WRITTEN QUESTION E-2437/02

by Cecilia Malmström (ELDR) to the Commission

(28 August 2002)

Subject: Criteria for allocation of grants under budget line A-3029

Each year, funds are allocated to youth organisations through the budget line A-3029 Support to international non-governmental youth organisations. The formal criteria to be fulfilled by applicants are published in the Official Journal.

In the 2002 selection, the Commission has decided to reject a number of applications from organisations that fulfil the formal criteria and that have received the grant for a number of years. According to a letter sent by the Commission, their applications were rejected as the available credit was too low to accept all formally eligible organisations. It was, however, mentioned that the decision was in no way a reflection of the relevance of quality of the proposed project.

In previous years, the amounts allocated to applicants have varied with regard to the number of eligible applications. This year, however, some organisations have been allotted substantial grants whereas others, who still fulfil the criteria, have had their applications rejected. The criteria applied by the selection committee have not been made public and this provides significant uncertainty for all organisations applying under this budget line. It is important that organisations are informed about the criteria in advance, and that maximum transparency is ensured in the distribution of grants, in particular with regard to the Commission's policy on good governance.

What exact criteria apply to the allocation of grants and the approval and rejection of applications that fulfil the formal requirements under the A-3029 budget line, and what will the Commission do to improve the advance information on its criteria and to increase transparency in the work of the selection committee?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(21 October 2002)

Applications for support for international non-governmental youth organisations are evaluated in two stages:

- first on the basis of eligibility criteria, i.e. formal criteria relating, in particular, to the organisation's status, its geographical coverage and its co-financing capacity (as regards this last criterion, in accordance with the remarks in the budget);

- next on the basis of qualitative and quantitative award criteria, relating in particular to their activities and the impact of these activities on young people.

These eligibility and award criteria are outlined in the call for proposals for the year 2002(1). All potential beneficiaries are therefore aware of them in advance.

The evaluation committee based its analysis of the applications on all the above-mentioned criteria. Those applications which did not meet the formal eligibility criteria were of course rejected.

The applications which met the eligibility criteria were ranked in descending order of priority, based on the number of points they obtained in terms of meeting the award criteria. This procedure was followed in 2002, and in previous years also.

Overall, the amount of funding requested in the 147 applications submitted came to EUR 2 500 000, which was EUR 1 000 000 more than the appropriations available under the 2002 budget line A-3029.

Based on the priority ranking established by the selection committee, grants were awarded to the highest possible number of organisations, within the limits of the overall budget availability of EUR 1 500 000. Thus, grants ended up being awarded to 93 organisations, or 63 % of the applications submitted. The applications rejected at this stage did not contain such impressive activity plans as those selected.

In 2001, the percentage of applications selected was 82 %. But this was because the total amount of funding requested was lower (only EUR 2 000 000). It is also worth pointing out that the award of a grant in 2001 in no way guarantees the award of a grant in 2002.

The Commission makes every effort to ensure maximum transparency, both regarding the criteria used and the funding decisions taken. For the 2003 grants exercise, the Commission will again spell out these criteria in the call for proposals and will make more effort to explain the reasons for the non-selection of certain applications in the letters sent out to the organisations concerned.

(1) OJ C 352, 12.12.2001.