Call for proposals

European Refugee Fund - Community actions 2002

(2002/C 74/03)

A. Council Decision 2000/596/EC of 28 September 2000 established a European Refugee Fund (ERF) to support and encourage Member States' efforts in receiving refugees and displaced persons (see Official Journal of the European Communities L 252 of 6 October 2000, p. 12). The purpose of this notice is to invite proposals for Community actions for the budget year 2002.

B. Proposals are invited for the following actions

Strand 1: Analysis and evaluation

(a) Provision of analysis, information and data, in the form of regular reports, on the situation of persons referred to in Article 3 of the ERF Decision as well as on protection issues, with a view, for the European Commission and the EU Member States, to better implement the objectives of the European Refugee Fund and against the background of the specific needs of the Common European Asylum System. Analysis and information must contain: general information on situation in countries of origin and transit, historical overview, human rights issues, geographical and statistical data, analysis of and opinions on legal issues, assessment of the situation of vulnerable groups, assessment of protection needs, on return programmes, voluntary and forced repatriation issues, reintegration prospects, actions and operations of humanitarian NGOs and international organisations in and concerning those countries.

(b) Analysis (profiling) of the social, demographic, economic, professional, ethno-linguistic composition of diasporas of persons referred to in Article 3 of the ERF Decision present in EU Member States with a view to better implementing policies related to reception, integration and voluntary returns. Already existing initiatives in this field should be taken into account with a view to pooling of resources.

(c) Comparative factual analysis with regard to integration of persons referred to under Article 3(1), (2) and (4) of the ERF Decision. This must include an analysis of practice from the moment a person is granted one of the forms of protection set out in Article 3 of the ERF Decision and must include a sample of case studies identifying personal and economic, social, cultural and demographic factors influencing integration (a) within each Member State, and (b) comparison of practice throughout the 14 ERF Member States. The analysis should also provide an overview of the impact on host countries of a variety of integration processes measured in economic, social, cultural and demographic terms.

(d) Comparative analysis of the differences between integration systems used in the ERF Member States for persons referred to under Article 3(1), (2) and (4) of the ERF Decision, addressing, amongst others, the issue of "organised" integration (where the Member State authorities or agents acting on its behalf actively organise integration) versus "non-organised" integration (where these persons organise their own integration). An inventory of the main differences should be made. Empowerment measures, i.e. measures allowing these persons to take responsibility for and actively participate in their own integration, should also be taken into consideration. The action must include case studies and identify best practices.

Strand 2: Capacity building

(a) Capacity building: proposals furthering empowerment of persons enjoying one of the forms of protection set out in Article 3 of the ERF Decision and/or their community organisations, in the light of work previously done and projects currently under way.

(b) Comparative analysis of Member States' strategies, policies and practice for the reception, integration and voluntary repatriation of vulnerable groups in the host countries (including disabled persons). Measures covered must include both actions addressing their specific needs and actions targeted at removing obstacles to participation with a view to mainstreaming equality of opportunity. The action must include case studies and identify best practices.

(c) Transnational actions, submitted by public authorities from at least two Member States, involving a range of actors, consisting of the transfer of information, lessons learned and good practice. Activities may include the comparison of the effectiveness of processes, methods and tools related to the chosen themes, the mutual transfer and application of good practice, exchanges of personnel, the joint development of activities, processes, strategy and methodology, the adaptation to different contexts of the methods, tools and processes identified as good practices, and/or the common dissemination of results, information materials and events.

C. The budget available is EUR 2,2 million. The maximum grant amount per project is EUR 400000.

D. ERF financial support shall not exceed 80 % of the total eligible cost of the action.

E. Maximum project duration is 12 months. The earliest start date permitted for actions under 1(a) is 1 September 2002 and the latest start date permitted is 31 December 2002. The earliest start date permitted for all other actions is 1 November 2002 and the latest start date permitted is 31 December 2002.

F. Exclusion criteria

1. Proposals that do not have a clear European dimension and/or replace action that could be financed under the national programmes implemented by the Member States will not be considered.

2. Proposals that do not respect the ceilings on percentage and maximum grant amount will not be considered.

3. Actions that do not respect the maximum project duration will not be considered.

4. Proposals that do not select a start date within the range set out at point E will not be considered.

5. Proposals that do not include a signed detailed forward budget, with a breakdown of costs per budget heading, will not be considered.

6. Proposals for analysis and evaluation (studies) that include contributions in kind as part of their co-financing in their forward budgets will not be considered.

7. Each co-financing organisation must submit an explicit undertaking (letter of intent) stipulating that they will provide the amount of funding stated in the grant application and proposals that do not include such letters of intent will not be considered.

8. Proposals that do not include a detailed description of the action, separate to the summary description in the application form, will not be considered.

9. Application forms that are not signed by the person(s) responsible in the applicant organisation for the proposed operation will not be considered.

10. Proposals under points 1(c), 1(d), 2(a) and 2(b) that do not cover all the Member States involved in the ERF (i.e. all Member States except Denmark) will not be considered. Actions may, however, include Denmark on a no-cost basis.

11. Proposals under point 1(b) that do not cover at least four Member States involved in the ERF will not be considered.

12. Proposals under point 2(c) that are not submitted by at least two Member States, one of which will be the lead partner, will not be considered.

13. Proposals that do not include a detailed description of follow-up measures to be implemented for their project will not be considered.

Proposals not excluded by one of the above criteria will be further evaluated using the selection criteria set out below.

G. Selection criteria

1. Applicants must have the capacity to finance the proposed activities properly.

2. Applicants must have the operational (technical and management) capacity to complete the action to be supported. In particular the team responsible for the action must have adequate professional qualifications and must have proven and documented experience in the field of asylum and immigration (attach CVs and particulars of involvement in operations/actions that took place in the last three years).

Proposals that meet the selection criteria will be further evaluated using the award criteria set out below.

H. Award criteria

The proposals achieving the highest score following evaluation according to the award criteria weighted as set out below may be financed, taking into account the funds available. The criteria are:

1. The extent to which the action complements EU policy and/or policy proposals (20 %).

2. The innovatory nature of the action compared to the practice in the relevant Member States (10 %).

3. The extent to which the action complements and consolidates work previously done in the chosen field at Community level. All proposals must include a detailed description demonstrating that the relevance of the proposed action has been adequately researched, that, where relevant, work done under other projects or programmes will be taken into consideration or consolidated, and that there is no overlap with previous projects or studies carried out at EU level (under this or other Community programmes) or at national level (15 %).

4. Sustainability of the project after termination of the ERF grant (where relevant) or measures proposed to ensure adequate follow-up of project outputs. Follow-up may not consist only in conferences and/or website dissemination (15 %).

5. The cost-effectiveness of the expenditure, in view of ensuring optimum achievement of the ERF Community action framework objectives (10 %).

6. Global appreciation of the proposal taking into consideration the methodology proposed, the feasibility of the action, the timetable and realistic nature of the corresponding budget estimate (20 %).

7. The proportion of the applicant's financial contribution (10 %).

I. Further information and submission of proposals

Project proposals for measures described under points 1(a) to 1(d) and 2 above are invited from non-governmental organisations, national, regional and local authorities, international organisations and other organisations working on a strictly non-profit basis with proven experience and expertise in the fields covered.

Joint applications from two or more Member State authorities are invited for measures described under point 2(c).

The European Community pursues an equal opportunities policy and, in this context, women are particularly encouraged to either submit proposals or to be involved in their submission.

See the following website:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/jai/prog_en.htm

Applicants are invited to read the European Refugee Fund Decision, the "European refugee fund framework document for Community action 2000-2004", the "Vade-mecum on grant management for applicants and beneficiaries", as well as the lists and descriptions of projects financed in 2000 and 2001. All relevant documents are posted on the abovementioned site. A standard application form and a model forward budget, which MUST be used for all applications, are available on the same site as annexes to the vade-mecum. For applicants who do not have access to the website versions, requests for the documents should be sent by post, by fax or by electronic mail to the address below. Requests should be clearly addressed to "JAI European Refugee Fund". European Commission DG Justice and Home Affairs

JAI European Refugee Fund

Unit A/2 Immigration and Asylum LX 46 6/50

B - 1049 Brussels Fax (32-2) 299 80 53 E-mail: JAI-EUROPEAN-REFUGEE-FUND@cec.eu.int

ONE SIGNED ORIGINAL AND FOUR COMPLETE COPIES OF PROJECT PROPOSALS MUST BE SENT BY MAIL (EITHER BY REGISTERED MAIL WITH RECEIPT OR BY COURIER SERVICE) IN A SEALED DOUBLE ENVELOPE. THE INNER ENVELOPE MUST BE MARKED "ERF COMMUNITY ACTION 2002 - NOT TO BE OPENED BY THE INTERNAL MAIL SERVICE - APPLICATION FROM: (NAME OF ORGANISATION)" AND MUST BE POSTMARKED NO LATER THAN 3 JUNE 2002.