Copernicus, Galileo, GSA joint call for prizes 2019-2021

Deadline: Jun 15, 2019  
CALL EXPIRED

INTRODUCTION – Background

The relevant basic acts that give legal basis to the Call are:

Firstly, Regulation (EU) No 377/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 establishing the Copernicus Programme, OJ L 122, 24.4.2014

2018 Copernicus Annual Work Programme and Commission implementing Decision on the modification to the Annex of Commission Implementing Decision C (2018) 2 final concerning the Copernicus Work Programme 2018.

Secondly, to cover Galileo and the EGNOS programmes; Regulation (EU) No 1285/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the implementation and exploitation of European satellite navigation systems; repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 876/2002 and Regulation (EC) No 683/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council; in accordance with the "2019 Work programme and the financing for the implementation and exploitation of the European satellite navigation programmes".

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION C(2019)2527 of 08/04/2019 on the financing of the European satellite navigation programmes and the adoption of the work programme for 2019

Background:

The 2014 Copernicus Regulation states the objectives of the Copernicus programme: 

- "Maximising socio-economic benefits, thereby supporting the Europe 2020 strategy and its objectives of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth by promoting the use of Earth observation in applications and services; 

- Fostering the development of a competitive European space and services industry and maximising opportunities for European enterprises to develop and provide innovative Earth observation systems and services; (…)

- Supporting and contributing to European policies (…)."

The Space Strategy (COM (2016) 705 final) which was adopted in October 2016 confirmed the potential of Copernicus and EGNOS/Galileo for innovative services and thus stressed the need to foster the up-take of Copernicus data and EGNOS/Galileo services by the commercial sector, in particular by SMEs and start-ups. 

The Commission is convinced that stronger implication of the commercial downstream sector to deliver tailor-made applications, reach out to new users, communities and sectors and sell products in international markets will contribute to the exploitation of Copernicus’ and EGNOS/Galileo innovative potential. The downstream companies are a fundamental link between the EU space programme and their end users 

The Commission developed a "Copernicus start-up Programme", to support start-ups and young companies that develop applications based on Copernicus data and services. The programme consists of four elements: 

- The Copernicus Prizes, organised in 2017 and 2018 in the context of the Copernicus Masters: https://www.copernicus-masters.com/ 

- The Copernicus Hackathon Programme: https://hackathons.copernicus.eu/ 

- The Copernicus Accelerator: https://accelerator.copernicus.eu/ 

- The Copernicus Incubation Programme: https://copernicus-incubation.eu/ 

This comprehensive programme accompanies start-ups from the generation of a business idea to its full commercialisation. The Copernicus Prizes and Hackathons represent the entry gates to the Copernicus start-up Programme by supporting the generation of new business ideas. The best participants from the Copernicus Prizes and Hackathons will receive a customized business development programme through the Copernicus Accelerator, to help them reach their next business target (e.g. developing a prototype, finding investors, getting a first client…). In a final stage, the Commission will support the incubation of the most promising start-ups through its dedicated Incubation Programme.

The Copernicus Accelerator was launched in June 2016. The first Copernicus Prizes were awarded in 2017; the Copernicus Hackathons and the first call for applications for the Incubation programme was launched in January2018.

The first competition for the Copernicus Prizes was organised in the context of the Copernicus Masters, on behalf of the Commission. After its big success in 2017, the Commission decided to launch a new call with an enlarged scope compared to the first call. The 2017 call was built around the organisation of six Commission prizes (also known as “Commission challenges”), comprising all related tasks such as communication, organisation of the evaluation and selection process, setting up of the expert panel (with two external and Commission experts) and the organisation of the award ceremony which took place back-to-back to the European Space week in Tallinn in December 2017 and the Galileo Masters competition. 

The 1285/2013 GNSS (Galileo) Regulation recalls that:

"… a growing number of economic sectors, in particular transport, telecommunications, agriculture and energy, increasingly use satellite navigation systems. Public authorities can also benefit from these systems in various areas such as emergency services, police, crisis management or border management. Developing the use of satellite navigation brings enormous benefits to the economy, society and the environment. Such socio- economic benefits are broken down into three main categories: direct benefits resulting from the growth of the space market, direct benefits resulting from the growth of the downstream market for GNSS-based applications and services, and indirect benefits resulting from the emergence of new applications in, or technology transfer to, other sectors, leading to new market opportunities in other sectors, productivity gains across industry and public benefits generated by a reduction in pollution or by improved levels of safety and security…"

Therefore the Commission together with European GNSS Agency (GSA) has also developed since 2007, a "Galileo start-up Programme", to support start-ups and young companies in the GNSS downstream sector. The programme consists of four elements: 

- The Galileo Prizes: https://www.galileo-masters.eu/ 

- The Galileo Special Prizes (managed by GSA)

- The Galileo Hackathons (managed by GSA)

- The Galileo Acceleration/Incubation: https://www.galileo-masters.eu/accelerator/ 

This comprehensive programme aims to accompany start-ups from the generation of a business idea to its full commercialisation.

 

Objective(s) – Theme(s) – Priorities

General objective:

To sign one Action grant agreements to partially reimburse a mono/multi-beneficiary following title IX “Prizes” of the Financial Regulation and, particularly article 206.4 that says: 

“Where implementation of and action…requires prizes to be awarded to third parties by a beneficiary, that beneficiary may award such prizes provided that the eligibility and award criteria, the amount of the prizes and the payment arrangements are defined in the grant agreement between the beneficiary and the Commission, with no margin for discretion.”

The beneficiary/ies will create and co-finance a prize awarding mechanism/scheme by public or private organizations that reward the development of innovative applications developed by entrepreneurs and based on Copernicus, on the EU Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) technologies (EGNOS/GALILEO) or a combination of both technologies as building components. 

From experience on other innovative technologies, the prize-winning concept is an effective tool to prompt generation of new ideas ready to spin-off and/or to go into market introduction, as well as to provide visibility and crucial seed financing to prize winners, EU funding may also play a key 'signalling' role in attracting further private financing to the innovative ventures.

This prize-awarding mechanism aims to promote the industrial innovation and the uptake of Earth Observation and GNSS technologies downstream across Europe and beyond. 

The underlying drivers of this general objective are to: 

• Reward companies and/or entrepreneurs for their development of innovative Copernicus and EGNSS applications, emphasizing the benefit of the use of EGNOS/Galileo and their synergies with Copernicus earth observation technology.
• Encourage SMEs and innovative entrepreneurs/organizations to invest in Copernicus and EGNOS/Galileo based applications and foster pan-European space-based downstream entrepreneurship.
• Make new Copernicus/EGNSS-based ideas known to the market, thus creating opportunities for SMEs to raise support not only at a local level but also at a broader scale.
• Increase the quality of the competing ideas as well as the number of applications from EU Member States and other countries (e.g. EEA countries, ENP South/East). 
• Increase the use of Copernicus data and services and EGNOS/Galileo services, notably by raising awareness of Copernicus/EGNOS/Galileo in new geographical areas and user communities. Special efforts should be dedicated to building strong links with the ICT community (i.e.  Information and Communication Technologies, such as big data, augmented reality, artificial intelligence or the Internet of Things). 
• Lower the "cost of entry" for regional organizations or private sponsors willing to fund Copernicus/EGNSS R&D and entrepreneurship, also creating an incentive to other sponsors to offer special prizes in application domains of particular interest.
• Provide support to start-ups in Copernicus/EGNSS downstream applications. The prize awards shall be embedded into an integrated innovation support scheme and should represent an initial/intermediate step to access finance and or other support schemes, aimed at creating commercially viable new ventures.

 

The specific objectives of the Copernicus and Galileo Prizes are: 

I. To support Copernicus-based start-ups in 2020 and, possibly, 2021, through the award of a 10,000 euro prize for innovative ideas and the visibility offered by the prize and award ceremony. To further support the development of the successful applications, each winner will be offered a ticket to the Copernicus Accelerator (which is entirely covered by a different contract). The schedule for the number of prizes to award is the following: 

2020: 15 prizes, including 2 prizes exclusively branded as European Commission prizes (henceforth the "European Commission challenges")

2021: 30 prizes, including 2 European Commission challenges

II. To support each year 30 EGNOS/Galileo-based start-ups in 2020 and 2021, through the award of 10,000 euro prizes for innovative ideas and the visibility offered by the prize and award ceremony. To further support the development of the successful applications, EGNOS/Galileo, additional 6 Galileo Incubation awards of 43.000 euro prize will be awarded each year in 2020 and 2021.

III. To implement a specific Galileo Masters prizes challenge dedicated to three GSA topic of choice and to perform the related marketing activities and to implement other prizes requested by GSA.

IV. To foster the emergence of a vibrant Copernicus ecosystem and Galileo start-ups in Europe, gathering all relevant stakeholders (research centres, universities, small and large companies…), notably through the organisation of a prestigious award ceremony.

 

Timetable

Date and time or
indicative period 

(a) Publication of the call 

April 25th 

(b) Deadline for submitting applications

June 15th 

(c) Evaluation period

June-July

(d) Information to applicants

August

(e) Signature of grant agreement(s)

September

(f) Duration of the action

Maximum 36 months 

(g) Duration of the Grant agreement 24 months with possibility of 12 month extension by amendment

Maximum 36months

 

Budget available

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects under this call for proposals is estimated at EUR 2.306.000. This amount is subject to the availability of the appropriations provided for in the draft budget for 2021 after the adoption of the budget for 2020 by the budgetary authority or provided for in the provisional twelfths.

Breakdown by individual tasks:

1. Overall management, organization of the award ceremonies: 400.000€
2. Communication: 105.000€

iii) 45 Copernicus Prizes: 450.000€ (13 prizes in 2020 and 28 prizes in 2021, max EU contribution per prize 10.000 euros; on top of this EU funding, the beneficiary will have to mobilise 40% co-funding from third parties as explained below and in the section 6.2, paragraph on ‘Mobilizing and co-financing of prizes’. The value of the prizes to the applicants will therefore be worth 16.667€. In addition, 2 Copernicus prizes - special EU challenges in 2020 and 2 in 2021 are foreseen with a funding rate up to 100%).

iv) Galileo Masters Prizes: 600.000€ (30 prizes per year, for 2020 and 2021, max EU contribution per prize 10.000 euros ; on top of this EU funding, the beneficiary will have to mobilise 40% co-funding from third parties as explained below and in the section 6.2, paragraph on ‘Mobilizing and co-financing of prizes’. The value of the prizes to the applicants will therefore be worth 16.667€)

v) Galileo Incubation support: 516.000€ (6 incubation supports per year, for 2020 and 2021, 43.000 euros per incubation support; on top of this EU funding, the beneficiary will have to mobilise 30% co-funding from third parties as explained below and in the section 6.2, paragraph on ‘Mobilizing and co-financing of prizes’. The value of each incubation support to the applicants will therefore be worth 61.429€)

vi) GSA special prizes: 135.000€ (Galileo Masters, 3 editions in 2019, 2020 and 2021) and other GSA ad hoc prizes up to 100.000€ with a funding rate up to 100%. 

Maximum EU financing rate of eligible costs:

-70% for management costs with an overall total ceiling of €400.000

-60% for Copernicus and Galileo prize costs with a ceiling of €10 000 per prize (with the exception of the 2 European Commission challenges every year, which can be financed up to 100% by the EU, with a ceiling of €10 000 per prize). 

-70% for Galileo incubation support costs with a ceiling of €43 000 per incubation;

- 100% for the GSA special and ad hoc prizes and communication. 

For costs related to prizes and incubation support the financing rate shall apply only at the level of the entity awarding such prize or providing such support.

The applicant shall demonstrate its ability to finance at least the remaining of eligible costs.

The indicative schedule for the Copernicus prizes is the following: 

•2020: 15 prizes, including 2 European Commission challenges.

•2021: 30 prizes, including 2 European Commission challenges.

Slightly different allocation per single year may be accepted.

Indicatively, 30 Galileo prizes and 6 Galileo ideas incubated should be co-funded per year; slightly different allocation per single year may be accepted for the sake of flexibility, if requested and under agreement with the Commission with no margin for the discretion of the beneficiary. Three GSA special prizes on topics of choice per year will be awarded and additional ad hoc prizes; the topics of such special and ad hoc prizes will be announced every year by GSA, according to its assessment of market and technology trends, in order to maximise impact on emerging of innovation based on EGNSS.

The budget may also be transferred between the above activities (iii), (iv) and (v), if required and under agreement with the Commission, to ensure maximum use of the available budget (e.g. if not enough Galileo ideas are found to be incubated/accelerated).

For the years for which the budget has not been adopted, this amount is subject to the availability of the appropriations provided for in the draft budget for 2021 after the adoption of the budget for 2020 by the budgetary authority or provided for in the provisional twelfths.

The Commission reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

The grant agreement will be signed for two budgetary years, for the third and last year (2021) the grant agreement will be subject to an extension by amendment, as soon as 2021’s budget will be approved.

 

(TABLE NOT AVAILABLE

 

Proposals requesting an EU contribution higher than € 2.306 000 or an EU co-financing rate higher than what indicated in this document 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.

1. Admissibility Requirements

In order to be admissible, applications must be:

• sent no later than the deadline for submitting applications referred to in section 3;
• submitted in writing (see section 14), using the application form and electronic submission system (address available on the call publication page); and
• 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.

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

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible applicants

Proposals may be submitted by any of the following applicants:

• non-profit organisation (private or public);
• public authorities (national, regional, local);
• international organisations;
• universities;
• educational institutions;
• research centres;
• profit making entities;

Natural persons are not eligible except self-employed persons or equivalent (i.e. sole traders) where the company does not possess legal personality separate from that of the natural person.

Country of establishment

Only applications from legal entities established in the following countries are eligible:

• EU Member States;
• EFTA and EEA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway;

Proposals from applicants in candidate or associated countries may be selected provided that, on the date of award, agreements have entered into force setting out the arrangements for the participation of those countries in the programme.

For British applicants: Please be aware that eligibility criteria must be complied with for the entire duration of the grant. If the United Kingdom withdraws from the EU during the grant period without concluding an agreement with the EU ensuring in particular that British applicants continue to be eligible, you will cease to receive EU funding (while continuing, where possible, to participate) or be required to leave the project on the basis of Article II.17.3.1 of the grant agreement

 

Mono/Multi-beneficiary. Consortium]requirements

• In order to be eligible, a proposal must be submitted by one applicant/a consortium composed of legal entities;

For the purpose of declaring eligible costs as specified under section 11.3, the entities composing the applicant shall be treated as affiliated entities in accordance with Article 187 of the Financial Regulation. 

Supporting documents

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

• 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,  decision or other official document establishing the public-law entity ;
• natural persons: photocopy of identity card and/or passport; certificate of liability to VAT, if applicable (e.g. some self-employed persons)
• entities without legal personality: documents providing evidence that their representative(s) have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf. 

Eligible activities

The following types of activities are eligible under this call for proposals:

• Overall management, organization of the award ceremonies:
  • The beneficiary shall organise one public award ceremony for GSA prizes in 2019 and two public award ceremonies for Copernicus, Galileo and GSA prizes, in 2020 and 2021, during which the prizes should be handed to the winners of the challenges. The Commission and relevant stakeholders (e.g. business angels, public organisations…) should be invited to these two events. Winners should be given the opportunity to present their projects (via pitching sessions and booths).
  • The beneficiary shall be in charge of: 
  • The location(s) (find/renting) and the logistics for the award ceremony 
  • The catering and the registration of participants
  • The wide promotion of the award ceremony
  • The animation of the award ceremony
  • The interaction with all stakeholders prior to the award ceremony
  • The full coordination of this award ceremony with converging, relevant events managed by Commission/GSA (The 2019 prizes should be organised in the context of the EU Space Week, similarly to the 2018 prizes: https://www.euspaceweek.eu/ )
• Communication:
  • The beneficiary should undertake several communication activities to promote the prize competition. It should also give maximum visibility to the Copernicus and Galileo winners of the competition. 
  • These communication activities should be executed in close contact with -and on the approval of- the Commission, and in line with the Copernicus Start-up Programme Communication Strategy and its Graphic Charter, which will be communicated to the beneficiary at the kick-off meeting, as well as in close cooperation with Commission/GSA communication departments. Concerning the GSA special and ad hoc prizes, specific marketing and communication activities will be correspondingly branded to ensure adequate visibility to the specific technical challenges the topics of choice aim to tackle.
  • Among these communication activities, the beneficiary should at least:
    • Manage and animate the existing webpage offering regular up-dated information on the Copernicus and Galileo Prizes in coordination with the Commission. The contractor will need to manage the subdomain of the Copernicus.eu website related to the Copernicus Prizes, as the main entry point for information on the Copernicus Prizes. 
    • Manage and animate the Copernicus/Galileo Prizes social media accounts (Twitter, LinkedIn…), and the press coverage through regular press releases.
    • Provide not less than 1 article per year to the Copernicus Support Office for the Copernicus Observer or the Copernicus.eu website and 1 article per year to Commission/GSA for Galileo.
    • Create and develop a professional and attractive video of 30 to 40 seconds, as trailer to introduce the Copernicus and Galileo Prizes to the general public and potential candidates for the years to come. The video should be in English, subtitled in (at least) English, French and German. Create a media file with profile of current and past winner, to be used for awareness campaigns.
    • Develop an attractive and easily understandable factsheet with infographics about the Copernicus and Galileo Prizes as well as about the GSA special prizes (e.g. the programme's set-up, objectives, achievements, advantages and quotes or feedback by mentors and mentees). These to communicate about the Prizes on Copernicus and Galileo social media.
  • In all its internal and external communication activities, the beneficiary shall preserve the positive image and the integrity of the European Commission, the GSA and the Copernicus and EGNOS/Galileo programmes. Furthermore, the beneficiary shall include the logos of both Copernicus, EGNOS/Galileo and the European Commission in all communication activities, mentioning the support provided to implement Copernicus Prizes & Galileo Masters. Concerning the GSA special and ad hoc prizes, specific visibility will be given to the agency (e.g. use of logo, adequate presence at award ceremony, etc.).
  • In its communication activities with participants and external partners, the beneficiary should ensure a feedback loop to the Commission, based on impressions, comments and suggestions for improvement. This should be communicated throughout the contract to ensure a smooth implementation of the programme; and a summary of the gathered feedback should be included in the reports.
  • The beneficiary shall also periodically share with Commission the list with full details of applicants and winners of Copernicus, Galileo and GSA prizes, to enable communication and dissemination actions.
• Organisation of Prizes competition:
• Copernicus Prizes
• Galileo Masters Prizes
• Galileo Incubation support
• GSA special prizes and other GSA ad hoc prizes
• European Commission’s challenges
  • Organization and management of a yearly Copernicus and EGNOS/Galileo prize-awarding competition covering all necessary tasks such as elaboration of a well-defined, fair and transparent prize awarding scheme, publication of calls for ideas, evaluation by experts of submitted ideas, dissemination 'inbound'( i.e. to increase the number and the quality of innovative ideas submitted to the prize-awarding competition), dissemination 'outbound' (i.e. obtain adequate visibility among the European and worldwide relevant players (e.g. ESA BICs, regional space clusters, venture capitalists) and industry sectors (e.g. potential customers or partners) - including academic and research - to promote the competition, its sponsors, participants and prize winners).
  • The organisation of a prize competition, including the promotion, evaluation, selection and the award of the prize (15 Copernicus prizes in 2020 and 30 in 2021 of 10,000 euros every year, 30 Galileo of 10,000 euros and 6 Galileo Incubation awards of 43.000 euros every year in 2020 and 2021, the implementation of three GSA 'special prizes' of 15.000 euros value each and other ad hoc prizes, every year from 2019 to 2021). 
  • The topics of the GSA special and ad hoc prizes will be discussed with the beneficiary, approved and announced every year by GSA, according to its assessment of market and technology trends, in order to maximise impact on emerging of innovation based on EGNSS.
  • The topics of the two "European Commission" challenges will be discussed with the beneficiary and approved by the Commission; No specific topic is foreseen for Galileo Masters prizes and Incubation awards. It will be decided later with the agreement of the Commission.
  • Each evaluation panel should gather ideally five but at least three persons, including:
    • A business expert with experience in the support to start-ups (venture capital/private equity fund managers, business angels…).
    • A Geo-Information Services (GIS) expert (who will notably help evaluating the technical feasibility of the projects) for the Copernicus Prizes or a GNSS expert (who will notably help evaluating the technical feasibility of the projects) for the Galileo prizes. 
  • For the evaluation and selection of the best proposals, the following criteria should be met:
  • Eligibility criteria of the applicant: 
  • Any applicant must be a natural or legal person of an EU Member State or EEA, ENP South/East countries or other countries with which the EU has space dialogues and cooperation: USA, Canada, Latin America, Africa, Gulf Cooperation Countries, Kazakhstan, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand. 
  • Prizes selection criteria: 
  • Copernicus data and services information products (for the Copernicus Prizes) or EGNOS/Galileo services (for the Galileo Prizes) or the two technologies together, must form a central part in the project-idea presented by any applicant.
  • Project-idea potential (Is the project innovative? Does it create value for the users? Is it feasible technically? Why is the project better than competing endeavours?) (1/3 of score).
  • Sustainability of the project-idea (Have potential users/clients been involved in the design of the project? Are they willing to pay? How does the applicant intend to finance the project?) (1/3 of score).
  • Quality of the team (technical and business expertise, understanding of the thematic area at hand, commitment to the project) (1/3 of score).
  • The beneficiary should ensure equal treatment of all applicants, with demonstrated actions to avoid potential conflicts of interests. If any member of the panel of expert has any stake in one applicant, s/he should be replaced by another person for this session of the selection board. The beneficiary should ensure full confidentiality of the applications, notably through the signature of ‘declarations of confidentiality and absence of conflicts of interest’ by all members of the jury. 
  • The beneficiary shall ensure payment of the cash prize and of the partners' contribution to the winners of the Copernicus and Galileo prizes as well as of the GSA special prizes. This payment should be made within one month of the award ceremony. The payment/support to the 6 Galileo Incubation winners will be delivered maximum within 6 months of the award ceremony.
• Mobilizing and co-financing of prizes: 
  • The beneficiary shall ensure co-funding of the Copernicus and Galileo Prizes as well as of the Galileo Incubation from partners, either public or private entities, national/regional organizations or any other private sponsors willing to fund Copernicus/GNSS R&D and entrepreneurship. The amount of such co-funding appears further in this document.
  • Such co-funding may be in the form of:
    • financial resources (cash or other financial means, e.g. bank/loan )
    • In-kind support, through -for instance but not exclusively-: the provision, at no cost for the prize-winner, of services (e.g. engineering services, computer-aided-design activities, computer simulations) or material (hardware, software or simple raw materials) to further refine and develop their innovation.
    • For example, through technical assistance, hours of independent researchers and technical staff, use of laboratories, testing of materials, design and prototypes, development of model/prototypes all with the aim to fine-tune the innovative idea; 
    • As well as support to the commercial launch of the venture, (e.g. crowdfunding campaigns, professional/managerial services aiming at establishing a start-up, assistance in defining Intellectual Property Rights – e.g. filing a patent or pre-filing activities like researching patent databases, etc.)
  • The beneficiary shall ensure full transparency in the evaluation of this in-kind contribution, which has to be fully compliant with art. 190 of the EU Financial Regulation.
  • Given the variety and wide scoping of the Copernicus/Galileo innovative ideas that can be proposed, as well as the different stage at which those innovation are (e.g. some can be a project on paper, others to a much more advanced stage) it is impossible to define all type of contribution that can be made available from third parties. The assessment of the value of any type of such contribution will anyway always have to be consistent with rules on eligibility of costs and comply with the principle that the reporting has to be backed-up by full auditable accounts on the evaluation of such in-kind contribution, by means of adequate accounting documentation.

 

• Reporting:
  • The beneficiary of the grant will ensure full reporting of this action to the Commission. In particular, the beneficiary should submit reports to summarize the state of play of the organisation of the prizes: 
  • - A first interim report: after 6 months 
  • - A second interim report: After 12 months
  • - A third interim report: After 20 months and the organisation of the first award ceremony 
  • - A fourth interim report: After 26 months
  • - A final report: After 32 months and the organisation of the second award ceremony 
  • All reports following an award ceremony should present: 
  • The number of start-ups and entrepreneurs that have applied to each prize.
  • Reconciliation of the co-funding required from partners and matching EU funding, as indicated in the ‘grant agreement’ highlighting the pricing of the in-kind contribution from partners.
  • A short description of the winners of each prize.
  • A short analysis of the quality of applications.
  • The result of a short user survey, to fill in by the applicants to the prize competition.
  • An analysis of the call for topics (selection procedure, quality of the topics etc.) 
  • Recommendations on how to improve the prizes.
• Financial support to third parties (see point 11.8.d).

Implementation period

• activities may not start before publication of the call/entry into of the grant agreement;
• the maximum duration of projects is 24+12 months;

Applications for projects scheduled to run for a longer period than that specified in this call for proposals will not be accepted.

Exclusion Criteria

Exclusion

The authorising officer shall exclude an applicant from participating in call for proposals procedures where:

1. the applicant is bankrupt, subject to insolvency or winding-up procedures, its assets are being administered by a liquidator or by a court, it is in an arrangement with creditors, its business activities are suspended, or it is in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for under EU or national laws or regulations;
2. it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the applicant is in breach of its obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions in accordance with the applicable law; 
3. it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the applicant 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 intent or gross negligence, including, in particular, any of the following:

1. 1. fraudulently or negligently misrepresenting information required for the verification of the absence of grounds for exclusion or the fulfilment of eligibility or selection criteria or in the performance of a contract, a grant agreement or a grant decision;
   2. entering into agreement with other applicants with the aim of distorting competition;
   3. violating intellectual property rights;
   4. attempting to influence the decision-making process of the Commission during the award procedure;
   5. attempting to obtain confidential information that may confer upon it undue advantages in the award procedure;

1. it has been established by a final judgment that the applicant is guilty of any of the following:

1. fraud, within the meaning of Article 3 of Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Article 1 of the Convention on the protection of the European Communities' financial interests, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 July 1995;
2. corruption, as defined in Article 4(2) of Directive (EU) 2017/1371 or 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, or conduct referred to in Article 2(1) of Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA,  or corruption as defined in the applicable law;
3. conduct related to a criminal organisation, as referred to in Article 2 of Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA;
4. money laundering or terrorist financing within the meaning of Article 1(3), (4) and (5) of Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
5. terrorist 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;
6. child labour or other offences concerning trafficking in human beings as referred to in Article 2 of Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council;

1. the applicant has shown significant deficiencies in complying with main obligations in the performance of a contract, a grant agreement or a grant decision financed by the Union's 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; 
2. it has been established by a final judgment or final administrative decision that the applicant has committed an irregularity within the meaning of Article 1(2) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95;
3. It has been established by a final judgement or final administrative decision that the applicant has created an entity in a different jurisdiction with the intent to circumvent fiscal, social or any other legal obligations of mandatory application in the jurisdiction of its registered office, central administration or principal place of business;
4. it has been established by a final judgement or final administrative decision that an entity has been created with the intent referred to in point (g);
5. for the situations referred to in points (c) to (h) above, the applicant is subject to: 

1. facts established in the context of audits or investigations carried out by European Public Prosecutor's Office after its establishment, the Court of Auditors, the European Anti-Fraud Office or the internal auditor, 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; 
2. non-final judgments or 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; 
3. facts referred to in decisions of persons or entities being entrusted with EU budget implementation tasks;
4. information transmitted by Member States implementing Union funds;
5. decisions of the Commission relating to the infringement of Union competition law or of a national competent authority relating to the infringement of Union or national competition law; or
6. decisions of exclusion by an authorising officer of an EU institution, of a European office or of an EU agency or body.

Remedial measures

If an applicant declares one of the situations of exclusion listed above (see section 7.4), it must indicate the measures it has taken to remedy the exclusion situation, thus demonstrating its reliability. This may include e.g. technical, organisational and personnel measures to correct the conduct and prevent further occurrence, compensation of damage or payment of fines or of any taxes or social security contributions. The relevant documentary evidence which illustrates the remedial measures taken must be provided in annex to the declaration. This does not apply for situations referred in point (d) of section 7.1.

 

Rejection from the call for proposals

The authorising officer shall not award a grant to an applicant who: 

1. is in an exclusion situation established in accordance with section 7.1; or
2. has misrepresented the information required as a condition for participating in the procedure or has failed to supply that information; or
3. was previously involved in the preparation of documents used in the award procedure where this entails a breach of the principle of equal treatment, including distortion of competition, that cannot be remedied otherwise.

 

The same exclusion criteria apply to affiliated entities.

 

Administrative sanctions (exclusion) may be imposed on applicants, or affiliated entities where applicable, if any of the declarations or information provided as a condition for participating in this procedure prove to be false.

 

Supporting documents

Applicants and affiliated entities must provide a declaration on their honour certifying that they are not in one of the situations referred to in Articles 136(1) and 141 FR, by filling in the relevant form to find through the ‘Guide for applicants’(form B4) 

 

This obligation may be fulfilled in one of the following ways please see ‘Guide for applicants’ for specific instructions): 

 

1. the coordinator of a consortium signs a declaration on behalf of all applicants and their affiliated entities; OR
2. each applicant in the consortium signs a declaration in its name and on behalf of its affiliated entities; OR
3. each applicant in the consortium and the affiliated entities each sign a separate declaration in their own name.

 

Selection criteria

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:

          

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