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Ideas from Europe – Further development and scaling - 279/G/GRO/SME/17/C/019a
Deadline: Mar 15, 2018  
CALL EXPIRED

 Entrepreneurship and SMEs
 Innovation
 Start Up
 Web-Entrepreneurship
 Social Innovation
 Health Care
 Sustainable Development
 Smart Cities
 Urban Development
 Business Development

1. CONTEXT

The European Commission has adopted on 22 November 2016 an initiative to improve the economic and regulatory situation for start- and scale-ups (see for further detail 'Europe's next leaders', Communication from the Commission, hereinafter referred to as 'SUI'). The 46 different policy actions of this initiative will be implemented over time to make European policy for start- and scale-up, i.e. young enterprises that have recently started respectively have a potential of growing exponentially, more effective. Part of the European Commission's efforts to make sure Europe's entrepreneurs can scale their business ideas and do so in Europe is the 'Ideas from Europe' initiative. In the context of the current call the European Commission is looking into ways to scale the 'Ideas from Europe' (IfE) initiative it started as a pilot in 2015. For more details on Ideas from Europe see www.ideasfrom.eu; a number of videos are available on the youtube channel of Ideas from Europe.

IfE is based on an initiative of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and the European Commission, in particular its SME Envoy Network, supported by public and private partners. IfE started as an EU-wide search for entrepreneurs with 'world changing ideas worth doing'. Its primary aim is to shine light on European entrepreneurs – to ensure they enjoy the positive image they deserve, to supply role models to follow and contribute to reinvigorating the entrepreneurial spirit of fellow Europeans, as well as to connect them to stakeholders relevant for the scaling of these solutions. This early engagement of stakeholders is important because their perspectives and knowledge provide the necessary transparency about the conditions in which business ideas can be scaled.

IfE has started its second round in March 2017 and it is now time not only to help entrepreneurs scaling their business but to scale IfE itself. That is why the expanded aim of IfE is not only to identify and shine light on, but also to scale-up businesses in a continuous manner. To ensure not only that various stakeholders continue to work in a collaborative manner with the entrepreneurs on their next steps, but also to ensure that the lessons from that exercise are looped back to other entrepreneurs (with similar or additional solutions, i.e. in the same or linked economic sectors) and to the policy makers.

Ideas from Europe has a proven track record in facilitating joint development towards scaling business ideas in a number of sectors. Collaborative processes known from the scientific and business world will now have to be applied in a systemic manner to innovative policy making and implementation in the context of IfE. In this case, the expected result is making the obstacles to the innovative companies scaling in Europe transparent and removing them where possible as well as creating a joint effort of the ecosystems across Europe around given cases.

 

 

2. OBJECTIVE OF THE CALL

Specific Objectives

Identification of business ideas with scaling potential and roadblocks that hamper scaling

  1. Entrepreneurs encounter a number of road blocks when starting as well as when scaling their business. Ideas from Europe (IfE) is there to help scale their ideas by identifying these roadblocks and help removing them. However, the identification and removing of roadblocks needs to be done in a way that not only helps the entrepreneurs who are directly part of the IfE initiative, i.e. those who are taking part in the bi-annual selection procedures and final presentations, but also existing and future entrepreneurs in the same or closely relating sectors or line of business. It is therefore an initiative not to only scale a single service or product put on the market by a single undertaking. Aligning the needs of the individual participant in IfE with that of the sector or line of business he/she is active in as well as with potential customers, policy makers and other stakeholders is the ultimate goal of IfE.

    During the first round and still today this is achieved by a 'hand-made' process that allows for spectacular successes but is not scalable beyond a certain level without a more structured support and implementation of the concept. The future process needs to offer a shared understanding of the gap between the vision and values of the present situation the entrepreneur and his/her ideas is in and new solutions and the hurdles to overcome.

  2. The beneficiary will propose a method to identify and select business ideas with a potential to allow the scaling of a whole sector or line of business through the removal or reduction in size of roadblocks. The beneficiary will apply this method to sectors or lines of business chosen in cooperation with the European Commission and, depending on the possibility to identify respective business ideas, preferably in sectors or lines of business not yet covered by IfE that are

    - personalised medicine
    - healthy food development
    - tailor made education systems
    - sustainable housing in precarious areas and situations

    The beneficiary will also have to strive to cover as many Member States as possible.

  3. The beneficiary should propose the ways to further develop a system for the accelerated definition of roadblocks, actions and persons or organisations needed to overcome or reduce these roadblocks and free the way for a whole sector or line of business on the basis of IfE candidates chosen and that as a supplement to the tailor- made and almost 'by hand' manner of today with the aim of replacing the 'by hand' process in the longer run.

  4. For the IfE concept to develop its full potential a multiplication of sectors or lines of business IfE is able to assist to scale is the way how IfE will scale as a project itself. The beneficiary will therefore also develop a system to facilitate this multiplication. This means creating a 'place' and 'process' for business ideas to scale not only their own product or service but the respective sector or part of economic activity they are in. These business ideas must be fit for the IfE purpose – i.e. it has to be suitable to ensure high economic growth but also the (contribution to the) solution of societal problems. Business ideas will also have to have the potential to be extended to other similar/related businesses to participate and benefit from the IfE process of removing or reducing roadblocks to scale; this is to avoid that the IfE process benefits unintentionally only a single business.

Businesses to be chosen for the scaling support through Ideas From Europe can be benefitting or have benefitted from EU funded programmes.

The beneficiary is not asked to develop a fully automatized system based on algorithms or similar, also in view of the potential cost involved.

Assistance with the bi-annual selection of business ideas fit for the IfE purpose

The beneficiary will finally assist the Commission and its partners, mainly the SME Envoys, in this venture with the selection of candidates for the bi-annual selection of candidates. This task will consist of scientifically accompanying the national searches for candidates, the semi-final and final presentation of candidates as well as assisting the jury for each round of IfE candidate searches with their choice. The organisation of selection events, semi-finals or finals as such is not part of the tasks for the beneficiary.

Reporting

According to the grant agreement the beneficiary has to submit interim reports at intervals laid down in I.4.1 Reporting periods of that agreement. These reports have to be drawn up in English, describe all actions undertaken during the respective reporting period and contain all information that allows to judge whether the objectives described above have been reached or advanced. The report needs to give details about the enterprises that have benefitted from the scaling support given by Ideas from Europe. Where such details constitute information confidential to the enterprises this has to be clearly marked. Whilst the report should be as complete as possible the beneficiary should try to keep it nevertheless succinct; the length of the report should not exceed 15 pages (excl. the financial statement mentioned in I.4.3. Requests for interim payments and supporting documents of the grant agreement). The report has to contain an executive summary in a publishable style, free of business secrets or other confidential information and no longer than 2 pages. The final report shall also contain information that allows to judge the economic development of the enterprise that have benefitted from the scaling support provided in line with the objectives described above.

 

 

3. TIMETABLE

Scheduled start-up date for the action: On the day of the signature of the grant agreement by the last party. Maximum duration of action is: 18 months

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

 

a) Publication of the call
18/01/2018

b) Deadline for submitting applications
15/03/2018 16.00

c) Information to applicants
Q2 2018

d) Signature of grant agreement or notification of grant decision
Q2 2018

e) Starting date of the action/ work programme
Q2 2018

 

4. EU FINANCING

Maximum budget allocated for EU financing under this call: € 250.000

Maximum EU financing rate of eligible costs: 90%

Maximum EU financing amount per project: 250.000 €

 

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

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

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

 

4.1. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF EU FUNDING

Non-cumulative award
Each action may give rise to the award of only one grant from the budget to any one beneficiary.

In no circumstances shall the same costs be financed twice by the Union budget.

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

Non-retroactivity

No grant may be awarded retrospectively for actions already completed.

A grant may be awarded for an action which has already begun, provided the applicant can demonstrate the need to start the action before the grant agreement is signed. In such cases, costs eligible for financing may not have been incurred prior to the date of submission of the grant application.

Co-financing

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

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

  • −  the beneficiary's own resources,

  • −  income generated by the action or work programme,

  • −  financial contributions from third parties.

Co-financing may also take the form of in-kind contributions from third parties, i.e. non-financial resources made available free of charge by third parties to the beneficiary or to the consortium. The corresponding costs are not eligible.

Non-profit rule

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

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

Balanced budget

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

The budget must be drawn up in euros.

Applicants, who foresee that costs will not be incurred in euros, are invited to use the exchange rate published on the Infor-euro website available at http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/inforeuro/inforeuro_en.cfm.

4.2. ELIGIBLE COSTS

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

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

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

  • −  they are necessary for the implementation of the action or of the work programme, in accordance

    with the description of the action, attached to the grant agreement;

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

4.2.1. Eligible direct costs

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

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

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

  • −  salary costs of the personnel of national administrations to the extent that they relate to the cost of activities which the relevant public authority would not carry out if the project concerned were not undertaken;

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • −  duties, taxes and charges paid by the beneficiary, provided that they are included in eligible direct costs, and unless specified otherwise in the Agreement.
    Non-deductible VAT is eligible.

 

4.3. CO-FINANCING AND JOINT AND SEVERAL RESPONSIBILITY

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

4.2.2. Eligible indirect costs

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

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

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

4.2.3. Non-eligible costs

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

  • −  return on capital;

  • −  debt and debt service charges;

  • −  provisions for losses or debts;

  • −  interest owed;

  • −  doubtful debts;

  • −  exchange losses;

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

  • −  costs declared by the beneficiary in the framework of another action receiving a grant financed from the Union budget (including grants awarded by a Member State and financed from the Union budget and grants awarded by other bodies than the Commission for the purpose of implementing the Union budget);

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

  • −  contributions in kind from third parties;

  • −  excessive or reckless expenditure;

  • −  deductible VAT;

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

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

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

 

Co-financing may also take the form of in-kind contributions from third parties, i.e. non-financial resources made available free of charge by third parties to the beneficiary or to the consortium. The corresponding costs are not eligible. The value of such a contribution may not cover the entire amount of co-financing.

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

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

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

4.4. IMPLEMENTATION CONTRACTS/SUBCONTRACTING

Where the implementation of the action or the work programme requires the use of contracts (implementation contracts), the beneficiary must ensure that the contract is awarded to the bid offering best value for money or the lowest price (as appropriate), avoiding conflicts of interests and retain the documentation for the event of an audit.

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

Sub-contracting for the purpose of the action

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

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

− The proposal should clearly identify the subcontracted activities

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

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

4.5. FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO THIRD PARTIES

The applications may not envisage provision of financial support to third parties.

 

4.6. FINAL GRANT AND PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS

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

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

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

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

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

The financial guarantee, in euro, shall be provided by an approved bank or financial institution established in one of the Member State of the European Union. When the beneficiary is established in a third country, the authorising officer responsible may agree that a bank or financial institution established in that third country may provide the guarantee if he considers that the bank or financial institution offers equivalent security and characteristics as those offered by a bank or financial institution established in a Member State. Amounts blocked in bank accounts shall not be accepted as financial guarantees.

The guarantee may be replaced by a joint and several guarantee by a third party or by a joint guarantee of the beneficiaries of an action who are parties to the same grant agreement.

 

5. ELIGIBILITY

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

5.1. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

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

  • −  EU Member States

  • −  COSME participating countries

  • − Applications must be submitted by a legal person
  • − Corporate bodies must be properly constituted and registered under the law. If a body or organisation is not constituted under the law, a physical person must be designated to provide the legal responsibility.

 

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 of the grant agreement.

 

 

Supporting documents

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

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

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

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

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

  • −  entities without legal personality: documents providing evidence that their representative(s) have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf.

5.2. ADMISSIBLE AND ELIGIBLE PROPOSALS

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

  • −  Applications must be sent no later than the deadline for submitting applications referred to in section 9.

  • −  Applications must be submitted in writing, using the application form and the electronic submission system, as indicated in the Guide for Applicants.

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

  • −  Proposals must be submitted in conformity with the call specifications.

  • −  Only projects that are strictly non-profit-making and/or whose immediate objective is non-commercial shall be eligible.

  • −  Applications must respect the maximum rate for EU co-financing.

  • −  Applications must respect the maximum amount for EU co-financing.

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

 

 

6. EXCLUSION CRITERIA

6.1. EXCLUSION FROM PARTICIPATION

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

(a) it is bankrupt, subject to insolvency or winding-up procedures, where its assets are being administered by a liquidator or by a court, where it is in an arrangement with creditors, where its business activities are suspended, or where it is in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for under national laws or regulations;

(b) it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the entity is in breach of its obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions in accordance with the law of the country in which it is established, with those of the country in which the contracting authority is located or those of the country of the performance of the contract;

(c) it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the entity is guilty of grave professional misconduct by having violated applicable laws or regulations or ethical standards of the profession to which the applicant belongs, or by having engaged in any wrongful conduct which has an impact on its professional credibility where such conduct denotes wrongful intent or gross negligence, including, in particular, any of the following:

  • (i) fraudulently or negligently misrepresenting information required for the verification of the absence of grounds for exclusion or the fulfilment of selection criteria or in the performance of a contract;
  • (ii) entering into agreement with other entity with the aim of distorting competition; (iii) violating intellectual property rights;
  • (iv) attempting to influence the decision-making process of the contracting authority during the award procedure;
  • (v) attempting to obtain confidential information that may confer upon it undue advantages in the award procedure;

(d) it has been established by a final judgment that the entity is guilty of any of the following:

  • (i) fraud, within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention on the protection of the European Communities' financial interests, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 July 1995;
  • (ii) corruption, as defined in Article 3 of the Convention on the fight against corruption involving officials of the European Communities or officials of Member States of the European Union, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 May 1997, and in Article 2(1) of Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA, as well as corruption as defined in the law of the country where the contracting authority is located, the country in which the applicant is established or the country of the performance of the contract;
  • (iii) participation in a criminal organisation, as defined in Article 2 of Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA;
  • (iv) money laundering or terrorist financing, as defined in Article 1 of Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council;
  • (v) terrorist-related offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, as defined in Articles 1 and 3 of Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA, respectively, or inciting, aiding, abetting or attempting to commit such offences, as referred to in Article 4 of that Decision;
  • (vi) child labour or other forms of trafficking in human beings as defined in Article 2 of Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council;

(e) the entity has shown significant deficiencies in complying with main obligations in the performance of a contract financed by the budget, which has led to its early termination or to the application of liquidated damages or other contractual penalties, or which has been discovered following checks, audits or investigations by an authorising officer, OLAF or the Court of Auditors;

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

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

  • (i) facts established in the context of audits or investigations carried out by the Court of Auditors, OLAF or internal audit, or any other check, audit or control performed under the responsibility of an authorising officer of an EU institution, of a European office or of an EU agency or body;
  • (ii) non-final administrative decisions which may include disciplinary measures taken by the competent supervisory body responsible for the verification of the application of standards of professional ethics;
  • (iii) decisions of the ECB, the EIB, the European Investment Fund or international organisations;
  • (iv) decisions of the Commission relating to the infringement of the Union's competition rules or of a national competent authority relating to the infringement of Union or national competition law;
  • (v) decisions of exclusion by an authorising officer of an EU institution, of a European office or of an EU agency or body.

6.2. EXCLUSION FROM AWARD

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

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

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

6.3. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

7. SELECTION

7.1. FINANCIAL CAPACITY

Applicants must have stable and sufficient sources of funding to maintain their activity throughout the 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:

For grants of a total value ≥ EUR 60 000, in addition:

  1. a declaration on honour and,
  2. form B/5 provided for in the submission set, filled in with the relevant statutory accounting figures. Other documents may be submitted if needed (see IV.4 Guide to applicants)

7.2 OPERATIONAL CAPACITY

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

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

- the following supporting documents: CVs of the staff of the beneficiary (or coordinator where applicable) including references of earlier similar projects; for sub-contractors references regarding work undertaken for the same or similar tasks the sub-contractors are supposed to work on.

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

 

8. AWARD

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

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

 

9. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

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

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

The deadline for submission of proposals is:

15/03/2018 16:00 Brussels local time

 

 

10. CONTACTS

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

Before the final date for submission of proposals,

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

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

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

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

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

    After the deadline for submission of proposals:

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

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

Contact coordinates for the call:

European Commission
Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Directorate-General GROW H1 - COSME Programme, SME Envoys and Relations with EASME E-mail address: GROW-IDEAS-FROM-EUROPE@ec.europa.eu
Office address: BREY 6/60, B-1049 Brussels, Belgium

 

11. DATA PROTECTION

The reply to any call for proposals involves the recording and processing of personal data (such as name, address and CV). Such data will be processed pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data. Unless indicated otherwise, the questions and any personal data requested are required to evaluate the application in accordance with the specifications of the call for proposal will be processed solely for that purpose by unit GROW.H1 of the European Commission's Directorate-General for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs.

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

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

Personal data may be registered in the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) if the applicant is in one of the situations mentioned in Article 106 of the Financial Regulation. For more information, see the Privacy Statement on: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/explained/management/protecting/protect_en.cfm

 

12. PUBLICITY

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

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

To do this they must use the text, the emblem and the disclaimer available at http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/communication/services/visual_identity . If this requirement is not fully complied with, the beneficiary’s grant may be reduced in accordance with the provisions of the grant agreement or grant decision.

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

The Commission will publish the following information:

  • −  name of the beneficiary;

  • −  address of the beneficiary (legal persons) or reference to the region (natural persons);

  • −  subject of the grant;

  • −  amount awarded.

Upon a reasoned and duly substantiated request by the beneficiary, the publication shall be waived if such disclosure risks threatening the rights and freedoms of individuals concerned as protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union or harm the commercial interests of the beneficiaries.



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