Exchanges and mobility in sport - EAC/S15/2018

Deadline: Jul 26, 2018  
CALL EXPIRED

1. INTRODUCTION – BACKGROUND

This call for proposals serves to implement the Preparatory action "Exchanges and mobility in sport" in accordance with the Commission Decision C(2018)1602/1 of 21 March 2018 on the adoption of the 2018 annual work programme for the implementation of pilot projects and preparatory actions in the area of education, sport and culture.

Sport is a powerful tool for bringing people together, reaching them at international, national, regional and local levels, and developing people-to-people contacts. Cooperation, partnerships and exchanges at the grassroots level inside the EU as well as with non-EU countries can contribute to the development of new skills and positively influence societal changes. Moreover, sport organisations at all levels are by nature open to international cooperation.

Sport creates a stronger sense of belonging to society among its vulnerable members and encourages active citizenship. It can be used to help integrate the rising migrant population, to combat social exclusion, to increase solidarity between generations, and to contribute to gender equality within societies. In other words, sport plays an integral part in creating social cohesion and inclusive communities.

This preparatory action aims to contribute to the efforts of sport organisations by supporting the learning mobility of their staff. Exchanges of people, ideas and good practices can be beneficial for the individuals, for their organisations and for sport as a whole.

In this context, learning mobility should be understood as occurring when individuals move to a country other than their country of residence in order to undertake training or other learning modalities, including traineeships, non-formal learning, teaching, and participating in transnational professional development activities. The objective of such experiences is to allow individuals to acquire new skills that will strengthen their future employability as well as their personal development.

Sport staff members such as coaches, managers or instructors play a key role in sport: by leading and guiding participants, they have an impact on their knowledge, skills, health, well-being and values. They are in a unique position to advance social inclusion, protect integrity, infuse respect for common values, and promote physical activity in all social groups.

 

The legal basis of this call for proposals is: Preparatory Action within the meaning of Article 54(2) (b) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1)

 

2. OBJECTIVE(S) – THEME(S) – PRIORITIES – OUTCOMES

The general objective of this action is to give the opportunity to staff of sport organisations (athletes entourage) to improve their competences as well as qualifications and acquire new skills through learning mobility by spending a period of time in a foreign country (in and outside of the EU). Learning mobility should be seen as an investment in human capital and a contribution to the capacity building of various sport organisations.

Opportunities for learning mobility in this context should be addressed to:

•   Coaches and other 'staff’ of sport organisations (including volunteers) – linked to professional sport;

•   Coaches and other 'staff’ of sport organisations (including volunteers) – linked to grassroots sport.

  The action seeks to have an impact in two major fields:

•   Improving the knowledge and know-how of sport staff;

•   Developing international cooperation in the field of learning mobility in sport. The expected outcomes include:

•   Regular exchange scheme for sport staff;

•   Establishment of European networks of coaches and sport staff.

The specific objective of this action is to support learning mobility and exchanges while promoting the international dimension of sport. The latter aspect should be developed in the form of cooperation between at least 3 organisations established in 3 different EU Member States (the applicant organisation and 2 other organisations established in different EU Member States) and at least one organisation established in a non-EU country in one of the following regions: the Western Balkans, Eastern Partnership, Latin America and Asia.

The action will consequently be implemented through 4 different lots:

Lot 1: Cooperation with the Western Balkans Lot 2: Cooperation with the Eastern Partnership Lot 3: Cooperation with Latin America
Lot 4: Cooperation with Asia

 

3. TIMETABLE

a) Publication of the call

May-June 2018

b) Deadline for submitting applications

26/07/2018, 12:00pm Brussels time

c) Evaluation period

July-October 2018

d) Information to applicants

November 2018

e) Signature of grant agreement

November-December 2018

 

4. BUDGET AVAILABLE

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects is estimated at 1.200.000 EUR.

The EU grant is limited to a maximum co-financing rate of 80% of eligible costs. The appropriations for the subsequent years will be confirmed at a later stage.

It is envisaged that approximately 5 projects will be financed (at least one per lot).

The maximum amount per individual grant will be 240.000 EUR.

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

 

5.ADMISSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Applications must be sent no later than the deadline for submitting applications referred to in section 3.
Applications must be submitted (see section 14) using exclusively the electronic application form.

Applications must be drafted in one of the EU official languages.
Failure to comply with those requirements will lead to the rejection of the application.

 

6. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

6.1. Eligible applicants

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

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.17.2 of the grant agreement.

In order to be eligible, projects must be presented by applicants meeting the following criteria:

•   Be a public or private organisation with legal personality, active in the sport and physical activity field and organising sport and physical activities.

•   Have their registered legal office in one of the 28 EU Member States. Examples (non-exhaustive list):

•   Non-profit organisation (private or public);

•   Public authorities (national, regional, local);

•   International organisations;

•   Sport clubs;

•   Universities;

•   Educational institutions;

•   Companies.

Natural persons are not eligible to apply for a grant under this call.

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 or decision establishing the public company, or other official document establishing the public-law entity.

For all lots, applicant organisations need to prove established cooperation /contacts with entities established in at least 2 other EU Member States and in at least one country of the relevant region. The organisations in question should be specified in the application form.

 

 

6.2. Eligible activities

Only activities pursuing one or several objectives mentioned in section 2 are eligible.

Specifically, applicants are expected to propose actions that promote the mobility of coaches and other staff of sport organisations (including volunteers), including through the following activity examples (non-exhaustive list):

 Exchanges of coaches

 Placements

 Periods of trainings/study

 Job-shadowing.

Only activities involving participants from at least 3 organisations established in 3 different EU Member States (the applicant organisation and 2 other organisations established in different EU Member States) and at least one organisation established in a non-EU country in either the Western Balkans, Eastern Partnership, Latin America and Asia are eligible.

Potential applicants should note that the proposed exchanges and mobility activities should not involve athletes as participants2.

6.3. Implementation period

•   Activities may not start before 01 January 2019, or later than 31 March 2019;

•   Activities are to be completed by 31 December 2020.

  The minimum duration of projects is 6 months.

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

 

 

7. EXCLUSION CRITERIA

7.1. Exclusion

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

1. (a)  the applicant 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;

2. (b)  it has been established by a final judgement 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 law of the country in which it is established, with those of the country in which the authorising officer is located or those of the country of the performance of the contract;

2 The involvement of athletes is foreseen in the second phase of the project in a call for proposals that will be launched in 2019.

 

(c) it has been established by a final judgement 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 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, a grant agreement or a grant decision;

(ii) entering into agreement with other persons with the aim of distorting competition; (iii) violating intellectual property rights;

(iv) attempting to influence the decision-making process of the Commission during the award procedure;

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

4. (d)  it has been established by a final judgement that the applicant 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 EU Member States, 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 authorising officer 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;

5. (e)  the applicant has shown significant deficiencies in complying with the 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;

6. (f)  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;

7. (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.

7.2. Remedial measures

If an applicant declares one of the situations of exclusion listed above (see section 7.4), it should 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 prevent further occurrence, compensation of damage or payment of fines. 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.

7.3. 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 7.13;

2. has misrepresented the information required as a condition for participating in the procedure or has failed to supply that information;

3. was previously involved in the preparation of calls for proposal documents where this entails a distortion of competition that cannot be remedied otherwise.

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

7.4. Supporting documents4

Applicants must sign a declaration on their honour certifying that they are not in one of the situations referred to in articles 106(1) and 107 FR, filling in the relevant form attached to the application form accompanying the call for proposals.

 

8. SELECTION CRITERIA

8.1. Financial capacity6

The financial capacity will be assessed based on the following methodology: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/methodology-grants-eac_en.pdf.

Applicants must have stable and sufficient sources of funding to maintain their activity throughout the period during which the action is being carried out or the year for which the grant is awarded 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:

Grants with a pre-financing value of EUR 600 000 or less

For grants of this type, proof of financial capacity is constituted by a declaration on the honour by the grant applicant (see Annex 1 of the Application form).

However, in case of doubt and only for grants exceeding EUR 60 000, the assessment committee reserves the right to request supporting documents and to carry out a financial analysis as described at point 4 of the above mentioned methodology (cf. Article 131(3) of the FR)

Moreover for grants exceeding EUR 60 000, entities falling into one of the high-risk categories mentioned at point 3.1 of the methodology must provide proof of their financial capacity and are required to undergo the financial analysis provided for in point 4 of the same methodology.

On the basis of the documents submitted, if the RAO considers that financial capacity is not satisfactory, he may:

•   request further information;

•   propose a grant agreement without pre-financing;

•   propose a grant agreement with a pre-financing paid in instalments;

•   propose a grant agreement with a pre-financing covered by a bank guarantee (see section 11.4 below);

•   where applicable, require the joint and several financial liability of all the co- beneficiaries;

•   reject the application.

   

8.2. Operational capacity7

Applicants must have the professional competencies as well as appropriate qualifications necessary to complete the proposed action. In this respect, applicants have to submit a declaration on their honour, and the following supporting documents:

Curriculum vitae or description of the profile of the people primarily responsible for managing and implementing the operation;
The organisations’ activity reports covering at least the last two years;
An exhaustive list of previous projects and activities performed in the last three years and connected to the policy field of a given call or to the actions to be carried out.

 

9. AWARD CRITERIA
Eligible applications/projects will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:

 Relevance of the project (criterion 1) (maximum 40 points): A minimum threshold of 24 points out of 40 will be applied to criterion 1; applications falling below this threshold will be rejected.

Under criterion 1, proposals will be assessed on the basis of the extent to which:

•   They contribute to the general objective of the action described in section 2, in particular with regards to the learning mobility opportunities proposed, and are in line with EU policies in the field of sport;

•   They contribute to the outcomes expected from the action defined in section 2 (i.e. regular exchange scheme for sport staff and establishment of European networks of coaches and sport staff);

•   They contribute to the specific objective defined in section 2 (promotion of the international dimension of sport), in particular with regards to the establishment of strong links between EU and non-EU partners in areas related to mobility for learning purposes.

   Quality (criterion 2) (maximum 40 points): A minimum threshold of 24 points out of 40 will be applied to criterion 2; applications falling below this threshold will be rejected.

  Under criterion 2, proposals will be assessed according to the quality of the overall design of the activities proposed and to the methodology used to implement them. The following aspects will be taken into account:

•   Number of participants involved in and benefiting from the project's activities;

•   Cost efficiency (the extent to which the project is cost-effective and allocates

  appropriate resources to each activity);

•   Sustainability of the proposed activities (the extent to which the activities will be carried out also after the end of the project);

•   Consistency between project objectives, methodology, activities and budget proposed;

•   Quality and feasibility of the methodology proposed.

   Management of the project (criterion 3) (maximum 20 points): A minimum threshold of 12 points out of 20 will be applied to criterion 3; applications falling below this threshold will be rejected.

  Under criterion 3, proposals will be assessed on the basis of the extent to which the applicants demonstrate their ability to organise, coordinate and implement the various aspects of the proposed activities. The following aspects will be taken into account:

•   Overall quality of the project team;

•   The risks envisaged and their mitigating actions;

•   The appropriateness and quality of measures aimed at sharing the outcomes of the project towards external organisations and the general public.

Points will be allocated to eligible applications out of a total of 100 on the basis of the above-specified weighting. Applications falling below any of the thresholds per criterion mentioned above will be rejected.

Moreover, a minimum threshold of 70 points will be applied for the three award criteria combined. Applications falling below this threshold will also be rejected.

 

10. LEGAL COMMITMENTS

In the event of a grant awarded by the Commission, a grant agreement, drawn up in euro and detailing the conditions and level of funding, will be sent to the applicant, as well as the information on the procedure to formalise the agreement of the parties.

The 2 copies of the original agreement must be signed first by the beneficiary and returned to the Commission immediately. The Commission will sign it last.

 

11. FINANCIAL PROVISIONS

11.1 Eligible costs

Eligible costs shall meet all the following criteria:

•   they are incurred by the beneficiary.

•   they are incurred during the duration of the action, with the exception of costs relating to final reports and audit certificates;

o The period of eligibility of costs will start as specified in the grant agreement.

o If a beneficiary can demonstrate the need to start the action before the agreement is signed, the costs eligibility period may start before that signature. Under no circumstances can the eligibility period start before the date of submission of the grant application.

 

 

•   they are indicated in the estimated budget;

•   they are necessary for the implementation of the action which is the subject of the grant;

•   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 requirements of sound financial management, in particular regarding economy and efficiency.

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

Eligible costs may be direct or indirect.

11.1.1. Eligible direct costs

The eligible direct costs for the action are those costs which:

with due regard for the conditions of eligibility set out above, are identifiable as specific costs directly linked to the performance of the action and which can therefore be booked to it directly, such as :

(a) the costs of personnel working under an employment contract with the beneficiary or an equivalent appointing act and assigned to the action, provided that these costs are in line with the beneficiary’s usual policy on remuneration.

Those costs include actual salaries plus social security contributions and other statutory costs included in the remuneration. They may also comprise 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;

The costs of natural persons working under a contract with the beneficiary other than an employment contract or who are seconded to the beneficiary by a third party against payment may also be included under such personnel costs, provided that the following conditions are fulfilled:

1. (i)  the person works under conditions similar to those of an employee (in particular regarding the way the work is organised, the tasks that are performed and the premises where they are performed);

2. (ii)  the result of the work belongs to the beneficiary (unless exceptionally agreed otherwise); and

3. (iii) the costs are not significantly different from the costs of staff performing similar tasks under an employment contract with the beneficiary;

The recommended methods for calculation of direct personnel costs are provided in Appendix.

2. (b)  costs of travel and related subsistence allowances, provided that these costs are in line with the beneficiary’s usual practices on travel;

3. (c)  the depreciation costs of equipment or other assets (new or second-hand) as recorded in the beneficiary’s accounting statements, provided that the asset:

   (i) is written off in accordance with the international accounting standards and the beneficiary’s usual accounting practices; and

   (ii) has been purchased in accordance with the rules on implementation contracts laid down in the grant agreement, if the purchase occurred within the implementation period;

   The costs of renting or leasing equipment or other assets are also eligible, provided that these costs do not exceed the depreciation costs of similar equipment or assets and are exclusive of any finance fee;

   Only the portion of the equipment’s depreciation, rental or lease costs corresponding to the implementation period and the rate of actual use for the purposes of the action may be taken into account when determining the eligible costs. By way of exception, the full cost of purchase of equipment may be eligible under the Special Conditions, if this is justified by the nature of the action and the context of the use of the equipment or assets;

4. (d)  costs of consumables and supplies, provided that they:

   (i) are purchased in accordance with the rules on implementation contracts laid down in the grant agreement; and

   (ii) are directly assigned to the action;

5. (e)  costs arising directly from requirements imposed by the 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 rules on implementation contracts laid down in the grant agreement;

6. (f)  costs entailed by subcontracts, provided that specific conditions on subcontracting as laid down in the grant agreement are met;

7. (g)  costs of financial support to third parties, provided that the conditions laid down in the grant agreement are met;

8. (h)  duties, taxes and charges paid by the beneficiary, notably value added tax (VAT), provided that they are included in eligible direct costs, and unless specified otherwise in the grant agreement.

 

11.1.2. Eligible indirect costs (overheads)

Indirect costs are costs that are not directly linked to the action implementation and therefore cannot be attributed directly to it.

A flat-rate amount of maximum 7% of the total eligible direct costs of the action, is eligible as 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. In order to demonstrate this, in principle, the beneficiary should:

a. use analytical cost accounting that allows to separate all costs (including overheads) attributable to the operating grant and the action grant. For that purpose the beneficiary should use reliable accounting codes and allocation keys ensuring that the allocation of the costs is done in a fair, objective and realistic way.

b.record separately:

• all costs incurred for the operating grants (i.e. personnel, general running costs
• and other operating costs linked to the part of its usual annual activities), and
• all costs incurred for the action grants (including the actual indirect costs linked to the action)

If the operating grant covers the entire usual annual activity and budget of the beneficiary, the latter is not entitled to receive any indirect costs under the action grant.

11.2 Ineligible costs

1. a)  return on capital and dividends paid by a beneficiary;

2. b)  debt and debt service charges;

3. c)  provisions for losses or debts;

4. d)  interest owed;

5. e)  doubtful debts;

6. f)  exchange losses;

7. g)  costs of transfers from the Commission charged by the bank of a beneficiary;

8. h)  costs declared by the beneficiary under another action receiving a grant financed from the Union budget. Such grants include grants awarded by a Member State and financed from the Union budget and grants awarded by bodies other than the Commission for the purpose of implementing the Union budget. In particular, beneficiaries receiving an operating grant financed by the EU or Euratom budget cannot declare indirect costs for the period(s) covered by the operating grant, unless they can demonstrate that the operating grant does not cover any costs of the action.

9. i)  contributions in kind from third parties;

10. j)  excessive or reckless expenditure;

11. k)  deductible VAT.

 

 

(TRUNCATED)

Public link:   Only for registered users