The Overall Objective is to strengthen the capacities in Serbia for the design and implementation of a policy for balanced territorial socio-economic development aligned to EU accession requirements.
The Specific Objective is to improve the capacities of the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and other Regional and Municipal stakeholders in terms of employment creating interventions at the regional and sub-regional levels. This will be advanced through the establishment of a Grant Scheme which will provide financial support to projects focussing on employment creation as a direct consequence of cooperation between municipalities and other regional stakeholders at regional and sub-regional levels.
Eligible actions: actions for which an application may be made
Definition: An action (or project) is composed of a set of activities.
Duration
The planned duration of an action may not be less than 9 months nor exceed 15 months.
Sectors or themes
For actions to be eligible they must contribute to the RSEDP2 program objectives as outlined in section 1.2 and be in line with the socio-economic development priorities of the area, as defined in the relevant national/regional/sub-regional strategies and plans.
Projects must demonstrate the capacity to contribute directly to employment creation (after completion) in the region/sub region. For this they will have to show that they will be able to exert an influence on the economic performance of private sector enterprises in the region/sub-region. Projects which will benefit single private enterprises do not qualify for assistance. The manufacturing, business service, and tourism sectors are considered to contribute to employment creation, although certain activities will be prohibited, armaments, betting and gambling, and alcohol and tobacco.
Location
This Call for Proposals is geographically restricted to institutions located within the following districts:
North Banat Braničevski Zaječarski Nišavski
Central Banat Borski Zlatiborski Pirotski
South Banat Šumadijski Moravički Jablanički
Podunavski Pomoravski Raški Pčinjski
Toplički
Actions must take place across a minimum of at least two eligible contiguous Districts.
Types of action
Projects must be regional or sub-regional in nature, i.e. they must produce impacts affecting parts of the territory which are larger than the area covered by individual municipalities but smaller than the territorial area of the country as a whole.
A project can cover (in terms of impact) the whole of the area of the contiguous Districts involved (regional) or parts of the contiguous Districts (sub-regional). Sub-regional projects may be designed around characteristics linking municipalities and Districts:
• Physical/topographical (river valley, mountain range)
• Historical (areas that have demonstrated a tradition of working together or having a common economic interest through the history)
• Economic (dominant economic sector, labor market catchment area etc.)
Projects to be funded as a result of this Call for Proposals must be able to clearly demonstrate that they will have an impact, in employment creation terms, across an economic region or a significant part of an economic region (a sub-region). Examples of actions which will be eligible for support include, for illustrative purposes, but are not limited to:
• Actions in sectors and sub-sectors which are important to the regional/sub-regional economy, to harness the employment creation potential from inter-trading, the localised sourcing of procurement, and non-competitive collaboration between enterprises;
• The setting up, and operation of networks, and industry/sector based associations which will provide non-financial services and assistance to enterprises targeted on factors impeding the performance of enterprises in the region/sub-region;
• Technology based actions which will, by the end of implementation period, assist enterprises in the region/sub-region to introduce appropriate technologies (production and management) to improve competitiveness;
• Actions which bring together research institutes, HEIs, other appropriate organisations and entrepreneurs to support the development of innovative economic activity in the region/sub-region;
• HR and vocational /adult training actions which address weaknesses in regional/sub-regional labour markets, reflecting market demand and sectoral/sub-sectoral skills shortfalls;
• Branding and marketing actions aimed at bringing together small manufacturers, producers and farmers within regions/sub-regions to enable them to enter markets, closed to them as individual small manufacturers, producers and farmers;
Actions requiring works infrastructure or equipment
The financing of works infrastructure is only allowed if the infrastructure is a necessary condition for implementation of other project activities and the achievement of project objectives. Financing of works infrastructure cannot exceed 50% of the total eligible project costs.
The purchase of equipment is only allowed if the equipment is a necessary condition for implementation of other project activities and the achievement of project objectives. Financing of equipment cannot exceed 50% of the total eligible costs.
The financing of works infrastructure and equipment cannot, together in total, exceed 75% of the total eligible project costs.
In all cases, actions to be supported must be results oriented, in employment creation terms. Projects which require the full 15 month implementation to establish the required structures and organisations, and which are not able, within the allotted time, to provide assistance and services to enterprises, for at least part of the period, will not be supported.
The following types of action are ineligible:
• actions concerned only or mainly with individual sponsorships for participation in workshops, seminars, conferences, congresses;
• actions concerned only or mainly with individual scholarships for studies or training courses;
• actions where impacts will directly benefit single enterprises
• studies and research based activities
• preparation of feasibility studies, preparatory actions for investments (for instance main project design)
• actions linked to political parties
• actions related to:
- The tobacco industry (CAEN code 16);
- Production of alcoholic distilled beverages (CAEN code 1591);
- Arms and munitions (CAEN code 296).
Types of activity
The grant aid available can be used to support the following types of activities:
• activities aimed at providing more detailed information concerning the particular problems influencing the competitive performance of groups of enterprises in regions/sub-regions
• activities aimed at providing more detailed information concerning particular problematic characteristics of the regional/sub-regional labour market
• activities to support the design and implementation of actions which will be sustainable after the project has been completed
• activities to support and strengthen the capacities of those stakeholders whose participation in the management of the action and in the day to day delivery of services is essential to the success of the action
• preparatory and awareness raising activities focusing upon target audiences for the actions to be supported which are necessary for the actions to be fully effective
• activities which are designed to strengthen the capacities of the project staff who will be responsible for the management of the project and for the delivery of the services to the target audiences
• support to the infrastructure works to be completed and to equipment and materials procurement as are consistent under the heading “Actions requiring works infrastructure or equipment” detailed above under types of action
• activities which will provide the action with the visibility necessary regionally and sub-regionally for the actions to be successful.
Begunstigden:
There are three sets of eligibility criteria, relating to:
• applicant(s) which may request a grant (2.1.1), and their partners (2.1.2);
• actions for which a grant may be awarded (2.1.3);
• types of cost which may be taken into account in setting the amount of the grant (2.1.4).
2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants: who may apply?
(1) In order to be eligible for a grant, applicants must:
• be a city municipality, municipality, town or city (hereinafter referred to as municipality) or a Regional Development Agency (RDA)
• be registered in the eligible area under this call for proposals, where the action is to take place
• be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with their partners, not acting as an intermediary
(2) Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations which are listed in Section 2.3.3 of the Practical Guide to contract procedures for EC external actions (available from the following Internet address: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/online-services/index.cfm?ADSSChck=1224846858672&do=publi.welcome&userlanguage=en);
2.1.2 Partnerships and eligibility of partners
Applicants must act with partner organizations as specified hereafter.
A partnership exists where at least 3 municipalities and/or RDAs come together to form a project consortium. Partnerships must contain municipalities from at least two eligible Districts and these Districts must be contiguous.
Partnerships can involve more than 3 municipalities and/or RDAs. The participation of other types of organisations as Partners, such as Higher Education Institutes (HEI), Regional Chambers of Commerce and Industry, industry associations, tourist organisations, educational and training institutions, profit making institutions (provided that actions in the project are not profit making for them) etc, will be considered highly desirable.
The Lead Partner will submit the proposal on behalf of the consortium and, in the event of a contract award, will sign the contract (as the Grant Beneficiary) with the Contracting Authority on behalf of the consortium.
• All Partners must sign the partnership statement as part of the proposal.
• All Partners must be registered in the area or areas eligible under this call for proposals, where the actions are to take place.
• Partners may participate in only one proposal under this call for proposals
• In case of national organisations: if the national organisation’s headquarter is not registered in the eligible regions, and its regional/local branch is not a legal entity, the national organisation shall apply for assistance, and in case of contracting, it shall be the beneficiary. In this case, the organisation shall prove its distinct role in the region with the followings:
- One year of operation of a local organisational unit in the eligible area must be justified by supporting documents attached to the Project Application. If this is not evident from the supporting documents (The Statutes and/or Articles of Association), then other official documents must be attached to prove this criterion.
When selecting partners, attention should be paid to ensure that they have the right skills and experience within the consortium to undertake the full range of project activities. This includes the management, technical delivery, financial and administrative responsibilities. It is not essential that the consortium partners have previous experience of working together but any such co-operation should be detailed in the submitted application. This will be taken into consideration when assessing applications against 1.1. and 1.3 of the full application evaluation criteria (see Section 2.3).
It is also important when selecting partners to consider how the project will be sustained and where will the funding come from to continue the project action after the RSEDP2 funding has been completed. Commitments from partners for continued support after contract completion are encouraged and should be clearly indicated in Section 1, question 2.4. of the Application Form and will receive positive scores under Section 4.3 of the evaluation grid.
Partners participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the Grant Beneficiary. They must therefore satisfy the same geographical eligibility criteria as the Lead Partner.
The following are not partners and do not have to sign the “partnership statement”:
• Associates
Other organisations may be involved in the action. Such associates play a real role in the action but may not receive funding from the grant with the exception of per diem or travel costs. Associates do not have to meet the eligibility criteria referred to in section 2.1.1. The associates have to be mentioned in Part B section IV - “Associates of the Applicant participating in the Action” of the Grant Application Form.
• Subcontractors
The grant beneficiaries have the possibility to award contracts to subcontractors. Subcontractors are neither partners nor associates, and are subject to the procurement rules set out in Annex IV to the standard grant contract.
The applicant will act as the lead organisation and, if selected, as the contracting party (the "Beneficiary").
Size of grants
Any grant awarded under this Call for Proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
• minimum amount: EUR 300.000
• maximum amount: EUR 500.000
A grant may not be for less than 50% of the total eligible costs of the action. In addition, no grant may exceed 90% of the total eligible costs of the action (see also section 2.1.4). The balance must be financed from the applicant's or partners' own resources, or from sources other than the European Community budget or the European Development Fund.
A series of information sessions on this call for proposals will be organised. The dates and venues of these sessions will be published within 3 days of the publication of the Call for proposals in the media and on the web pages of the EC Delegation: www.europa.rs and the RSEDP2 Programme: www.rsedp2serbia.eu.
Questions may in addition be sent by e-mail no later than 21 days before the deadline for the submission of applications to the below address, indicating clearly the reference of the call for proposals:
E-mail address: Fabrizio.SPADA-SANTONI@ec.europa.eu
Contracting Authority has no obligation to provide further clarifications after this date.
Replies will be given no later than 11 days before the deadline for the submission of applications.
In the interest of equal treatment of applicants, the Contracting Authority cannot give a prior opinion on the eligibility of an applicant, a partner or an action.
Questions that may be relevant to other applicants, together with the answers, will be published on the internet at the following websites:
• the EuropeAid: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/online-services/index.cfm?ADSSChck=1224846858672&do=publi.welcome&userlanguage=en
• the EC Delegation website: www.europa.rs
• the web site of the RSEDP 2 Programme: www.rsedp2serbia.eu
De richtlijnen van deze Call bevinden zich in bijlage.
Alle relevante documenten en informatie van deze call zijn beschikbaar op: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/online-services/index.cfm?ADSSChck=1246626693376&do=publi.welcome - Klik 'Search by Reference', nr. 129361
