Official Journal of the European Union

Joint call for proposals for indirect RTD actions under the specific programme for research, technological development and demonstration: ‘structuring the European Research Area’ and the specific programme ‘Integrating and strengthening the European Research Area’

Call title: Support to innovation policy learning and development

Call identifier:

(2005/C 245/05)

In accordance with Article 9(1) of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2002 concerning the rules for the participation of undertakings, research centres and universities in, and for the dissemination of research results for, the implementation of the European Community Sixth Framework Programme (2002 to 2006) (5) (referred to as ‘the rules for participation’), proposals for indirect RTD actions should be submitted under the terms of calls for proposals.

In accordance with Articles 5(1) of the specific programmes, the Commission of the European Communities (referred to as ‘the Commission’) adopted on 6 December 2002 a work programme for ‘structuring the European Research Area’ (3) and on 9 December 2002 a work programme for ‘Integrating and strengthening the European Research Area’ (4) , both of which set out in greater detail the objectives and scientific and technological priorities of the specific programmes, and the timetables for their implementation.

In accordance with Decision No 1513/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2002 concerning the sixth framework programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities contributing to the creation of the European Research Area and to innovation (2002 to 2006) (1) , the Council adopted on 30 September 2002 the specific programme for research, technological development and demonstration: ‘Structuring the European Research Area’ (2002-2006) (2) (referred to as ‘the specific programme’) and the specific programme ‘Strengthening the foundations of the European Research Area’.

The present call for proposals for indirect RTD actions (referred to as ‘the call’) comprises the present general part and the specific conditions that are described in the annex. The annex indicates in particular, the date of closure for the submission of proposals for indirect RTD actions, an indicative date for the completion of the evaluations, the indicative budget, the instruments and the areas concerned, the evaluation criteria for the evaluation of proposals for indirect RTD actions, the minimum number of participants, and any applicable restrictions.

The European Community has adopted an equal opportunities policy and, on this basis, women are particularly encouraged to either submit proposals for indirect RTD actions or participate in the submission of proposals for indirect RTD actions.

The conditions of participation of the proposers will be verified within the framework of the negotiation of the indirect RTD action. Before that however, proposers will have signed a declaration stating that they do not fall under any of the cases given by Article 93(1) of the Financial Regulation. They will also have given the Commission the information listed in Article 173(2) of the Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 of 23 December 2002 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (7) .

Natural or legal persons fulfilling the conditions stated in the rules for participation and that do not fall under any of the exclusion cases in the rules for participation or in Article 114(2) of the Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (6) (referred to as ‘the proposers’) are invited to submit to the Commission proposals for indirect RTD actions subject to the conditions in the rules for participation and in the call concerned being fulfilled.

The Commission makes available to proposers guides for proposers relating to the call which contain information on the preparation and the submission of a proposal for an indirect RTD action. The Commission also makes available Guidelines on Proposal Evaluation and Selection Procedures (8) . These guides and guidelines, as well as the work programme and other information relating to the call, can be obtained from the Commission via the following addresses:

Further details on the various proposal submission procedures are given in Annex J of the Guidelines on Proposal Evaluation and Selection Procedures.

Any proposal for indirect RTD actions that has been allowed to be submitted on paper and which is incomplete will be excluded.

Versions of proposals for indirect RTD actions submitted on a removable electronic storage medium (eg, CD-ROM, diskette), by email or by fax will be excluded.

Proposals for indirect RTD actions that are submitted on-line and which are incomplete, illegible or contain viruses will be excluded.

The EPSS software tool (for off-line or on-line usage) is available via the CORDIS website www.cordis.lu.

Proposals for indirect RTD actions may be prepared off-line or on-line and submitted on-line. Part B of proposals for indirect RTD actions can only be submitted in PDF (‘portable document format’, compatible with Adobe Version 3 or higher with embedded fonts). Compressed (‘zipped’) files will be excluded.

All proposals for indirect RTD actions must contain two parts: the forms (Part A) and the content (Part B).

Proposals for indirect RTD actions are invited to be submitted only as an electronic proposal via the web-based Electronic Proposal Submission System (EPSS (9) ). In exceptional cases, however, a coordinator may request permission from the Commission to submit on paper in advance of a call deadline. This should be done by writing to the following address: infso-einfrastructure@cec.eu.int. The request must be accompanied by an explanation of why the exception is being sought. Proposers wishing to use paper submission take the responsibility for ensuring that such requests for exemption and the associated procedures are completed in time for them to meet the call deadline.

This also applies regarding any additional eligibility criteria given in the work programme.

Proposals for indirect RTD actions not satisfying the conditions relating to the minimum number of participants indicated in the call concerned will be excluded.

Proposals for indirect RTD actions have to reach the Commission at the latest on the closure date and at the time specified in the call concerned. Proposals for indirect RTD actions arriving after this date and time will be excluded.

In the case of successive submissions of the same proposal for an indirect RTD action, the Commission will examine the last version received before the closure date and time specified in the call concerned.

If foreseen in the relevant call, proposals for indirect RTD actions could be evaluated in the framework of a future evaluation.

In all correspondence relating to a call (e.g. when requesting information, or submitting a proposal for an indirect RTD action), proposers are invited to cite the relevant call identifier.

(1) OJ L 232, 29.8.2002, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 294, 29.10.2002, p. 44.

(3) Commission Decision C(2002)4791, as amended by Commission Decisions C(2003)635, C(2003)998, C(2003)1951, C(2003)2708, C(2003)4571, C(2004)48, C(2004)3330, and C(2004)4726, all unpublished.

(4) Commission Decision C(2002)4789, as modified by C(2003)577, C(2003)955, C(2003)1952, C(2003)343, C(2003)3555, C(2003)4609, C(2003)5183, C(2004)433, C(2004)2002, C(2004)2727, C(2004)324, C(2004)4178, C(2004)5286, C(2005)27, C(2005)961, and C(2005)2076, all decisions unpublished.

(5) OJ L 355, 30.12.2002, p. 23.

(6) OJ L 248, of 16.9.2002, p. 1.

(7) OJ L 357, of 31.12.2002, p. 1.

(8) C(2003)883 of 27.3.2003, as last modified by C(2004)3337 of 1.9.2004.

(9) The EPSS is a tool to assist proposers to develop and submit their proposals electronically.

ANNEX

1. Specific programmes: ‘Structuring the European Research Area’ and ‘Integrating and strengthening the European Research Area’

2. Activities: Research and Innovation and Support for the Coherent Development of Policies

3. Call title: Support to innovation policy learning and development

4. Call identifier:

FP6-2005-INNOV-9-Strand-1

FP6-2005-INNOV-9-Strand-2

FP6-2005-INNOV-9-Strand-3

FP6-2005-INNOV-9-Strand-4

FP6-2005-INNOV-9-Strand-5

5. Date of publication:

6. Closure date: 5 January 2006, at 17.00 (Brussels local time)

7. Total indicative budget: EUR 29,25 million (of which EUR 2 million will come from the ‘Integrating and strengthening the European Research Area’ specific programme to fund Strand 5)

8. Areas called, instruments and indicative budget per area:

Area Instruments (1) Indicative budget 1.2.3.5 Strand 1: INNO-Nets Strand 2: INNO-Actions Strand 3: INNO-Learning Platform Strand 1: CA and SSA Strand 2: CA Strand 3: SSA Strand 1: 11,5 million Strand 2: 11,5 million Strand 3: 2,5 million 1.2.1.9 (2) Strand 4: Mapping innovation clusters Strand 4: SSA Strand 4: 1,75 million 12.3.4 (3) Strand 5: GRIPS Strand 5: SSA Strand 5: 2 million

9. Minimum number of participants (4):

Instrument Minimum number of participants CA 3 independent legal entities from 3 different MS or AS, with at least 2 MS or ACC. SSA 1 legal entity from a MS or AS

10. Restriction to participation:

Strand 1

The minimum number of participants must include only

— Public bodies responsible for financing or managing innovation activities carried out a national or sub-national level;

— Other national or sub-national organisations that finance or manage such innovation activities;

— Bodies operating at European level that include as part of their mission the pan-European coordination of nationally-funded innovation activities.

Other legal entities such as charities or other private organisations, which also manage innovation programmes that are strategically planned and executed at national or regional level, may participate over and above the minimum number of participants.

Strand 2

The minimum number of participants must include only

— Public bodies responsible for financing or managing innovation activities carried out a national or sub-national level;

— Other national or sub-national organisations that finance or manage such innovation activities;

— Bodies operating at European level that include as part of their mission the pan-European coordination of nationally-funded innovation activities.

Above the minimum number of participants, which are defined above, there are no restrictions on other participants. Possible partners could therefore include also Chambers of Commerce, industry associations, not-for-profit organisations or private innovation actors.

Strands 3, 4 and 5

None

11. Consortia agreements: Participants in Specific Support Actions and Coordination Actions resulting from strand 1 of this call are not required to conclude a consortium agreement.

In case of consortia, participants in coordination actions resulting from strand 2 and participants in Specific Support Actions resulting from strand 3, strand 4 and strand 5 of this call are required to conclude a consortium agreement.

12. Evaluation procedure:

— The evaluation shall follow a single stage procedure.

— Proposals will not be evaluated anonymously.

— A merger of successful proposals could be proposed by the Commission, if necessary.

13. Evaluation criteria and weighting: See Annex B to the work programme for the specific programme ‘Structuring the European Research Area’ for the applicable criteria per instrument.

Strand 1, coordination actions: In addition 3 complementary items will be added in two of the six applicable criteria under 2) Quality of coordination: — the coordination mechanism include a suitable governance structure involving the participating organisations at an appropriate level; and under 3) Potential impact: — the INNO-Net involves the key actors within their national or sub-national innovation systems; — the INNO-Net activities lay the foundations for a durable cooperation between the partners involved.

No weights will be applied for strand 1 and strand 2. For strand 3, strand 4 and strand 5 the following weights will be applied

No thresholds will apply to this call except for strand 1, where the following thresholds will apply

Coordination Actions: Relevance: 3 out of 5; Quality of the coordination: 4 out of 5; Potential impact: 3 out of 5; Quality of the consortium: 3 out of 5; Quality of the management: 3 out of 5 and Mobility of resources: 3 out of 5.

Specific Support Actions: Relevance 4 out of 5; Quality of the support action 3 out of 5; Potential impact: 3 out of 5; Quality of the management: 3 out of 5 and Mobilisation of resources: 3 out of 5.

Further information will be given in the Guides for Proposers and in the Guide for Evaluators.

14. Indicative evaluation and contractual timetable:

— Evaluation results: estimated to be within 3 months after the relevant closure date mentioned under point 6.

— Contract signature: it is estimated that the first contracts related to this call will come into force 6 months after the relevant closure date mentioned under point 6.

15. Review procedure: Projects selected under strand 3, 4 and 5 could undergo a midterm review.

16. Financial modalities:

Strand 2: The EC contribution can be up to 50 % of the eligible costs.

Strand 1, 3, 4 and 5: The EC contribution can be up to 100 % of the eligible project costs.

(1) CA = Coordination actions; SSA = Specific Support Actions.

(2) Strand 4 is action 1.2.1.9: ‘Mapping and analysis of innovation clusters in Europe: Towards a consistent approach’.

(3) Strand 5 is action 1.2.3.4 ‘Global Review of Innovation Intelligence and Policy Studies’ (GRIPS) of the Specific Programme: Strengthening the Foundations of the European Research Area, area 12: ‘Support for coherent development of policies’.

(4) MS = Member States of the EU; AS (incl. ACC) = Associated States; ACC = Associated candidate countries. Any legal entity established in a Member State or Associated State and which is made up of the requested number of participant may be the sole participant in an indirect action.