors who either regularly attempt to influence decisions or can exert influence in the fight against discrimination, or who share the same beliefs and co-ordinate their action over time. Umbrella organisations may need to identify the key actors or institutions to work with to influence change either at European or national level and to ensure synergy between their respective activities;

3. Increasing the professionalism of the European secretariat and the national members - Expertise and information is vital. Organised information is strength. Accurate information is essential. Umbrella organisations must ensure that their staff and their national members acquire the expertise and information needed, are capable of analysing it and presenting it in accessible formats in order to guarantee that the information will be used. Umbrella organisations may need to enhance the professionalism of their staff and national members in their horizontal responsibilities, principally in administration and financial management, lobbying and external communication but also more specifically in anti-discrimination issues. Greater professionalism could be encouraged and provided through training schemes by skilled and specialised people in each of the above-mentioned fields. Umbrella organisations are informed that the Commission would like these priorities to be analysed from a financial perspective as well through an analytical accounting.Steps should therefore be taken by umbrella organisations to ensure the operation of such accounting system should they get a support in the context of the present Call. In practice, it means that selected umbrella organisations will have to put in place mechanisms to control and to account for the share of the relevant budget heading (personnel costs, travel and subsistence costs, administration, etc.) assigned to each of these three priorities when submitting the final financial report at the end of the first and second year of operation.

V.- ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
To qualify for support for their running costs, European umbrella organisations must:
a. have their own legal status at the time of the submission of the financial request;
b. be non-profit organisations;
c. have a strong track record of competence and experience in the fight against discrimination on one of the grounds covered by the present Programme;
d. act as advocates of people exposed to discrimination;
e. be membership organisations, whose members are themselves nationally-organised non-profit organisations established in all Member States of the European Community and;
f. be mandated by their members, through a Management Board or other administrative forum, to be responsible for the activities of the network;
g. have their own administrative and financial management structure;
h. not have general objectives which, directly or indirectly, conflict with the policies of the Union or are linked with an unsuitable image;
i. have financial resources which are not exclusively made up of subsidies and grants from the European institutions.

VI.- SELECTION CRITERIA
Applications of the umbrella organisations will be assessed against the following selection criteria:
a. the degree to which the work programme clearly fits the general objectives of the Community Action programme against Discrimination;
b. the degree to which the European level network of non governmental organisations is capable of relaying the needs and interests of people they represent for a better formulation of European policies or legislation in the field of the fight against discrimination;
c. the degree of participation of people exposed to discrimination in the design and implementation of each of the foreseen activities;
d. the degree to which the work programme includes adequate means for evaluating the organisation's activities;
e. a sound cost-efficiency ratio;
f. the degree of financial feasibility of the annual programme of activities by means of a realistic, reasonable and balanced budget.

VII.- PROCEDURE FOR THE SUBMISSION AND APPRAISAL OF REQUESTS
The application form, and all documents forming part of the application must be mailed in DUPLICATE, duly completed and signed, to the following address by 13.05.2002 (the postmark serving as proof). Complementary documents sent by fax will not be considered for evaluation. Any document sent after the deadline will not be accepted.
European Commission
Archives - Courrier
DG EMPL
VP/2001/19
Rue de la Loi 200,
J 37 00/026
B-1049 BRUSSELS
In addition, applicants must also send all requested documents to the following e-mail address: empl-antidiscrimination@cec.eu.int before the completion of the deadline on 21 December 2001 in order to ensure a smooth examination and evaluation of all proposals by the Commission's services. Failure to submit by mail the application by 21 December 2001 to the Commission will entail the ineligibility of the request for subsidy even if the application form was sent by e-mail before the deadline. The applicants' attention is drawn to the fact that incomplete or unsigned forms, hand-written forms, those sent by fax, Internet, or hand-delivered will not be taken into consideration. In their applications, organisations must attach the following documents:
a. General information on the applicant's organisation (on an Excel document)
b. A detailed annual work programme entailing on separate sheets a description of each of the activities in the work programme for 2002-2003 taking into account the priorities outlined in the present call, their objectives and target audience, indicative timetable, venue, the anticipated results and the means for evaluation. In particular, for each of the activities foreseen, umbrella organisations are requested to specify how it will contribute to the achievements of the priorities;
c. A clear description of the effective and substantial participation of people exposed to discrimination in the design and implementation of each of the foreseen activities and the national members of the umbrella organisation;
d. A clear description of the plan for the evaluation of the activities to be implemented in 2002-2004;
e. the articles of association of the organisation, a copy of the statutory registration and a recent proof of existence (for instance bank statement, official social security document);
f. a list of the members of the management board if it is not enclosed with the articles of association
g. all information which can provide evidence of adequate operational capacity and professional qualifications and experience including CVs of the persons (staff and external experts/consultants) who will carry out the proposed activities including their language capacities, an organisational chart, a description of the tasks of ALL staff involved in the work programme and the most recent annual report of the organisation;
h. all information which can provide evidence of financial capacity: a balanced 2002-2003 budget on an Excel format, the annual accounts of the organisation for the last financial year preceding the submission of the request certified by a registered auditor, letter(s) of commitment proving the co-financing of the remaining amount not covered by the EU subsidy (at least 10% of the budget taking into account the last paragraph at the bottom of page 3) and bank account details.
Applications will be processed in the following manner:
1. Commission receives the application;
2. Commission examines the applications. This examination will follow a two-step approach. Firstly, all applications will be checked to ensure that they comply with all eligibility criteria. Thus, only the eligible applications will be appraised by an internal evaluation committee. The Commission will therefore set out a list of pre-selected beneficiaries to be submitted to the approval of the Programme Committee;
3. Final decision is taken; applicants are informed in writing of the outcome. The decision of the Commission is final. The entire procedure is strictly confidential. Organisations to which the Commission awards a grant will be sent an agreement specifying figures in EURO, the terms and level of funding. It must be signed and returned to the Commission without delay. Any change made to the running of the annual work programme and in the terms of the agreement must be notified in advance to the Commission for approval.
Please read the information supplied carefully and ensure that you have fulfilled all of the necessary requirements. In particular, organisations are asked to read carefully the first four sections of this notice beforehand.