Call for proposals — Joint Harmonised European Union Programme of Business and Consumer Surveys

2014/C 113/07

1.   Objectives and description

The Commission is launching a call for proposals (reference ECFIN 2014 001/A4) for carrying out surveys, as part of the Joint Harmonised EU Programme of Business and Consumer Surveys, in the 28 EU Member States and in the candidate countries: Iceland, Montenegro, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Serbia and Turkey.

The programme is designed to gather information on the state of the economies in the EU Member States and Candidate Countries, in order to be able to compare their business cycles for EMU (Economic and Monetary Union) management purposes. It has become an indispensable tool in the EMU economic surveillance process, as well as for general economic policy purposes.

The surveys target managers in the manufacturing sector (industry and investment surveys), construction, retail trade and services sectors as well as consumers. The Commission is looking to conclude agreements with bodies qualified to carry out actions consisting in one or more of the following surveys:

For this purpose, framework partnership agreements will be concluded for a maximum period of six years. Under this framework partnership agreement six annual specific grant agreements may be concluded between the parties.

The Commission department responsible for the implementation and management of this action is the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (ECFIN).

2.   Eligibility

Only applications from legal entities established in the following countries are eligible in the context of the current call for proposals:

3.   Budget and project duration

The total annual budget available for all surveys is in the region of EUR 5 620 000 (five million six hundred and twenty thousand euro). The EU grant is limited to a maximum co-funding rate of 50 % of the eligible costs for each survey. The Commission reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

The beneficiaries are to be selected for a maximum period of 6 years. Six annual specific grant agreements may be concluded. The action for the first year will cover the period 1 May 2015 to 30 April 2016.

4.   Deadline for applications

Applications must be sent no later than the deadline: 18 June 2014.

5.   Further information

The detailed specifications of the call for proposals, the application form and its annexes are available on europa.eu website at the following address:

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/economy_finance/procurement_grants/grants/proposals/index_en.htm

Applications must comply with the formal requirements set out in the detailed specifications of the call. Applications must be submitted in writing in one of the official languages of the European Union, using the application form and other standard forms where requested. However, applications in English are encouraged as they facilitate the evaluation procedure. Where applicable, additional information considered necessary by the applicant can be included on separate sheets.

The evaluation of proposals will be based on the principle of transparency and equal treatment. All applications will be evaluated by an evaluation committee against the eligibility, exclusion, selection and award criteria as defined in the aforementioned specifications.