27.4.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 148/4

HERCULE III Programme

Call for proposals — 2016

Anti-Fraud Training

(2016/C 148/03)

1.   Objectives and Description

This notice of Call for Proposals is based on Regulation (EU) No 250/2014 establishing the Hercule III Programme (1), in particular Article 8(b) (‘Eligible Actions’), as well as the Financing Decision 2016 adopting the annual work programme (2) for the implementation of the Hercule III Programme in 2016, in particular Section 7.1 (Conferences, seminars and digital forensics training).

The Financing Decision 2016 provides for the organisation of a Call for Proposals ‘Anti-Fraud Training’.

2.   Eligible applicants

As defined in Article 6 of the Programme, applicants must be:

—

national or regional administrations of a Member State and a participating country which promote the strengthening of action at Union level to protect the financial interests of the Union,

or

—

research and educational institutes and non-profit-making entities provided that they have been established and have been operating for at least one year, in a Member State or a participating country, and promote the strengthening of action at Union level to protect the financial interests of the Union.

Article 7(2) of the Programme defines the participating countries other than Member States.

3.   Eligible Actions

The Commission (OLAF) will award grants for actions which have as objective:

—

exchanging experience and best practices between the relevant authorities in the participating countries, including specialised law enforcement services, as well as representatives of international organisations,

—

disseminating knowledge, particularly on better identification of risk for investigative purposes.

These aims can be achieved through the organisation of:

Conferences, seminars, colloquia, courses, e-learning and symposia, workshops, hands-on training and staff exchanges, exchanges of best practices (including on fraud risk assessment), etc.

Staff exchanges between national and regional administrations in different Member States (in particular neighbouring Member States) are to be encouraged.

4.   Budget

The indicative available budget for this Call is EUR 900 000. The financial contribution will take the form of a grant. The financial contribution awarded will not exceed 80 % of the eligible costs.

The minimum threshold for a ‘Training’ action shall be EUR 50 000. The budget of an action for which a grant is requested shall not be lower than this threshold.

The Commission reserves the right not to allocate all the funds available.

5.   Deadline

Applications must be submitted no later than: Thursday, 23 June 2016.

6.   Further Information

All documents related to this Call for Proposals can be downloaded from the following internet website:

http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/policy/hercule/index_en.htm

Question and/or requests for additional information in relation to this Call have to be sent by email to:

OLAF-ANTI-FRAUD-TRAINING@ec.europa.eu

The questions and answers may be anonymously published in the Guidelines for filling in the Application Form on OLAF’s internet website if they are relevant to other applicants.

(1)  Regulation (EU) No 250/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 establishing a programme to promote activities in the field of the protection of the financial interests of the European Union (Hercule III programme) (OJ L 84, 20.3.2014, p. 6).

(2)  Commission Decision concerning the adoption of the annual work programme and the financing of the Hercule III Programme in 2016 C(2016) 868 final of 17 February 2016.