# C_2009311EN.01002101.xml

| 19.12.2009 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 311/21 |
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Call for proposals — ENT/CIP/09/E/N08S03

European Network of Female Entrepreneurship Ambassadors

2009/C 311/08

1.   Objectives and description

This project seeks to support the implementation of the Small Business Act, and in particular its Principle 1: ‘Create an environment in which entrepreneurs and family businesses can thrive and entrepreneurship is rewarded’. It sets out to encourage entrepreneurship among women by creating a European Network of Female Entrepreneurship Ambassadors.

This is a follow-up to ENT/CIP/09/E/N08S00 extending the coverage of the European Network of Female Entrepreneurship Ambassadors to the remaining eligible countries under the European Commission’s Competitiveness and Innovation Programme.

The Network of Ambassadors aims to have successful entrepreneurs campaigning on the ground to encourage women — including women in active professional life and students — to set up their own businesses and become entrepreneurs. The ambassadors will seek to make women more confident about setting up and creating successful businesses. They also will act as role models, to inspire other women to become entrepreneurs by ‘telling their story’. The call is addressed solely to organisations active in the field of fostering, promoting and/or supporting entrepreneurship, with a view to setting up a Network to bring together successful entrepreneurs across Europe to work locally and nationally to inspire and encourage women to consider becoming an entrepreneur as an attractive career option and follow their lead.

The present call for proposals aims to improve the geographical coverage and is therefore designed for countries not yet included in the Network (see Chapter 6.1., geographical eligibility of the call for proposal).

Respondents to this call should: identify the ambassadors; the target groups (prospective women entrepreneurs) for each participating country; the kind of promotional activities that the ambassadors should engage in; prepare and run the scheme, and report back regularly to the Commission. For the purposes of assessing the performance of the Network, some indicators have been established at national and European level.

What activities are being funded?

Each project will set up a single national network. The aggregate of them will constitute a European Network. Applicants should present the ambassadors and the target groups: the former will focus on the latter in order to promote female entrepreneurship. Each project will select a number of ambassadors and will identify a target group.

2.   Eligible applicants

| (a) | Applications must be submitted by a legal entity. |
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| (b) | Corporate bodies must be properly constituted and registered under the law of their home country. |
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| (c) | Any public or private entity whose core activity is in the field of fostering, promoting and/or supporting entrepreneurship may take part in this call for proposals. This includes in particular:
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public authorities responsible for or active in the fields of economic affairs, enterprise, business support or related issues, —
chambers of commerce and industry, chambers of handicrafts or similar bodies, —
business support organisations and start-up centres, —
business associations and business support networks, —
public and private entities offering business support services. | — | public authorities responsible for or active in the fields of economic affairs, enterprise, business support or related issues, | — | chambers of commerce and industry, chambers of handicrafts or similar bodies, | — | business support organisations and start-up centres, | — | business associations and business support networks, | — | public and private entities offering business support services. |
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| — | public authorities responsible for or active in the fields of economic affairs, enterprise, business support or related issues, | | | | | | | | | | |
| — | chambers of commerce and industry, chambers of handicrafts or similar bodies, | | | | | | | | | | |
| — | business support organisations and start-up centres, | | | | | | | | | | |
| — | business associations and business support networks, | | | | | | | | | | |
| — | public and private entities offering business support services. | | | | | | | | | | |

| (d) | To be eligible to submit proposals, applicants must be established in the following countries that were not covered by the first call:
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the following EU Member States: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Finland, and the United Kingdom, —
the following EEA country: Liechtenstein, —
accession countries, candidate countries and other countries participating in the CIP: Albania, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Israel, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey. (Organisations based in these countries are eligible to apply in a consortium on the same conditions as organisations from EU Member States( 1 ).) | — | the following EU Member States: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Finland, and the United Kingdom, | — | the following EEA country: Liechtenstein, | — | accession countries, candidate countries and other countries participating in the CIP: Albania, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Israel, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey. (Organisations based in these countries are eligible to apply in a consortium on the same conditions as organisations from EU Member States( 1 ).) |
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| — | the following EU Member States: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Finland, and the United Kingdom, | | | | | | |
| — | the following EEA country: Liechtenstein, | | | | | | |
| — | accession countries, candidate countries and other countries participating in the CIP: Albania, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Israel, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey. (Organisations based in these countries are eligible to apply in a consortium on the same conditions as organisations from EU Member States( 1 ).) | | | | | | |

| (e) | Projects will be run by specific consortia made up of partner organisations for the purpose of this Call. Different partners may apply in order to achieve a good coverage of the country. However, all partners must form a single consortium per country. The specific consortia must conform to the possible configurations set out in the call for proposals. |
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3.   Budget and project duration

The maximum budget allocated for the operation is approximately EUR 545 000.

| — | Indicative number of projects: an estimated number of 10 national projects, with an average of 10 female entrepreneurship ambassadors per Network. |
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| — | The EU funding is limited to a maximum of 50 % of the total eligible costs of the project. |
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| — | The average amount of EU funding is likely to be some EUR 50 000 per project. |
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| — | The indicative timetable is:
Signature of the agreements
July 2010 Selection of the Ambassadors at national level
August-September 2010 Induction event for the new countries in the European Network of Female Entrepreneurship Ambassadors
October 2010 Network operation
November 2010 onwards | Signature of the agreements | July 2010 | Selection of the Ambassadors at national level | August-September 2010 | Induction event for the new countries in the European Network of Female Entrepreneurship Ambassadors | October 2010 | Network operation | November 2010 onwards |
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| Signature of the agreements | July 2010 | | | | | | | | |
| Selection of the Ambassadors at national level | August-September 2010 | | | | | | | | |
| Induction event for the new countries in the European Network of Female Entrepreneurship Ambassadors | October 2010 | | | | | | | | |
| Network operation | November 2010 onwards | | | | | | | | |

| — | The maximum duration will be 24 months. After this time participating partners will be expected to take over the running of each national network and ensure its continuation. |
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4.   Deadline

Applications must be sent to the Commission no later than 12.3.2010.

5.   Further information

The full text of the call for proposals, the guide for applicants and the application forms are available at: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/itemlongdetail.cfm?item_id=3917&lang=en

Applications must comply with the requirements set out in the full text and be submitted using the set form.

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( 1 )  For the latest information on participation of non-member countries in the EIP, please consult the CIP website (http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/international_relations/competitiveness_innovation/index_en.htm). Grants can only be awarded to organisations from those countries where the agreement on the participation of the country in the EIP has come into force.

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