15.12.2015

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 415/20

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CALL FOR PROPOSALS EACEA/34/2015

under the Erasmus+ Programme

Key Action 3: support for policy reform — initiatives for policy innovation

European policy experimentations in the fields of education, training and youth led by high-level public authorities

(2015/C 415/08)

1.   Description, objectives and priority themes

European policy experimentations under Erasmus+ key action 3 (Support for policy reform) — initiatives for policy innovation  (1) are transnational cooperation projects supporting the implementation of the European Union policy agendas on education, training and youth, including sector-specific agendas such as the Bologna and Copenhagen processes.

The general objective of this call for proposals is to promote the improvement of the effectiveness and efficiency of education and training systems and youth policies through the collection and evaluation of evidence on the systemic impact of innovative policy measures. This call requires the involvement of high-level public authorities of the eligible countries and the use of sound and widely recognised evaluation methods based on field trials (experimentation).

The specific objectives of this call are to:

—	Promote trans-national cooperation and mutual learning among public authorities at the highest institutional level of the eligible countries in order to foster systemic improvement and innovation in the education, training and youth fields,

—	Enhance the collection and analysis of substantive evidence to ensure the successful implementation of innovative measures,

—	Facilitate the transferability and scalability of innovative measures.

The priority themes for this call are:

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Education and Training field 1. Promoting fundamental values through Education and Training addressing diversity in the learning environment 2. Employment and Skills: validation of informal and non-formal learning in Education and Training 3. Strengthening teacher training and education by using the opportunities of new technologies (School education) 4. Towards more innovative and entrepreneurial higher education institutions through institutional change (Higher education) 5. VET teachers and trainers in work-based learning/apprenticeship (VET) 6. Implementation of a framework for the assessment of the effectiveness of adult learning policies

—	Youth field 7. Reaching out: developing capacity for tackling and preventing marginalisation and violent radicalisation among young people

2.   Eligible applicants

Applicants considered eligible to respond to this call are:

(a)

Public authorities (ministry or equivalent) responsible for education, training or youth at the highest level in the relevant national or regional context (corresponding to NUTS codes 1 or 2; for countries where NUTS codes 1 or 2 are not available, the highest NUTS code available applies (2)). Responsible public authorities for sectors other than education, training and youth (e.g. employment, finance, social affairs, home affairs, justice, health, etc.) are considered eligible as long as they demonstrate that they have a specific competence in the area in which the experimentation is to be carried out. Public authorities can delegate to be represented by other public or private organisations, as well as by legally established networks or associations of public authorities, provided that the delegation is in writing and makes explicit reference to the proposal being submitted.

(b)	Public or private organisations or institutions active in the fields of education, training or youth

(c)

Public or private organisations or institutions carrying out activities linked to education, training and/or youth in other socioeconomic sectors (e.g. public authorities, agencies or services responsible for: education, training, youth, employment, social affairs, home affairs, justice, quality assurance, recognition and/or validation; career guidance, chambers of commerce, business and social partners, trade organisations, civil society, cultural or sport organisations, evaluation or research entities, media, etc.)

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

—	the 28 Member States of the European Union,

—	the EFTA/EEA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway,

—	EU candidate countries: Turkey, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Minimum partnership composition

The minimum partnership composition requirement for this call is: 4 entities representing 3 eligible countries. Specifically:

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At least one public authority (Ministry or equivalent) or delegated body (as described in 2(a) from 3 different eligible countries, or a legally established network/association of public authorities representing at least three different eligible countries. The network or association must have a delegation from at least 3 responsible public authorities (as described in 2(a) to operate on their behalf for the specific project proposal. Partnerships must include at least one responsible public authority as indicated under point 2(a) from an EU Member State.

—

At least one public or private entity with expertise in counterfactual analysis and policy impact evaluation (‘researcher’). Such entity shall be responsible for the methodological aspects and the field trial protocols. The partnership can involve more than one such entity, as long as the work is coordinated and consistent.

A project proposal can only be coordinated and submitted — on behalf of all applicants — by one of the following:

—	A public authority as described under 2(a);

—	A legally established network or association of public authorities as described under 2(a);

—	A public or private entity delegated to reply to the call by a public authority described under 2(a). Delegated entities must have an explicit endorsement in writing by a public authority as described under 2(a), to submit and coordinate the project proposal on their behalf.

Proposals must be submitted by the legal representative of the coordinator on behalf of all applicants. Natural persons may not apply for a grant. Only organisations that are in a position to demonstrate their existence as a legal person for at least 3 years (3) on the date of the deadline for submission of pre-proposals are considered eligible as ‘coordinator’ for the purpose of this call.

3.   Eligiblity period and eligible activities

Project must start between 1 January 2017 and 28 February 2017.

The project duration must be between 24 and 36 months. However, if, after the signing of the agreement and the start of the project it becomes impossible for the beneficiaries, for fully justified reasons beyond their control, to complete the project within the scheduled period, an extension to the eligibility period may be granted. A maximum extension of 6 additional months will be granted, if requested before the deadline specified in the agreement. The maximum duration will then be 42 months.

Eligible activities should be in line with Annex 1 of the Guidelines for applicants. The field trials must take place at least in three countries whose ministries (or delegated entities) are involved in the project.

4.   Award criteria

Proposals will be submitted and evaluated in two stages, involving a pre-proposal (Stage I) and a full proposal (Stage II).

Pre-proposals will be assessed on the award criterion ‘Relevance of the project’ (maximum 20 points). Eligible applicants reaching the minimum threshold of 12 points on the score for the award criterion ‘Relevance of the project’ will be invited to submit a full proposal which will develop in an elaborate and comprehensive way the outline provided in the pre-proposal.

All applicants having submitted pre-proposals will be notified about the pre-selection results and will receive a summary evaluation of their pre-proposal.

Full proposals will be assessed on the basis of eligibility, exclusion, selection, and the three remaining award criteria: ‘quality of the project design and implementation’, ‘quality of the partnership and cooperation arrangements’, and ‘impact, dissemination, and sustainability’.

The award criteria (see Section 14 of the Guidelines for applicants) for the funding of a proposal are:

1.	relevance of the project (maximum 20 points)

2.	quality of the project design and implementation (maximum 30 points);

3.	quality of the partnership and cooperation arrangements (maximum 20 points)

4.	impact, dissemination, and sustainability (maximum 30 points).

The calculation of the total score for the full proposal will include the score obtained for ‘Relevance of the project’ at pre-proposal stage Only full proposals having reached at least the threshold of 60 points of the total score (i.e. score on the award criterion ‘Relevance of the project’ assessed in the first stage plus scores on the other three award criteria assessed in the second stage) will be considered for EU funding.

5.   Budget

The total budget available for the co-financing of projects under the present call is EUR 14 000 000. It is divided in the following way between the two fields of operation:

—   Education and Training: EUR 12 000 000

—   Youth: EUR 2 000 000

The financial contribution from the EU cannot exceed 75 % of the total eligible costs.

The maximum grant per project will be EUR 2 000 000.

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

6.   Procedure for submission and deadlines

Before submitting the electronic application, applicants will have to register their organisation in the Education, Audiovisual, Culture, Citizenship and Volunteering Participant Portal and receive a Participant Identification Code (PIC). The PIC will be requested in the application form.

The Participant Portal is the tool through which all legal and financial information related to organisations will be managed. Information on how to register can be found in the portal under the following address: http://ec.europa.eu/education/participants/portal

The submission and selection of proposals will take place in two stages: pre-proposal stage and full proposal stage.

Applicants are requested to read carefully all information about the call for proposals and the submission procedure, and to use the documents forming part of the application (Application Package) at: https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/funding/key-action-3-initiatives-for-policy-innovation-european-policy-experimentation-eacea-342015_en

The Application Package must be submitted online using the correct e-form, duly completed and containing all relevant and applicable annexes and supporting documents. The application forms are available on the internet at the following address: https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/PPMT/

Application forms which do not include all the necessary information and which are not submitted online by the deadline will not be considered.

Grant applications must be drawn up in one of the official EU languages.

Submission deadlines:

—   pre-proposals: 14 April 2016 — 12.00 noon CET

—   full proposals: 13 October 2016 — 12.00 noon CET

7.   Further information

For more details, please refer to the Guidelines for Applicants.

The Guidelines for applicants and the Application Package are available on the following website:

https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/funding/key-action-3-initiatives-for-policy-innovation-european-policy-experimentation-eacea-342015_en

E-mail contact details: EACEA-Policy-Support@ec.europa.eu

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(1)  The Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing ‘Erasmus+’: the Union programme for education, training, youth and sport, in particular Articles 9 and 15 — Support for policy reform — constitutes the legal basis for the present call.

(2)  http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/nuts/overview

(3)  ‘Date main registration’ in the legal entity form: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/legal_entities/legal_entities_en.cfm#en

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