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Restoring market conditions - simple programmes - AGRI-SIMPLE-2020-CRISIS
Deadline: Aug 27, 2020  
CALL EXPIRED

 Fisheries and Food
 Agriculture
 Agrifood
 Food Safety
 Rural Development
 Consumer Protection

1. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THIS CALL
1.1. Information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products

On 22 October 2014, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation (EU) No 1144/20141 on information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products implemented in the internal market and in third countries and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 3/2008. This Regulation is supplemented by the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829,2 and the rules for its application are laid down in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/18313.

The general objective of the information provision and promotion measures is to enhance the competitiveness of the Union agricultural sector.

The specific objectives of the information provision and promotion measures are to:

(a) increase awareness of the merits of Union agricultural products and of the high standards applicable to the production methods in the Union;

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829 of 23 April 2015 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products implemented in the internal market and in third countries, OJ L 266, 13.10.2015, p. 3–8.

(b) increase the competitiveness and consumption of Union agricultural products and certain food products and to raise their profile both inside and outside the Union;

(c) increase the awareness and recognition of Union quality schemes;

(d) increase the market share of Union agricultural products and certain food products, specifically focusing on those markets in third countries that have the highest growth potential;

(e) restore normal market conditions in the event of serious market disturbance, loss of consumer confidence or other specific problems.

1.2. The Commission's Annual Work Programme for 2020

The Commission's Annual Work Programme for 2020, adopted by implementing decision4 on 18 November 2019, sets out the details for the award of co- financing and the priorities for simple and multi programmes in the internal market and in third countries. It is available at the following address: https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/key-policies/common-agricultural- policy/market-measures/promotion-eu-farm-products_en

1.3. Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency

The Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (hereinafter "Chafea") is entrusted by the European Commission with the management of certain parts of the information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products implemented in the internal market and in third countries, including the launch of calls for proposals and evaluation of applications for simple programmes.

1.4. The present call for proposals

The present call for proposals relates to the implementation of simple programmes, in the framework of Section 1.2.2 of Annex I of the 2020 Annual Work Programme - Actions in case of serious market disturbance, loss of consumer confidence or other specific problems with an additional call for proposals via simple programmes.

 

2. OBJECTIVES – PRIORITIES 

In accordance with Section 1.2.2 of Annex I of the 2020 Annual Work Programme, information and promotion programmes co-financed through the present call shall aim at restoring normal market conditions following the impact of Covid19 on the markets listed under section 6.2. of this call by complementing the exceptional measures adopted in accordance with Part V, Chapter I of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013. Applications submitted in response to this call must fall under the scope of this section of the Annual Work Programme, otherwise they will not be considered for funding. Applicants may submit several applications for different projects.

 

3. TIMETABLE
The deadline for submission is 27 August 2020, 17:00 CET (Central

European Time).

a) Publication of the call for proposals

30/06/2020

b) Deadline to submit non-IT related questions

13/08/2020 17:00 CET

c) Deadline to reply to non-IT related questions

20/08/2020 17:00 CET

d) Deadline for submitting applications

27/08/2020 17:00 CET

e) Evaluation period

August-September 2020

f) Decision by the Commission

November 2020

g) Information to applicants by the Member States

November 2020

h) Grant adaptation phase

November-December 2020

i) Signature of the grant agreements between Member States and the beneficiaries

< January 2021

j) Starting date of the action

> 01/01/2021

 

4. BUDGET AVAILABLE
The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of actions under this call is

EUR 5,000,000.

This amount is subject to the availability of the appropriations provided for in the general budget of the EU for 2021 following its adoption by the EU budgetary authority or provided for in the provisional twelfths. This amount is also subject to the availability of appropriations for the following years taking into account the non-differentiated nature of the appropriations.

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

 

5. ADMISSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Applications must be sent no later than the submission deadline referred to in section 3.
Applications must be submitted online by the coordinator via the "Funding & Tender Opportunities" portal (electronic submission system available at:

https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding- tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/programmes/agrip).

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

Proposals may be submitted in any official language of the European Union. Nevertheless, when preparing their proposals, applicants should take into account that grant agreements will be managed by the Member States. Consequently, applicants are encouraged to submit their proposal in the language(s) of the Member State of origin of the proposing organisation(s) unless the Member State concerned has indicated its agreement to sign the grant agreement in English5.

To facilitate the review of proposals by independent experts who provide technical input to the evaluation, an English translation of the technical part of the proposal (part B) should preferably accompany the proposal if it is written in another EU official language.

 

6. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

6.1. Eligible applicants

Proposals for simple programmes can only be submitted by legal persons or other entities which do not have a legal personality under the applicable national law, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on behalf of the entity and offer guarantees for the protection of the Union’s financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons as referred to in Article 197(2) of the Regulation (Euratom, EU) No 2018/1046 (hereinafter "Financial Regulation")6.

More specifically, applications from the following organisations and bodies are eligible, as referred to in Article 7(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014:

(i) trade or inter-trade organisations, established in a Member State and representative of the sector or sectors concerned in that Member State, and in particular the interbranch organisations as referred to in Article 157 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and groups as defined in point 2 of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, provided that they are representative for the name protected under the latter Regulation which is covered by that programme;

(ii) producer organisations or associations of producer organisations, as referred to in Articles 152 and 156 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 that have been recognised by a Member State; or

(iii) agri-food sector bodies the objective and activity of which is to provide information on, and to promote agricultural products and which have been entrusted, by the Member State concerned, with a clearly defined public service mission in this area; those bodies must have been legally established in the Member State in question at least two years prior to the date of the call for proposals referred to in Article 8(2).

The abovementioned proposing organisations may submit a proposal provided that they are representative of the sector or product concerned by the proposal complying with conditions set out in Articles 1(1) or 1(2) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829 of 23 April 2015, namely:

(i) trade or inter-trade organisation, established in a Member State, as referred to in Article 7(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 respectively, shall be deemed to be representative of the sector concerned by the programme:

- where it accounts for at least 50% as a proportion of the number of producers, or 50% of the volume or value of marketable production of the product(s) or sector concerned, in the Member State concerned; or

- where it is an interbranch organisation recognised by the Member State in accordance with Article 158 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council or with Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council;

(ii) a group as defined in point 2 of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council and referred to in Article 7(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014, shall be deemed to be representative of the name protected under Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 and covered by the programme, where it accounts for at least 50% of the volume or value of marketable production of the product(s) whose name is protected;

(iii) a producer organisation or an association of producer organisations as referred to in Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 shall be deemed to be representative of the product(s) or sector concerned by the programme where it is recognised by the Member State in accordance with Articles 154 or 156 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 or with Article 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013;

(iv) an agri-food sector body as referred to in Article 7(1)(d) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 shall be deemed to be representative of the sector(s) concerned by the programme by means of having representatives of that product(s) or sector among its memberships.

By way of derogation from points (i) and (ii) above, lower thresholds may be accepted if the proposing organisation demonstrates in the submitted proposal that there are specific circumstances, including the evidence on the structure of the market, which would justify treating the proposing organisation as representative of the product(s) or sector concerned.

Proposals may be submitted by one or more proposing organisations, which shall all be from the same EU Member State.

Only applications from entities established in EU Member States are eligible.

For British applicants: Please be aware that although UK applicants are eligible to apply to the ‘2020 Additional call for proposals - Simple programmes’, costs incurred under the selected projects would however not be reimbursed as payments by a UK paying agency to the beneficiaries would be made after 15 October 2020 when the current financial year ends.

Non-eligible entities: applicants who already receive Union financing for the same information provision and promotion measures that are part of their proposal(s) shall not be eligible for Union financing for those measures under Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014.

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, or extract of trade or association register.

  • -  Public entity: copy of the resolution or decision establishing the public company, or other official document establishing the public-law entity.

  • -  Entities without legal personality: documents providing evidence that their representative(s) have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf.

  • -  In addition, all applicants are requested to submit the relevant documentation proving that the applicant meets the representativeness criteria set out in article 1 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829.

6.2. Eligible actions and activities

The proposals shall comply with the criteria of eligibility listed in annex II of the Annual Work Programme, namely:

  1. a)  proposals can only cover products and schemes listed in Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014;

  2. b)  proposals shall ensure that measures are implemented through implementing bodies as referred to in Article 13 of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014. Proposing organisations must select bodies responsible for implementing programmes ensuring best value for money and absence of conflict of interest (see Article 2 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829). The proposing organisation shall undertake that the body responsible for the implementation of the programme shall be selected at the latest before the signature of the grant agreement (see Article 10 of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1831);

  3. c)  if a proposing organisation proposes to implement certain parts of the proposal itself, it shall ensure that the cost of the measure which it plans to carry out itself is not in excess of the normal market rates;

  4. d)  proposals shall comply with Union law governing the products concerned and their marketing, be of significant scale, have a Union dimension and comply with all other provisions of Article 3(1) of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829;

  5. e)  if a message conveyed concerns information on the impact on health, proposals shall comply with the rules as referred to in Article 3(2) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829;

  6. f) if the proposal proposes to mention origin or brands, it shall comply with the rules as referred to in Chapter II of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1831.

For the purposes of assessing the eligibility of the planned activities, the following information must be provided:

  • -  Proposals covering national quality schemes shall provide documentation or a reference to publicly available sources that prove that the quality scheme is officially recognised by the Member State.

  • -  Proposals targeting the internal market and relaying a message on proper dietary practices or responsible alcohol consumption shall describe how the proposed programme and its message(s) are in line with the relevant national rules in the field of public health in the Member State where the programme will be carried out. The justification shall include references or documentation in support of the claim.

In addition, proposals shall also comply with the requirements laid down in Section 1.2.2 of Annex I of the 2020 Annual Work Programme.

Information and promotion programmes shall cover the sectors for which exceptional measures in accordance with Part V, Chapter 1 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, have been adopted, namely:

  • –  fruit and vegetables, excluding processed fruits and vegetables;

  • –  wine;

  • –  live trees and other plants, bulbs, roots and the like, cut flowers and ornamental foliage;

  • –  milk and milk products; and,

  • –  potatoes for transformation excluding potatoes destined to the market for fresh potatoes.

The information and promotion programmes shall have a European dimension, in terms of content and impact.

The information and promotion programmes may be implemented either in the internal market or in any third country/ies.

The objective of these programmes is to help restore normal market conditions for the products of the sectors affected by the market disturbance.

Types of eligible activities

Promotion and information provision actions may notably consist of the following activities, eligible under this call:

1. Management of the project

2. Public relations

  • -  PR activities

  • -  Press events

3. Website, social media

  • -  Website setup, updating, maintenance

  • -  Social media (accounts setup, regular posting)

  • -  Other (mobile apps, e-learning platforms, webinars, etc.)

4. Advertising

  • - Print
  • - TV
  • - Radio
  • - Online
  • - Outdoor - Cinema

5. Communication tools

  • -  Publications, media kits, promotional merchandise

  • -  Promotional videos 6. Events

  • -  Stands at trade fairs

  • -  Seminars, workshops, B2B meetings, trainings for trade/cooks, activities in schools

  • -  Restaurant weeks

  • -  Sponsorship of events

  • -  Study trips to Europe

7. Point-of-sale (POS) promotion

  • -  Tasting days

  • -  Other: promotion in retailers' publications, POS advertising

Implementation period

The co-financed action (information provision/promotion programmes) shall be implemented over a period of one year.

Proposals should specify the duration of the action.

 

 

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