SCOPE OF THE CALL
This call for proposals aims at selecting specific transnational projects of European Community interest presented by at least two eligible organisations.
All projects submitted must be within the scope of the Specific Programme Fundamental Rights and Citizenship 2007-2013 and will be judged against the criteria set out in this call for proposals (see section 4 below).
The selected projects must enable progress to be made towards reaching one or more of the general and specific objectives of the Programme. Applicants should clearly indicate which priority areas their proposal addresses (see section 2.2). Only new projects will be eligible for support; projects that have already begun will not be eligible for co-financing.
The projects are foreseen to begin in the second half of 2009 and will have a duration of no more than 18 months.
1. Objectives of the Programme
The general objectives of the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme are the following:
a. to promote the development of a European society based on respect for fundamental rights as recognised in Article 6(2) of the Treaty on European Union, including rights derived from citizenship of the Union;
b. to strengthen civil society and to encourage an open, transparent and regular dialogue with it in respect of fundamental rights;
c. to fight against racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism and to promote better interfaith and intercultural understanding and improved tolerance throughout the European Union;
d. to improve contacts, exchange of information and networking between legal, judicial and administrative authorities and the legal professions, including by way of support to judicial training, with the aim of better mutual understanding among such authorities and professionals.
The Programme's specific objectives are the following:
a. to promote fundamental rights as recognised in article 6(2) of the Treaty of the European Union and to inform all persons of their rights including those derived from citizenship of the Union, in order to encourage Union citizens to participate actively in the democratic life of the Union;
b. to examine, where necessary, the respect of specific fundamental rights in the European Union and its Member States when implementing Community law and to obtain opinions on specific questions related to fundamental rights within this scope;
c. to support non-governmental organisations and other bodies from civil society in order to enhance their capability to participate actively in the promotion of fundamenta rights, the rule of law and democracy;
d. to create relevant structures in order to foster an interfaith and multicultural dialogue at the level of the European Union.
2. Call Priority Areas
The priority areas for the call are the following:
Protection of the rights of the child
The 2006 communication “Towards an EU strategy for the rights of the child” advocates for increased promotion of children’s rights, as listed in the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child.
This activity will support awareness raising campaigns, surveys concerning good practice in Member States and ways to disseminate them, analysis of specific problems such as specific needs of the children, children being victims of crimes, etc.
Combating racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism
The European Union, within the powers conferred on it by the Treaties, implements a policy against racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and other related intolerance, such as Islamophobia and anti- Roma racism. This activity will provide financial support for actions aimed at fighting traditional and new stereotypes whose persistence or diffusion are at the roots of racist attitudes and speech, discriminatory action and violent incidents. It will particularly encourage initiatives aiming at countering such stereotypes and their divulgation, as well as initiatives aiming at fostering mutual understanding. Priority will be given to projects aimed at developing cross-community approaches.
Fight against Homophobia: Enhanced/improved understanding and tolerance
Priority will be given to actions that emphasise the fundamental rights angle in the fight against homophobia, in particular projects aimed at better identifying homophobic attitudes and stereotypes. Actions that duplicate other activities in this area, particularly in the framework of non-discrimination in the area of employment, shall not be retained.
Active participation in the democratic life of the Union.
The Commission intends to promote information and civic education initiatives on the active participation in the European parliamentary elections by Union citizens, and in particular of Union citizens who are not the nationals of the Member State in which they reside. The Commission will support activities aimed at encouraging and supporting grass-roots initiatives and projects carried out by associations of Union citizens who are not nationals of their Member State of residence.
Training and networking between legal professions and legal practitioners
There is a need to develop and strengthen a shared culture of fundamental rights within the European Union. This requires that the legal, judicial and administrative authorities, legal professionals and practitioners have a good knowledge and understanding of the principles laid down in Art 6 of the Treaty on European Union and reflected in the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Training and awareness-raising are means to achieve this goal. The Commission will support training on the Charter, as well as cooperation and exchange of information between the legal profession and all legal practitioners in the area of fundamental rights. Projects involving more partners shall be prioritised.
Data protection and privacy rights
The development of a legal framework allowing the free circulation of information based on the protection of the fundamental rights of the individual and in particular their right to privacy with respect to the processing of personal data is an important task not only at European level but at international level as well.
Under this subject, priority actions should focus on:
- Reinforcing children's privacy in the current environment;
- Tackling the risks posed by internet and electronic means of communication in respect of the privacy of citizens and their economic interests, such as identity theft, phishing, spam;
- General information on the fundamental right to the protection of personal data and awareness-raising campaign, for example on the occasion of the European Data Protection Day (28th January);
- Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs).
3 Target Groups
The Programme is targeted at Union citizens or third country nationals residing legally within the European Union territory and civil society associations, among other groups active in promoting the objectives of this Programme.
CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION
The project must be prepared by a partnership of at least two eligible organisations from two eligible countries (see requirements for applicants and partners below). The organisation coordinating the project (applicant) will be required to put together a team of partners/associate partners.
1 Applicant
The applicant organisation will be responsible for the overall management of the project, coordination of tasks, liaison with the Commission and management of the budget. In order to be eligible for support from the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme, the applicants must comply with the following requirements:
- Legal status: they are non-governmental organisations, institutions and public or private organisations, universities, research institutes, national, regional and local authorities, and other non profit organisations established in one of the Member States of the European Union or international organisations, working on a non-profit basis and with proven expertise in the field of fundamental rights, rights of the Union citizens, fight against racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism or networking between legal, judicial and administrative authorities and the legal professions.;
- Origin: they are based in one of the 27 Member States of the European Union;
- Non-profit: they are non-profit-making (bodies and organisations which are profit- oriented shall have access to grants under the Programme only as partners if justified by the nature of the action).
2 Partners
Partners are organisations and institutions which, in cooperation with the applicant, will implement project activities as described in the grant agreement. The Partners participate in the design and implementation of the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the applicant. Consequently, partners must all be eligible for funding under this Programme at the time of submitting the application. The coordinating organisation and the partners share the relevant tasks and financial responsibility for the project. Therefore, by virtue of the grant agreement to be signed between the Commission and the co-ordinator, the co-ordinator and the partners will be jointly and severally liable to the Commission for any amount due to the Commission by one of them.
EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS
1 Eligibility Criteria
Proposals will be declared ineligible if they do not respect one of the following criteria. If a grant application is declared ineligible, it will not be considered for evaluation.
(a) Applicants must respect the deadline for the submission of the applications. The applications must be submitted before 22 April 2009 (see section 6.3);
(b) The grant application must fall within the scope of the call;
(c) The applicant organisation and the partners must be eligible to participate in the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme (see section 3);
(d) Projects must involve at least two eligible organisations: (see section 3);
(e) The Community grant applied for must be lower or equal to 80% of the total eligible cost of the project and be between EUR 75.000 and 500.000. The applicant must provide proof, through the budget form with estimates in Euro, signed Partner Declaration(s) and/or Co-financing Declaration(s), that it has secured4 co-financing of at least 20% of the total eligible costs of the project;
(f) Projects cannot last more than 18 months;
(g) Only proposals submitted on the standard forms accompanied by all annexes required in Section 6.2 of this call for proposals will be taken into account.
2. Award criteria
The award criteria aim to ensure the selection of actions with a high inherent quality, which contribute as much as possible to Community objectives and priorities in a cost-effective manner. Synergies and complementarity with other Community instruments and programmes shall be sought. All projects submitted must be within the scope of the Programme and will be assessed against the criteria set forth in this work programme and in the call for proposals.
BUDGET AND FINANCIAL ASPECTS
1. Budgetary Information
The indicative budget available for specific transnational projects is € 5.800.000. The Commission’s contribution towards a single project cannot be less than € 75.000 or more than € 500.000. The amount of co-financing requested and its appropriateness to the expected results will be assessed as one of the award criteria. The Commission will determine the amounts of financial assistance to be awarded, based on the available budget.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Applications must include travel costs to and from Brussels and 1 overnight stay (if necessary) for 1 to 2 representatives of the coordinating organisation (Including at least the project coordinator but ideally also the financial coordinator if not the same person).
These costs are to allow successful applicants to participate in the 1-day "kick-off" seminar dedicated to project management, administrative aspects and reporting obligations.
Deadline for submitting applications
Applications must be completed and submitted via PRIAMOS by: 22 April 2009, 24:00 CET.
In case of technical impossibility to use the on-line tool, the application, together with all relevant annexes, must be uploaded onto a commonly used media (USB key, CD-Rom, etc.), printed out and sent to the Commission via registered mail or private courier service by the final deadline to the address below:
By registered mail or by courier service:
European Commission
DG Justice, Freedom and Security
CFP JLS/2008/FRC-1
Unit JLS/D/4
LX 46 08/050
B-1049 Brussels, Belgium
Please note that the application submission deadline remains the same in case of paper submission and that the postmark or deposit slip of the submitted proposal will determine the date and time.
Where to get further information
Directorate General Justice, Freedom and Security website:
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/justice_home/index_en.htm
The Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme website:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/funding/rights/funding_rights_en.htm
PRIAMOS self-learning materials:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/funding/doc/electronic_applications/Introduction_Applicants.htm
- Call for proposals "Actions grants" 2008
