2016 CEF Telecom Call - eDelivery (CEF-TC-2016-2)

Deadline: Sep 15, 2016  
CALL EXPIRED

1. CALL CONTEXT

The general context for this call for proposals is defined in Section 2.1 of the 2016 CEF Telecom work programme as published on the call page on the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) website.

2. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

The background and rationale for this call for proposals are defined in Section 3.4.1 of the 2016 work programme.

3. PRIORITIES

The priority outcomes of this call for proposals are defined in Section 3.4.2.2 of the 2016 work programme, namely to increase uptake and speed up the use of the eDelivery DSI amongst public and private entities.

The activities supported under this call should:

• Contribute to the compliance with the requirements set in the eIDAS Regulation to allow their use for the provisioning of electronic registered delivery services, including qualified ones.

• Contribute to the compliance with the requirements set in relation to the deployment and/or operation of access points within other sectorial European Regulations (e.g. eInvoicing, transport, environment, energy, health, public e-procurement, justice).

This will be done by supporting the setting up of additional access points and service metadata publishers throughout Europe that link to the EU Core Service Platform in order to support the cross-border exchange of electronic documents between both public and private sectors, as well as between such entities and citizens and businesses.

An Access Point is an implementation of the e-SENS AS4 Profile (developed by e-SENS) or the PEPPOL AS2 Profile (developed by OpenPEPPOL), or both. The Service Metadata Publisher (SMP) is an implementation of the SMP Specification originally developed by PEPPOL or the SMP profile developed by e-SENS on top of the OASIS SMP Specification. The specifications of CEF eDelivery are profiles, meaning that several options of the original technical specifications were narrowed down in order to increase consistency and interoperability, as well as simplify deployment.

The setting up of an Access Point and/or an SMP involves:

• The installation of the software (Open Source or commercial) in a production environment (server, network, storage, etc.).

• The successful passing of conformance tests from either a well-recognised conformance/interoperability testing organisation or from the conformance testing service offered by the eDelivery Core Service Platform.

• For Access Points: When applicable, the confirmed connectivity to a Service Metadata Publisher (SMP) and Service Metadata Locator (SML).

This call will specifically support activities aiming to:

• a. Deploy access points and/or operating access points for one year;
• b. Deploy service metadata publishers and/or operate service metadata publishers for one year;
• c. Upgrade data exchange solutions (Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS), Open-Source Software (OSS) and other) to support, and therefore fully comply with, the CEF eDelivery standards. A typical upgrade involves adding or configuring functionality to the data exchange solution to support the CEF eDelivery standards (e.g. encryption algorithm, four-corner model support, support of dynamic discovery, etc.).

Proposals deploying eDelivery in a sector-specific DSI for which a specific call is foreseen under the 2016 work programme will be considered of lower priority.

4. RESULTS EXPECTED FROM THE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

The benefits and expected outcomes of this call for proposals are defined in Section 3.4.2.4 of the 2016 work programme. This call will contribute in particular to:

• Helping access point and service metadata publishers to enable interoperability between European and national levels - regardless of the standards in use within each of the Member States.
• Ensuring convenient and secure cross-border transactions by allowing the implementation of interoperable solutions working within the trusted legal framework for electronic registered delivery services provided in the eIDAS Regulation.

5. BUDGET

The indicative amount to be allocated on the basis of this call for proposals to projects of common interest in the field of trans-European telecommunications for eDelivery generic services is €0.5 million.

6. TIMETABLE

Date of publication of call for proposal

12 May 2016

Deadline for the submission of proposals

15 September 2016 (17:00.00 Brussels time)

Evaluation of proposals

September-December 2016 (indicative)

Consultation of the CEF Committee

January 2017 (indicative)

Adoption of the Selection Decision

February 2017 (indicative)

Preparation and signature of grant agreements

7. ADMISSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

A proposal will not be evaluated if at least one of the following situations occurs:

It is not submitted electronically in the TENtec Information System eSubmission module.

It is not submitted by the deadline for submission of proposals (see sections 6 'Timetable' and 13.2 'Submission of proposals').

The proposal is incomplete, i.e. any part of the application form (A, B, C or D) is missing.

The proposal is not duly signed by the applicant(s).

8. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

8.1 Eligible applicants

In accordance with the 2016 work programme and pursuant to Article 9 of the CEF Regulation10, only those proposals submitted by one of the following types of applicants are eligible:

• One or more Member States;

• With the agreement of the Member States or EEA countries concerned, international organisations, joint undertakings, or public or private undertakings or bodies established in Member States.

In accordance with section 4.3.1 of the work programme, European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries which are members of the European Economic Area (EEA) may participate11 in the call for proposals, even when not explicitly mentioned, with the same rights, obligations and requirements as EU Member States. At the moment of the publication of this call, these conditions apply to Norway and Iceland only.

Where necessary to achieve the objectives of a given project of common interest and where duly motivated, third countries and entities established in third countries may participate in actions contributing to the projects of common interest. They may not receive funding under the CEF Regulation, except where it is indispensable to achieve the objectives of a given project of common interest.

Acceding states and candidate countries benefiting from a pre-accession strategy may also