Information note on financial contributions to projects promoting the European dimension of the debate on the future of Europe
Date: 2001-12-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Member States' contribution, project management, promotion of the European idea

C 339/2

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Official Journal of the European Communities

1.12.2001

Information note on financial contributions to projects promoting the European dimension of the
debate on the future of Europe

(2001/C 339/02)

1. Objective

Following the Declaration on the future of the European
Union (1), adopted by the Nice European Council, and the
Communication from the Commission of 25 April 2001 on
certain arrangements for the debate on the future of the
European Union (2), the European Commission wishes to
promote the European dimension of the debate launched
on 7 March 2001, as a complement to the national debates.

This information note and the financial contributions it
the European
provides for relate to heading B3-306 of
Union budget.

It

society organisations

This heading comprises appropriations to finance activities
under the Information programme for European citizens
is intended for socioeconomic, academic and
(Prince).
in the
civil
Member
to
to contribute to the
implement
European dimension of the public debate on the future of
Europe.

the European Union wishing

transnational projects

and public bodies

States of

2. Eligibility criteria

2.1. All applications must:

(a) be submitted by a non-commercial organisation or
legally established and
is
a public body that
the 15 Member States, has
registered in one of
the
requisite
appropriate
financial resources to complete the project, and is
of known legal and moral integrity;

qualifications

and

(b) contain a detailed description of the project, clearly
describing the planned activities, the target group,
its size, the expected results and the method of
evaluation;

(c) relate to a transnational activity or

series of
starting after 1 January 2002 and

activities
running for a maximum of 18 months;

(e) be submitted using the grant application form
available from the European Commission (3), duly
completed, signed and accompanied by all
the
requisite documents;

(f)

themes

to the

relate
elaborated in the Nice
Declaration (4) and/or, moving beyond these, more
issues concerning the European Union’s
general
its
objectives and basic values,
policies,
its
social model and European governance.

the future of
consequences of enlargement,

the

From 1 January 2002, the projects will be evaluated
taking into account
the Laeken
Declaration to be adopted by the European Council (5).

content of

the

2.2. Types of action which will be supported:

Talks, debates, seminars and conferences, networking of
debate participants.

These projects may include, as a secondary feature, the
production and dissemination of information products,
in particular using the Internet, as required specifically
for implementing the project, informing participants or
disseminating the results.

The aim of these projects must be to encourage trans-
national players to contribute to the debate on the
future of Europe.

A typical action to be supported by the Commission
will have at least one of the following features:

(cid:151) It will aim to organise and lead an ongoing debate
between a large number of citizens in a trans-
national context and to facilitate and organise
their networking to allow them to contribute
collectively to the debate on the future of Europe.

(cid:151) It will

involve the organisation of European-level
events in the context of the debate on the future
of Europe.

(d) include at

least

three Member States or

two

Member States and one applicant country;

(1) Declaration No 23 annexed to the Nice Treaty (OJ C 80, 10.3.2001,

p. 85).

(3) See point 9 for address details.
(4) Demarcation of responsibilities between the Union and the Member
the
the Treaties, and the role of

the Charter of Fundamental Rights of

States,
European Union, simplification of
the national parliaments.

the status of

(2) COM(2001) 178 final of 25.4.2001.

(5) See paragraph 4 of Declaration 23 annexed to the Nice Treaty.

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3. Selection criteria

4. Funding terms and conditions:

The Commission will establish a selection board to examine
the applications. It will decide whether a grant should be
awarded and, if so, how much, on the basis of:

(a) the quality of the programme and how it will be imple-

mented;

(b) the ability of

the project to generate a transnational

contribution to the debate;

(c)

the ability of the project to involve a large number of
citizens in the debate and to ensure that they come from
a wide range of national origins;

(d) the networking dynamic, the innovative nature of the
process implemented to contribute to the civil debate;

(a) The grant will be capped at EUR 150 000 per project
and will not exceed 50 % of the total amount of eligible
costs (2). Applications must
that
co-financing amounting to at least 50 % of the total
cost of the project is available. Only projects applying
for Community funding of at least EUR 50 000 may be
considered.

evidence

include

(b) However, even though they are ineligible, contributions
in kind will be taken into account in determining the
level of Community funding.

(c) Grants will be awarded for the projects in question only
and confer no automatic right to funding in subsequent
years. They will cover only the period of the project.

(d) The subsidised project may not benefit from any other

Community funding for the same activity.

(e) No retrospective grants can be awarded.

(e)

the conformity of the forward budget with the financial
rules laid down in this note and the vade mecum on
grants (1).

4.1. Eligible costs

The following organisations will have priority:

The following direct costs are eligible:

(cid:151) those established or operating in several Member States
the European Union and those involving partners

of
from the applicant countries,

(cid:151) those carrying out their activities in close cooperation
with organisations established in other Member States or
in the applicant countries.

(a) the costs of staff working directly on the project:
and

contributions,

travel

social
and
wages
subsistence expenses;

(b) direct costs associated with the project: the costs of
organising and running conferences and seminars,
organisational
and
equipment, welcoming and reception services,
travel and subsistence expenses for participants
interpretation and
transport,
and speakers,
interpretation equipment costs, speakers’ fees;

expenses,

rooms

local

rent

for

Depending on the number and quality of projects submitted,
the Commission reserves
to ensure a fair
the
geographical distribution of projects, to ensure optimum
coverage of the territory of the EU.

right

(c)

the cost of disseminating information: production,
translation, distribution and dissemination costs,
etc.;

The Commission will give priority to actions offering the
best value for money.

(d) other direct costs directly associated with the
activity and not included in the non-eligible costs
in point 4.2.

(1) http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgc/info_subv/

vm_gs.htm.

(2) Without prejudice to paragraph (b).

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The eligible costs mentioned above will be taken into
consideration only if borne subsequent to the date of
application.

4.2. Ineligible costs:

(a) ongoing operational, depreciation and equipment

costs;

(b) overheads;

(d) An amount equivalent to 50 % of the amount of the
grant will be advanced within 60 calendar days of
receipt by the Commission of the agreement signed by
the two parties. The balance will be paid within 60 days
the Commission receiving and approving a final
of
report and detailed final accounts of income and expen-
diture. The final accounts must be balanced, dated,
drawn up in euro and signed and certified by the auth-
orised person, as provided for in the organisation’s
articles of association. The final accounts must be
presented with the same layout and headings as the
forward budget which will be appended to the grant
agreement.

(c)

the cost of consumables and supplies;

(d) capital investment costs;

(e) The award of a grant does not oblige the Commission to
grant a financial contribution equal
to the amount
requested by the beneficiary. The allocated amount
may not exceed the amount requested.

(e) general provisions
liabilities, etc.);

(for

losses, possible

future

(f)

contingency reserves;

(g) debts owed;

(h)

interest on debts owed;

(i)

charges for financial services;

(j)

bad debts receivable;

(k) exchange losses, unless specifically provided for in

exceptional cases;

(l)

contributions in kind;

(m) expenditure on luxuries.

5. Notification and grant payment procedure:

(a) Applicants will be informed of

the Commission’s
decision concerning their grant application as soon as
possible. No information will be released until
the
Commission’s decision has been made public.

(b) Should the Commission award a grant, a standard
agreement setting out the conditions and the amount
in euro will be sent to the beneficiaries.

(f) Beneficiaries undertake to carry out

the approved
projects as presented in the application form. Any
change to the project must be authorised by the
Commission in advance. The inclusion in the final
accounts of costs not referred to in the agreement
may lead the Commission to request reimbursement of
all or part of the grant.

(g)

In cases where the real eligible costs at the end of the
measure are lower than the total estimated costs, the
Commission will apply the envisaged percentage in
respect of the costs indicated in the budget appended
to the agreement, and the beneficiary will be obliged to
reimburse amounts already paid in excess of the amount
due.

(h) The projects supported may be subject to audits and
ex-ante and ex-post evaluations. The responsible person
in the organisation undertakes, with his or her signature,
to provide proof that the grant has been used correctly.
The Commission and the Court of Auditors of
the
European Communities may check the use made of
the grant, at any time during the term of
the
agreement and during a period of five years following
expiry of the agreement.

6. Visibility of the Community funding

Beneficiaries are required to publicise the fact that they have
received aid from the European Commission and to use the
name and emblem of the European Commission on all their
publications, posters, programmes, Internet sites and other
products generated by the co-funded project.

(c)

In the event of a rejection, the grounds will be indicated.
The Commission’s decision will be final.

They must also provide a direct link from their Internet site
to the (cid:145)Futurum(cid:146) site for the debate on the future of Europe.

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For its part, the Commission will contribute to the visibility
of the project on the multilingual Futurum site (1) and to the
dissemination on this site of contributions to the debate
produced by the project.

7. Time

limit
applications

for

submission

and

processing

of

are

submission
Applications
procedure and may be presented at any time from 1
November 2001 to 15 May 2002.

to an ongoing

subject

They will be evaluated lot-by-lot as they are received.

They will be evaluated initially on the basis of their eligi-
bility,
their consistency with the objectives pursued and
their quality, in accordance with the following timetable:

15 December 2001,

31 January 2002,

31 March 2002,

31 May 2002.

This initial phase will be followed by a budgetary and
financial evaluation.

The Commission will then make its decision at the end of
these two successive evaluation phases.

(a) the grant application form, duly completed, dated
and signed by the person responsible, including a
detailed description of the project;

(b) a detailed balanced forward budget (income and
expenditure)
in euro, stating the estimated unit
costs for the various items of expenditure and
income. This detailed budget must be dated and
signed by the person responsible.
It must be
presented in the table sent with the application
form;

(c)

the bank details form, completed by the beneficiary
and certified by the bank;

(d) official annual accounts of

the applicant organi-
sation for the most recent financial year available;

(e)

the articles of association of the applicant organi-
sation.

8.3. Applications for funding must be submitted in an
envelope in triplicate (one original and two certified
copies), signed by the responsible person. The words
(cid:145)Demande de subvention/DØbat sur l’avenir de l’Europe(cid:146)
(Application for
funding/Debate on the future of
Europe) must be written on the envelope. Applications
should be sent to the address given in point 9. below.

8. Submission of the application

8.4. No changes can be made to the file after

the

application has been submitted.

8.5. Applications may be submitted by fax or e-mail, but
will not be considered unless the original application,
duly completed and signed, is received within ten days
of receipt of this fax or e-mail.

9. Contact address

M. GØrard Legris
Head of Unit (cid:145)Public debate on the future of Europe(cid:146)
General Secretariat of the European Commission
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200
B-1049 Brussels
E-mail: futurum@cec.eu.int
Tel. (32-2) 299 94 06
Fax (32-2) 299 13 86.

8.1. The official

application form must be used for
submitting
form is
application. This
included in the application file available from the
contact address given in point 9.

grant

the

The file, which includes this note, the grant application
form, the budget table to be completed and the bank
details form can be found on the Internet at:

http://europa.eu.int/futurum/informations_en.htm

the heading (cid:145)informations pratiques/practical

under
information(cid:146).

8.2. Only dossiers comprising all the documents in points
(a) to (e) below, duly completed and accompanied by
the requisite supporting documents, can be considered:

(1) http://europa.eu.int/futurum