Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

|  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 29.6.2018 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 228/23 |

---

Call for proposals IX-2019/02 — ‘Grants to European political foundations’

(2018/C 228/05)

A.   INTRODUCTION AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 1. | Under Article 10(4) of the Treaty on European Union, ‘political parties at European level contribute to forming European political awareness and to expressing the will of citizens of the Union’. |

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 2. | In accordance with Article 224 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the European Parliament and the Council lay down the regulations governing political parties at European level and in particular the rules regarding their funding. These rules are laid down in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations [(1)](#ntr1-C_2018228EN.01002301-E0001) (‘Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014’). |

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 3. | Pursuant to Article 2(4) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, a European political foundation is ‘an entity which is formally affiliated with a European political party, which is registered with the Authority in accordance with the conditions and procedures laid down in this Regulation, and which through its activities, within the aims and fundamental values pursued by the Union, underpins and complements the objectives of the European political party’. |

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 4. | Pursuant to Article 17(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, a European political foundation which is affiliated with a European political party eligible to apply for funding under Article 17(1) of the regulation, which is registered in accordance with the conditions and procedures laid down in the regulation, and which is not in one of the situations of exclusion referred to in Article 106(1) of the Financial Regulation may apply for funding from the general budget of the European Union, in accordance with the terms and conditions published by the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament in a call for proposals. |

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 5. | Hence, the European Parliament is launching this call for proposals with a view to awarding grants to European political foundations (‘call’). |

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | 6. | The basic legal framework is defined in the following legal acts:  |  |  | | --- | --- | | a) | Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, as amended by Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 2018/673 of 3 May 2018 [(2)](#ntr2-C_2018228EN.01002301-E0002); |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | b) | Decision of the Bureau of the European Parliament of 28 May 2018, laying down the procedures for implementing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations [(3)](#ntr3-C_2018228EN.01002301-E0003); |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | c) | 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 (‘Financial Regulation’) [(4)](#ntr4-C_2018228EN.01002301-E0004); |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | d) | Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012 of 29 October 2012 on the rules of application of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 (‘Rules of Application of the Financial Regulation’) [(5)](#ntr5-C_2018228EN.01002301-E0005); |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | e) | Commission Delegated Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2015/2401 of 2 October 2015 on the content and functioning of the Register of European political parties and foundations [(6)](#ntr6-C_2018228EN.01002301-E0006); |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | f) | Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2246 of 3 December 2015 on detailed provisions for the registration number system applicable to the register of European political parties and European political foundations and information provided by standard extracts from the register [(7)](#ntr7-C_2018228EN.01002301-E0007); |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | g) | European Parliament's Rules of Procedure [(8)](#ntr8-C_2018228EN.01002301-E0008). | |

B.   OBJECTIVE OF THE CALL

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 7. | The objective of this call is to invite registered European political foundations to submit applications for funding from the Union budget (‘funding applications’). |

C.   PURPOSE, CATEGORY AND FORM OF FUNDING

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 8. | The purpose of the funding is to support the European political foundations' work programme for the financial year from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019 under the terms and conditions set out in the grant decision by the responsible authorising officer. |

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 9. | The category of the funding is the grant to European political foundations, pursuant to Title VI of Part I of the Financial Regulation (‘grant’). The grant takes the form of a reimbursement of a percentage of eligible costs actually incurred. |

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 10. | The maximum amount paid to the beneficiary by the European Parliament may not exceed 95 % of the eligible costs actually incurred. |

D.   BUDGET AVAILABLE

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 11. | The foreseen funding for the financial year 2019 under Article 403 of Parliament's budget ‘Funding of European political foundations’ amounts to EUR 19 700 000. The final available appropriations are subject to approval by the budgetary authority. |

E.   ADMISSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR FUNDING APPLICATIONS

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | 12. | Funding applications will be admissible if they  |  |  | | --- | --- | | a) | are submitted in writing on the application form as annexed to this call, including all supporting documents required therein; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | b) | contain the commitment, expressed in writing by signing the declaration form which is annexed to the present call, that the applicant agrees to the terms and conditions specified in Annex 1b to the Bureau Decision specified in paragraph 6(b) of this call; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | c) | contain a letter of a legal representative certifying the authorization to undertake legal obligations on behalf of the applicant; |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | d) | are forwarded to the President of the European Parliament by 30 September 2018 to the following address:   |  |  |  |  |  | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | |  | | --- | | President of the European Parliament | | Attn. Mr Didier Kléthi, Director-General of Finance | | SCH 05B031 | | L-2929 Luxembourg | | | |

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 13. | Applications assessed as incomplete may be rejected. |

F.   CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION OF FUNDING APPLICATIONS

F.1   Exclusion criteria

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | 14. | Applicants shall be excluded from the funding procedure, if they are:  |  |  | | --- | --- | | a) | in one of the situations of exclusion referred to in Article 106(1), 107 or 108 of the Financial Regulation. |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | b) | subject of any of the sanctions provided for in Article 27(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 and in points (v) and (vi) of Article 27(2)(a) of the same Regulation. | |

F.2   Eligibility criteria

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | 15. | In order to be eligible for Union funding, applicants must satisfy the conditions laid down in Articles 17 and 18 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, i.e. the applicant  |  |  | | --- | --- | | a) | must be registered in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | b) | must be affiliated to a European political party fulfilling all criteria for being awarded a contribution to European political parties [(9)](#ntr9-C_2018228EN.01002301-E0009); |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | c) | must comply with the obligations listed in Article 23 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, i.e. it must have submitted the annual financial statements [(10)](#ntr10-C_2018228EN.01002301-E0010), external audit report and the list of donors and contributors, as specified therein. | |

F.3   Selection criteria

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 16. | Pursuant to Article 202 of the Rules of Application of the Financial Regulation ‘the applicant must have stable and sufficient sources of funding to maintain his activity throughout (…) the year for which the grant is awarded and to participate in its funding. The applicant must have the professional competencies and qualifications required to complete the proposed action or work programme unless specifically provided otherwise in the basic act’. |

F.4   Award criteria and distribution of funding

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | 17. | In accordance with Article 19 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, the respective available appropriations shall be distributed annually. They shall be distributed among the European political foundations whose applications for funding have been approved in the light of the eligibility and exclusion criteria, on the basis of the following distribution key:  |  |  | | --- | --- | | a) | 10 % will be distributed in equal shares among the beneficiary European political foundations; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | b) | 90 % will be distributed among the beneficiary European political foundations in proportion to the share of elected members of the European Parliament of the beneficiary European political parties to which the applicants are affiliated. | |

G.   SHARED CONTROL BY EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND AUTHORITY

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 18. | Article 24(1) and (2) [(11)](#ntr11-C_2018228EN.01002301-E0011) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 foresee shared control between the European Parliament and the Authority for European political parties and European political foundations [(12)](#ntr12-C_2018228EN.01002301-E0012) (‘Authority’). |

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 19. | Where pursuant to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, the Authority is competent for controlling compliance with the provisions of that Regulation, the European Parliament shall forward the relevant documentation to the Authority. The Authority will communicate to the European Parliament the result of its controls and verifications. |

H.   TERMS AND CONDITIONS

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 20. | Applicants are obliged to notify the European Parliament of any changes as regards the documents submitted or any information referred to in the application within two weeks of such a change. Failing such notification, the authorising officer may make the decision based on the information available, notwithstanding any information provided at a later stage. |

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 21. | In respect to the condition that the applicant continues to fulfil the criteria for funding, the burden of proof rests with the applicant. |

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 22. | The terms and conditions as regards Union funding to be awarded under this call are laid down in Annex 1b to the Bureau Decision specified in paragraph 6(b) of this call. |

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 23. | Each applicant shall accept the terms and conditions referred to in paragraph 22 of this call, by signing the declaration form which is annexed to the present call. These terms and conditions bind the beneficiary to whom the funding is awarded and are stipulated in the grant decision. |

I.   TIMING

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 24. | The deadline for submitting the funding applications is 30 September 2018. |

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 25. | The Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall adopt a decision within three months after the closure of the call for proposals. |

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 26. | It is foreseen that successful applicants will receive the grant decision in January 2019 and that rejected applicants will be informed at the same time. The payment of the pre-financing shall take place within 30 days of the notification of the grant decision. |

J.   DISCLOSURE AND PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 27. | The European Parliament shall publish, including on the internet, information pursuant to Article 32 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014. |

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 28. | Any personal data collected in the context of the present call shall be processed in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 [(13)](#ntr13-C_2018228EN.01002301-E0013) pursuant to Article 33 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014. |

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 29. | Such data shall be processed for the purpose of evaluating the funding applications and safeguarding the financial interests of the Union. This is without prejudice to the possible transfer of this data to the bodies responsible for carrying out verification and audit tasks in accordance with Union law, such as internal audit services of the European Parliament, the Authority, the European Court of Auditors, or the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). |

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 30. | On the basis of a written request, the beneficiary may obtain access to its personal data and rectify any inaccurate or incomplete data. The beneficiary may submit any request concerning the processing of its personal data to the European Parliament's Directorate-General for Finance or the European Parliament's Personal Data Protection Unit. The beneficiary may, at any time, lodge a complaint to the European Data Protection Supervisor concerning the processing of its personal data. |

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 31. | Personal data may be registered in the Early Detection and Exclusion System by the European Parliament, should the beneficiary be in one of the situations mentioned in Article 106(1) and 107 of the Financial Regulation. |

K.   OTHER INFORMATION

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 32. | Any questions relating to this call should be sent by email, quoting the publication reference, to the following address: fin.part.fond.pol@europarl.europa.eu |

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 33. | The basic legislation specified in paragraph 6(b) of this call and the funding application form annexed to this call are available on the European Parliament's internet site (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/tenders/invitations.htm). |

Annex: Funding application form, including the financial identification form, the declaration on terms and conditions as well as exclusion criteria, the model of estimated budget and the declaration that the application is submitted through the affiliated European political party

---

[Top](#document1)