Music moves Europe – Training scheme for young music professionals - EAC/S18/2018

Deadline: Aug 27, 2018  
CALL EXPIRED

1. INTRODUCTION – BACKGROUND Overall EU policy context for culture

This call for proposals serves the implementation of the 2018 Annual Work Programme as adopted by Commission decision C (2018) 1602 on 21 March 2018 and specifically the 3rd distinct activity under section '3. Implementation'.

The European Union's role in the culture area is specified in Article 167 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the EU. The European Commission’s activities in this area are framed in particular by the European Agenda for Culture, which aims to reinforce the role and position of culture in an increasingly globalised world. The role of the Commission is to help address common challenges, such as the impact of the digital shift, changing models of cultural governance, and the need to support the innovation potential of the cultural and creative sectors. The Commission is also committed to promoting cultural diversity, protecting cultural heritage, easing obstacles to the mobility of cultural professionals, and supporting the contribution of cultural and creative industries to boosting growth and jobs across the EU, in line with the principles of the European Agenda. The international dimension of culture is at the core of this Agenda. EU cooperation on culture will be strengthened further in the future under a New European Agenda for Culture.1

Since 2014 Creative Europe has served as a consolidated framework programme insupport of Europe's cultural and audio-visual sectors. It has supported the implementation of actions in line with the EU’s cultural policy. In the context of the preparations of the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) post-2020, discussions on the future EU programme for culture have started.2

 

About the music sector in Europe

Music constitutes an important pillar of European culture. There is the economic significance of the sector – it employs more people than film and generates more than 25bn EUR revenue annually. It is also an essential component of Europe’s cultural diversity and it has the power to bring positive changes to many levels of society.

Over the past decade, Europe's music sector has been heavily influenced by the digital shift and increased competition from global players. It has been experiencing significant challenges that have led to fundamental changes in the way music is created, produced, distributed, consumed and monetised. The music industry is adapting to use the opportunities offered (e.g. new business models, extending audience reach, new way of interacting) paving the way for other content industries. A part from the many opportunities, important challenges remain, for instance, the repartition of revenue and the fair remuneration of artists in this new digital environment. The so-called “value gap” has become a subject of much discussion at national and European level in the past few years.

Europe is a strong global player all along the music value chain, including online distribution. Streaming revenues grow extremely rapidly, compensating declines in physical formats and downloads. Europe is home to the world’s biggest music markets (Germany, UK, France and Italy); its music industry can be considered one of the most creative and diverse in the world. However, the European music ecosystem is a fragmented, diverse and complex landscape with structural differences between its main operator groups or sub-sectors (such as classical and amateur music sub-sector, live music sub-sector, recorded music sub-sector, digital distribution sub-sector, etc.). There is also a great deal of national fragmentation along with language barriers, which hamper promotion and visibility of music repertoire across national borders within Europe and beyond. Non-English music repertoire from Europe struggles to cross European borders and obstacles exist to internationalising the careers of artists. The United States and the United Kingdom enjoy a better access to the European music market, for historical, cultural and linguistic reasons, but also because they host the majority of major music labels, international promoters, and distribution services. The dominance of English music repertoire crossing borders through live performances, radio and online services in Europe and powerful American-led corporations3 seem to hamper promotion and visibility of European acts. Concentration and distorted competition are key challenges for the music ecosystem in Europe.

There is a need to support the competitiveness and the diversity of the music sector and to promote musical creation. In this context, also export strategies for European music might be needed to explore non-European markets and their audiences.

EU support for music – Music Moves Europe

In late 2015, therefore, the European Commission started a dialogue with representatives from the music sector in Europe with the aim to identify key challenges and possible ways to tackle them, including EU support. “Music Moves Europe” has since become the framework for these discussions and more broadly for EU initiatives and actions to promote the diversity and competitiveness of Europe’s music sector, in terms of policy Music Moves Europe – A support programme for the European Music Sector, compiled and researched and funding. One important outcome of that dialogue is the AB Music Working Group report in 2016. The report revealed the need to support music creation, promote musical diversity and to explore the opportunities offered by music online and offline distribution more effectively.

Against this background, in the context of the EU budgetary procedure for 2018, the European Parliament secured a budget of 1.5m EUR for a Preparatory Action “Music Moves Europe: Boosting European music diversity and talent” with the aim to test suitable actions for more targeted EU funding for music post-2020.4 The focus should be on four strands of action: offline and online distribution, artist and repertoire development, professionalization and education, export of European music outside Europe.

The European Commission has been supportive to the process leading to the inclusion of this Preparatory Action in the 2018 EU budget considering that it comes at a timely moment when the Commission is preparing its proposals for new funding instruments post-2020. The implementation of this Preparatory Action is an opportunity to test new ideas on how to complement the existing forms of EU support for music under the Creative Europe programme, notably the co-financing of music cooperation projects, platforms, networks, and the European prize for music (EBBA awards), as well as policy action impacting on the music sector (e.g. in the context of the Digital Single Market).

To implement the Preparatory Action, the Commission will launch four calls (two calls for proposals and two calls for tenders) in the spring 2018 as follows:

1. (a)  Music Moves Europe - Online and offline distributions

2. (b)  Music Moves Europe - The feasibility study for the establishment of a European

   Music Observatory, and a gap analysis of funding needs for the music sector

3. (c)  Music Moves Europe - Training Scheme For Young Music Professionals

4. (d)  Music Moves Europe - Study on a European Music Export Strategy

In parallel, the Commission has committed to have a regular dialogue with the European music sector on these and other themes, starting in 2018.

The present call for proposal focuses on the development of a Training Scheme For Young Music Professionals (c).

Training for young professionals

The dialogue with representatives from the music sector in Europe and different studies have shown that there is a need for professionalization of the cultural sector in general and the music sector in particular as it experiences radical changes and is therefore facing major challenges. In this context, professionalization aims at providing young professionals in the music business with the skills they need to develop their careers or to up-date existing skills to meet the rapidly changing demands facing their industry. This means not only acquiring creative and digital skills but also social, management and economic skills like drawing up a business plan, develop marketing schemes or understand the European and national legal environment, such as the copyright regulatory framework. It is also about creating a better mutual understanding of the Text of the Preparatory Action:

 

1. different work environments of artists and other professions and specialised subsectors in the music business as lines between classical professional profiles are blurring, job descriptions are changing and new professional profiles are emerging. Contemporary academia have developed relevant concepts of “cultural leadership”5 addressing the necessary competences needed for the success of cultural organisations (“Entrepreneurial cultural leadership”). Such leadership could also involve working for the greater good of the sector as a whole, e.g. voluntary or non-profit organisations (“generous cultural leadership”) or taking up social responsibility relating to wider societal involvement (“public cultural leadership”).

 

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

2.1. OBJECTIVES

Main objectives

The overall aim of this call is to identify and to support up to 10 innovative and sustainable pilot training programmes for young professionals in the music sector testing small-scale models on how to improve the sector’s capacity and resilience and to contribute to its professionalization. Lessons learnt from these pilot training proposals the objective should improve the sector's understanding on the questions of professionalization. These findings should feed into an integrated strategy for music support for the next generation of EU funding programmes after 2020, which could support European diversity and talent, the competitiveness of the sector as well as increased access of citizens to music in all its diversity.

Specific objectives

1. Address the need for a regular up-date of individual and organisational professional expertise in order to increase the capacity of the music professionals to adapt to changes in the music market, also in terms of its relevance to international careers;

2. Promote transnational exchange or cross-fertilisation between different sub-sectors, especially where potential for mutual learning or exchange of practice is identified (building cooperation and spreading best practice);

3. Include transnational approaches where the training scheme supports young professionals engaged with or seeking to develop cross-border music initiatives, particularly where the relevant knowledge and expertise cannot be found at national, regional or local level.

Considering the scale of the pilot scheme, applicants should address at least one of these priority areas showing innovation, excellence and differentiation from existing national or international provisions. Excellence in one area should be prioritised over attempting to address all priorities to a small extent.

 

2.2. ACTIVITIES

The proposal should include relevant activities that are necessary for the accomplishment of the above objectives. Activities providing training for young artists and other professionals in the music sector could take the following forms:

1. Transnational and/or cross-sectoral training schemes using in-person teaching as well as e-learning methods;

2. Mentoring and peer learning schemes;

3. Fellowship and residency schemes;

4. Trainee schemes with paid placements.

To deliver tangible results, these small-scale models should reach at least five people taking part and completing such training activities.

2.3. BENEFICIAIRIES

Established training/education providers or training/education/music sector partnerships demonstrating relevant music sector or specialised expertise in other sectors may apply to the call. Music organisations working with sectoral peers may be accepted for placement or exchange proposals.

2.4. EXPECTED RESULTS

The call intends to support proposals that deliver the following non-exhaustive examples of results and clearly link to the objectives:

•   Demonstration of actions and training schemes that improve intelligence and understanding on the questions of professionalization,

•   Exchange and collaboration across the different business sectors of the industry as much as between musical subsectors,

•   Enhancing the expertise of professionals in the music business at a pivotal point in their career, e.g. to take on or to keep an influential or leading position,

•   Contribute to an integrated strategy for music development for the next generation of EU funding after 2020.

 

 

3. TIMETABLE

a) Publication of the call
08/05/2018

b) Deadline for submitting applications
27/08/2018 13:00 CET

c) Evaluation period
September-October 2018

d) Information to applicants
November 2018

e) Signature of grant agreement
December 2018

 

4. BUDGET AVAILABLE

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects is estimated at EUR 550,000.00.

The maximum grant will be EUR 55.000 per supported proposal.
The maximum co-funding rate will be 80 % (see under section 11.3.1). The Commission expects to fund 10 proposals.
The Commission reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

 

5. ADMISSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

•   Applications must be sent no later than the deadline for submitting applications referred to in section 3.

•   Applications must be submitted in writing (see section 14), using the application form in annex 1.

•   Applications must be drafted in one of the EU official languages.
  Failure to comply with those requirements will lead to the rejection of the application.

 

 

6. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

6.1. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

The following applicants are eligible:

•   non-profit organisation (private or public);

•   public authorities (national, regional, local);

•   universities;

•   educational institutions;

•   associations;

•   natural persons are not eligible except self-employed persons or equivalent (i.e. sole traders) where the company does not possess legal personality separate from that of the natural person.

Only applications from legal entities established in the following countries are eligible:

•   EU Member States;

•   eligible non-EU countries that are participating in the Creative Europe Programme Culture7.

For British applicants:
Please be aware that eligibility criteria must be complied with for the entire duration of the grant. If the United Kingdom withdraws from the EU during the grant period without concluding an agreement with the EU ensuring in particular that British applicants continue to be eligible, you will cease to receive EU funding (while continuing, where possible, to participate) or be required to leave the project on the basis of Article II.17
of the grant agreement.

An application may be submitted by one applicant or a consortium, whether established specifically or not for the action, provided that:

•   it is formed of several legal entities complying with the eligibility, non-exclusion and selection criteria set out in this call for proposals, and implementing together the proposed action;

•   the application identifies the said entities:

•   the application identifies the coordinating and responsible main entity.

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 ;

•   natural persons: photocopy of identity card and/or passport; certificate of liability to VAT, if applicable (e.g. some self-employed persons)

6.2. ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES

Types of activities eligible under this call for proposals, inter alia:

•   Transnational and/or cross-sectoral training schemes using in-person teaching as well as e-learning methods, including seminars or workshops;

•   Mentoring and peer learning schemes;

•   Fellowship and residency schemes;

•   Trainee schemes with paid placements;

•   Activities aiming at the creation and improvement of networks and exchanges of good practices to increase the professionalization of the sector.

  The following activities are not eligible under this call for proposal:

•   Studies, analyses, mapping projects

•   Activities aiming at cultural creation or musical training

6.3. IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD

Activities may be implemented according to the followings:

•   activities may not be started before the result of the selection is announced;

•   activities must start at the latest by 31 December 2018;

•   activities are to be completed by 31 December 2019;

•   the maximum duration of projects is 12 months;

  Applications for projects scheduled to run for a 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:

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

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

(c) it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the 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 conduct which has an impact on its professional credibility where such conduct denotes wrongful intent or gross negligence, including, in particular, any of the following:

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

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

3. (iii)  violating intellectual property rights;

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

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

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

1. (i)  fraud, within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention on the protection of the European Communities' financial interests, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 July 1995;

2. (ii)  corruption, as defined in Article 3 of the Convention on the fight against corruption involving officials of the European Communities or officials of Member States of the European Union, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 May 1997, and in Article 2(1) of Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA, as well as corruption as defined in the law of the country where the contracting authority is located, the country in which the applicant is established or the country of the performance of the contract;

3. (iii)  participation in a criminal organisation, as defined in Article 2 of Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA;

4. (iv)  money laundering or terrorist financing, as defined in Article 1 of Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council;

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

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

(e) the applicant has shown significant deficiencies in complying with main obligations 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;

(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.

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

 

1. (i)  facts established in the context of audits or investigations carried out by the Court of Auditors, OLAF or internal audit, or any other check, audit or control performed under the responsibility of an authorising officer of an EU institution, of a European office or of an EU agency or body;

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

3. (iii)  decisions of the ECB, the EIB, the European Investment Fund or international organisations;

4. (iv)  decisions of the Commission relating to the infringement of the Union's competition rules or of a national competent authority relating to the infringement of Union or national competition law.

5. (v)  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 MEASURES

If an applicant declares one of the situations of exclusion listed above (see section 7.4), it should 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 prevent further occurrence, compensation of damage or payment of fines. 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. is in an exclusion situation established in accordance with section 7.18;

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

3. was previously involved in the preparation of calls for proposal documents where this entails a distortion of competition that cannot be remedied otherwise.

Administrative and financial penalties may be imposed on applicants who are guilty of misrepresentation.

 

7.4. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS9

Applicants must provide a declaration on their honour certifying that they are not in one of the situations referred to in articles 106(1) and 107 FR, by filling in the relevant form available as annex II in this call for proposals.

This obligation may be fulfilled in one of the following ways:

1. (i)  the applicant signs a declaration in its name;

2. (ii)  in case of consortium, each applicant in the consortium signs a declaration in its name.

 

8. SELECTION CRITERIA

8.1. FINANCIAL CAPACITY11

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:

Proof of financial capacity is constituted by a declaration on the honour by the grant applicant (see Annex 1 of the Application form).

On the basis of the documents submitted, if the RAO considers the financial capacity to be weak, s/he may:

•   requestfurtherinformation;

•   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 11.4 below);

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

If the RAO considers the financial capacity to be insufficient s/he will reject the application

 

8.2. OPERATIONAL CAPACITY12

Applicants must have the professional competencies as well as appropriate qualifications necessary to complete the proposed action.

Applicants must have the professional competencies necessary to complete the proposed action. In particular, they should demonstrate:

•   proven track record of providing training/education or

•   for training/education/music sector partnerships proven record of relevant specialist knowledge/skills to be transmitted/taught combined with sound training methodologies;

•   good understanding of the key challenges towards stronger professionalization in a European and international context;

•   good understanding of the cross-sectoral challenges within the music sector;

•   good understanding of the technological innovation relevant for the music sector;

  operational capacity to deliver results within the requested timescale.

  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 (see annex V);

•   the organisation's activity reports;

•   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 (see annex IV);

  In the case of legal entities forming a consortium, as specified in section 6.1, the above requirements apply to the consortium as a whole.

9. AWARD CRITERIA13

Eligible applications/projects will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:

9.1. RELEVANCE (0-40 POINTS)

The relevance of the project and its expected contribution to the objectives of the call, including:

•   Innovative ways to achieve objectives set out under section 2.1;

•   Expected impact and added value at European level (transnational impact) in terms of improving intelligence and understanding of the questions of professionalization.

 

9.2. QUALITY OF THE ACTIVITIES (0-40 POINTS)

The quality of the overall design of the activities proposed and methodology for achieving the objectives and how the project will be implemented in practice, including:

•   Cost effectiveness of the proposed action, and in particular the relevance and quality of the means of implementation and the resources deployed in relation to the objectives envisaged,

•   Transferability of the expected results building on “lessons learnt”;

•   Sustainability (the extent to which the actions will continue after the end of the

  project);

•   Promotion and visibility of the expected results.

9.3. MANAGEMENT OF THE PROJECT (0-20 POINTS)

The extent to which the applicant demonstrates its ability to organise, coordinate and implement the various aspects of the proposed activities, including:

 Rationale of the proposed methodology and organisation of the training scheme (including the timetable and monitoring).

A minimum quality threshold of 60% of the maximum possible score for each of the award criteria will be applied for the qualitative evaluation. Applications falling below those thresholds shall 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.

The 2 copies of the original agreement must be signed first by the beneficiary on behalf of the consortium if applicable and returned to the Commission immediately. The Commission will sign it last.

 

11. FINANCIAL PROVISIONS

11.1. ELIGIBLE COSTS

Eligible costs shall meet all the following criteria:

 

they are incurred by the beneficiary.
they are incurred during the duration of the action, 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;

•   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 requirements 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.

11.1.1. Eligible direct costs

The eligible direct costs for the action are those which:

with due regard for 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 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

   (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;

   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;

   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;

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

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

   (ii) are directly assigned to the action;

5. (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;

6. (f)  costs entailed by subcontracts, provided that specific conditions on subcontracting as laid down in the grant agreement are met;

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

8. (h)  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.

 

11.1.2. Eligible indirect costs (overheads)15

Indirect costs are costs that are not directly linked to the action implementation and therefore cannot be attributed directly to it.

A flat-rate amount of 7%16 of the total eligible direct costs of the action, is eligible as indirect costs, representing the beneficiary's general administrative costs which can be regarded as chargeable to the action/project.

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

Applicants’ attention is drawn to the fact that if they are receiving an operating grant financed by the EU or Euratom budget, they may not declare indirect costs for the period(s) covered by the operating grant, unless they can demonstrate that the operating grant does not cover any costs of the action.

In order to demonstrate this, in principle, the beneficiary should:

1. use analytical cost accounting that allows to separate all costs (including overheads) attributable to the operating grant and the action grant. For that purpose the beneficiary should use reliable accounting codes and allocation keys ensuring that the allocation of the costs is done in a fair, objective and realistic way.
2. record separately:

•   all costs incurred for the operating grants (i.e. personnel, general running costs and other operating costs linked to the part of its usual annual activities), and

•   all costs incurred for the action grants (including the actual indirect costs linked to the action)

If the operating grant covers the entire usual annual activity and budget of the beneficiary, the latter is not entitled to receive any indirect costs under the action grant.

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