Datum objave: 10.12.2018. 10:49

Drugi poziv za dostavljanje projektnih prijedloga za Program prekogranične saradnje Bosna i Hercegovina – Crna Gora (2014-2020)

Contracting Authority: European Commission

The Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina

 

 

 2nd Call for Proposals

Cross-border programme Bosnia and Herzegovina - Montenegro

under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA II)

 

 

Guidelines for grant applicants

Budget line(s):

BGUE-B2015-22.020401- C8 NEAR DELBIH

BGUE-B2016-22.020401- C8 NEAR DELBIH

BGUE-B2017-22.020401- C8 NEAR DELBIH

BGUE-B2018-22.020401- C1 NEAR DELBIH

 

Reference: EuropeAid/161465/DD/ACT/BA

 

Deadline for submission[1] of concept notes: 25th January 2019

at 16:00 hrs (Brussels date and time)

(in order to convert to local time click here[2])

 

 

 

NOTICE

This is a restricted call for proposals. In the first instance, only concept notes (Annex A.1)  must be submitted for evaluation. Thereafter, lead applicants who have been pre-selected will be invited to submit a full application. After the evaluation of the full applications, an eligibility check will be performed for those which have been provisionally selected. Eligibility will be checked on the basis of the supporting documents requested by the contracting authority and the signed ‘declaration by the lead applicant’ sent together with the full application.

To apply to this call for proposals organisations must register in PADOR and submit their application in PROSPECT (see Section 2.2.2 of the guidelines). The aim of PROSPECT is to increase the efficiency of the management of the call for proposals and to offer a better service to civil society organisations through a new panel of functionalities such as the on-line submission and the possibility to follow up online the status of their application.

 All organisations can find the e-learning (Annex L) and the PROSPECT users' manual (Annex M) and the FAQ published together with the documents of this call. You may also contact our technical support team via the online support form in PROSPECT[1].

 

Cross-border programme Bosnia and Herzegovina - Montenegro

Background

These guidelines are intended to be used by those applying for grants under the 2nd call for proposals for the 2014-2020 cross-border cooperation programme Bosnia and Herzegovina - Montenegro (hereinafter ‘the programme’). The programme is implemented under the framework of the instrument of pre-accession assistance (IPA II) and is the result of joint planning efforts made by the governments and other stakeholders of the two countries. IPA II supports cross-border cooperation with a view to promoting good neighbourly relations, fostering European Union integration and promoting socio-economic development. The legal provisions for its implementation are stipulated in the following pieces of legislation:

Regulation (EU) No 231/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 establishing an Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA II);

Regulation (EU) No 236/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 laying down common rules and procedures for the implementation of the Union's instruments for financing external action; and

Commission Implementing Regulation EU no 447/2014 of 2 May 2014 on the specific rules for implementing the IPA II regulation.

The programme analyses the socio-economic situation of the border region, sets out a common strategy for remedying problems identified and formulates joint thematic priorities for development. As specified in its programme document, its implementation is carried out through calls for proposals such as this one. These calls will be launched at regular intervals in order to fund cross-border cooperation projects that will contribute to achieving the strategic objectives agreed upon by the participating countries.

More details about this 2014-2020 IPA II cross-border cooperation programme can be found on the web page www.cbc.bih-mne.org/en/program-projekti/ and are available for download on the web page of the Directorate for European Integration in Bosnia and Herzegovina (www.dei.gov.ba) and on the web page of the European Integration Office in Montenegro (www.kei.gov.me).

The programme is implemented jointly by both countries. In Bosnia and Herzegovina the responsible institution is:

Directorate for European Integration in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in charge of the overall coordination of the programme, is the operating structure (OS) in this country;

In Montenegro, the responsible institution is:

European Integration Office, responsible for the overall coordination of the programme, is the OS in this country.

All contract and payment issues are the responsibility of the Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the contracting authority (CA).

Moreover, the implementation of the programme is overseen by a joint monitoring committee (JMC) composed of representatives of both participating countries' institutions and civil society. The JMC will examine and provide an advisory opinion on the list of operations selected through this call for proposals before the grant award decision.

The CA, the OSs and the JMC are assisted by the joint technical secretariat (JTS) based in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and staffed with experts from both countries. The JTS is the administrative body responsible for the day-to-day management of the programme including support and advice to potential applicants as well as grant beneficiaries. The JTS has an antenna located in Niksic, Montenegro. The JTS will assist potential applicants in partner search and project development, organising information days and workshops; develop and maintain a network of stakeholders; advise grant beneficiaries in project implementation; and prepare, conduct and report on monitoring visits to cross-border cooperation operations.

 

1. 2. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME AND PRIORITY ISSUES

In line with the objectives specified in the programme document the overall objective of this call for proposals is: The sustainable development in the cross-border area between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro is promoted by the implementation of common actions based on an efficient use of the comparative advantages of the programme area.

As a result of a decision made by the JMC of the programme on 13^th April 2018 out of the  three thematic priorities of the programme document:

- Priority 1: Promoting employment, labour mobility and social and cultural inclusion across the border, with Specific Objectives: 1.1 The access to the labour market and the environment for new employment generation are enhanced and 1.2 Employment opportunities and social inclusion of vulnerable groups are enhanced;

- Priority 2: Protecting the environment, promoting climate change adaptation and mitigation, risk prevention and management, with Specific Objectives: 2.1 Cross-border coordination and joint actions improve the management and energy efficiency of local water supply, wastewater and solid waste systems, and the protection of the environment; and 2.2 Risk prevention and management and climate change mitigation and adaptation are improved;

- Priority 3: Encouraging tourism and cultural and natural heritage, with the Specific Objective: 3.1 The quality and diversification of the tourism offer, building on natural and cultural heritage, is improved; the following are the specific objectives and the corresponding results that the applications submitted under this call will contribute to attaining:

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES	RESULTS
Lot 1: SO1: Cross border coordination and joint actions improve the management and energy efficiency of local water supply, wastewater and solid waste systems, and the protection of environment	Result 1: The capacity to enforce environmental and energy efficiency standards at local level for water supply, solid waste and wastewater management is strengthened.
	Result 2: Public awareness of the merits of complying with EU water supply, solid waste and wastewater management, and the environment protection practices is increased.
Lot 2: SO2: The quality and diversification of the tourism offer building on natural and cultural heritage is improved	Result 1: The number of tourists in rural and natural protected areas is increased.
	Result 2: The image and tourist attractiveness of the cross-border region as a multi-ethnic and culturally diverse European destination is improved.

 

1.3. Financial allocation provided by the contracting authority

The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 4,399,000.00. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.

More specifically, the contracting authority might cancel the call completely or partially when only few good quality applications can be contracted and relaunch the unallocated assets in the next call for the specific objective(s) concerned.

 

Indicative EU-funded allocations by specific objective or lot:

Specific objective OR lot	Allocation
Lot 1, Cross border coordination and joint actions improve the management and energy efficiency of local water supply, wastewater and solid waste systems, and the protection of environment	€ 2,040,000.00
Lot 2, The quality and diversification of the tourism offer building on natural and cultural heritage is improved	€ 2,359,000.00
Total	€ 4,399,000.00

 

The applications will compete with each other for the financial resources available within each specific objective or lot separately.

When the remaining funds per specific objective or lot will not allow financing another application, the evaluation committee may recommend to the contracting authority to pull these funds and award a grant to the application or applications with the highest scores in the ranking of the sole reserve list irrespective of the specific objective or lot.

If the allocation indicated for a specific objective or lot cannot be used due to insufficient quality or number of proposals received, the contracting authority reserves the right to reallocate the remaining funds to that/those application/s being higher in the ranking of the sole reserve list irrespective of the specific objective or lot.

Size of grants

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

Specific objective	Minimum amount of EU-requested grant	Maximum amount of EU-requested grant
Lot 1: Cross border coordination and joint actions improve the management and energy efficiency of local water supply, wastewater and solid waste systems, and the protection of environment	EUR 200,000.00	EUR 500,000.00
Lot 2: The quality and diversification of the tourism offer building on natural and cultural heritage is improved	EUR 200,000.00	EUR 400,00.00

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: 20% of the total eligible costs of the action.

- Maximum percentage: 85% 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 general budget of the Union.

Please note that for applicants which are non-governmental organisations effectively established in Montenegro, their Ministry of Public Administration may provide a co-financing in accordance with the Regulation of the Government of Montenegro on the procedure of co-financing projects and programmes of non-governmental organizations supported by the European Union ("Službeni list Crne Gore", No. 064/18 of 04.10.2018), which can be found onthe website of the Ministry: www.mju.gov.me. For the applicants effectively established in Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is no information on existence of a similar co-financing possibility at the moment of the publication of the Call.

 

SUSPENSION CLAUSE:     The present call for proposals is launched with a "suspension clause" (reference Section 2.6.12 of the practical guide). The conclusion of contracts with applicants resulting from this call for proposals is subject to the fulfilment of the following condition: The signature of the Financing Agreements between the European Commission and the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Government of Montenegro concerning the Cross-border Programme for Bosnia and Herzegovina-Montenegro under IPA II for the years 2017 and 2018.

 

2. RULES FOR THIS CALL FOR PROPOSALS

These guidelines set out the rules for the submission, selection and implementation of the actions financed under this call, in conformity with the practical guide, which is applicable to the present call (available on the internet at this address http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/prag/document.do?locale=en).[1]

 

2.1. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

There are three sets of eligibility criteria, relating to:

(1) the actors:

- The 'lead applicant', i.e. the entity submitting the application form (2.1.1),

- its co-applicant(s) (where it is not specified otherwise the lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) are hereinafter jointly referred as ‘applicant(s)’) (2.1.1),

- and, if any, affiliated entity(ies) to the lead applicant and/or to a co-applicant(s). (2.1.2);

(2) the actions:

Actions for which a grant may be awarded (2.1.4);

(3) the costs:

types of cost that may be taken into account in setting the amount of the grant (2.1.5).

 

2.1.1. Eligibility of applicants (i.e. lead applicant and co-applicant(s))

Lead applicant

(1)   In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:

- be a legal person, and

- be non-profit-making, and

- be established in[2] either Bosnia and Herzegovina or Montenegro, and

- be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary, and

- be a specific type of institution or organisation such as:

For Lot 1:

- country authorities/institutions with competencies/responsibilities in the eligible area, local governments and their institutions;

- agencies for local or regional development;

- organisations (including NGOs) for nature protection;

- public bodies responsible for water supply, wastewater and solid waste management.

For Lot 2:

- organisations responsible for maintenance and development of natural and cultural heritage;

- tourism development organisations;

- local, regional and central governments.

 (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 2.6.10.1 of the practical guide.

 

Lead applicants, co-applicants, affiliated entities and, in case of legal entities, persons who have powers of representation, decision-making or control over the lead applicant, the co-applicants and the affiliated entities are informed that, should they be in one of the situations of early detection or exclusion according to Section 2.6.10.1 of the practical guide, personal details (name, given name if natural person, address, legal form and name and given name of the persons with powers of representation, decision-making or control, if legal person) may be registered in the early detection and exclusion system, and communicated to the persons and entities concerned in relation to the award or the execution of a grant contract.

 

In Section 2 of the Annex A.1 ‘Concept Note’ and Section 5.1 of the Annex A.2 ‘Full Application Form’ (‘Declaration by the lead applicant’), the lead applicant must declare that the lead applicant himself, the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies) are not in any of these situations.

The lead applicant must act with co-applicant(s) 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-beneficiary and coordinates the design and implementation of the action.

Co-applicant(s)

The applicant must act with at least one co-applicant as specified hereafter.

If the applicant is established in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at least one co-applicant must be established in Montenegro, and vice versa.

Whenever either the lead applicant or the co-applicant are neither effectively established in the eligible area (as defined under 2.1.4 under "Location"), nor have an office in the eligible area, they must ensure that in the partnership there is at least one legal entity effectively established in the programme eligible area.

The maximum number of co-applicants that could be involved in the action is not set. However, CBC partners must carefully bear in mind the most appropriate conditions to ensure an intra-project efficient coordination when deciding on this. The number of partners and the composition of the partnership should be coherent with the envisaged objectives and activities of the action (see Section 2.1.4 below).

In genuine cross-border operations, the applicant and co-applicant(s) shall cooperate in the development and implementation of action. In addition, they shall cooperate in either the staffing or the financing of operation or both (see Section 2.1.4 below). The lead applicant and co-applicant(s) must represent different legal entities.

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.

Co-applicant(s) must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant .

 

In addition to the categories referred to under Section 2.1.1above, the following are, however, also eligible for Lot 2:

- organisations, including NGOs, active in maintenance and development of natural and cultural heritage.

Co-applicant(s) must sign the mandate in Section 5.2 of Annex A.2 ‘Full Application Form’.

(3) Applicants included in the lists of EU restrictive measures (see Section 2.4. of the PRAG) at the

moment of the award decision cannot be awarded the contract .

If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicant(s) will become beneficiary(ies) in the action (together with the coordinator).

 

2.1.2. Affiliated entities

The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with affiliated entity(ies).

Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to co-applicant(s):

Only entities having a structural link with the applicants (i.e. the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular a legal or capital link.

This structural link encompasses mainly two notions:

(i) Control, as defined in Directive 2013/34/EU on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:

Entities affiliated to an applicant may hence be:

- Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the applicant (granddaughter companies or second-tier subsidiaries) and the same applies to further tiers of control;

- Entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;

- Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the applicant (sister companies).

(ii) Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as a e.g. network, federation, association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate or the applicant participates in the same entity (e.g. network, federation, association) as the proposed affiliated entities.

The structural link shall as a general rule be neither limited to the action nor established for the sole purpose of its implementation. This means that the link would exist independently of the award of the grant; it should exist before the call for proposals and remain valid after the end of the action.

By way of exception, an entity may be considered as affiliated to an applicant even if it has a structural link specifically established for the sole purpose of the implementation of the action in the case of so-called ‘sole applicants’ or ‘sole beneficiaries’. A sole applicant or a sole beneficiary is a legal entity formed by several entities (a group of entities) which together comply with the criteria for being awarded the grant. For example, an association is formed by its members.

What is not an affiliated entity?

The following are not considered entities affiliated to an applicant:

- Entities that have entered into a (procurement) contract or subcontract with an applicant, act as concessionaires or delegatees for public services for an applicant,

- Entities that receive financial support from the applicant,

- Entities that cooperate on a regular basis with an applicant on the basis of a memorandum of understanding or share some assets,

- Entities that have signed a consortium agreement under the grant contract (unless this consortium agreement leads to the creation of a ‘sole applicant’ as described above).

How to verify the existence of the required link with an applicant?

The affiliation resulting from control may in particular be proved on the basis of the consolidated accounts of the group of entities the applicant and its proposed affiliates belong to.

The affiliation resulting from membership may in particular be proved on the basis of the statutes or equivalent act establishing the entity (network, federation, association) which the applicant constitutes or in which the applicant participates.

If the applicants are awarded a grant contract, their affiliated entity(ies) will not become beneficiary(ies) of the action and signatory(ies) of the grant contract. However, they will participate in the design and  in the implementation of the action and the costs they incur (including those incurred for implementation contracts and financial support to third parties) may be accepted as eligible costs, provided they comply with all the relevant rules already applicable to the beneficiary(ies) under the grant contract.

Affiliated entity(ies) must satisfy the same eligibility criteria as the lead applicant and the co-applicant(s). They must sign the affiliated entity(ies) statement in Section 5.3 of Annex A.2 ‘Full Application Form’.

 

2.1.3. Associates and contractors

The following entities are neither applicants nor affiliated entities and do not have to sign the ‘mandate for co-applicant(s)’ or ‘affiliated entities' statement’:

• Associates

Other organisations or individuals may be involved in the action. Such associates play a real role in the action but may not receive funding from the grant, with the exception of per diem or travel costs. Associates do not have to meet the eligibility criteria referred to in Section 2.1.1. Associates must be mentioned in Section 4 of Annex A.2 ‘Full Application Form’.

• Contractors

The beneficiaries and their affiliated entities are permitted to award contracts. Associates or affiliated entity(ies) cannot be also contractors in the project. Contractors are subject to the procurement rules set out in Annex IV to the standard grant contract.

 

2.1.4. Eligible actions: actions for which an application may be made

Definition:

An action is composed of a set of activities.

Actions or operations selected under this cross-border cooperation programme shall deliver clear cross-border impacts and benefits, that is, they must:

- take place in the specific programme area Bosnia and Herzegovina and/or Montenegro;

- have cross-border impacts and benefits in parts of the programme area of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro;

- foresee cooperation of the cross-border applicant and co-applicant(s) in both:

- joint development: applicant and co-applicant(s) cooperate in designing the action, filling in a joint application form and drawing up their respective budget;

- joint implementation: grant beneficiaries coordinate, in the frame of the operation, their activities across the border, and carry out most of the project activities together and not as independent, unrelated, mechanically reproduced and country-bound initiatives;

- foresee cooperation of the cross-border applicant and co-applicant(s) in either:

- joint staffing: staff on both sides of the border act as one project team (e.g. some staffers carry out their duties for all entities in the partnership: procurement, financial management, overall coordination, training planning, etc.); or

- joint financing: activities are financed by the applicant’s and co-applicant(s)’s own budget;

- or both joint staffing and financing.

Briefly, following the joint development of an action or operation by at least two cross-border partners, full cross-border cooperation would mean the joint implementation and financing of activities by the partners resulting in, but not limited to, the intensification of neighbourly relations, sustainable partnerships for socio-economic development and/or the removal of obstacles to this development.

 

Duration

The initial planned duration of an action will meet the following requirements depending on the programme’s specific objective addressed by the application, namely:

Specific objective	Minimum number of months	Maximum number of months
Lot 1: Cross border coordination and joint actions improve the management and energy efficiency of local water supply, wastewater and solid waste systems, and the protection of environment	12	30
Lot 2: The quality and diversification of the tourism offer building on natural and cultural heritage is improved	12	24

Sectors or themes

As stipulated in Section 1.2 above, actions or operations will fall under only one of the following specific objectives and will have to prove their contribution to attain one or more of their intended results:

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES	RESULTS
Lot 1: Cross border coordination and joint actions improve the management and energy efficiency of local water supply, wastewater and solid waste systems, and the protection of environment	Result 1: The capacity to enforce environmental and energy efficiency standards at local level for water supply, solid waste and wastewater management is strengthened.
	Result 2: Public awareness of the merits of complying with EU water supply, solid waste and wastewater management, and the environment protection practices is increased.
Lot 2: The quality and diversification of the tourism offer building on natural and cultural heritage is improved	Result 1: The number of tourists in rural and natural protected areas is increased.
	Result 2: The image and tourist attractiveness of the cross-border region as a multi-ethnic and culturally diverse European destination is improved.

 

In their application, the lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) will have to refer the programme’s specific objective under which their action is meant to contribute, as well as the programme’s result(-s) affected by the action, and the programme’s indicators that will be instrumental to measure the action’s success. For the sake of consistency and aggregation, applicants must have the same units to quantify their output, outcome and impact indicators in line with the programme output, outcome and impact indicators.

The following illustrates the list of indicators that the applicants will have to include, where appropriate, to estimate the project’s contribution to the programme’s objectives. Annex A.3 to this Call for Proposals provides a list of indicators for this Programme which we encourage you to use.

 

download the full text and tender documentation here

Tender Dossier, EuropeAid/161465/DD/ACT/BA

 

POJAŠNJENJE - 11.01.2019.