Micro Project call - Interreg France - England (Channel Manche)

Deadline: May 4, 2017  
CALL EXPIRED

What are Micro Projects?

• We have set up a Micro Project initiative to attract and encourage new organisations to take part in small-scale cross-border cooperation projects.
• A Micro Project can be submitted under any of the Programme's 5 specific objectives.
• The length of a Micro Project is limited to 24 months, plus an extra 3 months for closure of the project.
• Micro projects are limited to 5 partners. There must be a minimum of 2 (1 French and 1 English within the Programme area)

How much funding?

• The maximum project budget is €500,000 (ERDF contribution €400,000)
• The European Regional Development funding contribution is capped at 80% per project. The rest of the project must be funded through match-funding.

Who is Eligible?

• Charities and any business or organisation that employs less than 50 people and has a turnover of less than €10 million
• All local authorities (EN) and collectivités publiques (FR)

How do I apply?

• You will need to a complete an application form. Unlike regular projects Micro Projects only have a one phase application process instead of two.
• Applications must be submitted by the eMS (Electronic management system) on our website. You can however pre-prepare the content by filling out an offline template in Word.
• Applications can only be submitted during the call period which starts on the 6 April 2017 and closes on the 4 May 2017. There is only one call a year so don’t miss your chance!

More information?

• Our guidance note contains more information on Micro Projects.
• If you’re interested in finding out more or have a potential project idea, contact your local programme facilitator. A full list can be found here.
• We have produced this summary of Micro Projects which we encourage you to share with potential partners who may be interested in the initiative.

Is a Micro Project right for you? The table below shows how the Micro Project scheme differs from a regular project.

I. Micro Project scheme

The Interreg VA France (Channel) England has set up a Micro Project scheme aimed to attract new organisations to small-scale cross-border cooperation projects. Micro Projects have to contribute to the achievement of the Programme objectives and Programme indicators.

With the exception of the application process, the rules applying to Micro Projects are in many regards similar to the ones of regular projects. The Programme therefore advises applicants to read the Programme Manual in full.

However, the Micro Project scheme differs from the one of regular project in the instances listed below:

ERDF intervention rate

Up to 80%

Total budget

€400,000 ERDF maximum €500,000 maximum total budget

Project duration

27 months (including 3 months closure)

Partnership requirements

At least one partners from each country within the Programme area.

A maximum a 5 partners

Eligible organisations

All local authorities in the UK and “collectivités publiques” in France

Charities, “association loi 1901” (for French partners) and businesses employing fewer than 50 persons and whose annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 10 million.

Calls

One call for project a year

Application process

One-phase application to be submitted on eMS

Work plan

2 compulsory Work Packages (Preparation, Management) and 3 WP maximum for Implementation

Budget lines

All budget lines eligible except BL6 – Infrastructure and construction work.

Preparation lump sump

€11,200 paid to the LP

Project Reports – Progress Reports and Payment Claims

Submission twice a year. Periods to be defined in the Micro Project Application Form

First Level Control

One FLC per partner

Project closure

Only BL1 – Staff costs and BL2 – Overheads are eligible

A good partnership should include organisations that are relevant for dealing with the common challenge on the joint asset identified by the project. The Partners should have complementary expertise, and there should be a balanced selection of organisations in terms of split between the Member States and different sectors. In addition the France (Channel) England programme would like to see Partners included in projects who do not have previous experience in cross-border working, and encourages partnerships to have a mixture of experienced and new Partners. The Programme recommends that the partnership in Micro Projects remains balanced. The participation of large local authorities should benefit smaller organisations in the partnership. This balance also needs to be reflected in budgets.

II. Micro Project application process

A. Calls for Micro Projects

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

The calls for Micro Project will be open for four weeks. The launch of each call and related documents are also announced on the Programme’s website.

Micro Projects 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).

The Micro Project Application Form (MAF) shall be submitted by the closing date and time of each call for projects.

B. Micro Project Application Form

How to apply?

The submission of the MAF is to be carried out on eMS, although an offline template in Word format and a budget in Excel are available on the Programme website. The JS strongly recommends that applicants use these templates as a working document to familiarise themselves with the MAF, 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 on the “eMS Technical Guidance for applicants” available on the Programme website.

The MAF consists of the following sections and subsections which have to be filled in. The work plan of the Micro Project Application Form (MAF) has been simplified with 2 compulsory work packages: Preparation and Management, and 3 implementation work packages maximum.

The below tree is structured on the following rationale:

 Section

• o Subsection
  •  Question

 Project Summary

•  Project identification
•  Project Summary

 Partner

•  Partner details
•  Experience and role of partner
  •  Other EU or International Projects 

 Project Description

• o ProjectRelevance
  •  Contribution to the Programme Specific Objectives
  •  Need & Demand
  •  Cross-Border Added Value
• o ProjectFocus
  •  Programme Specific Objective
  •  Micro Project specific objective
  •  Programme Result Indicator
  •  Micro Project main result
• o ProjectContext
  •  Synergies
  •  Sustainability / Durability
  •  Location of project activities
• o HorizontalPrinciples
  •  Sustainable development
  •  Equal opportunities and non-discrimination
  •  Equality between men and women

 Work plan

• o WorkPackagesList
  •  WP P Preparation
  •  WP M Management
  •  WP T Implementation
• o TargetGroups
• o DefinePeriods

 Budget

• o ProjectBudget per period
• o PartnerBudget
  •  Define Budget
  •  Define Contribution

 Attachments:

• o Annex1: DeMinimisForm(foreachPP)
• o DraftPartnershipAgreement
• o Letters of Engagement (In case of external match-funding or shared costs)
• o Letters of Intent for all PP joined with an organisation chart (if available)
• o A copy of the last three years of accounts (private sectors)
• o A cover letter (optional)

Procedure

Applicants wishing to submit a MAF are strongly encouraged to notify the JS of their intention to submit an application at least one week in advance of the call opening.

The Lead Partner will need to create an account on eMS. The LP 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 LP has 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.

To submit a MAF, applicants shall log into eMS using the credentials generated when filling in and submitting the MAF. A number of compulsory annexes must be submitted with the Micro Project Application Form. The templates of the annexes are available on the Programme website, and are to be uploaded in eMS. More specifically, and as indicated on the above tree the following annexes are required:

•   For each partner, 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 Micro 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 Micro Project. An organisation chart, when available, showing the position of the individual within the organisation should be attached to the letter.

•   In case of external match-funding, scanned copy of signed Letter of Engagement for each organisation contributing to the Micro 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 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;

•   Scanned copy of signed De Minimis State Aid Form for all Project Partners. Further details are available on the Guidance Note 11 on “State Aid”;

•   Scanned copy of the 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 Micro Project approval and before the Grant Offer Letter (GOL) can be signed.

•   For organisation which are private sector (including charities), a scanned 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 year set of account is not available.

•   If needed, applicants may write a covering letter to address the issues related to State Aid or Revenue. The covering letter is not a compulsory annex of the MAF. Partners may use as many pages as necessary to fully explain the issues. The covering letter needs to be submitted in French and in English. Private sector partners can also explain how they will fund their participation in the project, taking into account both the match funding and the need to cover the project cash flow. If the source of funds is external then a corresponding letter of engagement indicating this amount must be included. If use of overdraft or similar facilities are planned which are not the companies own funds, evidence of these facilities should be provided.

The originals of the above mentioned annexes shall be kept by the Lead Partner and shown when required by the Programme or Auditors.

When submitted, the LP shall print and sign the MAF. It 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. Then, the LP shall scan the signed version and send it in PDF format to the JS at the following email address: interregva.apply@norfolk.gov.uk no later than 5 working days after call closure.

III. Micro Project Selection

The Joint Secretariat (JS) will be appraising the Micro Projects based on a series of Eligible, Administrative and Quality criteria and the decision. The Selection Sub-Committee (SSC) is responsible for Micro 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 Micro Project whose activities have not started prior to the submission of the MAF.

Firstly, Micro Projects will be checked against the Eligibility and Administrative criteria in order to ensure that they fulfil the technical requirements. There are 17 Eligibility and Administrative criteria.

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.

Only where a Micro Project satisfies the Eligibility and Administrative criteria will it undergo a quality assessment. There are 17 quality criteria. The SSC will make a final decision and the LP will be notified of the outcome.

There are 2 possible outcomes from this process:

1. a)  The project is approved:

   Approval means that the Micro Project has been selected and will be funded.

2. b)  The project is rejected:

   If a Micro Project is rejected, a decision has been made that the Micro 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 Micro 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 Micro Project has been rejected will need to go through the full application procedure for any future project submission or resubmission of a modified proposal. Rejected projects will receive an explanation of the reasons for rejection.

Micro Project approval might be conditional or come with recommendations issued by the SSC. These conditions will be built into the GOL.

As soon as the project applicants have received the notification of approval the project implementation phase starts. For further information, please see the Guidance Note 6 on “Project Implementation”

A. Eligibility and Administrative assessments

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