16.6.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 159/3

Call(s) for proposals for indirect RTD actions under the specific programme for research, technological development and demonstration: ‘Integrating and strengthening the European Research Area’

(2004/C 159/03)

1.

In accordance with Decision No 1513/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 27 June 2002, concerning the sixth framework programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities contributing to the creation of the European Research Area and to innovation (2002 to 2006) (1), the Council adopted on 30 September 2002 the specific programme for research, technological development and demonstration: ‘Integrating and strengthening the European Research Area’ (2002-2006) (2) (referred to as the specific programme).

In accordance with Article 5(1) of the specific programme, the Commission of the European Communities (referred to as the Commission) has adopted on 9 December 2002 a work programme (3) (referred to as the work programme) setting out in greater detail the objectives and scientific and technological priorities of the specific programme, and the timetable for implementation.

In accordance with Article 9(1) of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 16 December 2002, concerning the rules for the participation of undertakings, research centres and universities in, and for the dissemination of research results for, the implementation of the European Community Sixth Framework Programme (2002 to 2006) (4) (referred to as the rules for participation), proposals for indirect RTD actions should be submitted under the terms of calls for proposals.

2.

The present call(s) for proposals for indirect RTD actions (referred to as the call(s)) comprise(s) the present general part and the specific conditions that are described in the Annex. The Annex indicates in particular, the date of closure for the submission of proposals for indirect RTD actions, an indicative date for the completion of the evaluations, the indicative budget, the instruments and the areas concerned, the evaluation criteria for the evaluation of proposals for indirect RTD actions, the minimum number of participants, and any applicable restrictions.

3.

Natural or legal persons fulfilling the conditions stated in the rules for participation and that do not fall under any of the exclusion cases in the rules for participation or in Article 114(2) of the Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (5) (referred to as the proposers) are invited to submit to the Commission proposals for indirect RTD actions subject to the conditions in the rules for participation and in the call concerned being fulfilled.

The conditions of participation of the proposers will be verified within the framework of the negotiation of the indirect RTD action. Before that however, proposers will have signed a declaration stating that they do not fall under any of the cases given by Article 93(1) of the Financial Regulation. They will also have given the Commission the information listed in Article 173(2) of the Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002, of 23 December 2002, laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (6).

The European Community has adopted an equal opportunities policy and, on this basis, women are particularly encouraged to either submit proposals for indirect RTD actions or participate in the submission of proposals for indirect RTD actions.

4.

The Commission makes available to proposers guides for proposers relating to the calls which contain information on the preparation and the submission of a proposal for an indirect RTD action. The Commission also makes available Guidelines on Proposal Evaluation and Selection Procedures (7). These guides and guidelines, as well as the work programme and other information relating to the calls, can be obtained from the Commission via the following addresses:

European Commission

The FP6 Information Desk

Directorate General RTD

B-1049 Brussels

Internet address: www.cordis.lu/fp6

5.

Proposals for indirect RTD actions may be submitted in accordance with the following procedures:

—

as an electronic proposal via the web-based Electronic Proposal Submission System (EPSS) (8); or

—

on paper forms.

All proposals for indirect RTD actions must contain two parts: the forms (Part A) and the content (Part B).

Proposals for indirect RTD actions may be prepared off-line or on-line and submitted on-line. Part B of proposals for indirect RTD actions can only be submitted in pdf (portable document format, compatible with Adobe Version 3 or higher with embedded fonts). Compressed (zipped) files will be excluded.

The EPSS software tool (for off-line or on-line usage) is available via the Cordis website www.cordis.lu.

Proposals for indirect RTD actions that are submitted on-line and which are incomplete, illegible or contain viruses will be excluded.

Versions of proposals for indirect RTD actions submitted on a removable electronic storage medium (eg, CD-ROM, diskette), by email or by fax will be excluded.

Proposals for indirect RTD actions may also be prepared and submitted using the forms in the guide for proposers (referred to as on paper), or using the off-line version of the EPSS.

Proposals for indirect RTD actions that are submitted on paper and which are incomplete will be excluded.

Further details on the various proposal submission procedures are given in Annex J of the Guidelines on Proposal Evaluation and Selection Procedures.

6.

Proposals for indirect RTD actions submitted on paper by post must be received by the Commission at the following address, and labelled as follows:

FP6 - Research Proposals

Call identifier: FP6-2004-Global-3

European Commission

B-1049 Brussels

For deliveries by hand or by representatives (including by private courier services (9)), the delivery should be to the following address, and labelled as follows:

FP6 - Research Proposals

Call identifier: FP6-2004-Global-3

European Commission

Rue de Genève/Genèvestraat, 1

B-1140 Brussels

7.

Proposals for indirect RTD actions have to reach the Commission at the latest on the closure date and at the time specified in the call concerned. Proposals for indirect RTD actions arriving after this date and time will be excluded.

Proposals for indirect RTD actions not satisfying the conditions relating to the minimum number of participants indicated in the call concerned will be excluded.

This also applies regarding any additional eligibility criteria given in the work programme.

8.

In the case of successive submissions of the same proposal for an indirect RTD action, the Commission will examine the last version received before the closure date and time specified in the call concerned.

Where the same proposal for an indirect RTD action is submitted on paper and in electronic format (ie, on-line), the Commission will only examine the text submitted under the electronic format.

9.

If foreseen in the relevant call, proposals for indirect RTD actions could be evaluated in the framework of a future evaluation.

10.

In all correspondence relating to a call (eg, when requesting information, or submitting a proposal for an indirect RTD action), proposers are invited to cite the relevant call identifier.

(1)  OJ L 232, 29.8.2002, p. 1.

(2)  OJ L 294, 29.10.2002, p. 1.

(3)  Commission Decision C(2002)4789, as modified by C(2003)577, C(2003)955, C(2003)1952, C(2003)3543, C(2003)3555, C(2003)4609, C(2003)5183, C(2004)433, and C(2004)2002, all decisions unpublished.

(4)  OJ L 355, 30.12.2002, p. 23.

(5)  OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

(6)  OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 1.

(7)  C(2003)883 of 27 March 2003, as last modified by C(2004)1855 of 18 May 2004.

(8)  The EPSS is a tool to assist proposers to develop and submit their proposals electronically.

(9)  Users of courier services that ask for the recipient's telephone number should give the following number: (32-2) 29 63 668 (Mrs C. Lenarduzzi).

ANNEX

1.   Specific Programme: Integrating and strengthening the European Research Area.

2.   Activity: Priority thematic area ‘Sustainable Development, Global Change and Ecosystems’; Sub-priority ‘Global Change and Ecosystems’.

3.   Call title: Thematic call in the area of ‘Global change and ecosystems’.

4.   Call identifier: FP6-2004-Global-3

5.   Date of publication:

6.   Closure date(s): For IP and NOE: 26 October 2004 (first stage) at 17.00 (Brussels local time). For STREP and CA: 26 October 2004, at 17.00 (Brussels local time). For SSA: 26 October 2004, at 17.00 (Brussels local time) (please see also No 12 Evaluation procedure).

7.   Total indicative budget: EUR 205 million

8.   Areas called and Instruments:

Area

Topic

Instrument

Area 6.3.I:: Impact and mechanisms of greenhouse gas emissions and atmospheric pollutants on climate, ozone depletion and carbon sinks

I.1.1

IP

I.2.1

STREP/CA

I.3.1

IP

I.4.1

IP

Area 6.3.II:: Water cycle, including soil-related aspects

II.1.1.1

IP

II.1.2.1

IP

II.2.1.1

IP

II.3.1.1

STREP/CA

II.3.2.1

IP

II.3.2.2

STREP/CA

II.3.2.3

IP

II.3.2.4

STREP/CA

II.3.3.1

STREP/CA

Area 6.3.III:: Biodiversity and ecosystems

III.1.1

NOE

III.1.2

 NOE

III.2.1

IP

III.3.1

STREP/CA

Area 6.3.IV:: Mechanisms of desertification and natural disasters

IV.1.1

IP

IV.1.2

STREP/CA

IV.1.3

STREP/CA

Area 6.3.V:: Strategies for sustainable land management, including coastal zones, agricultural land and forests

V.1.1.1

STREP/CA

V.1.2.1

IP

V.1.2.2

CA

V.2.1.1

IP

Area 6.3.VI:: Operational forecasting and modelling including global climatic change observation systems

VI.1.1

 IP

Area 6.3.VII:: Complementary research

VII.1.1.1

IP

VII.1.2.1

CA

Area 6.3.VIII:: Cross-cutting issue: Sustainable Development concepts and tools

VIII.1

STREP/CA

Area 6.3.IX:: Specific Support Actions

IX

SSA

9.   Minimum number of participants (2):

Instrument

Minimum number of participants

IP, NOE, STREP and CA

Three independent legal entities established in three different MS or AS, with at least two MS or ACC

SSA

One legal entity from a MS or AS

10.   Restrictions to participation: None.

11.   Consortia agreements:

—

Participants in IP and NOE are required to conclude a consortium agreement.

—

Participants in STREP, CA, and SSA resulting from this call are encouraged, but not required, to conclude a consortium agreement.

12.   Evaluation procedure: For IP and NOE the evaluation shall follow a two-stage procedure. An outline proposal (stage 1), of a maximum of 15 pages (font size 12, part B), addressing only a reduced set of the evaluation criteria i.e:

for IP: (relevance, potential impact, and S/T excellence)

for NOE: (relevance, degree of integration and the JPA)

shall be submitted at the closure date mentioned under item No 6 above. Proposals having passed the minimum thresholds required in the first stage (12 out of 15 for IP and 8 out of 10 for NOE) will be retained for the second stage (‘go’ proposals).

Coordinators of ‘go’ proposals will be requested to provide a complete proposal, which will be evaluated against the whole set of evaluation criteria. The closure date for the second submission will be included in the invitation to complete the proposal (indicative closure date: 15 March 2005).

For other instruments, the evaluation shall follow a single stage procedure.

The evaluation process may involve ‘remote’ evaluation of proposals by members of the evaluation panel and applicants may be invited to discuss their proposal with the evaluation panel.

Proposals will not be evaluated anonymously.

13.   Evaluation criteria: See Annex B of the work programme for the applicable criteria (including their individual weights and thresholds and the overall threshold) per instrument.

14.   Indicative evaluation and contractual timetable:

—

Evaluation results are expected to be available within two to three months after the closure date;

—

Conclusion of first contracts: it is estimated that the first contracts for IP, NOE, STREP, CA and SSA related to this call will be signed before the end 2005.

(1)  IP = Integrated project; NOE = Network of excellence; STREP = Specific targeted research project; CA = Coordination action; SSA = Specific support action.

(2)  MS = Member States of the EU; AS (incl. ACC) = Associated States; ACC = Associated candidate countries. Any legal entity established in a Member State or Associated State and which is made up of the requested number of participants may be the sole participant in an indirect action.