| 1.
POLITICAL CONTEXT
The European Commission intends to award grants to promote
the objectives of the common 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 operations selected will be financed from budget
headings B2-702, Transport safety, and B2-704, Sustainable
mobility policy.
3. ESTIMATED TOTAL
AMOUNT FOR THIS CALL
The estimated total amount for 2003 is EUR 7 400 000.
Transport safety: EUR 7 200 000.
Sustainable mobility policy: EUR 200 000.
4. PERCENTAGE OF COMMUNITY
CO-FINANCING
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
co-financing. 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 eligible
costs of the operation. Contributions in kind are not
regarded as eligible costs.
5. ACTIVITIES COVERED
AND OBJECTIVE
In the context of the work programme for 2003, the Commission
wishes to support action in the areas listed below without,
however, excluding other applications for financial
support which are innovatory, have a European dimension
and meet the objectives set in the White Paper ‘European
transport policy for 2010: time to decide’.
A. TRANSPORT SAFETY
Road safety
Improvement of road safety in the European Union, the
candidate countries and the European Economic Area by
means of studies, campaigns, the establishment of best
practice and demonstration activities in the following
areas:
Area 1: User behaviour
Checks and penalties to enforce the rules of the road;
training for both private and professional drivers;
physical and mental fitness to drive; action to combat/check
for driving under the influence of drugs, drink or medicines
(in particular, designated drivers and trials with alcolics);
safety belts and child restraint devices; vulnerable
users; accident data recorders; driving hours and rest
periods (for professional drivers); and safety in tunnels
(in particular, driving in tunnels).
Area 2: Vehicle technology
Impact resistance; roadworthiness testing (particularly
electronic passenger protection systems); active and
passive vehicle safety (including tyre quality and pressure).
Area 3: Road infrastructure Road safety audits/safety
evaluations of roads and tunnels (in particular, identification
of blackspots) and harmonisation of signs (roads and
tunnels).
Area 4: Road technology
Freight and passenger transport by road, in particular
intelligent technologies to improve road safety.
Area 5: Information and databases
Improvements in collection, analysis and dissemination
of data on road accidents (conditions, causes, impact,
underreporting, independent surveys, multidisciplinary
approach, risk exposure variables).
Area 6: Evaluation of national road safety policies
Evaluation of the national road safety systems in the
abovementioned areas. Maritime safety Improving maritime
safety in the European Union:
Area 7: Shipping accidents
Analysis of the causes of major shipping accidents,
in particular development of safety standards for bulk
carriers.
B. SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY
POLICY
Area 8: Sustainable mobility policy in the maritime
sector
Development of short-distance maritime and inland waterway
services.
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 36 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 have seriously failed 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.
That period may be extended to three years in the event
of a repeat offence within five years of the first infringement.
Tenderers or candidates who have been guilty of making
false declarations shall also receive financial penalties
representing 10 % of the total value of the grant being
awarded.
Contractors who have been found to have seriously failed
to meet their contractual obligations shall receive
financial penalties representing 10 % of the value of
the subvention in question.
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.
Those 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(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 ;
(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 ;
(c) cases of participation in a criminal organisation,
as defined in Article 2(1) of Joint Action 98/733/JHA
of the Council ;
(d) cases of money laundering as defined in Article
1 of Council Directive 91/308/EEC .
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. He must have the professional competences
and qualifications required to complete the proposed
action or work programme.
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 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.
9.1. Quality of the operation (70 %)
- European dimension: the Commission will assess the
extent to which the proposed operation will create and
contribute genuine added value to the common transport
policy (20 %).
- Innovative character: the Commission will assess the
extent to which the proposed operation will generate
new approaches and practices. The results of the operation
supported will, where appropriate, be incorporated into
proposals for legislation, communications and other
European Commission documents (10 %).
- Multiplier effect: the Commission will assess the
extent to which the proposed operation will enable the
transfer, generalisation, dissemination or application
on a large scale of results, experience, knowledge and
good practice (10 %).
- 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) (10 %).
- Evaluation: the Commission will assess the evaluation
method proposed and the quality of the results indicators
with reference to the expected objectives (10 %).
- Visibility: the description of the operation should
give details of the means whereby the Community operation
will be publicised (publications, organisation of events,
websites, CD-ROM, etc.) (10 %).
9.2. Quality of the application (30 %)
The organisation of the operation should be set out
in detail, in particular as regards the following aspects:
- work plan (clarity and achievability of the objectives,
achievability of the expected results) (10 %),
- timetable for the operation (10 %),
- proposed methodology (10 %).
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.
For actions where the cost to be financed exceeds EUR
300 000, the application must be accompanied by an external
audit report produced by an approved auditor. This report
must certify the accounts for the last year available
and give an assessment of the financial viability of
the applicant.
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 10 June 2003 addressed to:
European Commission
Directorate-General for Energy and Transport
DM 28 0/91 Courrier/archives
B-1049 Brussels
(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
Courrier Central
Rue de Genève 1
B-1140 Brussels
by 16h00 (Brussels time) on 10 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 received by the Commission after the closing
date will not be taken into consideration.
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).
Bids must be submitted inside two sealed envelopes.
The inner envelope must bear the words:
Call for proposals
TREN/SUB/01-2003
Area . . .
NOT TO BE OPENED BY THE POSTAL SERVICE
DM 28 0/91 Courrier/archives
If self-adhesive envelopes are used, they must be sealed
with adhesive tape and the sender must sign across that
tape.
13. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Any questions regarding this call for proposals should
be sent by e-mail (stating the reference number of the
area, as indicated in point 5) to:
TREN-CALL-2003@cec.eu.int.
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/transport/home/whatsnew/index_en.htm
http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/energy_transport/home/calls/proposal_fr.htm
14. TIMETABLE
Closing date for submission of applications: 10 June
2003
Date of opening of applications: 20 June 2003
Estimated date of completion of the evaluation: 15 July
2003
Notification of unsuccessful applicants: from 22 July
2003 on
Notification of successful applicants: from 28 July
2003 on.
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