Call for proposals — European Commission — DG REGIO — Multi-region assistance for the assessment of the potential use of financial instruments supported by the ERDF, CF, ESF and EAFRD in accordance with Title IV of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013
Date: 2015-05-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EAFRD, EU aid, EU regional policy, European Regional Development Fund, European Social Fund, financial aid, invitation to tender, regional aid








C_2015152EN.01001201.xml










8.5.2015   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 152/12





Call for proposals — European Commission — DG REGIO
Multi-region assistance for the assessment of the potential use of financial instruments supported by the ERDF, CF, ESF and EAFRD in accordance with Title IV of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013
(2015/C 152/09)
1.   Objective and description

With the call for proposals published on http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index.cfm/en/newsroom/funding-opportunities/ the European Commission envisages to co-finance actions on the potential use of financial instruments under A) European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and/or the Cohesion Fund (CF), and/or B) the European Social Fund (ESF) and/or C) the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). The actions shall serve the Union objective of broadening the use of financial instruments co-financed by the above Funds as called for in the ‘An Investment Plan for Europe’ (Communication COM(2014)903). Applicants can present proposals linked to the objectives of one or more of the above three fields.
The support provided to actions co-financed under this call is expected to contribute to an increased use of financial instruments to ultimately achieve the objectives of ERDF, CF, ESF and EAFRD-related policies, in particular by extending their use to new/innovative areas. More specifically, the objective is to improve the knowledge of managing authorities/intermediate bodies of programmes co-funded under ERDF, CF, ESF and EAFRD by building up relevant expertise for the possible use of specific financial instruments with regard to issues common to at least two regions in at least two distinct Member States.
2.   Eligible applicants

An application must be submitted by a consortium of at least two managing authorities/intermediate bodies of ERDF, CF, ESF or EAFRD programmes covering at least two distinct Member States.
3.   Eligible actions

Eligible actions must serve the objectives set out in the call, be relevant, and to the benefit of at least two regions from at least two different EU Member States and include an appropriate proportion of cross-border and/or transnational activities, i.e. involving significant interaction among the applicants aiming at common results. It must also draw on individualised expertise from and assistance by financial institution(s).
4.   Exclusion and selection criteria


Exclusion criteria

Applicants will be excluded from participating in the call for proposals procedure if they are in any of situations referred to in Article 106(1) of the Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 (1). Applicants will not be granted financial assistance if, in the course of the grant award procedure, they are in any of the situation referred to in Article 107 of the Regulation.

Selection criteria

The application shall demonstrate the financial and operational capacity to carry out the proposed action. Applicants must have stable and sufficient sources of funding to maintain their activity throughout the period during which the action is being carried out and to participate in its funding. Applicants must have operational capacity and in particular professional competencies as well as appropriate qualifications necessary to complete the proposed action.
5.   Award criteria

Eligible applications/grant actions will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria and taking into account the weighting for each of them as indicated in the square brackets below:
—   Relevance: the contribution of the grant action and its expected results to the objectives of the call; level of the involvement of a broader scope of expertise sources such as academia; the integral and the comprehensive nature of activities proposed to be carried out under the action; and the innovative nature of the grant action [40 %];
—   Impact: the resulting geographical coverage; the sustainability of the action’s results; the transferability and planned use of the expected results, including planned dissemination [30 %];
—   Quality: the effectiveness and rationality of the proposed methodology and organisation (including the timetable and monitoring); the relevance and quality of the means of implementation and of the resources deployed in relation to the objectives envisaged (particularly in terms of cost-effectiveness); consistency of the action proposal [30 %].
6.   Budget and project duration

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of grant actions is estimated at EUR 10,83 million. The maximum grant amount per action and per field will be:
A)   ERDF and/or CF: EUR 2,5 million,
B)   ESF: EUR 0,5 million,
C)   EAFRD: EUR 1,4 million.
The maximum grant amount per action combining A, B and/or C will be EUR 2,5 million.
Given the objectives of the call, the Commission expects that the actions would not run for longer than one year.
7.   Deadline

Applications must be sent to the Commission no later than 31 July 2015.
8.   Further information

Applications must comply with the requirements set out in the call for proposals published on http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index.cfm/en/newsroom/funding-opportunities/ and be submitted using the forms provided. For more information applicants can consult the guide available on the same website.


(1)  Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1).