15.12.2010

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 340/21

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Call for proposals 2010 — Europe for Citizens Programme (2007-2013)

Implementation of the programme actions: Active Citizens for Europe, Active civil society in Europe and Active European Remembrance

2010/C 340/14

INTRODUCTION

This call for proposals is based on Decision No 1904/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006, establishing for the period 2007 to 2013 the programme Europe for Citizens to promote active European citizenship (1). The detailed conditions of this call for proposals can be found in the Programme Guide for the ‘Europe for Citizens’ programme published on the Europa website (see point VII). The Programme Guide constitutes an integral part of this call for proposals.

I.   Objectives

The Europe for Citizens programme has the following specific objectives:

—	bringing together people from local communities across Europe to share and exchange experiences, opinions and values, to learn from history and to build for the future,

—	fostering action, debate and reflection related to European citizenship and democracy, shared values, common history and culture through cooperation within civil society organisations at European level,

—	bringing Europe closer to its citizens by promoting Europe's values and achievements, while preserving the memory of its past,

—

encouraging interaction between citizens and civil society organisations from all participating countries contributing to intercultural dialogue and bringing to the fore both Europe's diversity and unity, with particular attention to activities aimed at developing closer ties between citizens from Member States of the European Union as constituted on 30 April 2004 and those from Member States which have acceded since that date.

II.   Eligible applicants

The Programme is open to all promoters established in one of the countries participating to the Programme and depending on the measure being:

—	a public body, or

—	a non-profit organisation with a legal status (legal personality).

Each action of the Programme is however targeting a more specific range of organisations. The eligibility of applicant organisations is therefore defined in the Programme Guide specifically for each measure/sub-measure.

Countries eligible under this Programme are:

—	EU Member States (2),

—

Croatia,

—

Albania,

—

FYROM.

III.   Eligible actions

The Europe for Citizens programme supports projects promoting active European citizenship.

This call covers the following actions of the Europe for Citizens programme which are supported within two types of grants: project and operating grants

Action 1:   Active Citizens for Europe

Measure 1:   Town Twinning

This measure is aimed at activities that involve or promote direct exchanges between European citizens through their participation in town-twining activities.

Measure 1.1:   Town twinning citizens’ meetings (project grant)

This measure is aimed at activities that involve or promote direct exchanges between European citizens through their participation in town-twinning activities. A project must involve municipalities from at least two participating countries, of which at least one is an EU Member State. The project must have a minimum of 25 international participants coming from the invited municipalities. The maximum duration of the meeting is 21 days. The maximum grant to be awarded is EUR 25 000 per project. The minimum grant awarded is EUR 5 000.

The grants for town twinning citizens’ meetings are targeted to co-finance the organisational costs of the host town and the travel expenses of the invited participants. The grant calculation is based on flat rates.

Measure 1.2:   Networks of twinned towns (project grant)

This measure supports the development of networks created on the basis of town twinning links, which are important for ensuring structured, intense and multifaceted cooperation among municipalities, and therefore for contributing to maximising the impact of the Programme. A project must foresee at least three events. It must involve municipalities from at least four participating countries, of which at least one is an EU Member State. The project must have a minimum of 30 international participants coming from the invited municipalities. The maximum project duration is 24 months; the maximum duration of each event is 21 days.

Maximum amount eligible for a project within this measure is EUR 150 000. The minimum amount eligible is EUR 10 000. The grant calculation is based on flat rates.

Measure 2:   ‘Citizens’ projects’ and ‘Support measures’

Measure 2.1:   Citizens’ projects (project grant)

This measure addresses a major challenge of the European Union today: how to bridge the gap between citizens and the European Union. It aims at exploring original and innovative methodologies capable of encouraging citizens’ participation and stimulating the dialogue between European citizens and the institutions of the European Union.

A project must involve at least five participating countries, of which at least one is an EU Member State. A project must involve at least 200 participants. The maximum project duration is 12 months.

The amount of the grant will be calculated on the basis of a balanced, detailed forecast budget, expressed in euro. The grant awarded may not exceed 60 % of the total amount of the project's eligible costs. The minimum grant will be EUR 100 000. The maximum grant eligible for a project within this measure is EUR 250 000.

Measure 2.2:   Support measures (project grant)

This measure aims at supporting the activities which may lead to the establishment of long-lasting partnerships and networks reaching a significant number of different stakeholders promoting active Europe citizenship, thus contributing to provide a better response to the programmes’ objectives and maximising the overall programme impact and effectiveness.

A project must involve at least two participating countries, of which at least one is an EU Member State. The maximum is 12 months. At least two events per project have to be foreseen.

The amount of the grant will be calculated on the basis of a balanced, detailed forecast budget, expressed in euro. The grant may not exceed a maximum rate of 80 % of eligible costs of the action concerned. The minimum grant eligible is EUR 30 000. The maximum grant eligible for a project within this measure is EUR 100 000.

Action 2:   Active civil society in Europe

Measures 1 and 2:   Structural support for European public policy research organisations and for civil society organisations at EU level (Operating grants (3))

Measure 1— Structural support for European public policy research organisations (think tanks) — aims at supporting the work of European public policy research organisations (think tanks), which are able to provide new ideas and reflections on European issues, on active citizenship at European level or on European values.

Measure 2— Structural support for civil society organisations at EU level — will provide civil society organisations of European dimension with the capacity and stability to develop their activities at European level. The purpose is to contribute to the emergence of a structured, coherent and active civil society at European level.

The period of eligibility must correspond to the applicant's budget year, as evidenced by the organisation's certified accounts. If the applicant's budget year corresponds to the calendar year, the period of eligibility will be from 1 January to 31 December. For applicants with a budget year that differs from the calendar year, the period of eligibility will be the 12-month period from the starting date of their budget year.

The grant can be calculated following two different methods:

(a)	budget based on flat rates;

(b)	budget based on real costs. The amount of the grant will be calculated on the basis of a balanced, detailed forecast budget, expressed in euro. The grant may not exceed a maximum rate of 80 % of eligible costs of the action concerned.

The maximum grant is EUR 100 000.

Measure 3:   Support for projects initiated by civil society organisations (project grant)

The aim of this measure is to support concrete projects promoted by civil society organisations belonging to different participating countries. These projects should raise awareness on matters of European interest and contribute to foster mutual understanding on different cultures and to identify common values through cooperation at European level.

A project must involve at least two participating countries, of which at least one is an EU Member State. The maximum duration of projects is 18 months.

The grant can be calculated following two different methods, corresponding to different approaches and to which specific rules apply:

(a)	budget based on flat rates for ‘event projects’;

(b)	budget based on real costs for ‘production and realisation projects’. The grant requested in that case may not exceed 70 % of the eligible costs of the action concerned.

The maximum grant is EUR 150 000. The minimum grant eligible is EUR 10 000.

Action 4:   Active European Remembrance (project grant)

The aim of projects supported under this action is to keep alive the memory of the victims of Nazism and Stalinism and to improve the knowledge and understanding of present and future generations about what took place in the camps and other places of mass-civilian extermination, and why.

The maximum duration of project is 12 months.

The grant can be calculated following two different methods:

(a)	budget based on flat rates and lump sum for ‘event projects’;

(b)	budget based on real costs for ‘production and realisation projects’. The grant requested in that case may not exceed 60 % of the eligible costs of the action concerned.

The maximum grant is EUR 55 000. The minimum grant eligible is EUR 10 000.

IV.   Award criteria

For project grants:   Qualitative criteria (80 % of points available): — relevance of the project to the objectives and priorities of the Europe for Citizens programme (25 %), — quality of the project and methods proposed (25 %), — impact (15 %), — visibility and follow-up (15 %),   Quantitative criteria (20 % of points available): — geographical impact (10 %), — target group (10 %),

For operating grants:   Qualitative criteria (80 % of points available): — relevance to the objectives and priorities of the Europe for Citizens programme (30 %), — adequacy, coherence and completeness of the work programme (20 %), — impact of the work programme (10 %), — European added value (10 %), — visibility of activities and the dissemination and exploitation of results to European citizens and other interested parties (10 %).   Quantitative criteria (20 % of points available): — geographical impact (10 %), — target group (10 %).

V.   Budget

Foreseen budget 2011 for the following actions

Action 1 Measure 1.1	Town twinning citizens’ meetings	EUR 7 043 000
Action 1 Measure 1.2	The thematic networking of twinned towns	EUR 4 528 000
Action 1 Measure 2.1	Citizens’ projects	EUR 1 308 000
Action 1 Measure 2.2	Support measures	EUR 1 207 000
Action 2 Measure 3	Support for projects initiated by civil society organisations	EUR 2 807 000
Action 4	Active European Remembrance	EUR 1 781 000

The implementation of this call for proposals is subject to the adoption of the European Union budget for the year 2011 by the budget authority.

VI.   Deadlines for applications

Actions		Deadline for submission
Action 1 Measure 1.1	Town twinning citizens’ meetings	1 February 1 June 1 September
Action 1 Measure 1.2	The thematic networking of twinned towns	1 February 1 September
Action 1 Measure 2.1	Citizens’ projects	1 June
Action 1 Measure 2.2	Support measures	1 June
Action 2 Measure 1 & 2	Structural support for EU policy research organisations (think tanks) and for civil society organisations at EU level	15 October
Action 2 Measure 3	Support for projects initiated by civil society organisations	1 February
Action 4	Active European Remembrance	1 June

Applications must be submitted before 12.00 noon (Brussels time) on the final date for applications. If the deadline for submission falls on a weekend, the first working day after a weekend must be considered as the day of the deadline.

Applications must be sent to the following address:

EACEA

Unit P7 Citizenship

Applications — ‘Measure XXX’

Avenue du Bourget 1 (BOUR 01/17)

1140 Bruxelles/Brussel

BELGIQUE/BELGIË

Only proposals submitted using the official grant application electronic form (eForm) duly completed and signed by the person empowered to enter into a legal commitment on behalf of the applicant, will be considered.

Applications submitted on paper by post, by fax or directly by email will not be accepted for further evaluation.

VII.   Further information

The detailed conditions for submitting projects proposals and the application forms can be found in the Europe for Citizens Programme Guide as last amended on the following websites:

http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/index_en.html

Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency:

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/citizenship/index_en.htm

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(1)  OJ L 378, 27.12.2006, p. 32.

(2)  The 27 EU Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.

(3)  This call for proposal concerns annual operating grants for the 2012 financial year.

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