Hercule II — Call for proposals — Training, seminars and conferences — Legal part
Date: 2013-03-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, corruption, fraud, invitation to tender, legal adviser








C_2013073EN.01002101.xml










13.3.2013   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 73/21






HERCULE II

Call for proposals
Training, seminars and conferences — Legal part
2013/C 73/08
1.   Objectives and description

This notice of call for proposals is based on the annual work programme for the Hercule II programme (1), which implements Decision No 878/2007/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2007 establishing a Community action programme to promote activities in the field of the protection of the Community's financial interests (2). This call relates to Section 9 of the annual work programme as well as the activities under Article 1a(b) of the Hercule II Decision. The activities consist of the organisation of training, seminars and conferences to support the fight against fraud, corruption and other illegal activities as well as the development and implementation of fraud prevention and detection policies.
2.   Eligible applicants

Proposals eligible for funding can be submitted by the following applicants:






—


all national or regional administrations of a Member State, an acceding country or a candidate country which promote the strengthening of the EU's actions in the field of the protection of the EU's financial interests,










—


all research and education institutes that have had legal personality for at least one year and are established and operating in a Member State or in a country outside the Union that promote the strengthening of the EU's action in protecting its financial interests,










—


all non-profit-making bodies that have had legal personality for at least one year and are legally established in a Member State or a country outside the Union that promote the strengthening of EU action to protect the EU's financial interests.




Applicants from countries outside the European Union must reside in:






1.


acceding States;










2.


EFTA/EEA countries, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the EEA Agreement;










3.


candidate countries associated with the European Union on the basis of the conditions stipulated in the association agreements or their additional protocols on participation in European Union programmes concluded or to be concluded with those countries.




3.   Eligible actions

The Commission will award grants to support training actions and legal studies aimed at enhancing and developing the legal and judicial protection of the EU financial interest against fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities. Examples of actions which can be co-financed are:






—


organisation of conferences and seminars,










—


studies on comparative law,










—


dissemination, including the publication, of scientific knowledge concerning the protection of the EU's financial interests,










—


publication and distribution of a scientific periodical on the protection of the European Union's financial interests,










—


the organisation of the annual meeting of the presidents of the associations for european criminal law and for the protection of the EU financial interests.




The activities are eligible for funding up to 90 % of the eligible costs. The total amount of assistance granted by the Commission OLAF for each project will not exceed:






—


EUR 50 000 for a one-day seminar; EUR 100 000 for a two-day seminar,










—


EUR 300 000 for a comparative law study,










—


EUR 25 000 for the dissemination of expertise,










—


EUR 60 000 for the publication and distribution of a periodical publication by the associations for one year,










—


EUR 45 000 for the meeting of presidents of the associations.




4.   Award criteria

The following award criteria will be used to examine the proposals:






1.


the consistency of the proposed activity in relation to the objectives of the programme;










2.


the complementarity of the proposed activity with other assisted activities;










3.


the feasibility of the proposed activity, i.e. the real possibility that it can be carried out using the proposed means;










4.


the cost-benefit ratio of the proposed activity;










5.


the added value of the proposed activity;










6.


the size of the public targeted by the proposed activity;










7.


the transnational and multidisciplinary aspects of the proposed activity;










8.


the geographic scope of the proposed activity.




If several projects have equal merit in the light of these award criteria, funding priority may be given to, in descending order:






—


proposals of a transnational and multidisciplinary character,










—


proposals allowing a fair geographical distribution,










—


applicants which have not already received a grant in previous years for a similar project.




5.   Budget

In 2013, the Commission will launch one call for proposals for the ‘Legal part’ of the ‘Training, seminars and conferences’ section of the annual work programme. A budget of EUR 700 000 is available for proposals submitted before the deadline of 30 April 2013.
In case the budget is not exhausted after the first call, a possible second call will be launched in the third quarter 2013.
The financial contribution will take the form of a grant.
The Commission reserves the right not to allocate all the funds available.
6.   Further information

The technical specifications and the application form can be downloaded from the following site: http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/funding/lawyers/index_en.htm
Questions and/or requests for additional information in relation to this call have to be sent by e-mail to:
OLAF-FMB-HERCULE-LEGAL@ec.europa.eu
The questions and answers may be anonymously published in the Guidelines for filling in the application form on OLAF's Internet website if they are relevant to other applicants.
7.   Deadline for submission of applications


Tuesday, 30 April 2013.
Only applications submitted by using the official application form, duly signed by the person entitled to enter into legally binding commitments on behalf of the applicant organisation, will be accepted.


(1)  C(2013) 612 of 7 February 2013: Hercule II Financing Decision 2013.

(2)  OJ L 193, 25.7.2007, p. 18.