Monitoring and coaching, through sports, of youngsters at risk of radicalization

Deadline: Jul 23, 2019  
CALL EXPIRED

This call for proposals serves to implement the 2019 Annual Work Programme in accordance with the Commission Decision C(2019) 1819 of 12 March 2019.

The Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on "Supporting the prevention of radicalisation leading to violent extremism"1, highlighted that the prevention of radicalisation is a key part of the fight against terrorism in the EU.

Measures and initiatives aiming at preventing radicalisation are most of the time designed and implemented on the ground, at local, regional or national level. Their design and implementation are primarily the competence of the Member States, regional and local authorities. Local actors are usually best placed to prevent and detect radicalisation and to work efficiently to promote integration through sport. At the same time, the EU can substantially contribute to the fight against radicalisation and play a supporting role. The similar nature of the challenges faced by Member States as well as its scale and interconnected nature justify the need for more cooperation, networking and exchange of good practices at EU level.

Sport can play a role in dealing with the challenge of tackling radicalisation, of making people better integrated in society and may therefore contribute to enhance values such as tolerance, integration and intercultural dialogue.

2. OBJECTIVE(S) – THEME(S) – PRIORITIES

This action aims at supporting sport-related projects organised by sport organisations and federations cooperating with public authorities (including municipalities), local actors and civil society. This action will focus on the prevention of radicalisation, in particular in helping youngsters at risk of exclusion and of radicalisation to better integrate in the society in which they are leaving. It will focus on the practise of sport and physical activity as a tool to promote a better inclusion to a group or in the society as a whole. A particular focus will be put on areas facing social problems. The gender equality dimension will be taken into account.

Version: October 2018

This preparatory action will involve sport organisation and/or federations that, in cooperation with local authorities and organisations working on the fight against radicalisation, will offer tools and appropriate activities and coaching in order to prevent the radicalisation processes.

The expected outcomes include:

•   The access to sport and physical activity of populations at risk of exclusion and radicalisation

•   The training of coaches and staff working on integration through sport

•   The development of networks and partnerships at EU level

•   A better integration into EU societies amongst people at risk of radicalisation, in particular youngsters .

  The proposed projects must be led by sport organisations, in particular umbrella sport organisations, such as European sport federations. They must involve national, regional or local members of these sport organisations. Approximately 7 projects will be selected.

3. TIMETABLE

(a) Publication of the call

May 2019

(b) Deadline for submitting applications

23/07/2019 (12:00pm Brussels time)

(c) Evaluation period

July-October 2019

(d) Information to applicants

November 2019

(e) Signature of grant agreements

December 2019

4. BUDGET AVAILABLE

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects under this call for proposals is estimated at 1.900.000 EUR.

The EU grant is limited to a maximum co-financing rate of 80% of eligible costs. Grants will be of a maximum of 350.000 EUR per project
Grants will be of a minimum of 150.000 EUR per project
The Commission expects to fund approximately 7 proposals.

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

5. ADMISSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

In order to be admissible, applications must be:
 sent no later than the deadline for submitting applications referred to in section 3;

submitted in writing (see section 14), using the electronic submission system available at https://ec.europa.eu/sport/calls_en ;

drafted in one of the EU official languages.

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

6. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

2 Eligible applicants

In order to be eligible, projects must be presented by applicants meeting the following criteria:

 be a public or private organisation with legal personality who is mainly active in the sport field and that regularly organise sport activities and competitions;

 have their registered legal office in one of the EU Member States.
Proposals may be submitted by any of the following applicants (the list is not exhaustive

and is given for example only):

•   Umbrella sport organisations

•   International Sport organisations or federations

•   Non-profit organisation (private or public) active in the field of sport;

•   Public authorities (national, regional, local) active in the field of sport;.

Natural persons are not eligible to apply for a grant under this call.

For British applicants:

Please be aware that eligibility criteria must be complied with for the entire duration of the grant. If the United Kingdom withdraws from the EU during the grant period without concluding an agreement with the EU ensuring in particular that British applicants continue to be eligible, you will cease to receive EU funding (while continuing, where possible, to participate) or be required to leave the project on the basis of Article II.17.2 of the grant agreement

Supporting documents

In order to assess the applicants' eligibility, the following supporting documents are requested:

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

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

6.2. Eligible activities

The proposed activities must take place in at least 5 different EU Members States.

A non-exhaustive list of the main activities eligible under this call for proposals is listed below:

•   Development of sport and physical activities for people at risk of radicalisation

•   Design and development of networks at EU level amongst organisations engaged into the prevention, through sports, of marginalisation and radicalisation;

•   Organisation of workshops, seminars and conferences aimed at spreading the information, expertise and cooperation opportunities relating to the prevention of marginalisation and radicalisation through sport.

•   Development, identification, promotion and sharing of activities and good practices, at EU level, about monitoring and coaching, through sports, of people at risk of radicalisation;

Activities must take place in the EU-Member States.

The duration of the activities will be of a minimum of 24 months and of a maximum of 36 months.

Implementation period:

•   Activities may not start before 01-01-2020.

•   Activities are to be completed by 31-12-2022 at the latest.
  Applications for projects scheduled to run for a shorter or longer period than that specified in this call for proposals will not be accepted.

7. EXCLUSION CRITERIA

7.1. Exclusion

The authorising officer shall exclude an applicant from participating in call for proposals procedures where:

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

2. (b)  it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the applicant is in breach of its obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions in accordance with the applicable law;

3. (c)  ithasbeenestablishedbyafinaljudgmentorafinaladministrativedecisionthatthe applicant is guilty of grave professional misconduct by having violated applicable laws or regulations or ethical standards of the profession to which the applicant belongs, or by having engaged in any wrongful intent or gross negligence, including, in particular, any of the following:

4. (i)  fraudulently or negligently misrepresenting information required for the verification of the absence of grounds for exclusion or the fulfilment of eligibility or selection criteria or in the performance of a contract, a grant agreement or a grant decision;

5. (ii)  entering into agreement with other applicants with the aim of distorting competition;

6. (iii)  violating intellectual property rights;

7. (iv)  attempting to influence the decision-making process of the Commission during the award procedure;

8. (v)  attempting to obtain confidential information that may confer upon it undue advantages in the award procedure;

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

   1. (i)  fraud, within the meaning of Article 3 of Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Article 1 of the Convention on the protection of the European Communities' financial interests, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 July 1995;

   2. (ii)  corruption, as defined in Article 4(2) of Directive (EU) 2017/1371 or Article 3 of the Convention on the fight against corruption involving officials of the European Communities or officials of Member States of the European Union, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 May 1997, or conduct referred to in Article 2(1) of Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA, or corruption as defined in the applicable law;

   3. (iii)  conduct related to a criminal organisation, as referred to in Article 2 of Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA;

   4. (iv)  money laundering or terrorist financing within the meaning of Article 1(3), (4) and (5) of Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council;

   5. (v)  terrorist offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, as defined in Articles 1 and 3 of Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA, respectively, or inciting, aiding, abetting or attempting to commit such offences, as referred to in Article 4 of that Decision;

   6. (vi)  child labour or other offences concerning trafficking in human beings as referred to in Article 2 of Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council;

10. (e)  theapplicanthasshownsignificantdeficienciesincomplyingwithmainobligations in the performance of a contract, a grant agreement or a grant decision financed by the Union's budget, which has led to its early termination or to the application of liquidated damages or other contractual penalties, or which has been discovered following checks, audits or investigations by an authorising officer, OLAF or the Court of Auditors;

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

12. (g)  It has been established by a final judgement or final administrative decision that the applicant has created an entity in a different jurisdiction with the intent to circumvent fiscal, social or any other legal obligations of mandatory application in the jurisdiction of its registered office, central administration or principal place of business;

13. (h)  it has been established by a final judgement or final administrative decision that an entity has been created with the intent referred to in point (g);

14. (i)  for the situations referred to in points (c) to (h) above, the applicant is subject to:

    1. (i)  facts established in the context of audits or investigations carried out by European Public Prosecutor's Office after its establishment, the Court of Auditors, the European Anti-Fraud Office or the internal auditor, or any other check, audit or control performed under the responsibility of an authorising officer of an EU institution, of a European office or of an EU agency or body;

    2. (ii)  non-final judgments or non-final administrative decisions which may include disciplinary measures taken by the competent supervisory body responsible for the verification of the application of standards of professional ethics;

    3. (iii)  facts referred to in decisions of persons or entities being entrusted with EU budget implementation tasks;

    4. (iv)  information transmitted by Member States implementing Union funds;

    5. (v)  decisions of the Commission relating to the infringement of Union competition law or of a national competent authority relating to the infringement of Union or national competition law; or

    6. (vi)  decisions of exclusion by an authorising officer of an EU institution, of a European office or of an EU agency or body.

7.2. Remedial measures3

If an applicant declares one of the situations of exclusion listed above (see section 7.4), it must indicate the measures it has taken to remedy the exclusion situation, thus demonstrating its reliability. This may include e.g. technical, organisational and personnel measures to correct the conduct and prevent further occurrence, compensation of damage or payment of fines or of any taxes or social security contributions. The relevant documentary evidence which illustrates the remedial measures taken must be provided in annex to the declaration. This does not apply for situations referred in point (d) of section 7.1.

7.3. Rejection from the call for proposals

The authorising officer shall not award a grant to an applicant who:

1. (a)  is in an exclusion situation established in accordance with section 7.1; or

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

3. (c)  was previously involved in the preparation of documents used in the award procedure where this entails a breach of the principle of equal treatment, including distortion of competition, that cannot be remedied otherwise.

Administrative sanctions (exclusion)4 may be imposed on applicants if any of the declarations or information provided as a condition for participating in this procedure prove to be false.

7.4. Supporting documents5

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

8. SELECTION CRITERIA

8.1. Financial capacity7

The financial capacity will be assessed based on the following methodology and its annexes: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/methodology-grants-eac_en.pdf.

Applicants must have stable and sufficient sources of funding to maintain their activity throughout the duration of the grant and to participate in its funding. The applicants' financial capacity will be assessed on the basis of the following supporting documents to be submitted with the application:

Grants with a pre-financing value of EUR 600 000 or less

For grants of this type, proof of financial capacity is constituted by a declaration on the honour by the grant applicant (see Annex 1 of the Application form).

However, in case of doubt and only for grants exceeding EUR 60 000, the assessment committee reserves the right to request supporting documents and to carry out a financial analysis as described at point 4 of the above mentioned methodology (cf. Article 198(4) of the FR)

Moreover for grants exceeding EUR 60 000, entities falling into one of the high-risk categories mentioned at point 3.1 of the methodology must provide proof of their financial capacity and are required to undergo the financial analysis provided for in point 4 of the same methodology.

On the basis of the documents submitted, if the Commission considers that financial capacity is weak, s/he may:

•   request further information;

•   decide not to give pre-financing;

•   decide to give pre-financing paid in instalments;

•   decide to give pre-financing covered by a bank guarantee (see section 11.6.1 below);

•   where applicable, require the joint and several financial liability of all the co- beneficiaries.

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

   

8.2. Operational capacity8

Applicants must have the professional competencies as well as appropriate qualifications necessary to complete the proposed action. In this respect, applicants have to submit a declaration on their honour, and the following supporting documents:

 curriculum vitae or description of the profile of the people primarily responsible for managing and implementing the operation (accompanied where appropriate, like in the field of research and education, by a list of relevant publications);

 an exhaustive lists of previous projects and activities performed and connected to the policy field of a given call or to the actions to be carried out;
 relevance of the project (criterion 1) (maximum 40 points – minimum

9. AWARD CRITERIA
Eligible applications will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:

threshold of 10 points):

o The extent to which the proposal contributes to the objectives and priorities of the action referred above;

o the extent to which the proposal is based on concrete identification of the specific, local needs of activities aimed at prevention of radicalisation;

o the extent to which the objectives are clearly defined, realistic and address issues relevant to the participating organisations and target groups;

•   Quality (criterion 2) (maximum 40 points – minimum threshold of 20 points):

  The quality of the overall design and implementation of the activities proposed and methodology for achieving the objectives:

  •   cost efficiency (the extent to which the project is cost-effective and allocates appropriate resources to each activity);

  •   sustainability of the proposed actions (the extent to which the actions will be carried out also after the end of the project);

  •   budget proposal (the consistency between project objectives, methodology, activities and budget proposed);

  •   the quality and feasibility of the methodology proposed.

•   Management of the project (criterion 3) (maximum 20 points – minimum threshold of 10 points):
  The extent to which the applicant demonstrates its ability to organise, coordinate and implement the various aspects of the proposed activities.

   

• -  the project team involves an appropriate mix of experiences and expertise supporting the successful delivery of the project expected results;

• -  the composition and appropriateness of the proposed team (including people having proven experience in organizing and delivering successful sport activities) and the roles allocated to the members of the team;

  Points will be allocated to eligible applications out of a total of 100 on the basis of the above-specified weighting. A minimum threshold of 70 points will be applied. Applications falling below the mentioned thresholds will be rejected.

10. LEGAL COMMITMENTS

In the event of a grant awarded by the Commission, a grant agreement, drawn up in euro and detailing the conditions and level of funding, will be sent to the applicant, as well as the information on the procedure to formalise the agreement of the parties.

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

11. FINANCIAL PROVISIONS

11.1. Form of the grant11

11.1.1 Reimbursement of costs actually incurred

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

For details on eligibility of costs, please refer to section 11.2.

11.2. Eligible costs12
Eligible costs shall meet all the following criteria:

•   they are incurred by the beneficiary.

•   they are incurred during the duration of [the action] [the work programme], with the exception of costs relating to final reports and audit certificates;

  • o The period of eligibility of costs will start as specified in the grant agreement.

  • o If a beneficiary can demonstrate the need to start the action before the agreement is signed, the costs eligibility period may start before that signature. Under no circumstances can the eligibility period start before the date of submission of the grant application.

•   they are indicated in the estimated budget of the action;

•   they are necessary for the implementation of the action which is the subject of the grant;

•   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.

Eligible costs may be direct or indirect.

11.2.1. Eligible direct costs

The eligible direct costs for the action are those costs which:

with due regard to the conditions of eligibility set out above, are identifiable as specific costs directly linked to the performance of the action and which can therefore be booked to it directly, such as :

(a) the costs of personnel working under an employment contract with the beneficiary or an equivalent appointing act and assigned to the action, provided that these costs are in line with the beneficiary’s usual policy on remuneration.

Those costs include actual salaries plus social security contributions and other statutory costs included in the remuneration. They may also comprise 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;

The costs of natural persons working under a contract with the beneficiary other than an employment contract or who are seconded to the beneficiary by a third party against payment may also be included under such personnel costs, provided that the following conditions are fulfilled:

1. (i)  the person works under conditions similar to those of an employee (in particular regarding the way the work is organised, the tasks that are performed and the premises where they are performed);

2. (ii)  the result of the work belongs to the beneficiary (unless exceptionally agreed otherwise); and

3. (iii)  the costs are not significantly different from the costs of staff performing similar tasks under an employment contract with the beneficiary;

The recommended methods for the calculation of direct personnel costs are provided in Appendix.

2. (b)  costs of travel and related subsistence allowances, provided that these costs are in line with the beneficiary’s usual practices on travel;

3. (c)  the depreciation costs of equipment or other assets (new or second-hand) as recorded in the beneficiary’s accounting statements, provided that the asset:

   • (i) is written off in accordance with the international accounting standards and the beneficiary’s usual accounting practices; and

   1. (ii) has been purchased in accordance with the rules on implementation contracts laid down in the grant agreement, if the purchase occurred within the implementation period;

4. The costs of renting or leasing equipment or other assets are also eligible, provided that these costs do not exceed the depreciation costs of similar equipment or assets and are exclusive of any finance fee;

5. Only the portion of the equipment’s depreciation, rental or lease costs corresponding to the implementation period and the rate of actual use for the purposes of the action may be taken into account when determining the eligible costs. By way of exception, the full cost of purchase of equipment may be eligible under the Special Conditions, if this is justified by the nature of the action and the context of the use of the equipment or assets;

6. (d)  costs of consumables and supplies, provided that they:

   1. (i) are purchased in accordance with the rules on implementation contracts laid down in the grant agreement; and

   2. (ii) are directly assigned to the action;

7. (e)  costs arising directly from requirements imposed by the 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 rules on implementation contracts laid down in the grant agreement;

8. (f)  costs derived from subcontracts, provided that specific conditions on subcontracting as laid down in the grant agreement are met;

9. (g)  costs of financial support to third parties, provided that the conditions laid down in the grant agreement are met;

10. (f) duties, taxes and charges paid by the beneficiary, notably value added tax (VAT), provided that they are included in eligible direct costs, and unless specified otherwise in the grant agreement.