Interreg Channel Manche - 5TH CALL FOR PROJECTS

Deadline: Apr 6, 2017  
CALL EXPIRED

Calls for projects will be held throughout the Programme’s lifetime. A calendar of future calls is available on the Programme website.

The launch of each call and related documents will also be announced on the Programme’s website.

In general calls will be open for all Programme Priorities. However, the Programme Monitoring Committee (PMC) reserves the right to restrict some calls, depending on the specific demand for certain topics or the availability of funding (especially later in the Programme’s lifetime).

Phase 1 Applications shall be submitted by the closing date and time of each call for projects. The date for submission of Phase 2 Application will be agreed between the JS and Project Partners on the basis of the timeline for development indicated in the Phase 1 Application Form. It is important to meet the set deadline for submission as this will allow the application to be appraised and presented for decision to the following the SSC. Should the set deadline not be met, a decision on the project may be delayed to a later Committee meeting. Delayed submission may have an impact on attaining Programme targets and therefore it may be a factor in the decision to approve or reject a project.

In the case of an SSC decision to Refer Back a Phase 2 Application (see GN5 for more details) a timeline for submission agreed between the JS and Project Partners will be put in place. The date for submission will not exceed nine months from the Letter of Notification and will be in-keeping with the Programme call calendar. The procedure for submission of a Phase 2 Application will have to be followed in full, as described further in this Guidance Note.

II. Phase 1 Application Form

How to apply?

The submission of the AF1 is to be carried out on eMS, although an offline template in Word format is available on the Programme website. The JS strongly recommends that applicants use this template as a working document to familiarise themselves with the AF1, and transfer in to eMS after the contents have been reviewed by a Programme Facilitator.

Guidance to complete the form is given throughout the offline template. Guidance can also be found in the “eMS Technical Guidance for applicants” available on the Programme website.

The AF1 consists of the following sections and subsections which have to be filled in: The below tree is structured on the following rationale:

 Section

• o Subsection
   Question 

 Project Summary

•  Project Summary Phase 1
•  Need and Demand
•  Contribution to the Programme Specific Objectives
•  The Cross Border Added-Value
•  Expected outputs from the project
•  Durability / sustainability of project outputs and results
   

 Partner
 Project Description

• o ProjectContext
    Capitalisation
    Indicative timeline for project development

 Attachments

• o Annex1:Phase1WorkPlan
• o Annex2:IndicativeBudget
• o Letters of Intent and organisations charts (for each PP)

As indicated on the AF1 offline template, each PP must provide a signed, scanned copy of a Letter of Intent. The Letter of Intent is to confirm that the organisation is prepared to participate in the Interreg VA France (Channel) England Programme. This does not commit the organisation financially to the project, however it must be signed by the legal representative of the partner. The legal representative must be a person who has the authority to commit their organisation to take part in the project. An organisation chart showing the position of the individual within the organisation should be attached to the letter.

Procedure

Applicants wishing to submit an AF1 are strongly encouraged to notify the Joint Secretariat of their intention to submit an application at least one week in advance of the call opening, in order to plan and manage the facilitators’ diaries.

The Lead Partner will need to create an account on eMS. The Lead Partner must register on the eMS homepage. Following the registration, a confirmation email will be automatically sent to the email address provided in the registration form. This account will be used to create and submit applications. Full details on how to create, edit and submit an application is available in the "eMS Technical Guidance for applicants" available for download from the Programme website.

eMS can be accessed through the following link: https://emschannelmanche.norfolk.gov.uk/ems/

If the partners have not already contacted their local facilitator, they should do so before submitting an application. Their contact details are available on the Programme website, or partners can email interregva.apply@norfolk.gov.uk to be put in contact with a facilitator.

The AF1 has to be submitted on eMS in both English and French (however the name of organisations doesn’t have to be translated). Scanned signed copies of the Letters of Intent have to be uploaded on eMS. Applicants will have approximately one month to submit a Phase 1 Application Form from the opening of the call (this may however vary from call to call).

Applicants shall indicate in the AF1 the timeline for further developing the project and submitting a Phase 2 Application.

The Lead Partner (LP) submits the project application to the Joint Secretariat on behalf of the entire partnership. A signed electronic copy (in PDF) of the Application Form in the language of the LP must reach the Joint Secretariat within 5 working days after the call end date. The JS will notify the LP upon receipt of the electronic signed version of the application.

III. Phase 2 Application Form

If a project has been approved at Phase 1, applicants can proceed to the submission of the Phase 2 Application Form (AF2).

In the AF2, applicants shall provide further details on operational aspects of the project, i.e. details about the work and communication plan, the budget and the management and audit structures. The AF2 should take into account the recommendations of the SSC at the approval of Phase 1.

How to apply?

The Phase 2 Application Form is to be submitted through eMS.
Working documents in Word and Excel format are available on the Programme website. Guidance to complete the form is given throughout the documents.

The below tree is structured on the following rationale:

 Section
o Subsection

 Question
The Phase 2 Application Form consists of the following sections which have to be filled in:

• Project Summary
  o ProjectSummaryPhase2

• Partner

• Project Description

  o ProjectRelevance
   Common Territorial Challenges
   Project Challenges and Approach  Cross-Border Added-Value
   Value For Money

  o ProjectFocus
   Programme Priority Specific Objective
   Overall project objective
   Programme Result Indicator
   Project Main Result
   Durability / sustainability of project outputs and results

  o ProjectContext
   Wider strategies and policies  Synergies
   Location of project activities

  o HorizontalPrinciples
   Sustainable development

   Equal opportunities and non-discrimination  Equality between men and women

• Work Plan
  o WorkPackageList

   WP P Preparation
   WP M Management  WP C Communication

•  WP T Implementation o TargetGroups

  o DefinePeriods • Project Budget

  o PartnerBudgetperperiod

  o Project Breakdown Budge

• Project Budget Overview

• Attachments

• A number of compulsory annexes must be submitted with the Phase 2 Application Form. The templates of the annexes are available on the Programme website, and are to be uploaded in eMS and submitted with the signed copy of the AF2. More specifically, and as indicated on the above tree the following annexes are required:

• In case of external match-funding, signed Letters of Engagement for each organisation contributing to the project. This also applies to Project Partners in case of shared costs. The Letter of Engagement is a commitment to support the Programme activities and verifies that the organisation is willing to commit financially to the project. The amounts reported in the letter have to correspond to the amounts stated in the AF2. The financial commitment in the letter of engagement must be set out in Euro. It must be signed by the legal representative of the organisation committing the finance, who must be a person who has the authority to commit the organisation to the level of expenditure;

• Signed De Minimis State Aid Form for all Project Partners. Further details are available on the Guidance Note on “State Aid;”

• Draft Partnership Agreement, including provision on shared cost calculation methodology (if applicable), Intellectual property rights (if applicable) and preparation cost lump sum partner allocation. The final signed Partnership Agreement should be presented to the Managing Authority after the project approval and before the Grant Offer Letter can be signed.

• For organisations which are private sector (including charities), a copy of the last three years of accounts must be provided. If the organisation in question is less than three years old, all available accounts should be provided, including draft accounts if a full years set of accounts is not available.

  The Application Form shall be signed by the duly authorised representative of the Lead Partner organisation i.e. the person authorised to commit resources for that period of time.

• o Annex1:DeMinimisForm(foreachPP)
• o Annex 2: Description of project Investment (if any)
• o DraftPartnershipAgreement
• o Letters of Engagement (In case of external match-funding or shared costs) o Letters of Intent and organisation charts (if applicable)
• o CoveringLetter

Where relevant, information from the Phase 1 Application Form will be automatically filled in the relevant sections of the Phase 2 Application Form. This information can be modified if needed and should be complemented with further details. Full details on how to create, edit and submit an AF2 is available in the "eMS Technical Guidance for applicants" available for download from the Programme website.

Project Selection

The Programme Selection Sub-Committee is responsible for project selection and makes the decision on approving or rejecting projects by assessing the proposal against the selection criteria. Please be aware that the Programme will only support project whose activities have not started prior to the submission of the Phase 2 Application Form.

When the application is submitted (either for Phase 1 or 2) it is appraised by the Joint Secretariat on the basis of a set of Administrative, Eligibility and Quality criteria. These are set out in detail at the end of this Guidance Note.

Firstly, projects will be checked against the Eligibility and Administrative criteria in order to ensure that they fulfil the technical requirements. There are 18 Eligibility and Administrative criteria, of which 11 are applicable at Phase 1.

As a general principle, it will not be possible to submit corrected documents after the deadline for submission. However, if there are minor omissions, the JS will notify the Lead Partner and request them to submit the missing elements within 5 working days. This procedure will only be used in the following situations; missing signature on the Application Forms; missing Letter of Intent or Engagement; or incorrect dates.

Only where a project satisfies the Eligibility and Administrative criteria will it undergo a quality assessment. There are 26 quality criteria, of which 12 are applicable at Phase 1. The SSC will make a final decision and the LP will be notified of the outcome.

There are 3 possible outcomes from this process:

1. a)  The project is approved:
   Approval of Phase 1 means that a project proposal sits strategically with the Programme objectives, which therefore could receive funding under the France (Channel) England Programme, if a suitable Phase 2 application is submitted. Approval at Phase 2 means that the project has been selected and will be funded.

2. b)  The project is rejected:
   Rejection at Phase 1 means that the SSC considers that the project proposal does not demonstrate how it will meet the strategic objectives of the Programme, therefore it is not able to support its development towards a Phase 2 Application.
   If a project is rejected, a decision has been made that the project in its current form is not suitable for the Programme. The SSC will set out the reasons for rejection. This does not stop Partners from submitting a different project to the Programme in the future, or if the application was rejected due to specific issues which can be addressed, submitting a modified proposal.
   Partners whose project has been rejected will need to go through the full application procedure for any future project submission or resubmission of a modified proposal. If a Project is rejected at Phase 2, this means any future project application or modified proposal will need to begin again at Phase 1.

3. c) The project is referred back
   Phase 2 applications may be referred back. A decision to Refer Back the application means that the Application Form does not sufficiently meet the requirements for approval at Phase 2. However, applicants may resubmit a revised Phase 2 application (instead of repeating the 2 phase process as in the case of a rejection). Projects who are referred back will receive recommendations as to what aspects of the project would need to be improved to meet the criteria for approval in the case of a resubmitted Phase 2.
   A Phase 2 application may only be referred back once. If a referred back Phase 2 application resubmits, the only decisions that can be awarded to the resubmitted Phase 2 application are approval, approval with conditions or rejection.

Project approval at Phase 2 might be conditional or come with recommendations issued by the SSC. These conditions will be built into the Grant Offer Letter. Rejected projects will receive an explanation of the reasons for rejection. .

As soon as the project applicants have received the notification of approval of the Phase 2 Application, the project implementation phase starts. For further information please see Guidance Note on “Project Implementation.”

I. Eligibility and Administrative assessments

Eligibility and Administrative criteria are “minimum requirements,” each of which has to be met for a project to be declared eligible. The answer to any criterion is either yes or no.

Administrative appraisal

The following elements are verified during the Administrative appraisal:

(TRUNCATED -- visit the public link for full proposal)