| 1.
CONTEXT
The Commission White Paper ‘A new impetus for European
Youth’ (1) identifies as a political priority the development
of active citizenship of young people. Participation
in the decision-making process is one of the basis of
active citizenship, and contributes to participative
democracy.
According to the White Paper, citizenship and participation
of young people have to be developed primarily at local
level.
A new budget line was created to fund pilot-projects
on youth participation.
These pilot-projects will also be useful in the context
of the new actions to be implemented in the framework
of the new generation of programmes following the current
Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci and Youth programmes.
2. OBJECTIVES
The aim of this action is to fund innovative and networkable
projects on new participatory practices, particularly
at local level; these projects must associate young
people (15 to 25 years) including marginalised young
people to the decisions that concern them. The focus
should be put on the capacity to network the projects
either at local, regional level, or at European level,
with the view of strengthening the exchange of experiences
and good practices, as well as the dissemination of
good practices in the field of youth participation.
The added value of this action by comparison with the
actions under the Youth programme is to develop youth
participation by the implementation of innovative local
projects.
Two categories of actions are concerned:
1. Implementation or development of a local project
of participation, with a local partnership (four different
partners) presenting a strong innovative character with
very concrete achievements and results and being useable.
2. Implementation or development of a few (minimum four)
similar local projects of participation, in different
places (different countries/regions/municipalities)
coordinated in order to facilitate exchange of experience
and good practice and to constitute a first network.
The results of this action will be taken into account,
for the Youth field, in the framework of the new generation
of Community funded programmes.
3.
BUDGET
The budget available for this call is EUR 2 million.
On the basis of this amount, the Directorate-General
for Education and Culture envisages supporting a limited
number of pilot-projects, normally between EUR 60 000
and EUR 100 000 per project.
4. CONTENT OF THE PROPOSAL AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES
The pilot-projects should promote active citizenship
on the part of young people.
The projects should be developed at local level, in
partnership with different bodies, and should involve
young people in the decisions that concern them. The
focus should be put on the quality, notably of the following
aspects:
- for categories 1 and 2: young people must not only
be consulted, but be involved in initiating, decisionmaking,
implementing and evaluating,
- for category 1: the local partnership should involve
several areas of activity environments and/or players
(local authorities, associations, parents, youth workers,
professionals, etc.), from different environments, working
together to achieve a concrete project. This project
has to be an example of good practice, which implies
being transferable and networkable,
- for category 2: this action aims to pool experiences
of similar projects with a view to permitting exchange
of good practices, identifying and/or solving common
problems, elaborating methodologies, disseminating the
results . . . in the perspective of constituting a network.
5. WHO CAN SUBMIT A PROPOSAL?
Any institution and/or organisation meeting the eligibility
criteria (see point 7). Each proposal must be submitted
to the Commission by a single coordinating/promoting
institution/ organisation on behalf of a local, regional
or transnational partnership.
6. MAXIMUM DURATION OF PROJECTS
24 months.
7. ELIGIBLE CRITERIA
Only proposals submitted on the official application
form, completed in full, and received by the specific
closing data (see point 10) will be considered.
Proposals should include the participation of at least
four different partners for category 1 and four local
projects in different places for category 2. Proof of
participation must be provided in the form of participation
letters (original signatures required). The projects
must be non-profit making.
7.1. Eligibility of applicants
The coordinating/promoting institution and/or other
organisation must possess a legal identity. Both the
coordinating/promoting organisation and the partner
organisations must be established in one of the 15 EU
Member States.
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.
7.1.1. Financial and technical capacity of the applicants
Financial and technical capacity of the applicants will
be assessed on the basis of the following documents
that have to be presented with the application form:
- the profit and loss accounts and the balance sheet
for the last financial year for which the accounts have
been closed. Public bodies do not have to present these
documents,
- the curricula vitae of the persons responsible for
the implementation of the project,
- the legally registered statutes or articles of the
organisation applying as well as its official registration
certificate (a copy is required), except if it is a
public or semi-public organisation. This document must
be provided in one of the 11 official EU languages,
- a declaration on their honour from the applicant completed
and signed certifying that the entity has legal personality
at present and has the financial and operational capacity
to complete the proposed action,
- a declaration on their honour from the applicant completed
and signed certifying that they are not in one of the
situations listed in point 7.2 of this call (the model
is included in the application form),
- the bank details form completed by the beneficiary
and certified by the bank (original signatures required),
- the participation letters from the partner organisations
(original signatures are required).
7.2. Exclusion criteria
Applicants will be excluded from participating in this
call for proposals if, at the time of the grant award
procedure, they are in one 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 under national legislation
or regulations;
(b) they have been convicted of an offence concerning
their professional conduct by a judgement which has
force of res judicata;
(c) they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct
proven by any means which the authorising officer 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 authorising officer or those
of the country where the contract is to be performed;
(e) they have been the subject of a judgement which
has the force of res juditica for fraud, corruption,
involvement in a criminal organisation or any other
illegal activity detrimental to the Communities' financial
interest;
(f) following another procurement procedure or grant
award 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) are subject to a conflict of interest;
(h) are guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the
information required by the authorising officer as a
condition of participation in the call procedure or
fail to supply this information.
Administrative or financial penalties may be imposed
by the Commission on applicants who are in one of the
above listed cases of exclusion, after they have been
given the opportunity to present their observations.
These penalties result in:
1. the exclusion of the applicant concerned from contracts
and grants financed by the budget for a maximum period
of five years;
2. the payment of financial penalties by the beneficiary
and/or by the applicants.
The penalties imposed shall be in proportion to the
importance of the grant and the seriousness of the misconduct.
8.
AWARD CRITERIA
The Commission will attribute the grants after having
taken into consideration the following criteria:
8.1. Quality of the partnership The following aspects
will be assessed:
- capacity of the partners to involve different actors
in the implementation of the project, notably young
people,
- diversity of the members of the partnership, notably
for category 1.
8.2. Innovative character
Assessment of innovative aspects, in particular concerning:
- the forms of cooperation foreseen,
- the organisation and content of activities/projects
as well as the methods proposed.
8.3. Dissemination and valorisation
- The Commission will pay particular attention to the
strategies and methods for disseminating the results
envisaged (processes and products),
- the Commission will also assess the mechanisms to
enhance the value of the results by aiming to facilitate
their integration, now or after in networks at local,
regional and national level.
8.4. Contribution to transversal political objectives
The expected outcomes will be assessed on the basis
of their potential for contributing to:
- education, included non formal and informal education,
- economic and social cohesion,
- equality of opportunities between women and men.
8.5. Organisational and budgetary aspects of the
proposals
The following elements will be assessed:
- work plan (for its clarity and its appropriateness
with regard to the objectives and means proposed),
- project calendar,
- coherence of the budget with the work plan,
- monitoring and evaluation methodology,
- capacity for technical follow-up and financial capacity.
9. FINANCIAL CONDITIONS
Community grants are an incentive to carry out an action
that would not be able to be carried out without the
financial support of the Commission, and are based on
the principle of co-financing. They complement the applicant's
own financial contribution and/or national, regional
or local assistance that has been obtained elsewhere.
The subsidised project may not benefit from any other
Community funding for the same action.
9.1. Financial contribution of the Community
Up to 65 % of the eligible costs (see below point 9.2).
Only costs made as from the signature of the agreement
will be taken into consideration. The grant application
must include a detailed, provisional budget (a model
of which is contained in the application form).
9.2. Eligible and ineligible costs
Only the categories of costs that follow are eligible,
insofar as they are properly calculated and valued according
to market conditions and that they can be identified
and verified. They are direct costs incurred in the
implementation of the project:
- personnel costs for working on the implementation
of the action described in the proposal (actual salaries
plus social charges),
- travel, accommodation and subsistence costs related
to the carrying out of the action (meetings, etc.),
- costs linked to the organisation of conferences (room
hire, interpretation, etc.) (please specify),
- publication and dissemination costs,
- other direct costs (please specify),
- indirect costs up to a maximum of 7 % of the direct
costs.
Excluded from the co-financing budget request are costs
incurred by a third party and not reimbursed by the
beneficiary organisation; contributions in kind which
do not involve a financial transaction; expenditure
related to infrastructure acquisition (with the exception
of the annual depreciation of material purchased); expenditure
not related to the specific activities of the project
(notably, running costs and/or expenditure related to
statutory obligations); expenditure that is clearly
unnecessary or excessive; capital investment costs;
general provision (for losses, possible future liabilities,
etc.); contingency reserve; debts owed, charges for
financial service; exchange losses, unless specifically
provided for in exceptional cases.
10. PROCEDURE FOR THE SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS
10.1. Publication
The call for proposals will be published on the Internet
site of the DG Education and Culture programmes at the
following address, and in the Official Journal of the
European Union: http://europa.eu.int/comm/youth/call/index_en.html
10.2. Application forms
The grant requests should be made, using the form specifically
designed for this purpose, in one of the 11 official
EU languages. Please note that only typed applications
will be taken into consideration.
The application forms (available in the 11 official
EU languages) may be obtained on the Internet at the
following address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/youth/call/index_en.html
Requests for these documents may also be sent by fax
(32-2) 299 40 38 or to the address given at the bottom
of this call for proposals. The documents will be sent
by ordinary mail, therefore only requests that reach
the Commission in good time will be considered.
10.3. Proof of technical and financial capacity
The application form must be accompanied by the documents
listed in point 7.1.1 of this call.
10.4. Presentation of the grant application
Three copies of the grant application must be transmitted.
It should provide complete information that can be checked
against the criteria defined in points 8 and 9.
All additional information that is considered necessary
by the applicant can be included on separate sheets.
The application must be duly completed, signed (original
signatures as required) and accompanied by an official
letter from the applicant organisation as well as the
documents proving its technical and financial capacity
referred to in point 10.3 of this call.
The applications must be sent to the address below by
ordinary or registered post by 11 August 2003
at the latest (as per postmark). Applications sent via
Internet, fax or e-mail will not be accepted. The envelopes
should be addressed as follows:
Call for proposals DG EAC No 43/03
Mr. Pierre Mairesse
European Commission
DG Education and Culture Unit D1 – Youth
Office VM2 5/52
B-1049 Brussels.
11. EXAMINATION AND FOLLOW-UP OF APPLICATIONS
Applicants will be informed of the receipt of their
proposal within 10 working days.
Only applications that fulfil the eligibility criteria
will be considered for a possible grant. Ineligible
applications will be responded to, indicating the reasons
for their ineligibility.
All unsuccessful applicants will be informed in writing.
The Selection Panel will be held at the beginning of
September 2003.
The selected proposals will be subject to detailed financial
examination, at which stage the Commission may request
complementary information from the persons responsible
for the proposed actions.
In the event of final approval by the Commission, a
financial contract, drawn up in Euro and detailing the
conditions and level of funding, will be concluded between
the Commission and the beneficiary. This contract (the
original) must be signed and returned to the Commission
immediately. The beneficiary will receive a pre-financing
payment of 40 % within 45 days of the date when the
last of the two parties signs the agreement.
The projects have to start between 1 October 2003 and
31 December 2003 and the eligibility period will finish
24 months later, as this is the maximum duration of
the projects (see point 6).
12.
PRESENTATION OF THE FINAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL BREAKDOWN
According to the terms of the financial agreement, a
second pre-financing payment of 40 % may be done when
at least 70 % of the previous pre-financing payment
has been used up. In that case, persons responsible
for proposals approved and financed by the Commission
must submit a detailed statement of the eligible costs
actually incurred when requesting for the second pre-financing
instalment.
On completion of the project a final report must be
submitted. These reports, which should provide a succinct
but complete description of the results of the activities
outlined in the proposal, should also be accompanied
by any publications produced (brochures, teaching material,
videos, multimedia, press clippings, etc.). The Commission
may require the beneficiary to lodge a bank guarantee.
The final financial statement, annexed to the final
report, should show real costs and receipts. The beneficiary
must set up an accounting system for the co-financed
action and keep all original supporting documents for
possible auditing for a period of five years as from
the date of completion of the agreement. After approval
of the final report, the beneficiary will receive the
final payment.
An external audit of accounts produced by an approved
auditor may be asked for by the responsible authorising
officer in support of any payment on the basis of his
analysis of risk.
13. SUBCONTRACTING AND AWARD OF PROCUREMENT CONTRACTS
Where implementation of the assisted actions requires
the award of procurement contracts, beneficiaries of
grants shall request at least three offers from different
tenders and shall award the contract to the tender offering
best value for money, that is to say, to the tender
offering the best price-quality ratio, in compliance
with the principles of transparency and equal treatment
for potential contractors, care being taken to avoid
any conflict of interests.
14.
EX POST PUBLICATION
The Commission will publish the name and address of
the beneficiary, the subject of the grant and the amount
and the rate of financing. This will be done, in agreement
with the beneficiary, and unless publication of the
information may threaten the safety of the beneficiary
or harm their business interests. In the event that
the beneficiary does not agree to this, they should
attach a detailed justification, which the Commission
will consider in the process of deciding on the award
of the grant.
15.
APPLICABLE RULES
- Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25
June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to
the general budget of the European Communities.
- Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 of
23 December 2002 (rules for the implementation of Council
Regulation).
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