HERCULE III PROGRAMME 2014-2020 UL CALL FOR PROPOSALS REF. Hercule III 2014 ANTI-FRAUD TRAINING E PROGRA MME 2014-0 Deadline Monday 15 September 2014 Eligibility Period For Activities 13 April 2015 31 December 2015 ANTI-FRAU
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND... 3 1.1 European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)... 3 1.2 Hercule III programme... 3 1.3 Annual work programme... 3 1.4 Financial Regulation and its Rules of Application... 3 2. OBJECTIVES... 4 2.1 Specific action... 4 2.2 Expected results... 5 3. TIMETABLE... 5 4. BUDGET ALLOCATED FOR GRANTS... 5 5. DURATION OF ACTIONS... 5 6. EVALUATION PROCEDURE... 6 7. EVALUATION CRITERIA: 4 STEPS... 6 8. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA... 6 8.1 Bodies eligible for funding... 6 8.2 Eligible dates and formal requirements... 6 9. EXCLUSION CRITERIA... 7 10. SELECTION CRITERIA... 7 10.1 Financial capacity... 8 10.2 Technical capacity... 8 11. AWARD CRITERIA... 9 12. INFORMATION ON THE OUTCOME OF THE EVALUATION... 9 12.1 Rejected applications... 9 12.2 Selected applications... 9 13. REPORTING... 10 14. HOW TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION... 10 15. PUBLICITY... 11 15.1 By the European Commission... 11 15.2 By the beneficiaries... 11 16. QUESTIONS... 12 17. DATA PROTECTION... 12 18. EARLY WARNING SYSTEM CENTRAL EXCLUSION DATABASE... 13 19. COMPLAINTS TO THE EUROPEAN OMBUDSMAN... 14 20. CALL DOCUMENTS... 14 2
1. INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND 1.1 European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) 1 was established by Commission Decision of 28 April 1999 2. OLAF is operationally independent but is nevertheless part of the European Commission and as such is bound by the administrative and legal provisions of the EU institutions. The mission of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) is threefold: it protects the financial interests of the European Union by investigating fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities; it detects and investigates serious matters relating to the discharge of professional duties by members and staff of the EU institutions and bodies that could result in disciplinary or criminal proceedings; and it supports the EU institutions, in particular the European Commission, in the development and implementation of anti-fraud legislation and policies.. 1.2 Hercule III programme On 26 February 2014, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted Regulation (EU) No 250/2014 3 establishing a programme 4 to promote activities in the field of the protection of the financial interests of the European Union (Hercule III Programme) and repealing Decision No 804/2004/EC 5. This programme entered into force on 21 March 2014. 1.3 Annual work programme In accordance with Article 11 of the Hercule III Regulation and with Article 128 of the Financial Regulation and article 188 of the Rules of Application 6, an annual work programme was adopted on 26 May 2014 7. 1.4 Financial Regulation and its Rules of Application This call for proposals is in line with the legal and financial rules contained in the Financial Regulation (FR) applicable to the general budget of the European Union 8 (and in particular Title VI of Part One) and its Rules of Application (RAP) 9. 1 http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud 2 Commission Decision of 28 April 1999 establishing the European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF), 1999/352/EC, ECSC, Euratom (OJ L 136, 31.5.1999, p. 20), as amended by Commission Decision of 27 September 2013, 2013/478/EU (OJ L 257, 28.9.2013, p. 19). 3 OJ L84, 20.3.2014, p. 6: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/johtml.do?uri=oj:l:2014:084:som:en:html. 4 Hereinafter referred to as the Hercule III programme. 5 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) and repealing Decision No 804/2004/EC. 6 Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 966/2012 of 25 October 2012: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/biblio/documents/regulations/regulations_en.cfm. 7 C(2014)3391 of 26 May 2014. 8 Regulation (EU, EURATOM) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (OJ L 298, 26.10.2012). 9 Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012 on the rules of application of Regulation (EU) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (COMM(2012) 7507 final). 3
2. OBJECTIVES The general objective of the Hercule III Programme shall be to protect the financial interests of the Union thus enhancing the competitiveness of the Union's economy and ensuring the protection of the taxpayers' money 10. The specific objective of the Programme shall be to prevent and combat fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities affecting the financial interests of the Union 11. The operational objectives 12 of the Programme shall be all of the following: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) to improve the prevention and investigation of fraud and other illegal activities beyond current levels by enhancing transnational and multi-disciplinary cooperation; to increase the protection of the financial interests of the Union against fraud, facilitating the exchange of information, experiences and best practices, including staff exchanges; to strengthen the fight against fraud and other illegal activities providing technical and operational support to national investigation, and in particular customs and law enforcement, authorities; to limit the currently known exposure of the financial interests of the Union to fraud, corruption and other illegal activities with a view to reducing the development of an illegal economy in key risk areas such as organised fraud, including cigarette smuggling and counterfeiting; to enhance the degree of development of the specific legal and judicial protection of the financial interests of the Union against fraud by promoting comparative law analysis. Specific objective of the call for proposals The objective of this call is to provide grants for the organisation of targeted specialised and risk analysis training workshops, as well as appropriate conferences aimed at protecting the financial interests of the Union and at same time to attain an equivalent level of protection across the Union. The training actions are also intended to create networks between Member States, accession countries, candidate countries, non-eu Member States and international public organisations in order to facilitate exchange of information, experience and best practices. 2.1 Specific action 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. The actions 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.. 10 11 12 Article 3 of the Hercule III Regulation. Article 4 of the Hercule III Regulation. Article 5 of the Hercule III Regulation. 4
2.2 Expected results The expected results for the actions with the indicators that enable the measurement of these results are: 1. Improved investigative performance of law enforcement officials involved in the protection of the financial interests of the European Union through the acquisition of new skills, knowledge and competence; 2. Increased awareness on fraud risk indicators and EU anti-fraud policy as expressed by the number of participants to the events, origin of target audience, the number of anti-fraud publications distributed to the target audience and the results of surveys among the participants to assess the overall satisfaction rate of the event; 3. Enhanced dissemination on specialised methodologies, tools and techniques to fight against fraud affecting the EU financial interests expressed by the number and type of training, including specialised training sessions, for which funding was provided by the Programme, the level of attendance, the number of international certifications issued, exchange of information and best practices as well as the results of surveys among the participants to assess the overall satisfaction rate of the event. 3. TIMETABLE 13 Stages Indicative date Publication of the call for proposals Mid-June 2014 Deadline for submitting applications Monday 15 September 2014 Information to the applicants Mid-February 2015 Signature of grant agreements Mid-March 2015 Earliest possible date to start projects 13 April 2015 Latest date to finish projects 31 December 2015 4. BUDGET ALLOCATED FOR GRANTS The total amount proposed for projects co-financed in 2014 under this call for Proposals is EUR 900 000. (maximum EU funding: 80 % of the total eligible costs of the projects). Applicants must provide a minimum cost share of at least 20 % of the total estimated eligible project costs. The co-financing may take the form of the beneficiary's own resources (applicant s contribution), income generated by the action (direct receipts from the action) and financial contributions from third parties (external contributions). The Commission reserves the right not to award all available funds. The level of grants awarded will vary, depending on factors such as the type of the project, and the number of participants and countries involved. 5. DURATION OF ACTIONS Activities under this call for proposals must relate to a project starting on 13 April 2015 at the earliest and finishing on or before 31 December 2015 at the latest. 14 13 14 Article 128(2) of the Financial Regulation. The projects cannot start before signature of their respective grant agreements. The period of eligibility for costs and activities starts and finishes on the dates indicated in the grant agreement. 5
6. EVALUATION PROCEDURE The applications will be evaluated by an evaluation committee pursuant to Article 204(1) of the Rules of Application 15, which will make recommendations for awarding grants to the Authorising Officer by Sub-Delegation (AOSD). 7. EVALUATION CRITERIA: 4 STEPS Applications are assessed against four types of criteria, as listed below: Only applications which met all first three types of criteria will be assessed against the award criteria 8. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA To be eligible, applications must fulfil all of the following criteria: 8.1 Bodies eligible for funding To be eligible, applicants must be: National or regional administrations of a Member State and a participating country 16 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. Required supporting documents to prove that the applicant meets the required abovementioned eligibility criteria: the statutes or articles of association of the applicant organisation sent as annex with the requested legal entity form. 8.2 Eligible dates and formal requirements Applications must fulfil the following formal requirements: 15 http://ec.europa.eu/budget/biblio/documents/regulations/regulations_en.cfm 16 Article 7 (2) of the Hercule III Programme defines the participating countries other than Member States. 6
be sent (dispatched) in both paper and electronic format no later than 15 September 2015 (date of postmark/deposit slip serving as evidence of timely delivery); The proposed training project must start on or after 13 April 2015 at the earliest, and finish on or before 31 December 2015 at the latest; be submitted in writing, using the official application form (including the application form, budget form and all supporting documents) without any alterations, as published on the OLAF website; drawn up in one of the official languages of the European Union; contain a balanced budget presenting the sources of co-financing other than the EU grant, taking into account that the EU co-financing cannot exceed 80 % of the total eligible costs. Applicants may only submit one proposal under this call. Only applications which meet the above eligibility criteria will be further processed. 9. EXCLUSION CRITERIA Applicants must be in conformity with Articles 106(1) and 107 to 109 17 of the Financial Regulation 6. In order to assess the exclusion criteria, applicants must sign the declaration of honour enclosed to the grant application form certifying that they are not in any of the situations referred to in Articles 106(1) and 107 to 109(2)(a) of the Financial Regulation 14. This is not required for low value grants 18, or when such certification has recently been provided in another award procedure. Only applications which meet the above exclusion criteria will be further processed. 10. SELECTION CRITERIA In accordance with the Articles 132 and 133(1) of the Financial Regulation 6 and article 202 of the Rules of Application, project proposals shall be evaluated on the basis of the selection criteria mentioned below. 17 18 The situations referred to include bankruptcy, compulsory winding-up, being under court administration, in an arrangement with creditors or any other similar proceedings ; convictions of professional misconduct ; non-fulfilment of social security or tax payment obligations ; convictions of fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation or any other illegal activity; declared in serious breach of contract in relation to activities funded by the EU budget; subject to conflict of interest; guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the required information. Low value grants shall be considered to be those grants which are lower than or equal to EUR 60 000. 7
10.1 Financial capacity Applicants must have the stable and sufficient sources of funding necessary for maintaining their activity throughout the period during which the proposed project is to be carried out and for participating in its co-funding, as shown by the annual accounts (balance and profit and loss account) for the last financial year for which accounts have been closed and other financial information provided in the grant application form. The financial capacity requirement does not apply to national and regional administrations. Applicants must submit and sign the following documents attesting to their financial capacity: For grants below or equal to EUR 60 000: A declaration on their honour on the selection criteria (enclosed with the application form). For grants exceeding EUR 60 000: a declaration on their honour (enclosed with the application form); one copy of the profit and loss account for the last financial year for which the accounts were closed; and one copy of the balance sheet for the last financial year for which the accounts were closed. 10.2 Technical capacity Applicants shall demonstrate that they have the operational resources (including technical and management resources) and the professional skills and qualifications needed to successfully implement the proposed action. The applicant must have a strong track record of competence and experience in the field and in particular in the type of action proposed. This needs to be demonstrated by: Up-to-date CVs (max. two pages each) 19 for staff (both internal and subcontracted) who will be responsible for carrying out the project, showing relevant professional experience; in particular: Staff responsible for implementing the project must have two years of experience with similar tasks (e.g. accounting, secretarial tasks, training delivery); Training managers should have at least three years of experience of organising training in an international, multi-disciplinary environment; and Project managers should have at least three years of experience of managing projects in an international, multi-disciplinary environment. The Commission strongly recommends that CVs be submitted in the Europass CV format. 20 All CVs should clearly indicate: job role/function in the project; the contracting organisation for which the person works; and relevant years of experience. 19 20 Only the first two pages of the CV will be taken into consideration. http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu. 8
A list of projects carried out by the applicant that relate to the Hercule III programme s objectives; and An organisation chart showing the structure of the applicant s organisation. For low value grants, applicants are required to sign the declaration on the honour on the selection criteria enclosed to the application form. Only applications which meet the above selection criteria will be further processed. 11. AWARD CRITERIA 21 Only projects which have satisfied the requirements of the eligibility, exclusion and selection criteria indicated above will be considered for further evaluation by the evaluation committee according to the following award criteria: Added value of the application for the protection of the financial interests of the Union; Conformity with the operational objectives of the Programme; Quality; Value for money. 12. INFORMATION ON THE OUTCOME OF THE EVALUATION The Commission will notify applicants once the evaluation procedure is complete. Requests for information concerning the progress of the evaluation sent before the end of the evaluation procedure will not be answered. The Commission may contact applicants during the evaluation procedure to request additional information. It is entirely the responsibility of applicants to ensure that all contact information provided is accurate. In the event of any change of contact details, please send an e-mail clearly indicating the reference for this call for proposals (Hercule III 2014 Anti-fraud Training) and your new contact details to Olaf-anti-fraud-training@ec.europa.eu 12.1 Rejected applications Unsuccessful applicants will receive a letter stating the reasons for refusing their application. 12.2 Selected applications Successful applicants will receive two original copies of the grant agreement for acceptance and signature. Both must be signed by the applicant s legal representative and returned immediately to the Commission, which will then sign them and send one copy back to the applicant. 21 Article 132 of the Financial Regulation and Article 203 of the Rules of Application. 9
13. REPORTING Grant beneficiaries have to report on the main results achieved with the action for which financial support under the Programme has been provided. Recipients must send, together with the request for final payment, the European Commission following documents: 1) final technical; 2) final financial report; 3) request for payment of the balance. The templates for the reports are annexed to the grant agreement and are to be filled in by beneficiaries: See http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/funding/training/items/report_documents_en.htm. 14. HOW TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION Two copies of the grant application form and of all required documents MUST be sent BY POST (REGISTERED MAIL) (date of postmark serving as evidence of timely delivery) or BY COURIER SERVICES (date of deposit slip serving as evidence of timely delivery) to the following address on or before the deadline 15 September 2014. Even if late delivery is due to postal delays or to other reasons beyond the control of the applicant, it is understood that it is the responsibility. BY POST OR COURIER SERVICE (TWO COPIES) HERCULE III 2014 Anti-fraud Training European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) Unit D.5 Hercule, Pericles and Euro Protection (Office JII 30 09/41) 1049 Brussels Belgium OR DELIVERED BY HAND, in person or by an authorised representative (date of acknowledgement of receipt by the Commission serving as evidence of timely delivery) to the following address: BY HAND (TWO COPIES) Main entrance of the building of the Commission s Central Mail Department Avenue du Bourget 1 1140 Brussels (Evere) 22 http://ec.europa.eu/oib/buildings_en.cfm This service is open from 8:00 to 17:00 from Mondays to Thursdays and from 8:00 to 16:00 on Fridays. It is closed on Saturdays, Sundays and Commission holidays. The grant application and accompanying documents must be in an envelope marked as follows: HERCULE III 2014 Anti-fraud Training European Commission OLAF Unit D.5 Hercule, Pericles and Euro Protection (Office JII 30 09/41) 1049 Brussels Belgium 22 http://ec.europa.eu/contact/mailing_en.htm. 10
One grant application form (word document) and budget form (excel document) in their original formats (not pdfs) and all requisite accompanying documents as set out above MUST ALSO be sent by ELECTRONIC MAIL, in a zip file, to the following address on or before 15 September 2014. BY E-MAIL Olaf-anti-fraud-training@ec.europa.eu Applicants are advised to keep proof that they sent their applications by post before the deadline. If applicants are asked to prove the date they sent the application and are not able to do so, the application will be considered as undelivered.the Commission cannot be held responsible for packages which are not addressed correctly or for proposals sent in several parts which are not marked clearly enough to allow them to be properly collated. 15. PUBLICITY 15.1 By the European Commission All grants awarded in the course of a financial year shall be published on an internet site of the European Union institutions no later than the 30 June of the year following the financial year in which the grants were awarded 23. The Commission will publish the following information: name of the beneficiary; address of the beneficiary when the latter is a legal person; subject of the grant; amount awarded. Upon a reasoned and duly substantiated request by the beneficiary, the publication shall be waived if such disclosure risks threatening the rights and freedoms of individuals concerned as protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union or harm the commercial interests of the beneficiaries. 15.2 By the beneficiaries Under the terms of the publication and communication strategy, beneficiaries must: create a link from the beneficiary's website (or dedicated website) to the Hercule III Programme website (http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/aboutus/funding/index_en.htm); insert the OLAF logo mention the support from the Hercule III Programme: In every publication (on the title page) or similar material (e.g. booklets, newsletters, leaflets) whether these are produced in hard copy or published electronically; In electronic information (e.g. websites, audio-visual material, videos, software etc.); and At information events (conferences, seminars), as follows: 23 Article 128(3) of the Financial Regulation and Article 191(1) of the Rules of Application. 11
'This (event, publication, conference, training session etc.) is supported by the European Union Programme Hercule III (2014-2020). This programme is implemented by the European Commission. It was established to promote activities in the field of the protection of the financial interests of the European Union. (for more information see http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/funding/index_en.htm)' Any notice or publication by the beneficiary must specify, in whatever form and on/by whatever medium, including the internet, 'that it reflects the author's view and that the European Commission is not responsible for the views displayed in the publications and/or in conjunction with the activities for which the grant is used.'. For publications, the following reference must also be included: 'The information contained in this publication does not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European Commission'. Beneficiaries may be asked to make the results available to the Commission in a form that is usable and suitable for their dissemination and copyright free: e.g. manuals, publications, software and internet sites. 16. QUESTIONS Questions about the call for proposals may be sent, no later than 10 September 2014, to the following e-mail address: Olaf-anti-fraud-training@ec.europa.eu, indicating clearly the reference of this call for proposals (Hercule III 2014 Anti-fraud Training). Applicants are recommended to send any questions relating to this call to the Commission (OLAF) in due time, so that they have sufficient time to finalise their application by the appropriate deadline. 24 In the interest of equal treatment of applicants, the Commission cannot issue a prior opinion on the eligibility of an applicant, an action or specific activities. Any requests for additional information must be made in writing only, to the e-mail address above. In light of the large number of enquiries we receive, please do not telephone. If your contact details change, please send an e-mail with the application reference (Hercule III 2014 Anti-fraud Training) and your new contact details to: Olaf-antifraud-training@ec.europa.eu 17. DATA PROTECTION The follow-up of responses to the call for proposals will require the recording and further processing of personal data (e.g. name, address). All personal data (names, addresses, CVs, etc.) will be processed in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to processing of personal data by the institutions and bodies of the EU and on the free movement of such data 25. 24 25 In line with the code of good administrative behaviour, the Commission will reply within 15 working days of receiving the question. European Union Official Journal L 8, 12.1.2001. 12
Details concerning the processing of personal data are available on the privacy statement at: http://ec.europa.eu/dataprotectionofficer/privacystatement_publicprocurement_en.pdf http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/data-protection/processing-operations/not_subject_en.htm Our replies to the questions in this form are necessary in order for your grant application to be assessed, and they will be processed solely for that purpose by the department responsible for the European Union grant Programme concerned. On request, you may be sent personal data to correct or complete. If you have any questions relating to these data, please contact OLAF's data protection officer (DPO). Beneficiaries may lodge a complaint against the processing of their personal data with the European Data Protection Supervisor 26 at any time. 18. EARLY WARNING SYSTEM CENTRAL EXCLUSION DATABASE The Commission uses an internal information tool (Early Warning System (EWS)) 27 to flag identified risks related to beneficiaries of centrally managed contracts and grants with a view to protecting the EU's financial interests. Furthermore, the Commission manages a Central Exclusion Database (CED) 28 which records all the entities that may be excluded from participation in any grant or procurement procedure allocating EU Funds or European Development Funds (EDF), in accordance with the Financial Regulation applicable to the General Budget of the European Communities, and the Financial Regulation applicable to EDF. This Central Exclusion Database is accessible by all authorities entitled to allocate EU Funds. Your personal data may be registered in the Early Warning System (EWS) only or both in the EWS and Central Exclusion Database (CED) by the Accounting Officer of the Commission, should you be in one of the situations mentioned in: Commission Decision 2008/969/EC, Euratom on the early warning system for more information on this, please see the privacy statement: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/legal_entities/legal_entities_en.cfm or - Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1302/2008 on the Central Exclusion Database for more information on this, please see the privacy statement: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/explained/management/protecting/protect_en.cfm#bdce 26 27 28 http://www.edps.europa.eu. Commission Decision 2008/969/EC, Euratom of 16 December 2008 on the Early Warning System (EWS) for the use of authorising officers of the Commission and the executive agencies (OJ, L 344, 20.12.2008, p. 125). Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1302/2008 of 17 December 2008 on the central exclusion database (OJ L 344, 20.12.2008, p. 12). 13
19. COMPLAINTS TO THE EUROPEAN OMBUDSMAN At all stages of the administrative handling of grant files, whenever persons or bodies involved consider that they are the victim of maladministration, they may independently of any other avenue of appeal submit a complaint to the European Ombudsman (http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu). This is in accordance with Article 228(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and as provided for by Decision 94/262/ECSC, EC, Euratom of the European Parliament of 9 March 1994 on the regulations and general conditions governing the performance of the Ombudsman s duties (Official Journal L 113 of 4 May 1994). 20. CALL DOCUMENTS The call documents are available on the website for the call for proposals: http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/funding/training/index_en.htm. They are intended to assist applicants in preparing their proposals and include: an application form (to be filled in by the applicant) a budget form (to be filled in by the applicant); and a template for event agenda (to be filled in by the applicant). Annexes: Guidelines for completing the budget form; Application form guidelines; guide to organising a training event; and grant agreement model. Applicants are advised to consult the website for the call for proposals regularly in the period leading up to the submission deadline, in case announcements or updates are published. 14