Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

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| 12.1.2017 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 9/23 |

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2017 CALL FOR PROPOSALS

MULTI PROGRAMMES

Grants to information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products implemented in the internal market and in third countries in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council

(2017/C 9/07)

1.   Background and purpose of this call

1.1.   Information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products

On 22 October 2014, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 on information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products implemented in the internal market and in third countries and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 3/2008[(1)](#ntr1-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0001). This Regulation is supplemented by the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829[(2)](#ntr2-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0002) and the rules for its application are laid down in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1831[(3)](#ntr3-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0003).

The general objective of the information provision and promotion measures is to enhance the competitiveness of the Union agricultural sector.

The specific objectives of the information provision and promotion measures are to:

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| (a) | increase awareness of the merits of Union agricultural products and of the high standards applicable to the production methods in the Union; |

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| (b) | increase the competitiveness and consumption of Union agricultural products and certain food products and to raise their profile both inside and outside the Union; |

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| (c) | increase the awareness and recognition of Union quality schemes; |

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| (d) | increase the market share of Union agricultural products and certain food products, specifically focusing on those markets in third countries that have the highest growth potential; |

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| (e) | restore normal market conditions in the event of serious market disturbance, loss of consumer confidence or other specific problems. |

1.2.   The Commission's Annual Work Programme for 2017

The Commission's Annual Work Programme for 2017, adopted by Implementing Decision[(4)](#ntr4-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0004) on 9 November 2016, sets out the details for the award of co-financing and the priorities for actions for proposals for simple and multi programmes in the internal market and in third countries. It is available at the following address:

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/promotion/annual-work-programmes/2017/index\_en.htm

1.3.   Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency

The Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (hereafter Chafea) is entrusted by the European Commission with the management of some of the phases of the programme implementation, including the publication of calls for proposals, reception and evaluation of proposals, the preparation and signature of grant agreements for multi programmes and the monitoring of their implementation.

1.4.   The present call for proposals

The present call for proposals relates to the implementation of multi programmes, in the framework of Sections 1.2.1.3 and 1.2.1.4 of Annex I to the 2017 Annual Work Programme related to Actions under thematic priority 3: multi programmes in the internal market and priority 4: multi programmes in the internal market or in third countries.

2.   Objective(s) – Theme(s) – Priorities

Sections 1.2.1.3 and 1.2.1.4 of Annex I to the 2017 Annual Work Programme set out the thematic priorities for actions to be implemented through the present call. Only proposals which directly correspond to the topic and description given in these sections of the Annual Work Programme will be considered for funding. Therefore, 3 topics for proposals are announced with the present call document. Applications submitted under this call must fall under the scope of one of these priority topics. A proposing organisation may submit several applications for different projects under the same priority topic. A proposing organisation may as well submit several applications for different projects under different priority topics.

3.   Timetable

The deadline for submission of proposals is 20 April 2017, 17:00 CET (Central European Time).

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|  | Stages | Date and time or indicative period |
| a) | Publication of the call | 12.1.2017 |
| b) | Deadline for submitting applications | 20.4.2017 |
| c) | Evaluation period (indicative) | 21.4 – 31.8.2017 |
| d) | Information to applicants (indicative) | < 20.10.2017 |
| e) | Signature of the grant agreement (indicative) | < 20.1.2018 |
| f) | Starting date of the action (indicative) | > 1.1.2018 |

4.   Budget available

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of multi programmes is estimated at EUR 43 000 000.

This amount is subject to the availability of the appropriations provided for in the general budget of the EU for 2017 following its adoption by the budgetary authority or provided for in the provisional twelfths.

Chafea reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

5.   Admissibility requirements

Applications must be sent no later than the submission deadline referred to in section 3.

Applications must be submitted online by the coordinator via the participant portal (electronic submission system available at: https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/agrip/index.html

Failure to comply with the above requirements will lead to the rejection of the application.

Even though proposals may be submitted in any of the official languages of the European Union, applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their proposal in English to facilitate processing of the application including its review by independent experts who provide technical input to the evaluation. In addition, applicants should be aware that Chafea will, in principle, use English to communicate with beneficiaries regarding the follow up and the monitoring of the co- financed actions (grant management stage).

To facilitate the review of the proposals by independent experts, an English translation of the technical part (part B) should preferably accompany the proposal if it is written in another EU official language.

6.   Eligibility criteria

6.1.   Eligible applicants

Proposals can only be submitted by legal persons; entities which do not have a legal personality under the applicable national law may submit an application provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on behalf of the entity and offer guarantees for the protection of the Union’s financial Interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons as referred to in Article 131(2) of the Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012.

More specifically, applications from the following organisations and bodies are eligible, as referred to in Article 7(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014:

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| (i) | trade or inter-trade organisations, established in a Member State and representative of the sector or sectors concerned in that Member State, and in particular the interbranch organisations as referred to in Article 157 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and groups as defined in point 2 of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, provided that they are representative for the name protected under the latter Regulation which is covered by that programme |

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| (ii) | trade or inter-trade organisations of the Union representative of the sector or sectors concerned at Union level; |

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| (iii) | producer organisations or associations of producer organisations, as referred to in Articles 152 and 156 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 that have been recognised by a Member State; or |

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| (iv) | agri-food sector bodies the objective and activity of which is to provide information on, and to promote, agricultural products and which have been entrusted, by the Member State concerned, with a clearly defined public service mission in this area; those bodies must have been legally established in the Member State in question at least two years prior to the date of the call for proposals referred to in Article 8(2). |

The abovementioned proposing organisations may submit a proposal provided that they are representative of the sector or product concerned, in accordance with the conditions set out in Article 1 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829, namely:

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| (i) | trade or inter-trade organisation, established in a Member State or at Union level, as referred to in Article 7(1)(a) and (b) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 respectively, shall be deemed to be representative of the sector concerned by the programme:   |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | where it accounts for at least 50 % as a proportion of the number of producers, or 50 % of the volume or value of marketable production of the product(s) or sector concerned, in the Member State concerned or at Union level; or |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | where it is an interbranch organisation recognised by the Member State in accordance with Article 158 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council or with Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council; | |

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| (ii) | a group as defined in point 2 of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council and referred to in Article 7(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014, shall be deemed to be representative of the name protected under Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 and covered by the programme, where it accounts for at least 50 % of the volume or value of marketable production of the product(s) whose name is protected; |

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| (iii) | a producer organisation or an association of producer organisations as referred to in Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 shall be deemed to be representative of the product(s) or sector concerned by the programme where it is recognised by the Member State in accordance with Articles 154 or 156 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 or with Article 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013; |

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| (iv) | an agri-food sector body as referred to in Article 7(1)(d) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 shall be deemed to be representative of the sector(s) concerned by the programme by means of having representatives of that product(s) or sector among its memberships. |

By way of derogation from points (i) and (ii) above, lower thresholds may be accepted if the proposing organisation demonstrates in the submitted proposal that there are specific circumstances, including the evidence on the structure of the market, which would justify treating the proposing organisation as representative of the product(s) or sector concerned.

Proposals can be submitted by:

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| a) | At least two organisations referred to in points (a), (c) or (d) of Article 7(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014, which shall be from at least two Member States; or |

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| b) | One or more Union organisations referred to in point (b) of Article 7(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014. |

Only applications from entities established in EU Member States are eligible.

Non-eligible entities: applicants who already receive Union financing for the same information provision and promotion measures shall not be eligible for Union financing for those measures under Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014.

In order to assess the applicants' eligibility, the following supporting documents are requested:

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| — | private entity: extract from the official journal, copy of articles of association, or extract of trade or association register |

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| — | public entity: copy of the resolution or decision establishing the public company, or other official document establishing the public-law entity; |

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| — | entities without legal personality: documents providing evidence that their representative(s) have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf. |

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| — | documentation proving that the applicant meets the representativeness criteria set by Article 1 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829. |

6.2.   Eligible activities

The proposals shall comply with the following criteria of eligibility:

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| (a) | proposals can only cover products and schemes listed in Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014; |

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| (b) | proposals shall comply with Union law governing the products concerned and their marketing and have a Union dimension; |

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| (c) | proposals in the internal market covering one or more schemes as referred to in Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014, shall focus on the(se) scheme(s) in their main Union message. When in this programme, one or several products illustrate(s) the(se) scheme(s), it/they shall appear as a secondary message in relation to the main Union message; |

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| (d) | if a message conveyed by a multi programme concerns information on the impact on health, this message shall:   |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | in the internal market, comply with the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council[(5)](#ntr5-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0005), or be accepted by the national authority responsible for public health in the Member State where the operations are carried out; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | in third countries, be accepted by the national authority responsible for public health in the country where the operations are carried out. | |

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| (e) | if the proposal proposes to mention origin or brands, it shall comply with the rules as referred to in Chapter II of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1831. |

For the purposes of assessing the eligibility of the planned activities, the following information must be provided:

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| — | proposals covering national quality schemes shall provide documentation or a reference to publically available sources that prove that the quality scheme is recognised by the Member State; |

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| — | proposals targeting the internal market and relaying a message on proper dietary practices or responsible alcohol consumption shall describe how the proposed programme and its message(s) are in line with the relevant national rules in the field of public health in the Member State where the programme will be carried out. Justification should include references or documentation in support of the claim. |

In addition, a proposal shall also comply with one of the thematic priorities listed in the 2017 Annual Work Programme for multi programmes. Below are extracts of the 2017 Annual Work Programme detailing the 3 topics for which applications may be submitted under the present call for proposals. The text describes the topic, related amount foreseen, objectives and expected results.

Action under thematic priority 3: Multi programmes in the internal market

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| Topic | Total amount foreseen | Priorities of the year, objectives pursued and expected results |
| Topic A- Programmes increasing the awareness of Union sustainable agriculture and role of the agri-food sector for climate action and the environment[(\*1)](#ntr*1-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0006) | EUR 15 050 000 | Actions should highlight the environmental sustainability of Union Agriculture, stressing its beneficial role for climate action and the environment.  Actions should address how the product(s) promoted and its/their production method(s) contribute to:   |  |  | | --- | --- | | a) | climate change mitigation (e.g. reduction in greenhouse gas emissions) and/or adaptation (e.g. water savings, climate-resistant crops and varieties) and; |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | b) | at least one of the following:   |  |  | | --- | --- | | (i) | biodiversity conservation and sustainable use (e.g. wildlife, landscape, genetic resources); |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | (ii) | sustainable water management (e.g. water use efficiency, reduction of nutrients or pesticides load); |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | (iii) | sustainable soil management (e.g. erosion control; nutrient balance; prevention of acidification, salinization). | | |

Actions under thematic priority 4: Multi programmes in the internal market or in third countries

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| Topics | Total amount foreseen | Priorities of the year, objectives pursued and expected results |
| Topic B- Information provision and promotion programmes aiming at increasing the awareness and recognition of Union quality schemes mentioned in Article 5(4)(a), (b) and (c) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 | EUR 15 050 000 | The expected impacts are to increase the levels of recognition of the logo associated with those Union quality schemes by the consumers and to increase the competitiveness and consumption of Union agricultural and food products and their market share.  The objective is to increase the awareness and recognition of the Union quality schemes:   |  |  | | --- | --- | | (a) | quality schemes: Protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) and optional quality terms; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | (b) | organic production method; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | (c) | the logo for quality agriculture products specific to the outermost regions of the Union. | |
| Topic C- Information provision and promotion programmes highlighting the specific features of agricultural methods in the Union and the characteristics of EU agri-food products and quality schemes mentioned in Article 5(4)(d) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 | EUR 12 900 000 | The objective is to highlight at least one of the specific features of agricultural production methods in the Union, particularly in terms of food safety, traceability, authenticity, labelling, nutritional and health aspects (including proper dietary practices and responsible consumption of eligible alcoholic beverages), animal welfare, respect for the environment and sustainability (others than those covered under Topic A), and the characteristics of agricultural and food products, particularly in terms of their quality, taste, diversity or traditions.  The expected impacts are to increase the awareness of the merits of Union agricultural products by the consumers and to enhance the competitiveness and consumption of the concerned Union agri-food products, raise their profile and increase their market share. |

Types of eligible activities

Promotion and information provision actions may notably consist of the following activities, eligible under this call:

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| 1. | Management of project |

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| 2. | Public relations   |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | PR activities |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | Press events | |

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| 3. | Website, social media   |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | Website setup, updating, maintenance |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | Social media (accounts setup, regular posting) |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | Other (mobile apps, e-learning platforms, webinars, etc.) | |

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| 4. | Advertising   |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | Print |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | TV |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | Radio |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | Online |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | Outdoor |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | Cinema | |

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| 5. | Communication tools   |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | Publications, media kits, promotional merchandise |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | Promotional videos | |

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| 6. | Events   |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | Stands at trade fairs |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | Seminars, workshops, B2B meetings, trainings for trade/cooks, activities in schools |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | Restaurant weeks |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | Sponsorship of events |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | Study trips to Europe | |

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| 7. | Point-of-sale (POS) promotion   |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | Tasting days |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | Other: promotion in retailers' publications, POS advertising | |

Implementation period

The co- financed action (information provision/promotion programmes) shall be implemented over a period of at least one but not more than three years.

Proposals should specify the duration of the action.

7.   Exclusion criteria

7.1.   Exclusion from participation

Applicants will be excluded from participating in the call for proposals procedure if they are in any of the exclusion situations described in Article 106 of the Financial Regulation and its Rules of Application[(6)](#ntr6-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0007):

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| (a) | the economic operator is bankrupt, subject to insolvency or winding-up procedures, where its assets are being administered by a liquidator or by a court, where it is in an arrangement with creditors, where its business activities are suspended, or where it is in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for under national laws or regulations; |

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| (b) | it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the economic operator is in breach of its obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions in accordance with the law of the country in which it is established, with those of the country in which the contracting authority is located or those of the country of the performance of the contract; |

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| (c) | it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the economic operator is guilty of grave professional misconduct by having violated applicable laws or regulations or ethical standards of the profession to which the economic operator belongs, or by having engaged in any wrongful conduct which has an impact on its professional credibility where such conduct denotes wrongful intent or gross negligence, including, in particular, any of the following:   |  |  | | --- | --- | | (i) | fraudulently or negligently misrepresenting information required for the verification of the absence of grounds for exclusion or the fulfilment of selection criteria or in the performance of a contract; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | (ii) | entering into agreement with other economic operators with the aim of distorting competition; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | (iii) | violating intellectual property rights; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | (iv) | attempting to influence the decision-making process of the contracting authority during the procurement procedure; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | (v) | attempting to obtain confidential information that may confer upon it undue advantages in the procurement procedure; | |

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| (d) | it has been established by a final judgment that the economic operator is guilty of any of the following:   |  |  | | --- | --- | | (i) | fraud, within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention on the protection of the European Communities' financial interests, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 July 1995[(7)](#ntr7-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0008); |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | (ii) | corruption, as defined in Article 3 of the Convention on the fight against corruption involving officials of the European Communities or officials of Member States of the European Union, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 May 1997[(8)](#ntr8-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0009), and in Article 2(1) of Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA[(9)](#ntr9-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0010), as well as corruption as defined in the law of the country where the contracting authority is located, the country in which the economic operator is established or the country of the performance of the contract; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | (iii) | participation in a criminal organisation, as defined in Article 2 of Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA[(10)](#ntr10-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0011); |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | (iv) | money laundering or terrorist financing, as defined in Article 1 of Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council[(11)](#ntr11-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0012); |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | (v) | terrorist-related offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, as defined in Articles 1 and 3 of Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA[(12)](#ntr12-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0013) respectively, or inciting, aiding, abetting or attempting to commit such offences, as referred to in Article 4 of that Decision; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | (vi) | child labour or other forms of trafficking in human beings as defined in Article 2 of Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council[(13)](#ntr13-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0014); | |

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| (e) | the economic operator has shown significant deficiencies in complying with main obligations in the performance of a contract financed by the budget, which has led to its early termination or to the application of liquidated damages or other contractual penalties, or which has been discovered following checks, audits or investigations by an authorising officer, OLAF or the Court of Auditors; |

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| (f) | it has been established by a final judgment or final administrative decision that the economic operator has committed an irregularity within the meaning of Article 1(2) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95. |

7.2.   Exclusion from award

Applicants will be excluded from the award of co- financing if, in the course of the grant award procedure, they fall under one of the situations described under Article 107 of the Financial Regulation:

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| a) | are in an exclusion situation established in accordance with Article 106 of the Financial Regulation; |

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| b) | have misrepresented the information required as a condition for participating in the procedure or have failed to supply that information in the grant award procedure or fail to supply this information; |

In order to demonstrate compliance with the exclusion criteria, the coordinator has to check the relevant box while submitting its online application. If selected for co-funding, all beneficiaries (in case of multi-beneficiary grant) have to sign a declaration on their honour certifying that they are not in one of the situations referred to in Articles 106(1) and 107 to 109 of the Financial Regulation. The applicants should follow the instructions in the participant portal.

8.   Selection criteria

8.1.   Financial capacity

Applicants must have stable and sufficient sources of funding to maintain their activity throughout the period of implementation of the action and to participate in its funding.

The financial capacity of applicants will be assessed in line with the requirements of the Financial Regulation No 966/2012. This assessment will not be carried out if:

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| — | The applicant is a public body; |

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| — | The EU contribution requested by the applicant is ≤ EUR 60 000; |

The documents that will be requested when assessing the financial capacity include:

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| — | the profit and loss account, the balance sheet for the last financial year for which the accounts were closed; |

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| — | for newly created entities, the business plan may replace the above documents. |

In addition, for an applicant requesting an EU-contribution of ≥ EUR 750 000 (threshold applicable per applicant):

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| — | an audit report produced by an approved external auditor certifying the accounts for the last financial year available. This provision shall not apply to public bodies. |

The assessment of the financial capacity of applicants will be performed through the participant portal.

8.2.   Operational capacity

Applicants must have the professional competencies and qualifications required to complete the action.

As evidence, the following information must be provided in part B of the proposal:

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| — | General profiles (qualifications and experiences) of the applicant’s staff primary responsible for managing and implementing the proposed action. |

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| — | The proposing organisation(s) activity report or a description of activities performed in connection to the activities that are eligible for co- financing. |

9.   Award criteria

Part B of the application serves to evaluate the proposal against the award criteria.

Generally, projects are expected to have an efficient management structure, a clear strategy and a precise description of expected results.

The content of each proposal will be assessed according to the following criteria and sub criteria:

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| Criteria | Maximum points | Threshold |
| |  |  | | --- | --- | | 1. | Union dimension | | 20 | 14 |
| |  |  | | --- | --- | | 2. | Technical quality of the project | | 40 | 24 |
| |  |  | | --- | --- | | 3. | Management quality | | 10 | 6 |
| |  |  | | --- | --- | | 4. | Budget and cost-effectiveness | | 30 | 18 |
| TOTAL | 100 | 62 |

Proposals falling below the overall and/or the individual thresholds announced above shall be rejected.

The following sub-criteria shall be taken into account in the assessment of each of the main award criteria:

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| 1. | Union dimension   |  |  | | --- | --- | | a) | Relevance of proposed information and promotion measures to the general and specific objectives listed in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014, aims listed in Article 3 of that Regulation, as well as to priorities, objectives and expected results announced under the relevant thematic priority; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | b) | Union message of the campaign; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | c) | Impact of project at Union level. | |

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| 2. | Technical quality   |  |  | | --- | --- | | a) | Quality and relevance of the market analysis; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | b) | Suitability of the programme strategy, objectives and key messages; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | c) | Suitable choice of activities with respect to objectives and programme strategy, balanced communication mix, synergy between the activities; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | d) | Concise description of activities |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | e) | Quality of the proposed evaluation methods and indicators | |

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| 3. | Management quality   |  |  | | --- | --- | | a) | Project organisation and management structure; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | b) | Quality control mechanisms and risk management. | |

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| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 4. | Budget and Cost-effectiveness   |  |  | | --- | --- | | a) | Return on investment; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | b) | Suitable split of budget in relation to the objectives and scope of the activities; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | c) | Consistency between the estimated costs and deliverables; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | d) | Realistic estimation of person/days for activities implemented by the proposing organisation, including costs of project coordination. | |

Following the evaluation, all eligible proposals are ranked according to the total number of points awarded. The highest ranked proposal or proposals will be awarded co-financing depending on budget availability.

A separate ranked list shall be established for each of the priority topics listed under section 6.2 of the present call.

If there are two or more proposals with the same number of points in the last place of the same ranked list, then the proposal(s) which allows for diversification in terms of products or targeted markets shall be retained. It means than between two ex aequo proposals, Commission shall first select the one the content of which (firstly in terms of products, secondly in terms of targeted market) is not yet represented in the ranked list. If this criterion is not sufficient to differentiate the proposals, then the Commission shall select first the programme which got the highest score for the individual award criteria. It will first compare the scores for ‘Union dimension’, then for ‘Technical quality’, and finally for ‘Budget and cost-effectiveness’.

10.   Legal commitments

The coordinators of proposals included in the list for funding will be invited to engage in adaptation phase preceding the signature of the grant agreement; the adaptation will be carried out via an online grant preparation system (SYGMA). If successful, it will result in the signature of a grant agreement, drawn up in euro and detailing the conditions and level of funding.

The grant agreement must be signed electronically first by the coordinator on behalf of the consortium and then by Chafea. All co-beneficiaries must accede to the grant agreement by signing electronically the accession form to the grant.

11.   Financial provisions

The Financial Regulation and the Rules of Application[(14)](#ntr14-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0015) define the applicable rules for the implementation of the multi programmes.

11.1.   General principles

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| a) | Non-cumulative award  An action may only receive one grant from the EU budget.  In no circumstances shall the same costs be financed twice by the Union budget.  Applicants shall indicate the sources and amounts of Union funding received or applied for the same action or part of the action or their functioning (operating grants), as well as any other funding received or applied for the same action. |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| b) | Non-retroactivity  No grant may be awarded retrospectively for actions already completed.  A grant may be awarded for an action which has already begun only where the applicant can demonstrate the need to start the action before the grant agreement is signed.  In such cases, costs eligible for financing may not have been incurred prior to the date of submission of the grant application. |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| c) | Co-financing  Co-financing means that the resources which are necessary to carry out the action are not entirely provided by the EU grant.  The remaining expenditure shall be borne exclusively by the proposing organisation. Financial contributions given to a beneficiary by its members, specifically to be used for costs that are eligible under the action, are allowed and will be considered as receipts. |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| d) | Balanced budget  The estimated budget of the action must be presented in part A of the application form. It must have revenue and expenditure in balance.  The budget must be drawn up in euros.  Applicants, who foresee that costs will not be incurred in euros, are invited to use the exchange rate published in the Official Journal of the European Union:  http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts\_grants/info\_contracts/inforeuro/inforeuro\_en.cfm |

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| e) | Implementation contracts/subcontracting  Where the implementation of the action requires the award of procurement contracts (implementation contracts), the beneficiary must award the contract to the bid offering best value for money or the lowest price (as appropriate), avoiding conflicts of interests and retain the documentation for the event of an audit.  Where the proposing organisation is a body governed by public law within the meaning of Article 2(1)(4) of Directive 2014/24/EU, it must select the subcontractors in accordance with the national legislation transposing that Directive.  Sub-contracting, i.e. the externalisation of specific tasks or activities which form part of the action as described in the proposal must satisfy the conditions applicable to any implementation contract (as specified above) and in addition to them the following conditions:   |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | it must be justified having regard to the nature of the action and what is necessary for its implementation; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | the core tasks of the actions (i.e. the technical and financial coordination of the action and the management of the strategy) cannot be sub-contracted; |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | — | it must be clearly stated in the technical and financial parts of the proposal. |   Subcontracting to entities having a structural link with the beneficiary  Subcontracts may also be awarded to entities that have a structural link with the beneficiary, but only if the price is limited to the actual costs incurred by the entity (i.e. without any profit margin).  The tasks to be implemented by such entities must be clearly stated in the technical part of the proposal. |

11.2.   Funding forms

Co-financing shall take the form of reimbursement of a specified proportion of eligible costs actually incurred; it will also comprise a flat rate covering indirect costs (equal to 4 % of eligible personnel costs) that are linked with the implementation of the action[(15)](#ntr15-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0016).

Maximum amount requested

The EU grant is limited to the following maximum co-funding rate of:

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| — | for multi programmes in the internal market and in third countries: 80 % of the programme’s eligible costs; |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| — | in case of applicants established in Member States receiving on or after 1 January 2014 financial assistance in accordance with Article 136 and 143 TFEU[(16)](#ntr16-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0017), the percentage shall be 85 %. |

This shall only apply to those grants signed upon by Chafea before the date from which the Member State concerned no longer receives such financial assistance.

Consequently, part of the total eligible expenses entered in the estimative budget must be financed from sources other than the EU grant (co-financing principle).

Eligible costs

Eligible costs are actually incurred by the beneficiary of the grant and meet all the criteria indicated in Article 6 of the grant agreement.

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| — | Eligible (direct and indirect) costs are indicated in the grant agreement (see Article 6 par.1, 2 and 3) |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| — | Ineligible costs are indicated in the grant agreement (see Article 6.4) |

Calculation of the final grant amount

The final amount of the grant depends on the actual extent to which the action is implemented in accordance with the grant agreement’s terms and conditions.

This amount is calculated by Chafea, when the payment of the balance is made, in the following steps:

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| (1) | Application of the reimbursement rate to the eligible costs |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| (2) | Limit to the maximum grant amount |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| (3) | Reduction due to the no-profit rule |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| (4) | Reduction due to improper implementation or breach of other obligations |

EU grants may not have the purpose or effect of producing a profit within the framework of the action. ‘Profit’ shall be defined as the surplus of the amount obtained following steps 1 and 2 plus the action’s total receipts, over the action’s total eligible costs.

In this respect, where a profit is made, Chafea shall be entitled to recover the percentage of the profit corresponding to EU contribution to the eligible costs actually incurred by the beneficiary (ies) to carry out the action. A partner (co-ordinator or other beneficiary) requesting an EU-contribution of ≤ EUR 60 000, is exempted from this provision.

11.3.   Payment arrangements

A pre-financing payment corresponding to 20 % of the grant amount will be transferred to the coordinator according to the conditions set out in the grant agreement (Art 16.2).

Interim payment(s) shall be paid to the coordinator according to the conditions set out in the grant agreement (Art 16.3). Interim payment(s) are intended to reimburse the eligible costs incurred for the implementation of the programme during the corresponding reporting period(s).

The total amount of pre-financing and interim payment(s) shall not exceed 90 % of the maximum grant amount.

Chafea will establish the amount of the payment of the balance on the basis of the calculation of the final grant amount and according to the conditions set out in the grant agreement.

If the total amount of earlier payments is greater than the final grant amount, the payment of the balance takes the form of a recovery.

11.4.   Pre-financing guarantee

In the event that the applicant's financial capacity is not satisfactory, a pre-financing guarantee for an amount up that of the pre-financing payment may be requested in order to limit the financial risks linked to the pre-financing payment.

If requested, the financial guarantee, in euro, shall be provided by a bank or approved financial institution established in one of the Member State of the European Union. Amounts blocked in bank accounts shall not be accepted as financial guarantees.

The guarantee may be replaced by a joint and several guarantee by a third party or by a joint guarantee of the beneficiaries of the action who are parties to the same grant agreement.

The guarantor shall stand as first-call guarantor and may not require Chafea to first have recourse against the principal debtor (i.e. the beneficiary concerned).

The pre-financing guarantee shall explicitly remain in force until the payment of the balance and, if payment of the balance takes the form of recovery, until three months after the debit note is notified to a beneficiary.

No guarantees will be required for a beneficiary receiving an EU contribution of EUR ≤60 000 (low value grants).

12.   Publicity

12.1.   By the beneficiaries

Beneficiaries must clearly acknowledge the European Union’s contribution in all activities for which the grant is used.

In this respect, beneficiaries are required to give prominence to the name and emblem of the European Union on all their publications, posters, programmes and other products realised under the co-financed project.

Rules for the graphic reproduction of the European emblem are found in the Inter-institutional Style Guide[(17)](#ntr17-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0018).

In addition, all visual material produced in the framework of a promotion programme co-financed by the European Union must bear the signature ‘Enjoy it's from Europe’:

Guidelines on the use of the signature, as well as all graphic files can be downloaded from the promotion website on Europa[(18)](#ntr18-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0019).

Lastly, all written material, i.e. brochures, posters, leaflets, banners, billboards, print advertisements, articles in newspapers, webpages (with the exception of small gadgets) should include a disclaimer according to the terms detailed in the grant agreement, explaining that it represents the views of the author. The European Commission/Agency does not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.

12.2.   By the Chafea

All information relating to grants awarded in the course of a financial year shall be published on the internet site of Chafea no later than the 30 June of the year following the financial year in which the grants were awarded.

The Chafea will publish the following information:

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| — | name of the beneficiary (legal entity) |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| — | address of the beneficiary when the latter is a legal person, region when the beneficiary is a natural person, as defined on NUTS 2 level[(19)](#ntr19-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0020) if he/she is domiciled within EU or equivalent if domiciled outside EU, |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| — | subject of the grant, |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| — | amount awarded. |

13.   Data protection

The reply to any call for proposals involves the recording and processing of personal data (such as name, address and CVs of individuals participating in the co- financed action). Such data will be processed pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data. Unless indicated otherwise, the questions and any personal data requested are required to evaluate the application in accordance with the specifications of the call for proposal will be processed solely for that purpose by the Executive Agency / the Commission or third parties acting on behalf and under the responsibility of the Executive Agency/Commission. Data subjects may be informed regarding further details of the processing operations, their rights and how they may be enforced by referring to the privacy statement published in the participant portal:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/support/legal\_notices.html

and the Agency’s website:

http://ec.europa.eu/chafea/about/data\_protection.html

Applicants are invited to check the relevant privacy statement at regular intervals so as to be duly informed on possible updates that may occur by the deadline for submission of their proposals or afterwards. Beneficiaries assume the legal obligation to inform their staff on the relevant processing operations that are to be performed by the Agency; in order to do so, they have to provide them with the privacy statements published by the Agency in the participant’s portal before transmitting their data to the Agency; Personal data may be registered in the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) of the European Commission provided for in Articles 105a and 108 of the EU Financial Regulation according to the applicable provisions.

14.   Procedure for the submission of proposals

Proposals must be submitted by the deadline set out under section 5 via the Electronic Submission System at:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/agrip/index.html

Before submitting a proposal:

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| 1. | Find a call:  http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/agrip/index.html |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| 2. | Create an account to submit a proposal:  http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/organisations/register.html |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| 3. | Register all partners via the beneficiary registry:  http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/organisations/register.html |

Applicants will be informed in writing about the results of the selection process.

In submitting a proposal, the applicant accepts the procedures and conditions as described in this call and in the documents to which it refers.

No modification to the application is allowed once the deadline for submission has elapsed. However, if there is a need to clarify certain aspects or for the correction of clerical mistakes, the Commission/Agency may contact the applicant for this purpose during the evaluation process[(20)](#ntr20-C_2017009EN.01002301-E0021).

Contacts

For questions on the online submission tools please contact the IT helpdesk set-up for this purpose via the participant portal website:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=enquiries

For non-IT related questions a helpdesk at the Chafea is available at: +352 430136611, e-mail address: CHAFEA-AGRI-CALLS@ec.europa.eu weekdays between 9.30 – 12.00 and 14.30 – 17.00 CET (Central European Time). The helpdesk is unavailable on weekends and public holidays.

Frequently asked questions are published on the website of the Chafea:

http://ec.europa.eu/chafea/agri/faq.html

In all correspondence relating to this call (e.g. when requesting information, or submitting an application), reference must be clearly made to this specific call. Once the electronic exchange system allocated a proposal ID, the applicant must use this number in all subsequent correspondence.

Related documents

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| --- | --- |
| — | Application form |

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| --- | --- |
| — | Model grant agreement (mono- and multi- beneficiary version) |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| — | Guide for applicants |

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