EC - Growth logo

Copernicus building skills actions - 271/G/GRO/COPE/17/10036
Deadline: Jul 18, 2017  
CALL EXPIRED

 Capacity Building
 IT
 IT Applications
 Mobile technology
 Education and Training
 Higher Education
 Cartography & Maps

1. CONTEXT

DG GROW is focusing on the outreaching and up taking of Copernicus data and services. Skills gaps filling measures are key factors to tackle the challenges of data access and use. Therefore, key actions are identified under an overall Copernicus Users Uptake strategy.

When examining human capital, it is important to consider the next generation of employees who may get involved in the use of space programmes. The recent study "Space market uptake in Europe" (Dec 2015), presented on 28/01/2016 at the ITRE Committee of the Parliament, highlighted that the lack of specialised technical and business skills could prevent private enterprises and public authorities from exploiting the opportunities offered by the space data and Copernicus in particular. This represents a key barrier for the development of the space data eco- system.

The Commission therefore is developing a "Copernicus Skills Programme", to promote skills development in the Copernicus downstream sector. It will provide the skills required for accessing and using Copernicus data and Services. The programme is developed in partnership with academics, universities and educational organisations, but also industry and public authorities. The programme consists of four actions:

  • -  The Copernicus digital skills initiatives support action (COSME Skills call for proposal – to be issued in Q2 2017);

  • -  The Copernicus building skills actions (DG GROW call for proposal);

  • -  The Copernicus Academy Network (DG GROW call for interest); which consists of 80 organisations involved in training and education programmes related to Earth observation and Copernicus.

  • -  The Geo Spatial partnership on skills (ERASMUS+ Sectoral Skills Alliances for cooperation on skills - LOT3).

These actions are complemented by:

  • -  The Research and User Support (RUS) activity entrusted to ESA (training the trainers, digital and space data manipulation skills development);

  • -  The Information and training sessions organised by the Commission in interested Member States (delivery of webinars, material and workshops and networking opportunities for educational organisations);

  • -  The educational and training activities developed by the Entrusted Entities (MOOCS, hackathons, trainings, materials).

  • -  User uptake and communication material (such as brochures, products portfolio or studies). The legal bases for this call are the Copernicus Regulation1 and the 2017 Copernicus Annual Programme2.

 

2. OBJECTIVE OF THE CALL

In order to improve the uptake of Copernicus throughout the European Union, this call for proposals aims at financing via a grant dedicated educational programmes and skills development solutions which rely on the use of Copernicus data and Services information products.

 

This call has two objectives:

1) To increase the number of people able to access and use Copernicus data and information. This could include basic users and/or very advanced/innovative user of Copernicus.

2) To increase the supply of skills to stimulate the growth of geospatial related jobs in Europe (implying that the proposal shall address current and forthcoming labour market skill gaps).

The beneficiary is expected to receive a grant to develop and implement one or several dedicated actions from the following list:

  • -  Copernicus-based courses within existing programmes.

  • -  A Copernicus-dedicated Master programme.

  • -  A Copernicus PhD programme (including Copernicus PhD scholarships).

  • -  Copernicus Campus training.

  • -  Copernicus summer schools.

  • -  A Copernicus post-doc programme.

  • -  A Programme to facilitate knowledge transfer from research to practice (e.g. placement of researchers in companies).

  • -  A life-long learning programme, targeting professionals (i.e. already working in companies, public administration, research centres or academics).

The programme should aim at becoming a best practice that can be easily replicated throughout Europe. The programme(s) could develop Copernicus-related skills in the following areas:

  • -  Geomatics / geo-ICT (Use of satellite imagery and Copernicus information products, Cartography and Visualization, Data Modelling, Data Manipulation, Geo-computation, Geospatial Data, GIS&T and Society, Data hybridation...).

  • -  Business skills (management, accounting, marketing, finance...).

  • -  Thematic knowledge (agriculture, forestry, climate change, raw material, energy production,

infrastructure building and monitoring, smart cities...).

The proposal shall give high visibility to Copernicus and the European Union.

The programme manager should ensure adequate exchanges with and reporting to the European Commission. Where relevant, the beneficiary should report on the number of enrolled persons for the activities (training, post-doc, etc) and their evolution during the learning programme.

The proposal should include relevant key performance indicators, to measures the impact of the programme(s).

 

3. TIMETABLE

 

Indicative start-up date for the action: January 2018

Indicative duration of actions: 36 months

 

The period of eligibility of costs will start at the earliest on the day the agreement is signed by the last of the parties. If a beneficiary can demonstrate the need to start the action before the agreement is signed, the expenditure may be eligible as from a date before the agreement is signed. Under no circumstances can the eligibility period start before the date of submission of the grant application.

 

a) Publication of the call

30/05/2017

b) Deadline for submitting applications

18/07/2017

c) Evaluation and information to applicants

September 2017

d) Signature of grant agreement or notification of grant decision

November 2017

e) Starting date of the action

January 2018

 

 

4. EU FINANCING

Maximum budget allocated for EU financing under this call: € 980 000 Maximum EU financing rate of eligible costs: 85 %
Maximum number of grants: 1

Proposals with an EU co-financing beyond any of the above two maxima will not be eligible.

The Commission reserves the right to award a grant of less than the amount requested by the applicant. In such a case, applicants will be asked either to increase their co-financing, propose other co-financing means or to decrease the total costs without altering the substance of the proposal. Grants will not be awarded for more than the amount requested.

Publication of the call (on the Commission Internet site and/or in the Official Journal) does not guarantee the availability of funds for the above action.

 

 

4.1. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF EU FUNDING

Non-cumulative award
Each action may give rise to the award of only one grant from the budget to any one beneficiary. In no circumstances shall the same costs be financed twice by the Union budget.

Applicants have to inform the Commission immediately of any multiple applications and multiple grants relating to the same action. The applicant shall inform about sources and amounts of EU funding received or applied for the same action or for part of the action. Applicants shall indicate if they receive EU funding for their functioning during the financial year in which the action takes place.

Non-retroactivity

No grant may be awarded retrospectively for actions already completed.

A grant may be awarded for an action which has already begun, provided 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.

Co-financing

Grants shall involve co-financing, which implies that the resources necessary to carry out the action or the work programme shall not be provided entirely by EU contribution. EU financing may not cover 100% of the total costs of the action.

Co-financing of the action or of the work programme may take the form of:

  •   the beneficiary's own resources,

  •   income generated by the action or work programme,

  •   financial contributions from third parties.

Non-profit rule

EU grant may not have the purpose or effect of producing a profit within the framework of the action of the work programme of the beneficiary.

 

Where a profit is made, the Commission is entitled to recover the percentage of the profit corresponding to the EU contribution to the eligible costs actually incurred. For this purpose, profit shall be defined as a surplus of the receipts over the eligible costs incurred, when the request for payment of the balance is made.

Balanced budget

The estimated budget of the action or work programme is to be attached to the application form. It should have revenue and expenditure in balance.

The budget shall be drawn up in euros.

Applicants, who foresee that costs will not be incurred in euros, are invited to use the exchange rate published on the European Commission's website available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/inforeuro/inforeuro_en.cfm.

4.2. ELIGIBLE COSTS

In order be eligible for funding, costs should be actually incurred by the beneficiary and meet the following criteria:

  •   they are incurred during the duration of the action or work programme, as indicated in the grant agreement, with the exception of costs relating to the request for payment of the balance and the corresponding supporting documents (audit certificates);

  •   they are indicated in the estimated budget of the action or work programme;

  •   they are necessary for the implementation of the action or of the work programme, in accordance with the description of the action, attached to the grant agreement;

  •   they are identifiable and verifiable, in particular being recorded in the accounting records of the beneficiary and determined according to the applicable accounting standards of the country where the beneficiary is established and according to the usual cost accounting practices of the beneficiary;

  •   they comply with the requirements of applicable tax and social legislation;

  •   they are reasonable, justified, and comply with the principle of sound financial management, in particular regarding economy and efficiency.

The beneficiary's internal accounting and auditing procedures should permit direct reconciliation of the costs and revenue declared in respect of the action/project with the corresponding accounting statements and supporting documents.

The costs made by affiliated entities can be eligible, provided that:

  •   the entities concerned are identified in the grant agreement;

  •   the entities concerned abide by the rules applicable to the beneficiary under the grant agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and rights of checks and audits by the Commission, OLAF and the Court of Auditors.

 

Please note that the exact scope of the eligibility of costs is defined by the grant agreement, which will be signed with the successful applicants.

4.2.1. Eligible direct costs

Direct costs of the action are those specific costs which are directly linked to the implementation of the action and can therefore be attributed directly to it. They shall not include any eligible indirect costs.

The following categories of costs can be considered as eligible direct costs:

 

  •   the costs of personnel working under an employment contract with the beneficiary or an equivalent appointing act and assigned to the action, comprising actual salaries plus social security contributions and other statutory costs included in the remuneration, provided that these costs are in line with the beneficiary's usual policy on remuneration. Those costs may also include additional remunerations, including payments on the basis of supplementary contracts regardless of the nature of those contracts, provided that they are paid in a consistent manner whenever the same kind of work or expertise is required, independently from the source of funding used.

  •   costs of travel and related subsistence allowances, provided that these costs are in line with the beneficiary's usual practices on travel;

  •   the depreciation costs of equipment or other assets (new or second-hand) as recorded in the accounting statements of the beneficiary, provided that the asset has been purchased in accordance with the conditions applicable to implementation contracts and that it is written off in accordance with the international accounting standards and the usual accounting practices of the beneficiary

  •   costs of consumables and supplies, provided that they are purchased in accordance with the conditions applicable to implementation contracts;

  •   costs arising directly from requirements imposed by the grant agreement (dissemination of information, specific evaluation of the action, audits, translations, reproduction), including the costs of requested financial guarantees, provided that the corresponding services are purchased in accordance with the conditions applicable to implementation contracts;

  •   costs entailed by subcontracts, concluded for the externalisation of specific tasks or activities which form part of the action or workproramme as described in the proposal, provided that the conditions with the conditions applicable to implementation contracts are met;

  •   costs of financial support to third parties, in accordance with the conditions set by the grant for such financing;

  •   duties, taxes and charges paid by the beneficiary, provided that they are included in eligible direct costs, and unless specified otherwise in the Agreement. Value added tax (VAT) is not eligible;

  •   costs relating to a pre-financing guarantee lodged by the beneficiary of the grant, where that guarantee is a condition for the payment of a pre-financing;

  •   costs relating to external audits where such audits are required in support of the requests for payments.

4.2.2. Eligible indirect costs

A flat-rate amount of 7% of the total eligible direct costs of the action is eligible under indirect costs, representing the beneficiary's general administrative costs which can be regarded as chargeable to the action/project.

Indirect costs may not include costs entered under another budget heading.

Indirect costs are not eligible for beneficiaries that receive an operating grant from the European Commission.

4.2.3. Non-eligible costs

In addition to any other costs which do not fulfill the conditions set out in Article II.19.1, the following costs shall not be considered eligible:

  •   return on capital;

  •   debt and debt service charges;

  •   provisions for losses or debts;

  •   interest owed;

  •   doubtful debts;

  •   exchange losses;

  •   costs of transfers from the Commission charged by the bank of a beneficiary;

  •   costs declared by the beneficiary in the framework of another action receiving a grant financed from

    the Union budget (including grants awarded by a Member State and financed from the Union budget and grants awarded by other bodies than the Commission for the purpose of implementing the Union budget);

  •   in particular, indirect costs shall not be eligible under a grant for an action awarded to a beneficiary which already receives an operating grant financed from the Union budget during the period in question;

  •   contributions in kind from third parties;

  •   excessive or reckless expenditure;

  •   deductible VAT;

  •   participation by any staff of the institutions in actions receiving grants;

  •   any other costs which have been specified as ineligible in the call for proposal.

    In addition to the above, the Commission can refuse to finance certain costs included in the proposal. The beneficiary can decide to maintain and finance these costs out of his own resources, but they will not be taken into account as eligible costs.

4.3. CO-FINANCING AND JOINT AND SEVERAL RESPONSIBILITY

The beneficiary has to supply evidence of the co-financing provided. It can be provided either by way of own resources, or in the form of financial transfers from third parties.

In case of a joint application, all partners shall agree upon appropriate arrangements between themselves for the proper performance of the action.

In particular, they shall accept joint and several responsibility up to the value of the contribution that the beneficiary held liable is entitled to receive, as stipulated in the General Conditions of the draft grant agreement.

The final grant agreement shall be signed by each applicant. Alternatively it shall be signed by the appointed co-ordinator, provided that a power of attorney has been conferred to this entity (Annex IV of the draft grant agreement).

4.4. IMPLEMENTATION CONTRACTS/SUBCONTRACTING

Where the implementation of the action or the work programme requires the use of contracts (implementation contracts), the beneficiary must ensure that the contract is awarded 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.

Entities acting in their capacity of contracting authorities shall abide by the applicable national public procurement rules, in the meaning of Directive 2014/24/EU on the coordination of procedures for the award of public work contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts or contracting entities in the meaning of Directive 2014/25/EU coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors.

Sub-contracting for the purpose of the action

Sub-contracting refers to contracts concluded for the externalisation of specific tasks or activities which form part of the action or work programme as described in the proposal. Such contracts must satisfy the conditions applicable to any implementation contract and, in addition, the following conditions:

 Subcontracting may only cover the implementation of a limited part of the action up to 30% of the eligible costs.

 It shall be justified having regard to the nature of the action and what is necessary for its implementation;

 

 The proposal should clearly identify the subcontracted activities

Subcontracting does not in any way limit the responsibility of beneficiaries for the implementation of the action. Please note that the beneficiary(ies) should have the necessary capacity to perform the project. Only tasks that are not core business can be sub-contracted to consultants.

It is not necessary to have already selected subcontractors at the time the proposal is submitted. However, cost of contractors not selected in accordance with the applicable rules for procurement will not be eligible.

4.5. FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO THIRD PARTIES

The applications may envisage provision of financial support to third parties. In such case the applications must include:

 an exhaustive list of the types of activities for which a third party may receive financial support. The types of activities for which third party financing may be envisaged are:

o Copernicus-based courses within existing programmes.

o A Copernicus-dedicated Master programme.

o A Copernicus PhD programme (including Copernicus PhD scholarships).

o Copernicus Campus training.

o Copernicus summer schools.

o A Copernicus post-doc programme.

o A Programme to facilitate knowledge transfer from research to practice (e.g. placement of researchers in companies).

o A life-long learning programme, targeting professionals (i.e. already working in companies, public administration, research centres or academics).

 the definition of the persons or categories of persons which may receive financial support: o trainees, students, entrepreneurs, researchers, employees

 the criteria for awarding financial support:

With respect to the rules for attributing the financial support, the applicant’s proposal shall specify them and include the schedule and the actions for their implementation. In particular, please refer to the following sequence for the implementation of the rules:

  1. Definition of the application, selection and evaluation procedure;

  2. Definition of financial support dedicated to each third party;

  3. Definition of monitoring and reporting implementation scheme;

  4. Definition of intellectual rights and outreaching support activities;

  5. Publication of the opportunity for potential applicants for training accompanied by the rules for

    application (deadline for applying no more than two months from publication) and evaluation

    procedure and forms for application and selection;

  6. Evaluation Board organisation and management;

  7. Compliance check;

The third party application will have to respect the following condition in order to be eligible:

1. Applicants for training will present a project including objectives and schedule for a relevant societal challenge issue that would be evaluated according to these priority criteria:

  1. Use of Copernicus existing data and information products offer;

  2. Use of other EU financed programmes (EGNOS, Galileo, ...);

  3. Innovation potential in terms of impact on enhancing replicable best practices allowing the use of satellite data-based applications for public authorities or citizens.

In addition, valuable assets to be considered are:

2. Applicants for training present a combined candidature to tackle a common project in tandem to benefit of their different background of education and/or research and/or professional experience;

3.Potential applicants for training can demonstrate experience and familiarity with space data and/or applied research and/or applications in a relevant societal challenges field.

The amount of financial support per third party must not exceed EUR 60.000.

4.6. FINAL GRANT AND PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS

The draft grant agreement annexed to this call for proposals specifies the calculation of the final grant and the payment arrangements.

Your attention is in particular drawn to the General Conditions of the grant agreement, where the eligibility of costs is described. Detailed explanations and a description how costs should be budgeted and reported can be found in the Guide for Applicants.

EU grant may not have the purpose or effect of producing a profit within the framework of the action of the work programme of the beneficiary. Where a profit is made, the Commission is entitled to recover the percentage of the profit corresponding to the EU contribution to the eligible costs actually incurred. For this purpose, profit is defined as a surplus of the receipts over the eligible costs incurred by the beneficiary, when the request is made for payment of the balance. Where such a surplus occurs, the Commission is entitled to recover the percentage of the profit corresponding to the EU contribution to the eligible costs actually incurred by the beneficiary.

The verification of the non-profit shall not apply to: study, research or training scholarships paid to natural persons.

The Commission may require the beneficiary to lodge a guarantee for grants exceeding € 60 000, based on a risk analysis.

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

The financial guarantee, in euro, shall be provided by an approved bank or financial institution established in one of the Member State of the European Union. When the beneficiary is established in a third country, the authorising officer responsible may agree that a bank or financial institution established in that third country may provide the guarantee if he considers that the bank or financial institution offers equivalent security and characteristics as those offered by a bank or financial institution established in a Member State. 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 an action who are parties to the same grant agreement.

 

5. ELIGIBILITY

APPLICATIONS SHALL COMPLY WITH ALL OF THE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA SET OUT IN THIS SECTION.

5.1. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

Applications from legal entities established in one of the following countries are eligible:

  •   EU Member States

  •   Iceland, Norway

Several applicants, submitting a joint proposal should choose within their midst a lead organisation, referred to as the coordinator.

All applicants shall satisfy the same eligibility criteria:

 Applications shall be submitted by a legal person:

 

  •   Applicants shall correspond to the definition of the following target organisations: -to be a Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) as defined under Regulation (EC) No. 294/2008: an to be an autonomous partnership of higher education institutions, research organisations, companies and other stakeholders in the innovation process in the form of a strategic network, regardless of its precise legal form, based on joint mid- to long-term innovation planning to respond to societal or economic needs and demand and generate new products, services or business and organisational models that are successfully introduced into an existing market or that are able to create new markets and that provide value to society;

  •   Corporate bodies shall be properly constituted and registered under the law. If a body or organisation is not constituted under the law, a physical person shall be designated to provide the legal responsibility.

  •   Legal entities having a legal or capital link with applicants, which is neither limited to the action nor established for the sole purpose of its implementation, may take part in the action as affiliated entities, and may declare eligible costs. For that purpose, applicants shall identify such affiliated entities in the application form. The affiliated entities will have to comply with the eligibility and exclusion criteria.

  •   Several entities that form together one entity, whether or not this entity is established for the purpose of implementing the action, may apply as a sole beneficiary. The entities will be considered as affiliated entities, which each will have to comply with eligibility, exclusion and selection criteria.

5.1.1. Supporting documents

Subject to the eligibility criteria indicated above, the applicants should provide the following supporting documents to establish their eligibility:

  •   private entity: extract from the official journal, copy of articles of association, extract of trade or association register, certificate of liability to VAT (if, as in certain countries, the trade register number and VAT number are identical, only one of these documents is required);

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

  •   consortium: in addition to the supporting documents referring to their legal status, consortium members will submit letters confirming their participation to the project,

  •   natural persons: photocopy of identity card and/or passport;

  •   entities without legal personality: documents providing evidence that their representative(s) have

    the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf.

5.2. ADMISSIBLE AND ELIGIBLE PROPOSALS

Applications shall comply with the following conditions in order to be eligible for a grant:

  •   Applications shall be sent no later than the deadline for submitting applications referred to in section 9;

  •   Applications shall be submitted in writing, using the application form and the electronic submission system, as indicated in the Guide for Applicants;

  •   Applications shall be drafted in one of the EU official Languages. If your proposal is not in English, a translation of the full proposal would be of assistance to the evaluators. An English translation of an abstract may be included in the proposal (see Guide for Applicants);

  •   Proposals shall be submitted in conformity with the call specifications;

  •   Only projects that are strictly non-profit-making and/or whose immediate objective is non-commercial

    shall be eligible;

  •   Applications shall respect the maximum rate for EU co-financing;

  •   Applications shall respect the maximum amount for EU co-financing;

  •  Applications may not include contributions in kind as part of their co-financing.

In this context, will be rejected any project directly or indirectly contrary to EU policy or against public health, human rights, citizen’s security or freedom of expression.

 

6. EXCLUSION CRITERIA

6.1. EXCLUSION FROM PARTICIPATION

An entity will be excluded from participating in the call for proposals procedure if :

(a) it 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;

(b) it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the entity 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;

(c) it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the entity is guilty of grave professional misconduct by having violated applicable laws or regulations or ethical standards of the profession to which the applicant 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 entity 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 award procedure;

(v) attempting to obtain confidential information that may confer upon it undue advantages in the award procedure;

(d) it has been established by a final judgment that the entity 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;

(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, and in Article 2(1) of Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA, as well as corruption as defined in the law of the country where the contracting authority is located, the country in which the applicant 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;

(iv) money laundering or terrorist financing, as defined in Article 1 of Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council;

(v) terrorist-related offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, as defined in Articles 1 and 3 of Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA, 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;

(e) the entity 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;

 

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

g) for the situations of grave professional misconduct, fraud, corruption, other criminal offences, significant deficiencies in the performance of the contract or irregularity, the applicant is subject to:

(i.) facts established in the context of audits or investigations carried out by the Court of Auditors, OLAF or internal audit, or any other check, audit or control performed under the responsibility of an authorising officer of an EU institution, of a European office or of an EU agency or body;

(ii.) non-final administrative decisions which may include disciplinary measures taken by the competent supervisory body responsible for the verification of the application of standards of professional ethics;

(iii) decisions of the ECB, the EIB, the European Investment Fund or international organisations;

(iv) decisions of the Commission relating to the infringement of the Union's competition rules or of a national competent authority relating to the infringement of Union or national competition law.

(v) decisions of exclusion by an authorising officer of an EU institution, of a European office or of an EU agency or body.

The same exclusion criteria apply to affiliated entities.

6.1. EXCLUSION FROM AWARD

Grants will not be awarded to applicant who, in the course of the grant award procedure is: (a) is in a situation of exclusion established in accordance with Article 106 FR

(b) has misrepresented the information required as a condition for participating in the grant award procedure or has failed to supply that information;

(c) was previously involved in the preparation of procurement documents where this entails a distortion of competition that cannot be remedied otherwise.

The same exclusion criteria apply to affiliated entities.

6.2. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

Applicants must sign a declaration on their honour certifying that they are not in one of the situations referred to by filling in the “Exclusion Criteria Form” (form B4)

Administrative and financial penalties may be imposed on applicants, or affiliated entities where applicable, who are guilty of misrepresentation.

By using the “Exclusion Criteria Form” applicants shall declare on their honour that they are not in one of the situations referred to in Articles 106 and 107 of the Regulation (EC, Euratom) n° 966/2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (Financial Regulation, as amended).

Please note that administrative and financial penalties may be imposed by the Commission on applicants who are excluded in relation to points a) to g) of the form in question.

For grants with a value exceeding € 60 000, the Commission may require further evidence, as indicated in article 143 Rules of Application.

 

7. SELECTION

7.1. FINANCIAL CAPACITY

Applicants must have stable and sufficient sources of funding to maintain their activity throughout the duration of the grant and to participate in its funding. The applicants' financial capacity will be assessed on the basis of the following supporting documents to be submitted with the application:

a) Low value grants (≤ EUR 60 000):

 

 a declaration on their honour. b) Grants ≥ EUR 60 000:

 a declaration on their honour and EITHER

  •   the profit and loss account as well as the balance sheet for the last financial year for which the accounts were closed;

  •   for newly created entities: the business plan might replace the above documents; OR

  •   the table provided for in the application form, filled in with the relevant statutory accounting figures, in order to calculate the ratios as detailed in the form.

    c) Grants for an action ≥ EUR 750 000 or operating grants ≥ EUR 100 000 :

  •   the information and supporting documents mentioned above in point b) above and

  •   an audit report produced by an approved external auditor certifying the accounts for the last financial year available [the two last years for a Framework Partnership Agreement].

In the event of an application grouping several applicants (consortium), the above thresholds apply to each applicant.

  •   a declaration on honour and,

  •   form B/5 provided for in the submission set, filled in with the relevant statutory accounting figures.

    Other documents may be submitted if needed (see IV.4 Guide to applicants)

    In the case of affiliated entities forming together one sole applicant, the above requirements apply to each of the affiliated entity.

7.2. OPERATIONAL CAPACITY

Applicants shall show they have the operational (technical and management) capacity to complete the operation to be supported and shall demonstrate their capacity to manage scale activity corresponding to the size of the project for which the grant is requested. In particular, the team responsible for the project/operation shall have adequate professional qualifications and experience.

In this respect, applicants have to submit: -a declaration on their honour,

-the following supporting documents:

  •   curriculum vitae or description of the profile of the people primarily responsible for managing and implementing the operation (accompanied where appropriate, like in the field of research and education, by a list of relevant publications);

  •   the organisations’ activity reports;

  •   an exhaustive lists of previous projects and activities performed and connected to the policy field or to the actions to be carried out.

In the case of affiliated entities forming together a sole applicant, the above requirements apply to each affiliate entity.

The selection procedure is described in further detail in the Guide for Applicants.

 

8. AWARD

An evaluation of the quality of proposals, including the proposed budget, will be carried out in accordance with the evaluation criteria set out in annex 3 to this call for proposals.

The evaluation procedure is described in further detail in the Guide for Applicants.

 

9. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

Please note that only electronic submissions are allowed for this call.
Please consult the Guide for Applicants for the modalities of preparing the proposal.

Submission of a grant application implies acceptance of the conditions of the grant agreement, attached to this call.

The deadline for submission of proposals is:

 

10. CONTACTS

Contacts between the contracting authority and potential applicants can only take place in certain circumstances and under the following conditions only:

Before the final date for submission of proposals,

  •   At the request of the applicant, the Commission may provide additional information solely for the purpose of clarifying the nature of the call.

  •   Any requests for additional information shall be made in writing only to the coordinates stated below.

  •   The Commission may, on its own initiative, inform interested parties of any error, inaccuracy,

    omission or other clerical error in the text of the call for proposals.

  •   Any additional information including that referred to above will be published on the internet in concordance with the various call for proposals documents.

    After the deadline for submission of proposals:

  •   If clarification is requested or if obvious clerical errors in the proposal need to be corrected, the Commission will contact the applicant provided the terms of the proposal are not modified as a result.

  •   If the authorising officer finds that those proposals, which have been listed for award needs limited adaptations to their proposal. In such case, these applicants will receive a formal letter setting out the requested modifications. Any such modifications shall stay within the limits of the request. This phase will not lead to a re-evaluation of the proposals, but a proposal might be rejected if the applicant does not wish to comply with the modifications requested.

    Contact coordinates for the call:

18/07/2017 [17:00 Brussels local time]

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Space Policy, Copernicus and Defence
Space Data for Societal Challenges and Growth
E-mail address: GROW-I3@ec.europa.eu
Office address: BREY 09/212 B-1049 Brussels, Belgium

 

11. DATAPROTECTION

The reply to any call for proposals involves the recording and processing of personal data (such as name, address and CV). 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 DG GROW UNIT I.3.

Details concerning the processing of personal data are available on the privacy statement at:

http://ec.europa.eu/dataprotectionofficer/privacystatement_publicprocurement_en.pdf.

Personal data may be registered in the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) if the applicant is in one of the situations mentioned in Article 106 of the Financial Regulation. For more information, see the Privacy Statement on:

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/explained/management/protecting/protect_en.cfm

 

12. PUBLICITY

Beneficiaries shall clearly acknowledge the European Union’s contribution in all publications or in conjunction with activities for which the grant is used.

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

To do this they shall use the text, the emblem and the disclaimer available at http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/space/copernicus/licence/licence-agreement_en.htm. If this requirement is not fully complied with, the beneficiary’s grant may be reduced in accordance with the provisions of the grant agreement or grant decision.

With the exception of scholarships paid to natural persons and other direct support paid to natural persons in most need, all information relating to grants awarded in the course of a financial year shall be published on an internet site of the European Union institutions no later than the 30 June of the year following the financial year in which the grants were awarded.

The Commission will publish the following information:

  1. name of the beneficiary;
  2. address of the beneficiary (legal persons) or reference to the region (natural persons); subject of the grant;
  3. amount awarded.

Upon a
disclosure risks threatening the rights and freedoms of individuals concerned as protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union or harm the commercial interests of the beneficiaries.

reasoned and duly substantiated request by the beneficiary, the publication shall be waived if such



Public link:   Only for registered users


Up2Europe Ads