1.1. Objectives of the programme and priority issues
The global objective of this call for proposals is to improve administrative and implementation capacity of Turkey at local level in the EU Accession process.
The specific objective of this call for proposals is to create sustainable structures for stimulating exchange between local administrations in Turkey and local authorities in EU Member States in areas relevant to the EU accession through town twinning actions.
All projects should respond to the specific objective of this call for proposals.
The proposed project should fall into one or both of the priority areas mentioned below:
- Developing and/or deepening town twinning relationship between local administrations/authorities in Turkey and EU Member States,
- Reinforcing the role of local administrations/local authorities in European integration and EU-Turkey relations in line with the EU acquis chapters[1] and/or UN Sustainable Development Goals[2] and/or priorities of CEMR[3].
[1] For details of EU acquis chapters see http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/policy/conditions-membership/chapters-of-the-acquis/index_en.htm
[2] For details of UN Sustainable Development Goals, see http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment
[3] For details of thematic areas of CEMR, see http://www.ccre.org/en/activites/index
1.2. Financial allocation provided by the contracting authority
The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 2.600.000. The Contracting Authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
Size of grants
Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
- minimum amount: EUR 60.000
- maximum amount: EUR 130.000
Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum percentages of total Eligible costs of the action:
- Minimum percentage: 50 % of the total eligible costs of the action.
- Maximum percentage: 90 % of the total eligible costs of the action (see also section 2.1.5).
- The balance (i.e. the difference between the total cost of the action and the amount requested from the Contracting Authority) must be financed from sources other than the European Union Budget or the European Development Fund[1].[1] Where a grant is financed by the European Development Fund, any mention of European Union financing must be understood as referring to European Development Fund financing.
2.1 Eligibility of applicants (i.e. lead applicant and co-applicants)
Lead applicant
(1) In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
· be a legal person or, and
· be non-profit making, and
· be established in[1] a Member State of the European Union or Turkey or an eligible country according to the IPA Regulation[2], and
· be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicants and affiliated entitiy(ies), not acting as an intermediary, and
· be a local administration in Turkey (municipality, special provincial administration, union of municipalities other than UMT, governorate and district governorate), or
· be a local authority[3] in the EU Member States or an eligible country according to the IPA Regulation, except Turkey.
(2) Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations listed in section 2.3.3 of the Practical Guide;
In Part A, section 3 of the grant application form (‘declaration by the lead applicant’), the lead applicant must declare that the lead applicant himself, the co-applicants and affiliated entity(ies) are not in any of these situations.
The lead applicant must act with at least two co-applicants as specified hereafter.
If awarded the grant contract, the lead applicant will become the beneficiary identified as the Coordinator in Annex G (Special Conditions). The Coordinator is the main interlocutor of the Contracting Authority. It represents and acts on behalf of any other co-beneficiaries and coordinate the design and implementation of the action.
[1] To be determined on the basis of the organisation’s statutes, which should demonstrate that it has been established by an instrument governed by the national law of the country concerned and that its head office is located in an eligible country. In this respect, any legal entity whose statutes have been established in another country cannot be considered an eligible local organisation, even if the statutes are registered locally or a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ has been concluded.
[2] Rules for eligibility (PRAG annex A2a) is available from the following internet addres: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/prag/annexes.do;JSESSIONID_PUBLIC=xRUmXKAyHzYVhYj-Xr2xA2uz-ZJ2A-l_9DafH7dzGX8AIf-Mf8X9!-1017504173?chapterTitleCode=A
[3] Local authorities are directly or indirectly elected public governing bodies at sub-national level possessing within a given territory as defined by law, a degree of autonomy from the central government and a set of competences to deliver public goods and services to citizens. They encompass a large variety of public governing bodies at various levels i.e. municipalities, communities, districts, counties, provinces, regions etc. Please see details on: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/mwikis/aidco/index.php/Local_authorities
Co-applicants
Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant.
Having at least two co-applicants is mandatory for this call for proposals.
A lead applicant from Turkey must have at least one co-applicant which is local authority from EU Member States. A lead applicant from EU Member States must have at least one co-applicant which is a local administration from Turkey. A lead applicant from other eligible countries must have at least one co-applicant which is local administration from Turkey and one co-applicant which is local authority from EU Member States.
Co-applicant-1
Co-applicant-1 must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself in order to be eligible for a grant.
Co-applicant-2
In order to be eligible for a grant, the co-applicant-2 must:
· be a legal person, and
· be non-profit making, and
· be established in6 a Member State of the European Union or Turkey or an eligible country according to the IPA Regulation8, and
· be a CSO[1] from Turkey (association; foundation; federation and confederation of associations or foundations[2]), or,
· be a CSO10 from EU Member States or other eligible countries except Turkey (association; foundation; federation or confederation of associations or foundations; entity established as a non-profit company/charitable organization [3]), or,
· be a university or development agency or chamber (chamber of commerce, chamber of industry, chamber of commerce and industry, chamber of maritime trade) or commodity exchange or union or trade union or bar.
In case the lead applicant acts with more than 2 co-applicants, these co-applicants must satisfy the eligible criteria as applicable to the lead applicant or co-applicant-2.
Co-applicants must sign the mandate in both Part A and Part B section 4 of the grant application form.
If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicants will become Beneficiaries in the action (together with the Coordinator).
It will be compulsory to sign protocols among the lead applicant and co-applicants before or during the implementation period to institutionalize the cooperation. If such tools already exist among the lead applicant and co-applicants, it is recommended to mention this in the application form.
There is no maximum number of co-applicants but careful consideration should be given during the identification of co-applicants to ensure that each co-applicant has a clearly defined role in the project and has seen the submitted proposal as well as the budget for a smooth implementation of the project, if awarded grant.
[1] For the purpose of this call, “civil society organization” is defined as:
a) which is independent of the state as regards to its establishment and appointment of its personnel and administrators, and
b) which has an autonomous and democratic structure in its financial and administrative affairs, and
c) which is a non-profit legal entity.
In this respect, “Foundations of Social Aid and Solidarity” are not considered as CSO and not eligible to apply as a lead applicant
or a co-applicant.
[2] Federations and confederations of associations or foundations established by the Association Law No:5253.
[3] A not-for-profit (non-profit) organisation is the one which is not operating for the profit or gain of its individual members, whether these gains would have been direct or indirect. A non-profit organisation can still make a profit, but this profit must be used to carry out its purposes and must not be distributed to the owners, members or others. Please note that international organisations are not considered within this scope.
2.2. Eligible actions: actions for which an application may be made
Definition:
A project is composed of a set of activities.
Duration
The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 9 months nor exceed 12 months.
Sectors or Themes
Government and civil society
Location
Actions must take place in the following countries: Turkey and/or EU Member States.
In addition, if properly justified, some activities can be implemented in other eligible countries. However, such activities cannot constitute the major part of the action.
Types of action
All actions, which aim at achieving the Programme objectives and fall within the one or both of the priority areas, could qualify for financing.
The actions listed under the priorities are by way of example only and are not limited to these types of actions:
Priority Area 1: Developing and/or deepening town twinning relationship between local administrations/authorities in Turkey and EU Member States
- Actions to contribute/create sustainable relations among local administrations in Turkey and local authorities in EU member states, CSOs and citizens;
· Actions to create networks and platforms for exchange of good practices;
- Actions to improve town twinning methodology and practices;
- Actions to promote technical cooperation and exchange of best practices on EU acquis related areas;
- Actions to provide a platform to encourage and facilitate town twinning activities.
Priority Area 2: Reinforcing the role of local administrations/local authorities in European integration and EU-Turkey relations in line with the EU acquis chapters and/or UN Sustainable Development Goals and/or priorities of CEMR
- Actions emphasizing the importance of local administrations and local authorities in EU process;
- Actions on capacity development at local level in implementation of the EU acquis and/or priorities of CEMR;
- Actions to ensure partnership, including CSO-public cooperation and citizens’ participation, at decision-making procedures at local level in implementation of EU acquis;
- Actions to improve the capacity of project preparation and implementation at local level;
- Actions which emphasizes future needs of local administration/authorities;
- Actions on innovative technologies for the planning, design, delivery and operation of smart and resilient services;
- Actions which lead development of policies and/or innovative solutions to daily life challenges of citizens;
- Actions which lead to increase global competiveness of local administrations/ authorities through innovative approaches;
- Actions related to new engagement models that embraces civic participation and social inclusion;
- Actions on developing policy recommendations on the impact of EU acquis at local level.
The following types of action are ineligible:
• Actions concerned only or mainly with individual sponsorships for participation in workshops, seminars, conferences, congresses;
• Actions concerned only or mainly with individual scholarships for studies or training courses;
• One-off actions such as conferences, round tables, seminars or similar events even if their preparatory and/or follow-up activities are included. These actions can only be funded if they form part of a wider project;
• Actions for which the lead applicant and the co-applicant(s) are already receiving funding e.g. from the Governmental budget, other Community programmes or other funds;
• Actions started before the signing of the contract with the CFCU;
• Actions consisting solely of academic research actions, feasibility studies (unless part of a broader project);
• Commercial activities;
• Actions which are ideologically biased or partisan in nature;
• Financial support activities (i.e. the use of the grant to make further grants (financial or in-kind) or loans to other organisations or individuals such as for those who are establishing their businesses);
• Construction or investments for the adoption of new/supplementary facilities;
• Actions supporting establishment or activities of private or public enterprises, and profit-earning activities;
• Infrastructure projects or projects essentially focused on the purchase of equipment;
• Actions consisting solely of the development of strategies, plans or other similar documents;
• Social service actions such as provision of food, clothing.
Types of activity
The activities listed below are by way of example only and are not limited to these types of activities:
• Peer-reviews and transfer of know-how among the local actors and CSOs;
• Organization of seminars, roundtables, conferences, workshops, trainings;
• Developing web-based platforms and innovative tools on town-twinning;
• Information/awareness/communication campaigns at the local/regional/national and international level;
• Introduction and translation of key reference materials and dissemination of technical and policy related knowledge and expertise;
• Capacity-building activities related with town twinning methodology or implementation of EU acquis for local administrations and CSOs;
• Networking through study visits etc. among CSOs and local administrations/local authorities;
• Policy recommendations on how to use new technologies and information systems to do more with
less;
• Development of tool kit(s) for the better implementation of policies;
• Development of action plan and strategy on the selected EU acquis related areas and/or UN sustainable development goals and/or priorities of CEMR;
• Joint activities to increase the representation in European networks;
• Discussions/debates and participation in policy making processes at local/ national /international levels;
• Data collection and visualization;
• Dialogue creating platforms for information.
The projects should not focus on only to one single activity.
Organization activities should be self-contained operations indicating a coherent set of activities with clearly defined objectives, target groups, and planned outcomes.
It is highly recommended that projects will have a positive impact on equal opportunities. All projects are expected to ensure gender mainstreaming in all project activities.
2.3 Deadline for submission of concept notes
The deadline for the submission of concept notes is 09 March 2018 as evidenced by the date of dispatch, the postmark or the date of the deposit slip. In the case of hand-deliveries, the deadline for receipt is 09 March 2018 at 17:00 hours (local time) as evidenced by the signed and dated receipt. Any concept note submitted after the deadline will be rejected.
However, for reasons of administrative efficiency, the Contracting Authority may reject any concept note sent in due time but received after the effective date of approval of the concept note evaluation (see indicative calendar under section 2.5.2).
Link: Town Twinning Action between Turkey and the EU Grant Scheme (TTGS)
