Local Authorities: Partnerships for sustainable cities 2021

Deadline: Apr 23, 2021  
CALL EXPIRED

1. Local Authorities: Partnerships for sustainable cities 2021

1.1. Background

In 2019, the European Commission launched the programme “Local Authorities: Partnerships for sustainable cities” for a total amount of EUR 164,7 million. The program aims at strengthening local authorities by promoting decentralised cooperation involving European and partners countries’ local authorities. 

In November 2018, a first call for proposals for a total amount of 53 million euro was launched leading to the signature of 16 partnerships. In February 2020, a second call for proposals for a total amount of 111 550 million euro was launched. Due to covid-19 pandemic and the following lockdown of local authority administrations all around the world, the number of applications submitted was lower than expected. As a consequence only 26 proposals were selected for a total amount of 71,7 million euro. 

In December 2020 it was decided to use the remaining funds (39 849 442 euro) of the programme to launch a 3rd call for proposals subject to the present guidelines. To respect the original allocation of funds the 3rd call for proposals will be organised around three geographic lots: lot-1 Africa; lot-2 Asia and the Pacific; lot-3 Latin America and the Caribbean. 

The call is based on peer-to-peer learning and/or exchanges and/or short-term deployment of public officials at subnational level towards- twinning activities including from Member Sates of the EU, fostering the exchange of good practices and transfer of know-how that could be adapted to the specificities of local authorities in each region. Action should contribute to the achievement of SDG 11 “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” as well SDG 17 “Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

1. 1. 1.2. Objectives of the programme and priority issues 

The global objective of the Programme “Partnership for sustainable cities” is to promote integrated urban development through partnerships built among Local Authorities of the EU Member States and partner countries in accordance with the 2030 Agenda on sustainable development.

Partnerships will support Local Authorities from partner countries to address sustainable urban development through capacity building and service-delivery. Decentralised cooperation and peer-to-peer exchanges of Local Authorities are at the heart of this approach. Actions could support the building of new partnerships or contribute to upscale long-lasting partnerships and cooperation relations.

This call will contribute to address the new political priorities of the EU, notably promoting good governance, “Green Deal”, growth, job creation and digitalisation as well as migration by focusing on the following specific objectives:

The specific objectives are:

One mandatory objective 

1. 1. 1) Strengthen urban governance by supporting the capacity of the local authorities as autonomous policy maker, better access to services by the citizens (including e-governance) and promoting a “territorial approach” to local development. 

Plus one of the 3 following objectives (each proposal need to specifically address at least one of them): 

1. 1. 2) Ensure social inclusiveness of cities: by preventing both the causes and effects of inequality, marginalisation and segregation, including tackling the needs of women, children, youth, and marginalised and vulnerable groups such as disabled people, migrants and displaced people. 
   2. 3) Improve resilience and greening of cities by increasing the quality of life, fostering urban green growth and making cities more resource-efficient through sustainable modes of production and consumption; 
   3. 4) Improve prosperity and innovation in cities by fostering sustainable local economies including circular economy, promoting digital transition and creating employment. 

The priority of this call for proposals is to promote the EU development cooperation Rights-Based Approach, encompassing human rights, including participation and access to the decision-making process, non-discrimination (including Gender Equality) and equal access, accountability and access to the rule of law and transparency and access to information. 

Applicants must clearly indicate and explain how they address this priority. This aspect will be evaluated in point 1.1 of the concept note evaluation grid (section 2.3 of these guidelines).

 

1.3. Financial allocation provided by the contracting authority

The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 39 849 442. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds. Likewise, this amount could be increased should more funds become available.

Indicative allocation of funds by lot

 Lot 1: Partnerships for sustainable cities in Sub-Saharan Africa

Total available: EUR 15 849 442

Lot 2: Partnerships for sustainable cities in Asia and the Pacific

Total available: EUR 12 000 000

Lot 3: Partnerships for sustainable cities in Latin America and the Caribbean

Total available: EUR 12 000 000

If the allocation indicated for a specific lot cannot be used due to insufficient quality or number of proposals received, the contracting authority reserves the right to reallocate the remaining funds to (an)other lot(s). 

 

Size of grants

Any requested EU contribution (grant) under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

 

• minimum amount: EUR 1 000 000

• maximum amount: EUR 3 000 000

Any requested EU contribution (grant) under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum percentages of total eligible costs of the action:

• Minimum percentage: 50 % of the total eligible costs of the action.

• Maximum percentage: 95% of the total eligible costs of the action (see also section 2.1.5). 

The balance (i.e. the difference between the total cost of the action and the amount requested from the contracting authority) must be financed from sources other than the general budget of the Union or the European Development Fund.

In line with section 6.3.10. of the Practical Guide, neither the beneficiaries (coordinator/lead applicant and co-beneficiaries/co-applicants) nor affiliated entities must produce a profit within the framework of the action. In the context of this call, profit is defined as a surplus of the receipts over the eligible costs approved by the contracting authority when the request for payment of the balance is made. Income generated by the action may be accepted as co-financing. 

In case a profit is made, the contracting authority has the right to reduce the final amount of the grant by the percentage of the profit corresponding to the final European Union contribution to the eligible costs actually incurred approved by the contracting authority (thus excluding other eligible costs declared on a simplified cost option basis).

 

 

2. Rules for this call for proposals

These guidelines set out the rules for the submission, selection and implementation of the actions financed under this call, in conformity with the practical guide, which is applicable to the present call (available on the internet at this address http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/prag/document.do?locale=en).

 

2.1. Eligibility criteria

There are three sets of eligibility criteria, relating to:

(1) the actors:

• The ‘lead applicant’, i.e. the entity submitting the application form (2.1.1),

• if any, its co-applicant(s) (where it is not specified otherwise the lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) are hereinafter jointly referred as ‘applicant(s)’) (2.1.1), 

• and, if any, affiliated entity(ies) to the lead applicant and/or to a co-applicant(s). (2.1.2);

(2) the actions:

Actions for which a grant may be awarded (2.1.4);

(3) the costs:

• • types of cost that may be taken into account in setting the amount of the grant (2.1.5).

 

2.1.1. Eligibility of applicants (i.e. lead applicant and co-applicant(s))

Lead applicant

(1) In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:

• be a legal person and

• be a specific type of organisation such as:

• Local Authorities (LA); or 
• Association of Local Authorities (ALA), including city networks constituted in accordance with the legislation in force in the country; and

• • be established in one of the eligible countries or territories listed in Annex L to these guidelines; and
• • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.

 

 (2) Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations listed in Section 2.6.10.1 of the PRAG.

 

Lead applicants, co-applicants, affiliated entities and, in case of legal entities, persons who have powers of representation, decision-making or control over the lead applicant, the co-applicants and the affiliated entities are informed that, should they be in one of the situations of early detection or exclusion according to Section 2.6.10.1 of the PRAG, personal details (name, given name if natural person, address, legal form and name and given name of the persons with powers of representation, decision-making or control, if legal person) may be registered in the early detection and exclusion system, and communicated to the persons and entities concerned in relation to the award or the execution of a grant contract. In this respect, provisionally selected lead applicants, co-applicants and affiliated entities are obliged to declare that they are not in one of the exclusion situations through a signed declaration on honour (Annex h to these guidelines) together with the full application. 

In Section 2 of Annex A.1 and Section 5 of Annex A.2 (‘declaration(s) by the lead applicant’), the lead applicant must declare that the lead applicant himself, the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies) are not in any of these situations.

The lead applicant must act with at least one co-applicant as specified hereafter. The partnership must include at least one Local Authority either as lead applicant or as co-applicant.

If awarded the grant contract, the lead applicant will become the beneficiary identified as the coordinator in Annex G (special conditions) to these guidelines. The coordinator is the main interlocutor of the contracting authority. It represents and acts on behalf of any other co-beneficiary (if any) and coordinate the design and implementation of the action.

Co-applicant(s) 

Under all lots, the lead applicant must act with at least one co-applicant as specified hereafter. 

To be eligible, the partnership must include at least one applicant (either as lead applicant or co-applicant) established in a EU Member State and at least one applicant (either as lead applicant or co-applicant) established in the beneficiary country where the action will take place (see section 2.1.4 “Location”).

Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant. 

In order to be eligible for a grant, the co-applicant must:

• be a legal person and

• be a specific type of organisation such as:

 

 

 Local Authorities (LA); or 

 Association of Local Authorities (ALA), including city networks constituted in accordance with the legislation in force in the country; or

 Private, public or semi-public bodies/agencies/organisations of public utility; or

 Universities or a research centres constituted in accordance with the legislation in force in the country; and

• be established in one of the eligible countries or territories listed in Annex L to these guidelines.

 

Co-applicants must sign the mandate in Section 5 of Annex A.2 (grant application form – full application). 

If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicant(s) will become beneficiary(ies) in the action (together with the coordinator lead applicant) as identified in Annex G to these guidelines - Standard grant contract.

(3)  Applicants included in the lists of EU restrictive measures (see Section 2.4. of the PRAG) at the
        moment of the award decision cannot be awarded the contract.

The choice of co-applicants must be justified in the proposal as part of the project design and will be taken into account in point 2.1 of the concept note evaluation grid as well as in point 1.4 (see section 2.3 of these guidelines). The composition of the partnership will be evaluated in point 4.3 and 2.4 of the full application evaluation grid (see section 2.3 of these guidelines).

Each member of a partnership must have a precise and clearly identified role in the implementation of the project. A partnership should be composed in such a way as to allow the achievement of the project objectives in the most effective and cost-efficient manner.

The role of each member of the partnership (lead and co-applicants) must be clearly explained in the proposal (description of the action). It is strongly recommended that the lead applicant and its co-applicants draw up an agreement defining their partnership as well as their respective technical and financial roles and obligations. A clear allocation of responsibilities and costs will contribute to the partnership’s success.

Please note that all information encoded in PROSPECT must be exhaustive and in line with the content of the concept note/full application. The administrative check will be performed taking into consideration only the information available in PROSPECT in sections 1 – ‘Contact’, 2 – ‘Project’ and 3 – ‘Co-applicants’. Please make sure that there are no inconsistencies between the information in PROSPECT and those in the concept note/full application text.

Complaints about administrative rejections related to this kind of inconsistencies will not be considered and will not lead to a modification of the decision.

 

2.1.2. Affiliated entities

 

The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with affiliated entity(ies).

Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to co-applicant(s):

Only entities having a structural link with the applicants (i.e. the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular a legal or capital link.

This structural link encompasses mainly two notions:

(i) Control, as defined in Directive 2013/34/EU on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:

Entities affiliated to an applicant may hence be:

• - Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the applicant (granddaughter companies or second-tier subsidiaries) and the same applies to further tiers of control;
• - Entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;
• - Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the applicant (sister companies).

 

(ii) Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as a e.g. network, federation, association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate or the applicant participates in the same entity (e.g. network, federation, association,…) as the proposed affiliated entities.

 

The structural link shall as a general rule be neither limited to the action nor established for the sole purpose of its implementation. This means that the link would exist independently of the award of the grant; it should exist before the call for proposals and remain valid after the end of the action.

 

By way of exception, an entity may be considered as affiliated to an applicant even if it has a structural link specifically established for the sole purpose of the implementation of the action in the case of so-called ‘sole applicants’ or ‘sole beneficiaries’.  A sole applicant or a sole beneficiary is a legal entity formed by several entities (a group of entities) which together comply with the criteria for being awarded the grant. For example, an association is formed by its members.

What is not an affiliated entity? 

 

The following are not considered entities affiliated to an applicant:

 

• • - Entities that have entered into a (procurement) contract or subcontract with an applicant, act as concessionaires or delegatees for public services for an applicant,
  • - Entities that receive financial support from the applicant,
  • - Entities that cooperate on a regular basis with an applicant on the basis of a memorandum of understanding or share some assets,
  • - Entities that have signed a consortium agreement under the grant contract (unless this consortium agreement leads to the creation of a ‘sole applicant’ as described above).

 

How to verify the existence of the required link with an applicant?

 

The affiliation resulting from control may in particular be proved on the basis of the consolidated accounts of the group of entities the applicant and its proposed affiliates belong to.

 

The affiliation resulting from membership may in particular be proved on the basis of the statutes or equivalent act establishing the entity (network, federation, association) which the applicant constitutes or in which the applicant participates.

 

If the applicants are awarded a grant contract, their affiliated entity(ies) will not become beneficiary(ies) of the action and signatory(ies) of the grant contract. However, they will participate in the design and  in the implementation of the action and the costs they incur (including those incurred for implementation contracts and financial support to third parties) may be accepted as eligible costs, provided they comply with all the relevant rules already applicable to the beneficiary(ies) under the grant contract.

Affiliated entity(ies) must satisfy the same eligibility criteria as the co-applicant(s).  They must sign the affiliated entity(ies) statement in Section 5 of Annex A.2  (grant application form – full application).

Note that the fact of having a structural link with the lead applicant does not prevent an organisation from being co-applicant in the partnership. It is the lead applicant's decision to define the role of the actors composing its partnership and implementing the action: co-applicants or affiliated entities.

1. 2.1.3. Associates and contractors

The following entities are not applicants nor affiliated entities and do not have to sign the ‘mandate for co-applicant(s)’ or ‘affiliated entities' statement’:

• • Associates

Other organisations such as Civil Society Organisations (CSO) or individuals may be involved in the action. Such associates play a real role in the action but may not receive funding from the grant, with the exception of per diem or travel costs. Associates do not have to meet the eligibility criteria referred to in Section 2.1.1. Associates must be mentioned in Section 4 ‘Associates participating in the action’. of Annex A.2 (grant application form – full application). 

 

• • Contractors

The beneficiaries and their affiliated entities are permitted to award contracts. Associates or affiliated entity(ies) cannot be also contractors in the project. Contractors are subject to the procurement rules set out in Annex IV to the standard grant contract (Annex G to these guidelines).

1. 2.1.4. Eligible actions: actions for which an application may be made

 

Definition: 

An action is composed of a set of activities.

Duration

The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 24 months nor exceed 36 months.

Sectors or themes

Support to good governance, Green Deal, growth, job creation and digitalisation as well as migration

Location

Action must take place in one country only 

Exception can be made for cross-border activities in case of a proposal targeting actions on different sizes of a border.  

Activities can target more than one city and territory of the same partner country, should the action aim at replicating, improving or expanding projects in areas of urban policy already carried out in cities or territories of the same country. 

A restricted number of activities, if duly justified in the description of the action, might take place in a EU Member State or other partner countries if essential for the accomplishment of the objectives. These reasons will be examined during the evaluation process. These activities could include the organisation of workshops, seminars and dedicated events gathering multi-level of government stakeholders as well as the private sector, civil society and academia, for participatory technical and political dialogue. Upon specific requirements of targeted cities, business events to raise interest of potential investors as well fora focussing on new technologies and innovative solutions at local level could also be envisaged. 

Please note that only the main action location (beneficiary country) must be encoded in PROSPECT, except in case of cross-border activities where the different countries targeted by the action must be encoded. In case more than one country is encoded in PROSPECT as action location, the proposal will be rejected. 

Geographical balance could be taken into account by the European Commission at any stage of the technical evaluation.  

 

Types of action

To be eligible for co-financing, actions under this call must comply with the objectives and the priorities of this call for proposals described in section 1.2 of these guidelines. The objectives will be reached through: 

• • peer-to-peer activities, 
• • decentralised cooperation: city-to-city and territory-to-territory cooperation among the EU Member State and the partner country. 

The following types of action are ineligible:

• • actions concerned only or mainly with individual sponsorships for participation in workshops, seminars, conferences and congresses;
• • actions concerned only or mainly with individual scholarships for studies or training courses;
• • one-off conferences. Conferences may only be funded if they form part of a wider range of activities to be implemented over the time life of the action. For this purpose, preparatory activities for a conference and the publication of the proceedings of the conference do not in themselves, constitute such wider activities;
• • actions intended to raise funds or promote the visibility of the applicant and its partner(s);
• • actions consisting mainly of research or of study;
• • actions, which consist exclusively, or primarily in capital expenditure, e.g. lands, buildings, equipment and vehicles.
• • actions which discriminate against individuals or groups of people on grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status;
• • actions supporting directly political parties;
• • actions which include proselytising activities.

Types of activity

Applicants are invited to present all activities they consider necessary in order to achieve the objectives of this call for proposals and to obtain tangible results in the context where the selected projects will be implemented. 

For indicative purpose, the following non-exhaustive list of activities that may be financed under this call:

1/ Promote urban governance

• - Capacity building of public officials responsible for urban matters at sub national level.
• - Action related to the management/ response to sanitary crisis such as covid-19
• - To develop urban planning, spatial planning and land use management.
• - Supporting LAs to improve institutional arrangements for city management.
• - Promoting e-governance and eServices in line with creating an inclusive and fair digital transformation on the city level
• - Elaborating / arrangements for consultation and cooperation among different stakeholders (government levels, private sector, academia, civil society organisations) in different areas of sustainable urban development. 
• - Improving or designing accountability mechanisms towards city dwellers and civil society.
• - Support LA’s to design action plans and projects improving municipal PFM and revenue generation systems and innovative finance.
• - Trainings towards city/local administration representatives in urban governance methods and principles.

2/ Ensure social inclusiveness of cities

• - Improving and mainstreaming the integration of marginalised and vulnerable groups, including internal displaced persons and migrants
• - Projects promoting urban systems which address the ‘urban-planning gender gap’ by responding to women’s needs, including safety and security in urban public spaces.
• - Pilot projects on basic services and network infrastructures, i.e. water, sanitation, waste (including recycling), energy (including efficiency) and public transport. 
• - Technical support to LAs for access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food in a wider context supporting functional rural-urban links.
• - Projects in the field of integrated urban development targeting cultural heritage/cultural spaces in cities as factors to ensure inclusiveness.
• - supporting digital skills including literacy and basic digital skills particularly for women and youth

3/ Resilience and greening of cities 

• - Improving environmental quality in cities and circular economy including climate change mitigation and adaptation and measures.
• - Pilot projects to support the design and implementation of new environmental and climate resilient local public policies in line with the EU green deal. 
• - Awareness raising on alternative modes of transport improving sustainable and low carbon urban mobility. 
• - Improving the quality of air in the cities and management of water and solid waste  
• - Developing disaster preparedness and risks reduction interventions. Nature based solutions to disaster risk reduction (eco-DRR) will be promoted, especially when these also contribute to climate change adaptation.

4/ Prosperity and innovation in cities 

- stimulate an enabling environment for the private sector, including local firms promoting inclusive and social enterprises, business incubator and business accelerator 

- Increasing job creation and entrepreneurship including through business incubator and supporting digital skills

- Providing technical support to devise innovative and financial arrangements to finance large-scale sustainable infrastructure investment and maintenance.

- Pilot projects focussing on innovation to create employment and promote socially responsible entrepreneurship.

- Promoting transition toward a digital economy and promote a related business environment 

 

Financial support to third parties 

Applicants may propose financial support to third parties in order to help achieving the objectives of the action. 

The maximum amount of financial support per third party is EUR 60 000.

Under this call, financial support to third parties is not considered essential to achieve the objective of the action.

In compliance with the present guidelines and notably of any conditions or restrictions in this Section, the lead applicant should define mandatorily in Section 2.1.1 of Annex A.2: 

(i) the overall objectives, the specific objective(s) and the outputs (i.e. the results) to be achieved with the financial support 

(ii) the different types of activities eligible for financial support, on the basis of a fixed list 

(iii) the types of persons or categories of persons which may receive financial support  

(iv) the criteria for selecting these entities and giving the financial support  

(v) the criteria for determining the exact amount of financial support for each third entity, and 

(vi) the maximum amount which may be given

(vii) the control system for verifying the eligibility of costs. 

In all events, the mandatory conditions set above for giving financial support (points (i) to (vii)) have to be strictly defined in the grant contract as to avoid any exercise of discretion.

 

Visibility

The applicants must take all necessary steps to publicise the fact that the European Union has financed or co-financed the action. As far as possible, actions that are wholly or partially funded by the European Union must incorporate information and communication activities designed to raise the awareness of specific or general audiences of the reasons for the action and the EU support for the action in the country or region concerned, as well as the results and the impact of this support.

 

Applicants must comply with the objectives and priorities and guarantee the visibility of the EU financing (see the Communication and Visibility Manual for EU external actions specified and published by the European Commission at https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/system/files/communication-visibility-requirements-2018_en.pdf 

 

Number of applications and grants per applicants / affiliated entities

An organisation can only submit one proposal either as lead applicant or as co-applicant/affiliated entity under this call for proposals. Should this be the case, the Evaluation Committee will only consider the first proposal arrived (based on the date and hour of submission) and any other proposal will be rejected.

It is the responsibility of each lead applicant to verify that its co-applicants/affiliated entities are not involved in any other application under this call for proposals. The Contracting Authority cannot be considered as responsible for the unauthorized use of the EuropeAid ID or name of an entity in a proposal. 

1. 2.1.5. Eligibility of costs: costs that can be included 

Only ‘eligible costs’ can be covered by a grant. The categories of costs that are eligible and non-eligible are indicated below. The budget is both a cost estimate and an overall ceiling for ‘eligible costs’. 

The reimbursement of eligible costs must be based on actual costs incurred by the beneficiary(ies) and affiliated entity(ies).

Recommendations to award a grant are always subject to the condition that the checks preceding the signing of the grant contract do not reveal problems requiring changes to the budget (such as arithmetical errors, inaccuracies, unrealistic costs and ineligible costs). The checks may give rise to requests for clarification and may lead the contracting authority to impose modifications or reductions to address such mistakes or inaccuracies. It is not possible to increase the grant or the percentage of EU co-financing as a result of these corrections. 

 

It is therefore in the applicants' interest to provide a realistic and cost-effective budget.

Eligible direct costs

To be eligible under this call for proposals, costs must comply with the provisions of Article 14 of the general conditions to the standard grant contract (see Annex G of the guidelines).

The applicants (and where applicable their affiliated entities) agree that the expenditure verification(s) referred to in Article 15.7 of the general conditions to the standard grant contract (see Annex G of the guidelines) will be carried out by any external body authorised by the European Commission.

Salary costs of the personnel working for local authorities may be eligible to the extent that they relate to the cost of activities which the relevant public authority would not carry out if the action were not undertaken.

Contingency reserve

The budget may include a contingency reserve not exceeding 5 % of the estimated direct eligible costs. It can only be used with the prior written authorisation of the contracting authority.

Eligible indirect costs

The indirect costs incurred in carrying out the action may be eligible for flat-rate funding, but the total must not exceed 7 % of the estimated total eligible direct costs. Indirect costs are eligible provided that they do not include costs assigned to another budget heading in the standard grant contract. The lead applicant may be asked to justify the percentage requested before the grant contract is signed. However, once the flat rate has been fixed in the special conditions of the grant contract, no supporting documents need to be provided.

If any of the applicants or affiliated entity(ies) is in receipt of an operating grant financed by the EU, it may not claim indirect costs on its incurred costs within the proposed budget for the action.

Contributions in kind

Contributions in kind mean the provision of goods or services to beneficiaries or affiliated entities free of charge by a third party. As contributions in kind do not involve any expenditure for beneficiaries or affiliated entities, they are normally not eligible costs. 

Notwithstanding under this call for proposals, contributions in kind may not be treated as co-financing.

However, if the description of the action as proposed includes contributions in kind, the contributions have to be made.

Ineligible costs

The following costs are not eligible:

• − debts and debt service charges (interest);
• − provisions for losses or potential future liabilities;
• − costs declared by the beneficiary(ies) and financed by another action or work programme receiving a European Union (including through EDF) grant;
• − purchases of land or buildings, except where necessary for the direct implementation of the action, in which case ownership must be transferred in accordance with Article 7.5 of the general conditions of the standard grant contract, at the latest at the end of the action;
• − currency exchange losses;
• − credit to third parties.

 

 Ethics clauses and Code of Conduct

a) Absence of conflict of interest

The applicant must not be affected by any conflict of interest and must have no equivalent relation in that respect with other applicants or parties involved in the actions. Any attempt by an applicant to obtain confidential information, enter into unlawful agreements with competitors or influence the evaluation committee or the contracting authority during the process of examining, clarifying, evaluating and comparing applications will lead to the rejection of its application and may result in administrative penalties according to the Financial Regulation in force. 

b) Respect for human rights as well as environmental legislation and core labour standards 

The applicant and its staff must comply with human rights. In particular and in accordance with the applicable act, applicants who have been awarded contracts must comply with the environmental legislation including multilateral environmental agreements, and with the core labour standards as applicable and as defined in the relevant International Labour Organisation conventions (such as the conventions on freedom of association and collective bargaining; elimination of forced and compulsory labour; abolition of child labour).

Zero tolerance for sexual exploitation,  abuse and harassment:

The European Commission applies a policy of 'zero tolerance' in relation to all wrongful conduct which has an impact on the professional credibility of the applicant.  

Physical abuse or punishment, or threats of physical abuse, sexual abuse or exploitation, harassment and verbal abuse, as well as other forms of intimidation shall be prohibited. 

c) Anti-corruption and anti-bribery 

The applicant shall comply with all applicable laws and regulations and codes relating to anti-bribery and anti-corruption. The European Commission reserves the right to suspend or cancel project financing if corrupt practices of any kind are discovered at any stage of the award process or during the execution of a contract and if the contracting authority fails to take all appropriate measures to remedy the situation. For the purposes of this provision, ‘corrupt practices’ are the offer of a bribe, gift, gratuity or commission to any person as an inducement or reward for performing or refraining from any act relating to the award of a contract or execution of a contract already concluded with the contracting authority.

      d)  Unusual commercial expenses 

Applications will be rejected or contracts terminated if it emerges that the award or execution of a contract has given rise to unusual commercial expenses. Such unusual commercial expenses are commissions not mentioned in the main contract or not stemming from a properly concluded contract referring to the main contract, commissions not paid in return for any actual and legitimate service, commissions remitted to a tax haven, commissions paid to a payee who is not clearly identified or commissions paid to a company which has every appearance of being a front company.

Grant beneficiaries found to have paid unusual commercial expenses on projects funded by the European Union are liable, depending on the seriousness of the facts observed, to have their contracts terminated or to be permanently excluded from receiving EU/EDF funds.

e) Breach of obligations, irregularities or fraud

The contracting authority reserves the right to suspend or cancel the procedure, where the award procedure proves to have been subject to substantial breach of obligations, irregularities or fraud. If substantial breach of obligations, irregularities or fraud are discovered after the award of the contract, the contracting authority may refrain from concluding the contract.

 

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