| 1.
Political context
The European Commission reserves the right to award
fixed-amount grants for the organisation of conferences
to promote the objectives of the common energy and transport
policy. The policy priorities have been set in the work
programme for 2003 adopted by the Commission on 21 March
2003 (C/2003/205).
2. Sources of funding
The selected operations will be funded under budget
line A-7041 - Cost of the institution's participation
in conferences, congresses and meetings.
3. Estimated total
amount for this call
The estimated total amount for 2003 is EUR 200 000.
4. Percentage of Community
cofinancing
The grants are intended as incentives for carrying out
an operation which could not be executed without Community
financial support, and they reflect the principle of
cofinancing. The Commission therefore plans to grant
only funds complementary and subsidiary to contributions
made by the beneficiary, the national, regional or local
authorities and other bodies.
Accordingly, the amount granted will be between 10 and
50% of the total amount of the eligible costs of the
operation. Contributions in kind are not regarded as
eligible costs.
5. Activities covered
and objective
The Commission wishes to help support the organisation
of conferences of European interest in the field of
energy and transport on topics related to the political
objectives set out in the White Paper "European transport
policy for 2010: time to decide" [COM(2001) 0370 final]
and the Green Paper "Towards a European strategy for
the security of energy supply" [COM(2000) 769 final].
6 Period of eligibility
of costs
Eligible costs can be incurred only after signature
of the grant agreement by all the parties, save in exceptional
cases, and under no circumstances before submission
of the application for a grant. The duration of the
operation may not exceed 12 months.
7. Eligibility criteria
7.1. Legal status of applicants
Applications submitted in writing by legal persons who
are citizens of a Member State of the European Union
are eligible.
7.2. Grounds for exclusion
Applications will not be considered for a grant if the
applicants are in any of the following situations:
(a) they are bankrupt or being wound up, are having
their affairs administered by the courts, have entered
into an arrangement with creditors, have suspended business
activities, are the subject of proceedings concerning
those matters, or are in any analogous situation arising
from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation
or regulations;
(b) they have been convicted of an offence concerning
professional conduct by a judgment which has the force
of res judicata;
(c) they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct
proven by any means which the contracting authority
can justify;
(d) they have not fulfilled obligations relating to
the payment of social security contributions or the
payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions
of the country in which they are established or with
those of the country of the contracting authority or
those of the country where the contract is to be performed;
(e) they have been the subject of a judgment which has
the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement
in a criminal organisation or any other illegal activity
detrimental to the Communities' financial interests;
(f) following another procurement procedure or grant
procedure financed by the Community budget, they have
been declared to be in serious breach of contract for
failure to comply with their contractual obligations;
(g) they are faced with a conflict of interest;
(h) they have been guilty of misrepresentation in supplying
the information required or have failed to supply this
information.
Applicants must certify that they are not in one of
the situations listed in point 7.2.
7.3 Administrative and financial penalties
1) Without prejudice to the application of penalties
laid down in the contract, candidates or tenderers and
contractors who have been guilty of making false declarations
or have been found to be in serious breach of contract
for failure to meet their contractual obligations in
an earlier procedure shall be excluded from all contracts
and grants financed by the Community budget for a maximum
of two years from the time when the infringement is
established, as confirmed after an adversarial procedure
with the contractor.
This period may be extended to three years in the event
of a repeat offence within five years of the first infringement.
Financial penalties of 10% of the total value of the
grant being awarded shall be imposed on tenderers or
candidates who have been guilty of making false declarations.
Financial penalties of 10% of the value of the contract
in question shall be imposed on contractors who found
to be in serious breach of contract for failure to meet
their contractual obligations.
That rate may be increased to 20% in the event of a
repeat offence within five years of the first infringement.
2) In the cases referred to in points 7.2 (a), (c),
(d) and (f), the candidates or tenderers shall be excluded
from all contracts and grants for a maximum of two years
from the time when the infringement is established,
as confirmed after an adversarial procedure with the
contractor.
In the cases referred to in points 7.2 (b) and (e),
the candidates or tenderers shall be excluded from all
contracts and grants for a minimum of one year and a
maximum of four years from the date of notification
of the judgment. These periods may be extended to five
years in the event of a repeat offence within five years
of the first infringement or the first judgment.
3) The cases referred to in point 7.2(e) cover:
(a) cases of fraud as referred to in Article 1 of the
Convention on the protection of the European Communities'
financial interests, drawn up by the Council Act of
26 July 1995;1
(b) cases of corruption as referred to in Article 3
of the Convention on the fight against corruption involving
officials of the European Communities or officials of
Member States of the European Union, drawn up by the
Council Act of 26 May 1997;2
(c) cases of participation in a criminal organisation,
as defined in Article 2(1) of Joint Action 98/733/JHA
of the Council;3
(d) cases of money laundering as defined in Article
1 of Council Directive 91/308/EEC.4
8. Selection criteria
The applicant must have stable and sufficient sources
of funding to maintain his activity throughout the period
during which the action is being carried out or the
year for which the grant is awarded and to participate
in its funding. The applicant must have the professional
skills and qualifications required to complete the proposed
action.
8.1 Financial capacity of applicants
Applicants must show that they exist as a legal person
and have the financial capacity and operational capability
to complete the operation to be supported and must provide
their balance sheet for the last financial year for
which the accounts have been closed. The last of these
provisions does not apply to public bodies and international
organisations.
8.2 Technical capacity of applicants
Applicants must have the technical capacity and operational
capability to complete the operation to be supported
and must provide the documents requested (CVs of the
persons responsible for carrying out the operation,
description of projects and activities undertaken in
the last three years, etc.).
9. Award criteria
The operation to be supported must be designed to further
one of the objectives referred to in point 5 above.
The Commission will base the choice of operations and
the rate of Community cofinancing on the following criteria,
listed in descending order of weighting in per cent.
- European dimension: The Commission will assess
the extent to which the proposed operation will create
and contribute genuine added value to the energy and
transport policy set out in the Green Paper and the
White Paper (30%) .
- Target audience: The Commission will assess
the extent to which the planned conference will reach
the intended target audience and whether the desired
multiplier effect can be achieved (20%).
- Visibility: The description of the operation
should give details of the means whereby the Community
operation will be publicised (30%).
- Cost-effectiveness: The budget, broken down
by category of expenditure, should demonstrate excellent
value for money for the operation (balance between expected
results and amount of grant) (20%).
Only applications with a total score of 70% or higher
and of at least 60% for each individual criterion will
be taken into consideration for Community funding.
10. General conditions
for awarding grants
The general conditions for awarding grants, particularly
the definition of the eligible costs and the methods
of payment, are set out in the draft grant agreement
in Annex II.
For all applications for pre-financing of over EUR 100
000 a financial guarantee equivalent to the amount pre-financed
will be required. In addition, the Commission reserves
the right to require a financial guarantee for amounts
of under EUR 100 000.
The budget for the action attached to the application
must have revenue and expenditure in balance and show
clearly the costs which are eligible for financing from
the Community budget.
11. Submission of
applications for a grant
Applications must be submitted using the standard application
form in Annex I. For each application, one signed original
and five copies must be supplied by the applicant.
12. Closing date for submission of applications for
a grant
Applicants interested in these grants are invited to
submit their applications to the European Commission.
Applications may be submitted:
(a) either by registered letter postmarked no later
than 12 June 2003 addressed to:
European Commission
Directorate-General for Energy and Transport
DM 28 0/91 Mail service/archives
B-1049 Brussels
Belgium
(b) or by delivery to the central mail service of the
European Commission (personal delivery or delivery by
any authorised representative of the applicant, including
private delivery services) at the following address:
European Commission
Central Mail Service
Rue de Genève 1
B-1140 Brussels
Belgium by 16.00 (local time) on 12 June 2003
at the latest. In this case, proof of submission will
be by means of a dated and signed receipt issued by
the receiving official in the abovementioned department.
Applications may not be delivered to the Directorate-General
for Energy and Transport (whether personal delivery
or delivery by any authorised representative of the
applicant, including private delivery services).
Tenders must be placed inside two sealed envelopes.
The inner envelope must bear the words:
Call for proposals TREN/SUB/02-2003
Not to be opened by the postal service
DM 28 0/91 Mail service/archives
If self-adhesive envelopes are used, they must be sealed
with adhesive tape and the sender must sign across that
tape. Applications received by the Commission after
the closing date will not be taken into consideration.
13. Additional information
Any questions regarding this call for proposals should
be sent by email (stating the reference number of the
area, as indicated in point 5) to:
TREN-CALL-2003@cec.eu.int
http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/energy_transport/home/calls/proposal_fr.htm
14. Timetable
Closing date for submission of applications: 12 June
2003
Date of opening of applications: 24 June 2003
Estimated date of completion of the evaluation: 15 July
2003
Notification of unsuccessful applicants: from 25 July
2003
Notification of successful applicants: from 28 July
2003
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