Exchanges and mobility in sport

Deadline: Jul 11, 2019  
CALL EXPIRED

INTRODUCTION – Background

This call for proposals serves to implement the Preparatory action "Exchanges and mobility in sport" in accordance with the Commission Decision C(2019)1819 of 12 March 2019 on the adoption of the 2019 annual work programme for the implementation of pilot projects and preparatory actions in the area of education, sport and culture.

Sport generates a stronge sense of belonging to society among its most vulnerable members while encouraging active citizenship. It can be used to help integrating the rising migrant population, to combat social exclusion, to increase solidarity between generations and to contribute to a better gender equality in society. In other words, sport has a significant impact in contributing to social cohesion and in building inclusive communities. 

At international level, sport is also a powerful tool for bringing people together and developing people-to-people contacts. Cooperation, partnerships and exchanges at grassroots level inside the EU as well as beyond can contribute to the development of new skills; it can also positively influence societal changes. Moreover, sport organisations at all levels are by nature open to international cooperation. 

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

In the context of this call for proposals, 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 58 (2) (b) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (OJ L 193, 30.7.2018, p. 1)

 

Objective(s) – Theme(s) – Priorities

General objective

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 are twofold:

• Regular exchange schemes for sport staff;
• Establishment of European networks of coaches and sport staff.

 

Specific objective

The specific objective of this action is to support learning mobility and exchanges while promoting the international dimension of sport. 

The international dimension of sport should be developed in the form of cooperation between at least 3 organisations established in 3 different EU Member States (the applicant organisation and, in addition, 2 other organisations established in different EU Member States) and at least one organisation established in one of the following regions: Western Balkans, Eastern Partnership, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. 

The applicant organisation has to be based in one of the EU Member States.  

 

The action will consequently be implemented through 5 different lots:

Lot 1: Cooperation with Western Balkans

Lot 2: Cooperation with Eastern Partnership

Lot 3: Cooperation with Asia

Lot 4: Cooperation with Latin America 

Lot 5: Cooperation with Africa

 

Timetable

(a) Publication of the call 

27 May 2019

(b) Deadline for submitting applications

11/07/2019, 12:00, (noon), Brussels time

(c) Evaluation period

July-October 2019

(d) Information to applicants

End of October 2019

(e) Signature of grant agreements

November 2019

 

Budget available

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects under this call for proposals is estimated at 1.400.000 EUR. 

The EU grant is limited to a maximum co-financing rate of 80% of eligible costs. 

It is envisaged that approximately 9 projects will be financed (in principle and depending on the quality, at least one per lot).

The maximum amount per individual grant will be 200.000 EUR.

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

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 electronic submission system available at https://ec.europa.eu/sport/calls_en ; and 
• drafted in one of the EU official languages 

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

 

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible applicants

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

For all lots, 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 EU Member States.

 

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

 

Proposals may be submitted by any of the following applicants (the list is not exhaustive and is given for example only):

• 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.

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.

 

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 ;

 

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, in addition, 2 other organisations established in different EU Member States) and at least one organisation established in the Western Balkans, Eastern Partnership, Latin America, Asia or Africa are eligible.

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

Implementation period

• Activities may not start before 01-01-2020
• Activities are to be completed by 31-12-2021.

 

The minimum duration of projects is 6 months. The maximum duration of projects is 24 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.

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. 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;
6. 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 toin 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 7.1.), 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.

 

 

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

 

Supporting documents

Applicants must provide a declaration on their honour certifying that they are not in one of the situations referred to in Articles 136(1) and 141FR, by filling in the relevant form attached to the application form accompanying the call for proposals. 

 

Selection criteria

Financial capacity

The financial capacity will be assessed based on the following methodology and its annexes: 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 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:

 

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 198(4) 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 Commission considers that financial capacity is weak, it may:

• request further information;
• decide not to give  pre-financing;
• decide to give  pre-financing paid in instalments;
• decide to give 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.

If the RAO considered that the financial capacity is insufficient s/he will reject the application.

 

Operational capacity

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 (accompanied where appropriate, like in the field of research and education, by a list of relevant publications);
• an exhaustive lists of previous projects and activities performed and connected to the policy field of a given call or to the actions to be carried out;

Award criteria

Eligible applications 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.

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

1. Financial provisions
   1. Form of the grant

 

11.1.1 Reimbursement of costs actually incurred

 

The grant will be defined by applying a maximum co-financing rate of 80% to the eligible costs actually incurred and declared by the beneficiary 

 

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