Sport as a tool for integration and social inclusion of refugees EAC/S20/2019

Deadline: Jul 4, 2019  
CALL EXPIRED

1. INTRODUCTION – BACKGROUND

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.

Considering the growing number of refugees settling in the European Union, there is an increasing need for effective integration and social inclusion initiatives.

Sport can be an efficient tool in order to facilitate a successful integration of refugees; and local sport projects have an increasing role in facilitating refugees' integration into new communities. Across the European Union, at Member States' level or within European Union programmes, a wide range of initiatives have been taken and innovative projects are already being implemented.

The potential of sport as a tool for social inclusion has now been well documented. Sport projects contribute to the social inclusion of refugees in host communities; the opportunities they provide are more and more exploited in many EU Member States. This preparatory action is a contribution to this effort and to a better integration of refugees through sport.

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

In the continuation of the 2016 call for proposals on "Promoting HEPA policy measures and actions for refugees", and of the 2017 and 2018 call for proposals "Sport as a tool for integration and social inclusion of refugees", the current preparatory action aims at supporting sport projects focused on the integration of refugees. Approximately 10 projects would be selected.

Through concrete actions aiming at integrating refugees through sport, which will constitute the main share of funded projects, and and additional action aiming at building networks and disseminating good practices in the EU, the expected outcomes of this preparatory action will include:

Version: October 2018

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•   Promoting the direct engagement of refugees and host communities;

•   Promoting a Europe-wide approach, increasing the potential for host communities

  to successfully engage and integrate refugees through sport.

•   Developing the links between organisations promoting the integration of refugees through sport at EU level.

•   Creating a platform of projects aiming at promoting sport as a tool for integration and social inclusion of refugees

•   Collecting and disseminating good practices, through IT tools, workshops, seminars and conferences, relating to available results of projects and initiatives aimed at the integration of refugees through sport.

  The term "refugee" indicates people having formal refugee status in an EU Member State as well as people who have officially applied for refugee status in the EU and whose applications have not yet been processed. People with a migration background who are not "refugees" are excluded from the scope of this call for proposals.

  The implementation of the pilot project will take due regard to complementarity with the EU Erasmus+ Sport programme, with the actions eligible under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), as well as with those currently funded under the pilot project ‘promoting health-enhancing physical activity across Europe.'

  This preparatory action will be implemented through 2 lots.
  Lot 1: organisation of sport activities in order to promote integration and social inclusion

  of refugees. The expected outputs would be the following:

•   Organise sport activities for refugees

•   Promote the practice of sport and physical activity by refugees

•   Promote the cooperation of refugees and host communities in the organisation of

  sport activities

•   Promote European Wide practices and methodologies increasing the potential of

  European host communities to successfully engage and integrate refugees through

  sport

•   Participate in the European Network (see lot 2) in order to valorise the outcome

  of the project
  Lot 2: networking and dissemination. The expected outputs would be the following:

•   Create and maintain links between projects selected under the current call for proposals, with the aim of selecting and spreading good practices

•   Organize a platform of projects selected under PP/PA promoting “sport as a tool for integration and social inclusion of refugees” (years 2016-2019)

• Support the dissemination of good practices and initiatives taken throughout the EU
  Raise awareness about the strategies implemented in order to promote the integration and social inclusion of refugees through sport.

• Organise an yearly meeting/conference of the concerned projects.

3. TIMETABLE 

(a) Publication of the call

May 2019

(b) Deadline for submitting applications

04/07/2019 (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 2.900.000 EUR.

The EU grant is limited to a maximum co-financing rate of 80% of eligible costs.

The maximum amount to be awarded per project under lot 1 is 300.000 EUR. The minimum amount would be of 200.000 EUR.

The maximum amount to be awarded per project under lot 2 is 600.000 EUR. The minimum amount would be of 400.000 EUR.

The Commission expects to fund approximately 9 proposals under lot 1. The Commission expects to fund 1 project under lot 2.
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 ; and

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

6. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA1 6.1. Eligible applicants

For both lot 1 and lot 2, 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 are mainly active in the sport field and that regularly organise sport competitions, at any level;

•   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):

•   International or European Sport federations

•   Non-profit organisation (private or public);

•   Public authorities (national, regional, local);

•   International or European organisations;

•   Sport clubs;

•   Universities;

•   Educational institutions;

•   Research centres;

•   Companies.

  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 ;

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Articles 194(1)(b) and 197 FR

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6.2. Eligible activities

The activities must be enshrined within the framework of European common values2 and respect these essential principles and more particularly non-discrimination, tolerance and gender equality.

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

Lot 1

•   Sport activities aimed at promoting participation of refugees into EU societies

•   Preparation and training of sport coaches and staff who will work on integration

  and social inclusion of refugees through sport

•   Development, of activities and identification of good practices about participation

  of refugees into sport activities aimed at their integration into host societies.

  Lot 2

•   Creation of a European Network in order to valorise the outcome of the projects selected under Lot 1 and to maintain links between those projects, with the aim of selecting and spreading good practices.

•   Design and development of networks at EU level amongst organisations engaged into the integration of refugees through sport.

•   Organisation of workshops, seminars and conferences aimed at making accessible information, expertise and cooperation opportunities relating to integration of refugees into EU societies through sport.

  These activities must take place in the EU Member States. The duration of the project 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.
  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:

2 As specified under article 2 of the Treaty on European Union ((Official Journal C 326, 26/10/2012 P. 0001 – 0390): "The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non- discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail."

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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)  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 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 eligibility or 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] [Agency] during the award procedure;

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

4. (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;

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(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;

5. (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;

6. (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;

7. (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;

8. (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);

9. (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.

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Article 136(7) FR

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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 CRITERIA6 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.

4 5 6 7

Article 138 FR Article 137 FR Article 198 FR Article 198 FR.

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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;

9. AWARD CRITERIA

Eligible applications will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria: Lot 1

•   relevance of the project (criterion 1) (maximum 40 points – minimum threshold of 30 points): The extent to which the proposal contributes to the objectives and priorities of the action referred above;

  •   The proposal contributes to the objective of supporting refugees' integration

    into EU host societies through sport.

  •   The proposal is based on relevant and concrete identification of the needs of

    refugees and of the local host communities;

  •   The objectives of the proposal are clearly defined, realistic and address issues relevant to the refugees, and to the local host communities.

     

•   quality (criterion 2) (maximum 40 points – minimum threshold of 30 points): The quality of the overall design of the activities proposed and methodology for achieving the objectives, including cost efficiency, sustainability of the proposed

•   The quality and feasibility of the activities involving refugees.

•   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);

•  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 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 and the roles allocated to the members of the team.

Lot 2

•   relevance of the project (criterion 1) (maximum 40 points – minimum threshold of 30 points): The extent to which the proposal contributes to the objectives and priorities of the action referred above;

  •   The network efficiently contributes to the objective of supporting refugees'

    integration into EU host societies through sport.

  •   The network is based on relevant and concrete identification of the needs of

    refugees and of the local host communities;

  •   The objectives of this network are clearly defined and realistic, address issues

    relevant to the refugees and to the local host communities and contribute to better coordination at EU level.

    

•   quality (criterion 2) (maximum 40 points – minimum threshold of 30 points): The quality of the overall design of the activities proposed and methodology for achieving the objectives, including cost efficiency, sustainability of the proposed actions (the extent to which the actions will be carried out also after the end of the project) and budget proposal;

  •   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 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 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.

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