tenders and grants

partnership

INTRODUCTION
Article 22 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds provides that the Commission may finance innovative actions under the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG). Actions may be financed by the Structural Funds in the 15 member countries only.
Innovative actions include studies, pilot projects and exchanges of experience. They contribute to the development of innovative methods and practices designed to improve the quality of assistance.
The innovative actions to which this call for proposals applies have to comply also with two essential criteria:
- they must be highly transnational in character or of interest to several Member States as it is this aspect which reflects the added value of and reason for Community financial assistance,
- their main goal must be the networking of those involved in fisheries and the regions dependent on fishing together with exchanges of experience and the sharing of good practice and innovative practices.
They must in addition benefit communities in preference to individuals.

1. INNOVATIVE ACTIONS, PILOT PROJECTS AND EXCHANGES OF EXPERIENCE
In order to identify relevant projects which can be funded out of the available resources, the Commission calls upon interested bodies to present proposals for projects, pilot actions and exchanges of experience on the following topics:
(1) socio-economic diversification efforts in fisheriesdependent areas, in particular developing activities and services as an alternative to and/or supplementing fishing;
(2) enhancing the value of fisheries and aquaculture products, in particular by establishing European networks for tracing products and alerting the industry and consumers to the need to combat illegal fishing;
(3) improving and promoting the image of the fisheries and aquaculture sector, in particular as regards the environment, responsible fishing and the passing on of fishing techniques to subsequent generations;
(4) vocational training and maritime education, including the use of eLearning, in particular in relation to safety at sea, environmental protection, product enhancement and business administration;
(5) promoting information technology for communication, information sharing and business administration.

2. CRITERIA
2.1. Eligibility criteria
- Only proposals submitted by legal persons in an official Community language on forms duly completed and sent before 11 July 2003 (post marked) will be considered.
- Proposals must include the participation of at least two European Union Member States. Proof of participation must be provided in the form of letters of participation from the partner institutions.
- Grants may not be made to applicants who are, at the time of a grant award procedure, in one of the situations referred to in Articles 93 and 94 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002.
- Applicants must certify in writing that they are not in one of the situations referred to in Article 93 of Regulation (EG, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002.
2.2. Selection criteria
- Applicants must provide evidence of their experience and ability to carry out the action.
- Application forms must be accompanied by:
- a copy of the articles of association (constitution) of the promoting institution,
- the most recent progress report and/or balance sheet of the promoting institution,
- the curriculum vitae (CV) of the persons responsible in each partner institution for carrying out the project.
2.3. Award criteria
- The innovative interest of the proposed action for improving the competitiveness of the fisheries sector and/or for the economic diversification of areas dependent on fisheries,
- consistency with the priorities set out,
- the quality and consistency of the work plan for the projects,
- the consistency of the budget and the profitability of the proposed activities in the light of the anticipated results,
- other authorised measures to part-finance the project.
Where applications are presented by organisations that have previously received a grant from the Commission under earlier EC Directorate-General for Fisheries programmes, the results of those projects will be taken into account. Candidates are reminded that the resources allocated to calls for projects are limited. For that reason applications will be assessed in comparison with other applications submitted. It may happen that good quality applications cannot be funded for lack of resources and the selection group will have to make a choice.
Working methods
Projects have to be innovative and involve those active in the fishing industry at the preparatory and/or implementation and/or monitoring stages of an activity. Projects may exploit the new media and information technology possibilities.
Partners concerned
Cooperation and networks will embrace:
- professional organisations,
- training institutes,
- local and regional authorities,
- associations,
- one-man businesses.
In the light of the priorities which applications address, attention will focus on vertical and/or horizontal sectoral partnerships or broad transnational partnerships, subject in all cases to compliance with the requirement that partners must be from not less than two Community countries.
Nature of projects
Projects must be operational and lead to concrete actions. The study phases (preliminary, feasibility, impact, etc.) must be limited to the necessary minimum and properly justified.
Selection procedure
The decision to award a grant will be taken by a selection panel made up of representatives of the European Commission. Selection meetings will be chaired by a representative of unit C1 in the Directorate-General for Fisheries. Applicants will be informed of the Commission's decision at the earliest opportunity. The Commission's decision is final.
Financial arrangements
Overall amount available: EUR 1,4 million.
Community grants will be made in accordance with the principle of co-financing subject to an upper limit of EUR 150 000 per action.
The maximum rates of the Community contribution will be 50 % for pilot projects presented by industrial or commercial businesses and 75 % for projects for networking and exchanges of experience presented by public or non-profit bodies.
The Commission reserves the right to make grants of an amount lower than requested by the applicant.
Grants higher than the amount requested will not be made.
The budget must be balanced and sufficiently detailed to allow the proposed activities to be identified, monitored and verified.
Project sponsors must examine the instructions for the administrative and financial management of innovative actions and comply with the relevant rules.
The instructions can be consulted at the following Internet address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/fisheries/news_corner/calls/calls_en.htm or may be obtained from the Commission on request.
Title VI of the Financial Regulation and Title VI of the implementing rules on grant management setting out the general rules on grants made by the European Commission can be consulted at the following Internet address: http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/fr/search/search_dpi.html
Duration of project, date foreseen for closing the awarding procedure and admissible financing period:
Owing to the nature of the call, the duration of projects must not exceed 18 months.
The date foreseen date foreseen for closing the awarding procedure is 15 October 2003.
Projects are expected to start on 1 December 2003.
Preparation of agreements and payment of the grant:
Where the Commission decides to award a grant, a standard agreement duly signed by the legal representative of the beneficiary organisation and the representative of the European Commission and setting out the conditions and the amount of the grant in euro will be sent to the beneficiary.
The estimated budget contained in application forms together with the statements of eligible costs and the final financial implementation reports will be presented in euro.
Project sponsors should be aware that in examining their technical and financial capacity, the Commission wishes to ensure that tenderers have access to solid and adequate sources of funding so as to be able to carry out their activities during the period of the project and to contribute to its co-financing. Before an agreement is drawn up, therefore, the following may be requested:
- a guarantee, which may be in the form of a bank guarantee, corresponding to all or part of the grant applied for,
- an express undertaking by each organisation participating in the funding of the project concerned for the amount shown in the grant application,
- an express statement by the beneficiaries undertaking to provide their share of the financing and, where applicable, the financing of expenditure which would not be covered by the Community grant in the event of failure by the other organisations participating in the financing.
The payment procedure will be as follows:
1. For actions with a duration of not more than one year:
- prefinancing of 70 % of the maximum amount of the grant within 30 days following the signing of the agreement,
- payment of the balance on the basis of the eligible costs actually incurred set out in the final financial implementation report.
2. For actions with a duration of more than one year:
- prefinancing of 40 % of the maximum amount of the grant within 30 days following the signing of the agreement,
- a second prefinancing payment of 30 % of the maximum amount of the grant once not less than 70 % of the preceding prefinancing payment has been used up,
- payment of the balance on the basis of the eligible costs actually incurred set out in the final report.
Reports:
For actions with a duration of not more than 1 year
Beneficiary organisations will be required to present within 60 days following the completion of the action: a final technical implementation report on behalf of all the partner organisations, a final financial implementation report on the eligible costs actually incurred, and a full summary statement of the income and expenditure of the action.
For actions with a duration of more than one year
- a detailed statement of the eligible costs actually incurred once 70 % of the initial prefinancing payment has been used up,
- at the mid-way stage, an interim technical implementation report on behalf of all the partner organisations,
- within 60 days following the completion of the action: a final technical implementation report on behalf of all the partner organisations, a final financial implementation report on the eligible costs actually incurred and a full summary statement of the income and expenditure of the action.
Reports represent the main instrument for monitoring and evaluating the satisfactory implementation of actions and must therefore provide as complete an overview as possible of the action. They have to allow a qualitative and quantitative examination and evaluation:
- of the results obtained in comparison with the goals set (activities/impact/products, etc.),
- of the resources used to obtain those results, in the light of the budget authorised.
The Commission reserves the right to withdraw its support in full or in part if an action is not carried out in accordance with the description given in the application, or if changes are made without Commission authorisation, or if the reports state that the project is unsatisfactory.
The Commission is entitled to make use of and disseminate the reports on actions that receive funding.
General information
1. To be admissible, proposals must:
- be drawn up on the form which may be downloaded from the following Internet address:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/fisheries/news_corner/calls/calls_en.htm, or obtained from the Commission (No (32-2) 296 73 60),
- be submitted in triplicate,
- and sent to the Commission by 11 July 2003 (post marked), by registered mail, at the following address:
European Commission
Directorate-General for Fisheries J99 2/11
B-1049 Brussels.
2. The documents below concerning the call for proposals:
- text of the call,
- application form,
- instructions for the financial and administrative management of innovative actions,
- draft grant agreement,
- model interim and final reports
can be consulted at the following Internet address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/fisheries/news_corner/calls/calls_en.htm