EUROPEAN COMMISSION EMPLOYMENT, SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES DG Horizontal and international issues Equality for Women and Men Open call for proposals VP/2004/021 Initiatives to promote gender equality between women and men, including activities concerning migrant women Implementation of Decision 848/2004/EC of 29 April 2004 of the European Parliament and the Council establishing a Community action programme to promote organisations active at European level in the field of equality for women and men Budget year 2005 This call for proposals is published subject to the adoption of the 2005 budget The text of the call and the application form can also be downloaded from the web pages of DG EMPL: http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/calls/tender_en.cfm
OPEN CALL FOR PROPOSALS VP/2004/021 Title: Initiatives to promote gender equality between women and men including activities concerning migrant women 1. Political context The Decision No 848/2004/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 provides a basis for awarding grants to organisations active at European level in the field of equality for men and women for the years 2004 and 2005. The amount of 350 000 Euro is available for funding organisations other than the members of the European Women's Lobby, who are active in the field of equality for men and women. For the year 2005, the Commission has decided that the 350.000 Euros available will be assigned to contribute to the operating costs of non governmental organisations, who are active in the field of equality between women and men, including activities concerning migrant women. In this context, the Commission intends to provide funding for three proposals which fulfil the criteria of the present call. Progress has been made regarding the situation of women in Europe, but gender equality in day-to day life is still being undermined by the fact that women and men do not enjoy equal rights in practice. Persistent under representation of women in decision-making positions in almost all areas, the gender gaps in employment and wages, persistent gender stereotypes, the challenges women and men face in reconciliation of work and family responsibilities etc show that there are still structural gender inequalities. In a globalised world with increasing mobility and migration, new perspectives must be integrated into gender equality policies and actions. Discrimination must be fought with the goal of full integration of migrant women in the workplace and equal participation in decision-making at all levels. Women's organisations and other NGOs are central in the promotion of gender equality as forces for effective gender mainstreaming and as players in initiating debates, raising awareness, providing services and focusing on specific areas and actions to improve the situation for women and the field of gender equality as such. 2
2. Aim of the open call for proposals In order to develop strategies for creating an enabling environment for gender equality in all areas of life, and for all groups of society, co-operation and active engagement from civil society is required. The aim of the call is to support activities in the field of gender equality between women and men, including activities concerning migrant women. 3. Who can apply? A non-governmental organisation or equivalent organisation representing a network of NGOs, other than the members of the European Women's Lobby, active at European level in the field of equality between women and men. The promoter organisation must be legally established in one of the 25 EU Member States. The promoter organisation who will ensure the network's representation as regards the operational and financial management of its activities should demonstrate appropriate experience in the area of promoting gender equality. 4. Types of action which will be supported The present open call for proposals will support activities developed by non governmental organisations which may help to reinforce and increase the effectiveness of Community action. The activities should be in the field of; - Awareness rising through studies, campaigns and/or seminars - Dissemination of information, best practises and new knowledge - Capacity building through cooperation, networking and training 5. Exclusion criteria Applications which do not comply with the following exclusion criteria will be rejected. Promoters who are the subject of one of the grounds of exclusion from a public contract within the meaning of Article 93 and 94 of the EC Financial Regulation 1 shall be excluded. This applies: according to Article 93, where the promoters submitting the proposal: are bankrupt or being wound up, are having their affairs administered by the courts, have entered into an arrangement with creditors, have suspended business activities, are the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or are in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations; 1 Council Regulation No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 OJ L 248 3
have been convicted of an offence concerning their professional conduct by a judgement which has the force of res judicata; have been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the contracting authority can justify; have not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country in which they are established or with those of the country where the contract is to be performed; have been the subject of a judgment which has the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation or any other illegal activity detrimental to the Communities' financial interests; have been declared to be in serious breach of contract for failure to comply with their contractual obligations, following another procurement procedure or grant award procedure financed by the Community budget. According to Article 94, where the promoters submitting the proposal: are subject to a conflict of interest; are guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the information required as a condition of participation in the procedure or fail to supply this information. Promoters are therefore required to present as proof that they do not fall under the above mentioned situations a declaration of honour. The declaration to be used for this purpose is attached in Annex I 6. Eligibility criteria Applications which do not comply with the following criteria will be rejected. The promoter must have legal personality. This should be demonstrated by a proof of registration or certificate issued by the competent authority of the country concerned, in which the promoter's registration number and legal status will be indicated. Individuals may neither directly submit proposals nor be a member of a transnational partnership. Proposal submitted by organisations referred to under point 3; proved by a declaration that the promoter, or its partners, are non governmental organisations (NGOs) not members of the European Women's Lobby. Proposal should meet the transnationality criterion, i.e. involving NGO's from at least three different Member States. 4
Submission of the application form (part I, II and III), presented according to the required model, duly completed and including a formal request for grant; the form and the request for grant have to be signed by the legal representative of the promoter; Submission of signed letters of commitment confirming a financial (cash, not in kind) contribution equivalent to at least 20% of the project's eligible costs by the promoter and/or its partners and/or other sources; Submission of signed letters of commitment from other partners, with no financial contributions, confirming their participation to the proposal; Submission of a balanced and signed budget for the proposal, estimated in euro; Submission of the Curriculum Vitae of the Head of proposal and of the persons who will perform the main tasks in the proposal; The proposal shall not benefit from any other Community funding; They must be submitted before 1 February 2005, accompanied by all the documents mentioned in the checklist. The evaluation committee will not examine any applications where one or more of these documents are missing or arrive late. 7. Selection criteria Applications which do not comply with the following criteria will be rejected. The promoter must have the operational resources (technical, management) needed to complete the proposal for which funding is requested. This should be proved in particular by providing the list of qualified staff /persons involved in the proposal. Grant applications must show that the promoter has the financial capacity to complete the proposed action. This should be proved in particular by providing the balance sheets for the last two closed financial years (2002 and 2003) and an external audit report for the last year available. Promoters must attach all the required documents to their application form and send them by 1 February 2005 at the latest in hard copy and also, at the same date, send in electronic form the documents mentioned under point 16 of the checklist. 5
8. Award criteria All proposals meeting the eligibility and selection criteria and which do not fall under any exclusion criteria will then be checked against the following award criteria: Quality assessment of the proposal: relevance and degree to which the proposal meets the aim of the call clarity and feasibility of the work programme, including timetable, and methodology; quality of the proposed partnership (adequacy, degree of involvement of the partners in the project) and of transnationality (in particular the degree of involvement of partners at EU level). added value at European level; scope and effectiveness of the dissemination mechanisms proposed; quality of the mechanisms for on-going monitoring and final evaluation; overall quality of the proposal. Financial elements of the proposal (budget assessment): a reasonable and realistic budget for the project;. a sound cost-efficiency ratio. 9. Duration of projects The present open call for proposals relates to a contractual period, which will run possibly from spring 2005 for duration of 12 months. The Contracts must be signed before the end of the fourth month of the beneficiary's budgetary year. No extension of the period set out in the contract will be permitted. 10. Terms and conditions of funding The Community's financial contribution will not exceed 80 % of the total eligible costs of the proposal. Expenditure eligible for financing may not have been incurred before the grant application was lodged or, for the operating grants, before the start of the beneficiary's budgetary year. The applicant and/or its partners and/or other sources are required to secure cofinancing in cash for the remaining 20 % of the total eligible costs of the project. Promoters who do not present proof of secured co-financing cannot be taken into consideration. 6
The total budget available under this budget line is 350.000 euros. Requested grant should not be less than 100.000 euros. Grants awarded confer no automatic right to funding in subsequent years. The proposal must not benefit from any other Community funding for the same activity. Applicants cannot include in their budget expenditure before or after the period during which the project is carried out and is determined in the contract. The Commission reserves the right to reduce the Community grant requested if costs in the provisional budget are either ineligible, or are eligible but too high. The Commission may require the beneficiary to lodge a guarantee in advance in order to limit the financial risks connected with the payment of pre-financing. Costs arising directly from such requirement are eligible for Community funding. 11. Notification procedure Receipt of applications will be confirmed. The Commission will examine the applications in the light of the above-mentioned criteria and will inform all promoters in writing of the decision taken concerning their application. The entire procedure is strictly confidential. The decision of the Commission is final. Should the Commission award a grant, a standard agreement setting out the conditions and the grant amount in Euro will be established with the beneficiaries. 12. Submission of applications The application forms and all documents forming part of the application must be sent by mail in triplicate (1 signed original plus 2 copies of the signed original) duly completed and signed by the legal representative of the promoter by 1 February 2005 at the latest (the date of the postmark or express courier receipt serving as proof) to the address below. Please mark the number of the call on the envelope. European Commission, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities CAD Call VP/2004/021 - EMPL G1- Equality between women and men SPA 3 00/07 B - 1049 Brussels Incomplete, not signed, handwritten or faxed applications will not be considered. Promoters are asked to check that their files contain all the documents in the 7
checklist, including the Legal entity form, the different language versions of which can be found at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/budget/execution/legal_entities_en.htm Applications must not be delivered by hand. Please keep a copy of the postal or courier receipt. In addition, an electronic version of the cover letter and the application form (parts I, II and III) including the bank identification form, filled in using the prescribed templates, must be sent to the following address by the same deadline: Empl-call-genderorg@cec.eu.int Please mention the following under "subject": Application under call VP/2004/021, name of the promoter, country of origin. The electronic version must be identical to the paper version of the documents in question. How to obtain the application form: The application form which is made up of three separate parts (part I: data on the promoter including the bank identification form; part II: budget; part III: detailed description of the proposal) together with all the information concerning the call can be obtained in electronic version by writing to EMPL-CALL- GENDERORG@cec.eu.int To facilitate the examination of applications, proposals should preferably be drafted in or translated into one of the Commission's three working languages, i.e. English, French or German. The text of the call and the application form can also be downloaded from the web pages of DG EMPL: http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/calls/tender_en.cfm 8
ANNEX 1 TO VP/2004/021 DECLARATION BY THE APPLICANT I, the undersigned,.., authorised to represent the applicant, hereby request from the Commission a grant of EUR. with a view to implementing the action / work programme on the terms laid down in this application. I certify that the information contained in this application is correct and that the applicant organisation has not received or applied for any other Community funding to carry out the action / work programme which is the subject of this grant application. I certify on my honour that the applicant organisation is not in one of the situations which would exclude it from taking part in a Community grant programme and accordingly declare that the organisation: - is not bankrupt or being wound up, is not having its affairs administered by the courts, has not entered into an arrangement with creditors or suspended business activities, and is not in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations; - has not been convicted of an offence concerning its professional conduct by a judgment which has the force of res judicata; - is not guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the contracting authority can justify; - has met its obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or taxes under the legislation of the country in which it is established; - has not been the subject of a judgment which has the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation or any other illegal activity detrimental to the Communities' financial interests; - has not been declared to be in serious breach of contract for failure to comply with its contractual obligations subsequent to another procurement procedure or grant award procedure financed by the Community budget. I have been informed that, under the Financial Regulation of 18 June 2002 applicable to the general budget of the European Communities, 2 applicants found guilty of false declarations may be subject to administrative and financial penalties in accordance with the conditions laid down in that Regulation. 2 Official Journal L 248, 16.9.2002. 9
The administrative penalties consist in being excluded from all contracts or grants financed from the Community budget for a maximum of two years from the date on which the infringement is established, as confirmed after an adversarial procedure with the applicant. This period may be extended to three years in the event of a repeat offence within five years of the first infringement. Applicants who are guilty of making false declarations will also receive financial penalties representing 2% to 10% of the value of the grant being awarded. This rate may be increased to 4% to 20% in the event of a repeat offence within five years of the first infringement. Name / first name: Title or position in the applicant organisation: Signature and official stamp of applicant: Date: Your grant application will be processed by computer. All personal data (such as 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 the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data. 3 Your replies to the questions in this form are necessary in order to assess your grant application and they will be processed solely for that purpose by the department responsible for the Community grant programme concerned. On request, you may be sent personal data and correct or complete them. For any question relating to these data, please contact the Commission department to which the form must be returned. Beneficiaries may lodge a complaint against the processing of their personal data with the European Data Protection Supervisor at any time. [If, at any stage of the administrative treatment of grant applications, the persons or entities concerned consider that they have been affected by an instance of maladministration, they may, irrespective of any other means of redress, make a complaint to the European Ombudsman in accordance with Article 195(1) of the EC Treaty and as provided by the Parliament Decision of 9 March 1994 on the regulations and general conditions governing the performance of the Ombudsman's duties published in Official Journal of the European Communities L 113 of 4 May 1994.] 4 3 4 Official Journal L 8, 12.1.2001. Clause to be inserted in calls for proposals or grant application forms in the absence of a call for proposals for ex A-30 and similar grants awarded from 2005, following a request from the European Ombudsman accepted by the cabinets of Ms Schreyer and Ms de Palacio. 10