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2019 Call for Proposals — Multi Programmes — Grants to information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products implemented in the internal market and in third countries in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council

OJ C 18, 15.1.2019, p. 21–39 (BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, HR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)

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Official Journal

15.1.2019

Official Journal of the European Union

C 18/21

2019 CALL FOR PROPOSALS

MULTI PROGRAMMES

Grants to information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products implemented in the internal market and in third countries in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council

(2019/C 18/05)

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 1144/2014 (1) 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) 2015/1831 (3).

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;

(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 2019

The Commission's Annual Work Programme for 2019, adopted by implementing decision (4) on 14 November 2018, 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/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, reception and evaluation of proposals, the preparation and signature of grant agreements for multi programmes and the monitoring of their implementation.

1.4. The present call for proposals

The present call for proposals relates to the implementation of multi programmes, in the framework of Sections 1.2.1.3 (actions under thematic priority 3: multi programmes in the internal market) and 1.2.1.4 (actions under thematic priority 4: multi programmes in third countries) of Annex I of 2019 Annual Work Programme.

2. Objectives — Priorities — Topics

Sections 1.2.1.3 and 1.2.1.4 of Annex I of the 2019 Annual Work Programme set out the thematic priorities for actions co-financed through the present call (see also section 6.2 on Eligible activities below). Applications submitted in response to this call must fall under the scope of one of the five topics given in these sections of the Annual Work Programme, otherwise they will not be considered for funding. Applicants may submit several applications for different projects under the same priority topic. Applicants may also submit several applications for different projects under different thematic priorities or topics.

3. Timetable

The deadline for submission is 16 April 2019, 17:00 CET (Central European Time).

	Stages/Deadlines	Date and time or indicative period
a)	Publication of the call for proposals	15.1.2019
b)	Deadline to submit non-IT related questions	2.4.2019 17:00 CET
c)	Deadline to reply to non-IT related questions	9.4.2019 17:00 CET
d)	Deadline for submitting applications	16.4.2019 17:00 CET
e)	Evaluation period	April-August 2019
f)	Information to applicants	October 2019
g)	Grant adaptation phase	October 2019-January 2020
h)	Signature of the grant agreement	< January 2020
i)	Starting date of the action	> 1.1.2020

4. Budget available

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of actions under this call is estimated at EUR 86 600 000. The indicative amounts available per topic are indicated in the table ‘Eligible activities’ under point 6.2 below.

This amount is subject to the availability of the appropriations provided for in the general budget of the EU for 2019 following its adoption by the budgetary authority or provided for in the provisional twelfths.

Chafea 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 and Tenders Portal (electronic submission system available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/home).

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

Even though proposals may be submitted in any of the official languages of the European Union, applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their proposal in English to facilitate processing of the application including its review by independent experts.

In addition, applicants should be aware that Chafea will, in principle, use English to communicate with beneficiaries regarding the follow-up and the monitoring of the co-financed actions (grant management stage).

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 accompany the proposal if it is written in another EU official language.

6. Eligibility Criteria

6.1. Eligible applicants

Proposals 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 (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) (hereinafter ‘Financial Regulation’).

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 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6) and groups as defined in point 2 of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7), provided that they are representative for the name protected under the latter Regulation which is covered by that programme;

(ii)	trade or inter-trade organisations of the Union representative of the sector or sectors concerned at Union level;

(iii)

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

(iv)

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 Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829, namely:

(i)

trade or inter-trade organisation, established in a Member State or at Union level, as referred to in Article 7(1)(a) and (b) 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 at Union level; or

—	where it is an interbranch organisation recognised by the Member State in accordance with Article 158 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 or with Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8);

(ii)

a group as defined in point 2 of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 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 shall be submitted by:

a)	At least two organisations referred to in points (a), (c) or (d) of Article 7(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014, which shall be from at least two Member States; or

b)	One or more Union organisations referred to in point (b) of Article 7(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014.

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

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 34.3 of the grant agreement.

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 Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829.

6.2. Eligible actions and activities

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

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

b)	proposals shall comply with Union law governing the products concerned and their marketing and have a Union dimension;

proposals in the internal market covering one or more schemes as referred to in Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014, shall focus on the(se) scheme(s) in their main Union message. When in this programme, one or several products illustrate(s) the(se) scheme(s), it/they shall appear as a secondary message in relation to the main Union message;

if a message conveyed by a multi programme concerns information on the impact on health, proposals shall:

—	in the internal market, comply with the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (9), or be accepted by the national authority responsible for public health in the Member State where the operations are carried out;

—	in third countries, be accepted by the national authority responsible for public health in the country where the operations are carried out.

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

For applicants submitting proposals targeting the UK: please note that the withdrawal of the UK from the EU may lead to changes in the implementation of the programmes.

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. Justification shall include references or documentation in support of the claim.

In addition, a proposal shall also comply with one of the thematic priorities listed in the 2019 Annual Work Programme for multi programmes. Below are extracts of the 2019 Annual Work Programme detailing the 5 topics for which applications may be submitted. The text describes the topic, related amount foreseen, objectives and expected results.

Action under thematic priority 3: Multi programmes in the internal market

Topics

Total amount foreseen

Priorities of the year, objectives pursued and expected results

Topic A

Information provision and promotion programmes aiming at increasing the awareness and recognition of Union quality schemes mentioned in Article 5(4)(a), (b) and (c) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014

EUR 32 800 000

—	For information provision and promotion programmes aiming at increasing the awareness and recognition of Union quality schemes mentioned in Article 5(4)(a), (b) and (c) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014:

The objective is to increase the awareness and recognition of the Union quality schemes, namely:

(a)	quality schemes: protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) and optional quality terms;

(b)	organic production method;

(c)	the logo for quality agriculture products specific to the outermost regions of the Union.

One of the expected results is to increase the levels of recognition of the logo associated with the Union quality schemes by the European consumers. According to special Eurobarometer (No 473), only 18 % of Europeans consumers recognize the logos of products that benefit from a protected designation of origin (PDO) or a protected geographical indication (PGI), and 15 % for the Traditional Specialty Guaranteed, these being the main Union quality schemes. Although awareness of the organic farming logo has increased four points since 2015, still only 27 % of European consumers recognize the EU logo of organic farming.

The expected ultimate impact is to enhance the competitiveness and consumption of Union agri-food products registered under a Union quality scheme, raise their profile and increase their market share.

Or:

Information provision and promotion programmes highlighting the specific features of agricultural methods in the Union and the characteristics of EU agri-food products, and quality schemes mentioned in Article 5(4)(d) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014

—	For information provision and promotion programmes highlighting the specific features of agricultural methods in the Union and the characteristics of EU agri-food products and quality schemes mentioned in Article 5(4)(d) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014:

The objective is to highlight at least one of the specific features of agricultural production methods in the Union, particularly in terms of food safety, traceability, authenticity, labelling, nutritional and health aspects (including proper dietary practices and responsible consumption of eligible alcoholic beverages), animal welfare, respect for the environment and sustainability, and the characteristics of agricultural and food products, particularly in terms of their quality, taste, diversity or traditions.

The expected impact is to increase the awareness of the merits of Union agricultural products by the consumers and to enhance the competitiveness and consumption of the concerned Union agri-food products, raise their profile and increase their market share.

Topic B

Information provision and promotion programmes aiming at increasing the consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables in the internal market in the context of balanced and proper dietary practices (*1)

Products eligible under this topic are those listed in Part IX of Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.

EUR 8 000 000

The Commission is committed to promote proper dietary practices, in line with the European Commission's white paper on a strategy on nutrition, overweight, and obesity related health issues (10). Actions shall highlight the benefits of consuming fresh fruit and vegetables in a balanced diet. The messages could notably focus on: aiming at having at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables each day; the place of fruit and vegetables in the food pyramid, beneficial impact on health, etc.

The objective is to increase the consumption of EU fresh fruit and vegetables by informing consumers about balanced and proper dietary practices.

The expected ultimate impact is to enhance the competitiveness and consumption of the concerned Union agri-food products, raise their profile and increase their market share.

Topic C

Information provision and promotion programmes aiming at highlighting the sustainable aspect of the rice production (*2)

Products eligible under this topic are those defined in Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, part II.

EUR 2 500 000

The objective is to highlight the sustainable aspect of rice sector. Rice production in Europe has a particular environmental dimension, being at the heart of the preservation of certain wetlands. Rice cultivation is a sensitive and specific practice at European level, since it is produced in areas where there are few crop alternatives. Its preservation and improvement contribute to the sustainability of rice producing regions, by playing an active role in maintaining rural areas, protecting nature and preserving biodiversity. Actions shall highlight the environmental sustainability of the production, stressing its beneficial role for climate action and the environment.

Actions will for example address how the product(s) promoted and its/their production method(s) contribute to: climate change mitigation (e.g. reduction in greenhouse gas emissions) and/or adaptation; biodiversity, conservation and sustainable use (e.g. landscape, genetic resources); sustainable water management (e.g. water use efficiency, reduction of nutrients or pesticides load); sustainable soil management (e.g. erosion control; nutrient balance; prevention of acidification, salinization). They may also highlight the role of the rice production in providing employment in rural areas.

The expected ultimate impact is to increase the awareness of the merits of Union agricultural products by the European consumers and to enhance the competitiveness and consumption of the concerned Union agri-food products, raise their profile and increase their market share.

Actions under thematic priority 4: Multi programmes in third countries

Applicants may notably consider targeting the most encouraging markets identified under section 1.2.1 of the Annual Work Programme.

Topics

Total amount foreseen

Priorities of the year, objectives pursued and expected results

Topic D

Information provision and promotion programmes targeting any third country(ies)

EUR 38 300 000

The information and promotion programmes shall target one or several third countries.

The objectives of these programmes shall comply with the general and specific objectives set out in Article 2 and 3 of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014.

The expected ultimate impact is to enhance the competitiveness and consumption of Union agri-food products, raise their profile and increase their market share in these targeted countries.

Topic E

Information provision and promotion programmes on beef and/or veal targeting any third country(ies) (*3)

Products eligible under this topic are those listed in Part XV of Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

EUR 5 000 000

The objective is to consolidate or develop new markets in the beef/veal sector.

European producers of beef/veal are faced with a decreasing consumption and trade pressure from the competitors while there are prospects for exports to third countries.

The expected ultimate impact is to enhance the competitiveness and consumption of Union beef and/or veal, raise their profile and increase their market share in targeted third countries.

Types of eligible activities

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

1.	Management of project

Public relations

—	PR activities

—	Press events

Website, social media

—	Website setup, updating, maintenance

—	Social media (accounts setup, regular posting)

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

Advertising

—

Radio

—

Online

—

Outdoor

—

Cinema

Communication tools

—	Publications, media kits, promotional merchandise

—	Promotional videos

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

Point-of-sale (POS) promotion

—	Tasting days

—	Other: promotion in retailers' publications, POS advertising

Tastings and distribution of samples are not allowed in the context of campaigns on responsible drinking implemented in the internal market; these activities are however acceptable if ancillary to and supportive of the provision of information measures on the quality schemes and organic production method.

Implementation period

The co-financed action (information provision/promotion programmes) shall be implemented over a period of at least one but not more than three years.

Proposals should specify the duration of the action.

7. Exclusion Criteria (11)

7.1. Exclusion from participation

Applicants will be excluded from participating in the call for proposals procedure if they are in any of the exclusion situations:

(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;

(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;

(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:

(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;

(ii)	entering into agreement with other applicants with the aim of distorting competition;

(iii)

violating intellectual property rights;

(iv)	attempting to influence the decision-making process of the Agency during the award procedure;

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

(d)

it has been established by a final judgment that the applicant is guilty of any of the following:

(i)	fraud, within the meaning of Article 3 of Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council (12) 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;

(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 (13), or corruption as defined in the applicable law;

(iii)

conduct related to a criminal organisation, as referred to in Article 2 of Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA (14);

(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 (15);

(v)	terrorist offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, as defined in Articles 1 and 3 of Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA (16), respectively, or inciting, aiding, abetting or attempting to commit such offences, as referred to in Article 4 of that Decision;

(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 (17);

(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;

(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 (18);

(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;

(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);

(i)

for the situations referred to in points (c) to (h) above, the applicant is subject to:

(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;

(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;

(iii)

facts referred to in decisions of persons or entities being entrusted with EU budget implementation tasks;

(iv)	information transmitted by Member States implementing Union funds;

(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

(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. Exclusion from award

Applicants will be excluded from the award of co-financing if, in the course of the grant award procedure, they fall under one of the situations described under article 141 of the Financial Regulation (19):

(a)	are in an exclusion situation established in accordance with article 136 of the Financial Regulation;

(b)	have misrepresented the information required as a condition for participating in the procedure or have failed to supply that information in the grant award procedure or fail to supply this information;

(c)	were previously involved in the preparation of documents used in the award procedure where this entails a breach of the principle of equality of treatment, including distortion of competition, that cannot be remedied otherwise.

In order to demonstrate compliance with the exclusion criteria, the coordinator has to check the relevant box while submitting its online application. If selected for co-funding, all beneficiaries (in case of multi-beneficiary grant) have to sign a declaration on honour certifying that they are not in one of the situations referred to in Articles 136(1), 136(2), 141 and 142 of the Financial Regulation. The applicants should follow the instructions in the Funding and Tenders Portal.

8. Selection criteria

8.1. Financial capacity

Applicants must have stable and sufficient sources of funding to maintain their activity throughout the period of implementation of the action and to participate in its funding.

The financial capacity of all applicants will be assessed in line with the requirements of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046. This assessment will not be carried out if:

—	The applicant is a public body.

—	The EU contribution requested by the applicant is ≤ EUR 60 000.

The supporting documents that will be requested when assessing the financial capacity include:

—	The profit and loss account, the balance sheet for the last financial year for which the accounts were closed.

—	For newly created entities, the business plan may replace the above documents.

In addition, for a coordinator or other beneficiary requesting an EU-contribution of ≥ EUR 750 000 (threshold applicable per beneficiary):

—	An audit report produced by an approved external auditor certifying the accounts for the last financial year available. This provision shall not apply to public bodies.

The assessment of the financial capacity of applicants will be performed through the Funding and Tenders Portal.

8.2. Operational capacity

Applicants must have the appropriate professional qualifications to complete the proposed actions.

Applicants shall demonstrate that at least one natural person working under employment contract with the applicant, or assigned to the action on basis of an equivalent appointing act, secondment against payment or on the basis of other types of direct contracts (e.g. covering provision of services) will be appointed as a project coordinator. The project coordinator shall have at least three years' experience in project management. As evidence, the following information must be provided in the annex ‘CVs’:

—	Curriculum Vitae (qualifications and professional experiences) of the person/s primarily responsible for managing and implementing the proposed action (20).

Furthermore, the following information must be provided in the annex ‘Additional information’:

—	The proposing organisation(s) activity report or a description of activities performed in connection to the activities that are eligible for co-financing as described under point 6 (above).

9. Award criteria

Part B of the application serves to evaluate the proposal against the award criteria.

Applications must propose an efficient management structure and provide a clear and precise description of the strategy and of the expected results.

The content of each proposal will be assessed according to the following criteria and sub-criteria:

Criteria

Maximum Points

Threshold

1.	Union dimension

2.	Quality of the technical proposal

3.	Quality of the project management

4.	Budget and cost-effectiveness

TOTAL

100

Proposals falling below the overall and/or the individual thresholds announced above shall be rejected.

The following sub-criteria shall be taken into account in the assessment of each of the main award criteria:

Union dimension:

a)	Relevance of proposed information and promotion measures to the general and specific objectives listed in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014, aims listed in Article 3 of that Regulation, as well as to priorities, objectives and expected results announced under the relevant thematic priority.

b)	Union message of the campaign.

c)	Impact of project at Union level.

Quality of the technical proposal:

a)	Quality and relevance of the market analysis.

b)	Coherence of the programme strategy, objectives and key messages.

c)	Suitable choice of activities with respect to objectives and programme strategy, adequate communication mix, synergy between the activities.

d)	Concise description of activities and deliverables.

e)	Quality of the proposed evaluation methods and indicators.

Quality of the project management:

a)	Project organisation and management structure.

b)	Quality control mechanisms and risk management.

Budget and cost-effectiveness:

a)	Justification of the overall level of investment.

b)	Suitable allocation of budget in relation to the objectives and scope of the activities.

c)	Clear description of the estimated costs and accuracy of the budget.

d)	Consistency between the estimated costs and deliverables.

e)	Realistic estimation of costs of project coordination and of activities implemented by the proposing organisation, including number and rate of person/days.

Following the evaluation, all eligible proposals are ranked according to the total number of points awarded. Financial contributions shall be awarded to the highest scoring proposals up to the available budget.

A separate ranked list shall be established for each of the priority topics listed under section 6.2 of the present call.

If there are two (or more) proposals with the same number of points on the same ranked list, then the proposal(s) which allows for diversification in terms of products or targeted markets shall be prioritised. It means than between ex aequo proposals, the Commission shall first select the one the content of which (firstly in terms of products, secondly in terms of targeted market) is not yet represented in the higher ranked proposals. If this criterion cannot be applied to differentiate the proposals, then the Commission shall select first the programme which got the highest score for the individual award criteria. It will first compare the scores for ‘Union dimension’, then for ‘Quality of the technical proposal’, and finally for ‘Budget and cost-effectiveness’.

If for a given topic there are not enough proposals on the ranked list to exhaust the whole foreseen amount, the remaining amount may be reallocated to other topics according to the following criterion:

—	The total of the remaining foreseen amount for all five topics shall be merged and assigned to projects with the highest quality score, irrespective of the topic for which they have applied.

The order of the ranked lists will be strictly followed.

10. Legal commitments

The coordinators of proposals included in the list for funding will be invited to engage in adaptation phase preceding the signature of the grant agreement; the adaptation will be carried out via an online grant preparation system (SYGMA). If successful, it will result in the signature of a grant agreement, drawn up in euro and detailing the conditions and level of funding.

The grant agreement must be signed electronically first by the coordinator on behalf of the consortium and then by Chafea. All co-beneficiaries must accede to the grant agreement by signing electronically the accession form to the grant.

11. Financial provisions

The Financial Regulation (21) defines the applicable rules for the implementation of the multi programmes.

11.1. General principles applying to grants (22)

Non-cumulative award

An action may only receive one grant from the EU budget.

In no circumstances shall the same costs be financed twice by the Union budget.

Applicants shall indicate the sources and amounts of Union funding received or applied for the same action or part of the action or their functioning (operating grants), as well as any other funding received or applied for the same action.

Non-retroactivity

No grant may be awarded retrospectively for actions already completed.

A grant may be awarded for an action which has already begun only where the applicant can demonstrate the need to start the action before the grant agreement is signed.

In such cases, costs eligible for financing may not have been incurred prior to the date of submission of the grant application.

The co-financing principle

Co-financing means that the resources which are necessary to carry out the action are not entirely provided by the EU grant.

The remaining expenditure shall be borne exclusively by the proposing organisation. Financial contributions given to a beneficiary by its members, specifically to be used for costs that are eligible under the action, are allowed and will be considered as receipts.

11.2. Balanced budget

The estimated budget of the action must be presented in part A of the application form. It must have revenue and expenditure in balance.

The budget must be drawn up in euros.

Applicants, who foresee that costs will not be incurred in euros, are invited to use the exchange rate published in the Official Journal of the European Union:

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/inforeuro/inforeuro_en.cfm

11.3. Implementation contracts/subcontracting

Where the implementation of the action requires the award of procurement contracts (implementation contracts), the beneficiary must award the contract to the bid offering best value for money or the lowest price (as appropriate), avoiding conflicts of interests (23).

The beneficiary is expected to clearly document the tendering procedure and retain the documentation for the event of an audit.

Where the proposing organisation is a body governed by public law within the meaning of Article 2(1)(4) of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (24), it must select the subcontractors in accordance with the national legislation transposing that Directive.

Subcontracting, i.e. the externalisation of specific tasks or activities which form part of the action as described in the proposal must satisfy the conditions applicable to any implementation contract (as specified above) and in addition to them the following conditions:

—	it must be justified having regard to the nature of the action and what is necessary for its implementation;

—	the core tasks of the actions (i.e. the technical and financial coordination of the action and the management of the strategy) can neither be sub-contracted nor delegated;

—	the estimated costs of subcontracting must be clearly stated in the technical and financial parts of the proposal;

—

any recourse to subcontracting, if not provided for in description of the action, is communicated by the beneficiary and approved by Chafea. Chafea may grant approval:

(i)	before any recourse to subcontracting, if the beneficiaries requests an amendment

(ii)

after recourse to subcontracting if the subcontracting:

—	is specifically justified in the interim or final technical report and

—	does not entail changes to the grant agreement which would call into question the decision awarding the grant or be contrary to the equal treatment of applicants;

—	the beneficiaries ensure that certain conditions applicable to beneficiaries, enumerated in the grant agreement (e.g. visibility, confidentiality, etc.), are also applicable to the subcontractors.

Subcontracting to entities having a structural link with the beneficiary:

Subcontracts may also be awarded to entities that have a structural link with the beneficiary, but only if the price is limited to the actual costs incurred by the entity (i.e. without any profit margin).

The tasks to be implemented by such entities must be clearly stated in the technical part of the proposal.

11.4. Funding forms, eligible and ineligible costs

Co-financing shall take the form of reimbursement of a specified proportion of eligible costs actually incurred; it will also comprise a flat rate covering indirect costs (equal to 4 % of eligible personnel costs) that are linked with the implementation of the action (25).

— Maximum amount requested

The EU grant is limited to the following maximum co-funding rate of:

—	for multi programmes in the internal market and in third countries: 80 % of the programme's eligible costs;

—	in case of applicants established in Member States receiving on or after 1 January 2014 financial assistance in accordance with Article 136 and 143 TFEU (26), the percentage shall be 85 %.

This shall only apply to those grants signed upon by Chafea before the date from which the Member State concerned no longer receives such financial assistance.

Consequently, part of the total eligible expenses entered in the estimative budget must be financed from sources other than the EU grant (co-financing principle).

— Eligible costs

Eligible costs are actually incurred by the beneficiary of the grant and meet all the criteria indicated in Article 6 of the grant agreement:

—	Eligible (direct and indirect) costs are indicated in the grant agreement (see Article 6 par. 1 and 2).

—	Ineligible costs are indicated in the grant agreement (see Article 6.4).

— Calculation of the final grant amount

The final grant amount is calculated after completion of the programme, upon approval of the payment request.

The final grant amount depends on the actual extent to which the programme is implemented in accordance with the grant agreement's terms and conditions.

This amount is calculated by Chafea, when the payment of the balance is made, in the following steps:

1)	Application of the reimbursement rate to the eligible costs.

2)	Limit to the maximum grant amount.

3)	Reduction due to the no-profit rule.

4)	Reduction due to improper implementation or breach of other obligations.

EU grants may not have the purpose or effect of producing a profit within the framework of the action. ‘Profit’ shall be defined as the surplus of the amount obtained following steps 1 and 2 plus the action's total receipts, over the action's total eligible costs.

In this respect, where a profit is made, Chafea shall be entitled to recover the percentage of the profit corresponding to EU contribution to the eligible costs actually incurred by the beneficiary(ies) to carry out the action. A partner (coordinator or other beneficiary) requesting an EU contribution of ≤ EUR 60 000 is exempted from this provision.

11.5. Payment arrangements

A pre-financing payment corresponding to 20 % of the grant amount will be transferred to the coordinator according to the conditions set out in the grant agreement (Art 16.2).

Interim payment(s) shall be paid to the coordinator according to the conditions set out in the grant agreement (Art 16.3). Interim payment(s) are intended to reimburse the eligible costs incurred for the implementation of the programme during the corresponding reporting period(s).

The total amount of pre-financing and interim payment(s) shall not exceed 90 % of the maximum grant amount.

Chafea will establish the amount of the payment of the balance on the basis of the calculation of the final grant amount and according to the conditions set out in the grant agreement.

If the total amount of earlier payments is greater than the final grant amount, the payment of the balance takes the form of a recovery.

11.6. Pre-financing guarantee

In the event that the applicant's financial capacity is not satisfactory, a pre-financing guarantee for an amount up that of the pre-financing payment may be requested in order to limit the financial risks linked to the pre-financing payment.

If requested, the financial guarantee, in euro, shall be provided by a bank or approved financial institution established in one of the Member State of the European Union. Amounts blocked in bank accounts shall not be accepted as financial guarantees.

The guarantee may be replaced by a joint and several guarantee by a third party or by a joint guarantee of the beneficiaries of the action who are parties to the same grant agreement.

The guarantor shall stand as first-call guarantor and may not require Chafea to first have recourse against the principal debtor (i.e. the beneficiary concerned).

The pre-financing guarantee shall explicitly remain in force until the payment of the balance and, if payment of the balance takes the form of recovery, until three months after the debit note is notified to a beneficiary.

No guarantees will be required for a beneficiary receiving an EU contribution of EUR ≤ 60 000 (low value grants).

12. Publicity

12.1. By the beneficiaries

Beneficiaries must clearly acknowledge the European Union's contribution in all activities for which the grant is used.

In this respect, beneficiaries are required to give prominence to the name and emblem of the European Union on all their publications, posters, programmes and other products realised under the co-financed project.

Rules for the graphic reproduction of the European emblem are found in the Inter-institutional Style Guide (27).

In addition, all visual material produced in the framework of a promotion programme co-financed by the European Union must bear the signature ‘Enjoy it's from Europe’:

Guidelines on the use of the signature, as well as all graphic files can be downloaded from the promotion website on Europa (28).

Lastly, all written material, i.e. brochures, posters, leaflets, banners, billboards, print advertisements, articles in newspapers, webpages (with the exception of small gadgets) should include a disclaimer according to the terms detailed in the grant agreement, explaining that it represents the views of the author. The European Commission/Agency does not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.

12.2. By Chafea

All information relating to grants awarded in the course of a financial year shall be published on the internet site of Chafea no later than the 30 June of the year following the financial year in which the grants were awarded.

Chafea will publish the following information:

—	name of the beneficiary (legal entity),

—	address of the beneficiary when the latter is a legal person, region when the beneficiary is a natural person, as defined on NUTS 2 level (29) if he/she is domiciled within EU or equivalent if domiciled outside EU,

—	subject of the grant,

—	amount awarded.

13. Data protection

The reply to any call for proposals involves recording and processing of personal data (such as name, address and CVs of individuals participating in the co-financed action). Such data will be processed pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (30). Unless indicated otherwise, the questions and any personal data requested are required to evaluate the application in accordance with the specifications of the call for proposal will be processed solely for that purpose by the Executive Agency/the Commission or third parties acting on behalf and under the responsibility of the Executive Agency/the Commission. Data subjects may be informed regarding further details of the processing operations, their rights and how they may be enforced by referring to the privacy statement published in the Funding and Tenders Portal:

https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/support/legalnotice

and the Agency's website:

http://ec.europa.eu/chafea/about/data_protection.html

Applicants are invited to check the relevant privacy statement at regular intervals so as to be duly informed on possible updates that may occur by the deadline for submission of their proposals or afterwards. Beneficiaries assume the legal obligation to inform their staff on the relevant processing operations that are to be performed by the Agency; in order to do so, they have to provide them with the privacy statements published by the Agency in the Funding and Tenders Portal before transmitting their data to the Agency; Personal data may be registered in the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) of the European Commission provided for in Articles 135 and 142 of the EU Financial Regulation according to the applicable provisions.

14. Procedure for the submission of proposals

Proposals must be submitted by the deadline set out under section 3 via the Electronic Submission System at:

https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/home

Before submitting a proposal:

1.	Find a call: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/programmes/agrip

2.	Create an account to submit a proposal: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/how-to-participate/beneficiary-register

3.	Register all partners via the beneficiary registry: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/how-to-participate/beneficiary-register

Applicants will be informed in writing about the results of the selection process.

Applicants shall respect the page limit and formatting requirements for the technical proposal (part B) indicated in the submission system.

In submitting a proposal, the applicant accepts the procedures and conditions as described in this call and in the documents to which it refers.

No modification to the application is allowed once the deadline for submission has elapsed. However, if there is a need to clarify certain aspects or for the correction of clerical mistakes, the Commission/the Agency may contact the applicant for this purpose during the evaluation process (31).

Contacts

For questions on the online submission tools please contact the IT helpdesk set-up for this purpose via the Funding and Tenders Portal website:

https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/support/helpdesks

For non-IT related questions a helpdesk at the Chafea is available via: CHAFEA-AGRI-CALLS@ec.europa.eu. The deadline to submit questions is 2.4.2019 17:00 CET (Central European Time). Answers to relevant questions will be published on http://ec.europa.eu/chafea/agri/faq.html by 9.4.2019 17:00 CET (Central European Time).

Frequently asked questions are published on the website of Chafea: http://ec.europa.eu/chafea/agri/faq.html

In all correspondence relating to this call (e.g. when requesting information, or submitting an application), reference must be clearly made to this specific call. Once the electronic exchange system allocated a proposal ID, the applicant must use this number in all subsequent correspondence.