I. OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION
This call for proposals EACEA/15/2009 is based upon the decision of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the ‘Europe for citizens’ programme for the promotion of active European citizenship for the period 2007-2013 ( 1 ) (hereafter the programme).
1. General objectives of the Programme
This call for proposals is intended to contribute to the following general objectives of the ‘Europe for citizens’ programme:
(a) giving citizens the opportunity to interact and participate in constructing an ever closer Europe, which is democratic and world-oriented, united in and enriched through its cultural diversity, thus developing citizenship of the European Union;
(b) developing a sense of European identity, based on common values, history and culture;
(c) fostering a sense of ownership of the European Union among its citizens;
(d) enhancing tolerance and mutual understanding between European citizens respecting and promoting cultural and linguistic diversity, while contributing to intercultural dialogue.
2. Specific objectives of this call for proposals
The global purpose of this call is to test and develop innovative transnational exchange schemes with a view to building long-term partnerships between civil society organisations operating in different participating countries in the area of the ‘Europe for citizens’ programme.
More specifically, projects funded under this call for proposals are to contribute to the following objectives:EN C 176/12 Official Journal of the European Union 29.7.2009
( 1 ) Decision 1904/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 (OJ L 378, 27.12.2006, p. 32), as amended by Decision 1358/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 (OJ L 350, 30.12.2008, p. 58).
(a) to develop and test new forms of transnational mobility between civil society organisations
(b) to promote the concept of transnational mentoring between civil society organisations to support innovative project methodologies in relation to transnational mobility and mentoring between civil society organisations
3. Thematic priorities
Projects should focus on assisting civil society organisations to develop their capacity to actively promote one or more of the themes of the ‘Europe for citizens’ programme:
— future of the European Union and its basic values
— active European citizenship: participation and democracy in Europe
— intercultural dialogue
— people’s well-being in Europe: employment, social cohesion and sustainable development
— impact of EU policies in societies.
II. ELIGIBLE CANDIDATES
1. Organisations
This call for proposals is open to non-profit civil society organisations with a legal status: NGOs, federations, associations, trade unions ( 1 ), EU-level umbrella organisations or platforms or their national members, which have the capacity to develop such mobility schemes in a structured and systemic way.
1.1. Partnerships
A project must involve eligible organisations from at least two eligible countries, of which at least one is an
EU Member State.
2. Eligible countries
(a) the 27 Member States of the European Union:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.
(b) Croatia
(c) former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)
(d) Albania
III. ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES
The activities must contribute, or be capable of contributing, to the development and implementation of the specific objectives, and one or more of the themes, identified for this call for proposals.
The types of activities supported by this call for proposals should promote transnational mobility between the staff and/or volunteers, the voluntary officers and board members of the partner organisation(s).
This could include:
(a) mentoring on a one-to-one basis
(b) the mentoring of groups of staff/volunteers
(c) exchanges of staff between the partner organisations.
( 1 ) Trade union organisations consulted for social dialogue purposes in accordance with Article 138 of the Treaty may be eligible to receive grants, even if they may not have a legal personality under the applicable national law.
Joint conferences, workshops, and meetings between the partner organisations may only be supported if they are in direct support of points (a), (b), and (c), mentioned in the previous paragraph.
Project activities should seek to develop and apply innovative methodologies to mentoring and exchanges of staff; for example blended mentoring (i.e. on-site and online activities).
Activities must start between 1 January 2010 and 31 March 2010.
The maximum duration of projects is 12 months.
IV. AWARD CRITERIA
Applications fulfilling the eligibility and exclusion criteria will be evaluated against the award criteria by an evaluation committee in order to select those to be proposed for co-financing.
Eligible project proposals will be assessed against the following qualitative and quantitative criteria.
1. Qualitative criteria
Qualitative criteria will represent 80 % of the points available within the evaluation procedure.
— Relevance of the project to the objectives and priorities of the programme (25 % of points available)
— Pertinence of the project and methods proposed (25 % of the points available)
— Impact (15 % of the points available)
— Visibility and follow-up (15 % of the points available)
2. Quantitative criteria
Quantitative criteria will represent the 20 % of points available within the evaluation procedure.
— Geographical impact (10 % of the points available)
— number of eligible countries involved
— Target group (10 % of the points available)
— number of participants involved
V. BUDGET
The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects within this call for proposals is estimated at EUR 1 100 000.
The grant awarded may not exceed 80 % of the total amount of the project's eligible costs as specified in the detailed budget estimate.
The minimum grant will be EUR 75 000.
The maximum grant will be EUR 150 000.
The Agency reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available on the basis of the quality of applications.
VI. DEADLINE FOR THE SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS
The deadline for the submission of applications is 30 September 2009.
The Executive Agency is currently establishing a system for the electronic submission of all applications.
For this call for proposals, applicants must send their application using an electronic form available as of July 2009. This form (including annexes) is considered as the definitive application.
Additionally a paper copy of the complete application must be sent by post to the following address before the submission deadline.
EACEA
Unit P7 Citizenship
Applications — ‘Innovative Actions’
BOUR 01/17
Avenue du Bourget 1
1140 Brussels
BELGIQUE/BELGIË
Only applications presented using the appropriate form, duly completed, dated, and signed by the person authorised to enter into legally binding commitments on behalf of the applying body will be accepted.
Applications submitted by fax or directly by email will not be examined.
VII. FURTHER INFORMATION
Detailed Applicants’ Guidelines and application forms can be found on the Internet at the following address: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/citizenship/index_en.php
Grant applications must use the application form specifically designed for this purpose and contain all the annexes and information required.
