Background paper N 3 February 2015 Assessment of Erasmus+ Sports The Erasmus+ Sport programme has been launched in 2014. The results of the first call for proposals are now published. 302 organisations will be involved in the implementation of the Programme. Where do these organisations come from? Do they belong to organised sport and has the EU Commission reached its goal to develop grassroots sport in Europe? The EOC EU office has conducted a statistical analysis in order to answer these questions and has drafted some recommendations for future calls to ensure that the programme helps strengthening the place of sport within European society.
Erasmus+ brings together seven existing EU Programmes in the fields of Education, Training, and Youth and provides for the first time a separate chapter and budget line dedicated to Sport. The budget of Erasmus+ Sports for 2014-2020 is 266 million EUR (approximately 1.8% of the total budget of Erasmus+). The results of the first call for proposals (2014) are now published. A statistical analysis conducted by the EOC EU Office reveals that the programme does not fully reach the objective of developing grassroots sport in Europe, which was defined as a priority. Based on this analysis, the EOC EU Office has drafted some recommendations for future calls to enhance the participation of grassroots sports. Table of contents 1. Presentation of Erasmus+ Sports 2. Analysis of the results of the first call 3. Recommendations for future calls 2
1. Presentation of Erasmus+ Sports The Erasmus+ Programme, which entered into force in 2014, includes a new funding scheme for projects specifically related to sport. The budget of Erasmus+ Sports is 266 million EUR for the seven years, which means in average approximately 38 million EUR per year. The budget is lower for the first years and will increase towards the end of the programme. In 2014, the budget allocated was approximately 17,5 million EUR and for 2015, the expected amount to be allocated is 20,7 million EUR. 1.1. Objectives The specific objectives pursued by the Erasmus+ Programme in the field of sport are to: Tackle cross-border threats to the integrity of sport, such as doping, match fixing and violence; Tackle all kinds of intolerance and discrimination; Promote and support good governance in sport and dual careers of athletes; Promote voluntary activities in sport, together with social inclusion, equal opportunities and awareness of the importance of health-enhancing physical activity, through increased participation in, and equal access to sport for all. 1.2. Structure Erasmus+ Sports provides support for several opportunities including funding for: Collaborative partnerships Non-for-profit European sport events Actions that strengthen the evidence base for policy-making (studies, surveys) Dialogue with relevant European stakeholders 1 1.3. Eligible applicants Eligible for funding under Erasmus+ Sports are public bodies or non-profit organisation active in the field of sport. Any participating organisation established in a Programme Country 2 can be the applicant. 1.4. Responsible authorities Two complementary actors are in charge of the implementation of Erasmus+ Sports: 1 No calls for proposals / tenders are organized for this budget line. 2 The 28 Member States of the EU and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Liechtenstein, Turkey, Iceland and Norway. 3
1. The Education Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) is in charge of the implementation of Erasmus+ Sports by supporting Collaborative partnerships Not-for-profit European sport events 2. The Sport Unit of the European Commission (DG EAC) is in charge of the policy coherence by supporting Actions that support the evidence base for sport policy making The dialogue with European stakeholders 1.5. Next call The schedule for the next 2015 general call 3 will be as follows: deadline on 14 May 2015, eligibility check in June, evaluation in July-September, sending of the decision in October, signing of the grant agreement in November-December. The indicative numbers of proposals to be selected are 45 collaborative partnerships and 3 events. All topics will be included every year, but the budgetary emphasis might change for future calls. Currently, ca. 50 % of the budget is dedicated to the implementation of the EU Guidelines on Dual Careers of Athletes and the implementation of the EU Physical Activity Guidelines. 2. Analysis of the results of the first call (2014) The first call for proposals under the Erasmus+ Sports Programme, published in 2014, included three different rounds (two for not-for-profit European Sport Events and one for Collaborative Partnerships). All results are published on the website of the EACEA. Considering its wider range, the EOC EU Office has focused its analysis on the Collaborative Partnerships results. A detailed statistical analysis can be found in the annexes of this document. The main conclusions that can be drawn based on this statistical analysis are listed here below: In total, 302 different organisations are involved in the 38 projects selected for collaborative partnerships 4. These organisations come from 35 countries. All EU Member States, except for Slovakia, are represented, as well as the five non-eu programme countries (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Iceland, Norway), except for Liechtenstein. Additionally, organisations from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Switzerland are involved. 3 A call concerning only projects related to the European Week of Sport was closed in January 2015. 4 The figure of 357 organisations given by the European Commission corresponds to the overall number of projects partners, without taking into consideration that some organisations are involved in multiple projects. The number of distinctive organisations involved is therefore 302. 4
However, the number of organisations involved per country differs dramatically, from 30 for Italy, 16 for Germany, 14 for Belgium, 11 for France to 1 for Montenegro, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland and Serbia. The success rate of applicants per country also differs widely, ranging from 50% for Finland, then 25% for Luxembourg, 22% for France and down to 0% for Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, FYROM, Ireland, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden. The overall success rate was 10,10%. A typological analysis reveals that NGOs represent the biggest share of involved organisations (39%). Organised sport represents 26% of involved organisations, equal to education and research institutes. Finally, 6% are public bodies. Within the 26% represented by organized sport, 11% are federations, 8% umbrella organisations and 7% sport clubs. Several organisations are involved in more than one project. For instance, the International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA) is involved in five projects, as well as two not-for-profit events. More than half of the selected projects have a total budget above 500,000 EUR. On top of that, the average budget of all selected collaborative partnerships is 505.842 EUR and the average EU grant is 401.650 EUR (which is higher than the average foreseen by the 2014 Work Programme of 346,964 EUR). 3. Recommendations for future calls The Programme shall contribute to the achievement of the objective of developing the European dimension in sport, in particular grassroots sport, in line with the Union work plan for sport; Article 4 of the Erasmus+ Regulation As provided by the Erasmus+ Regulation, focus is to be given to grassroots sport. Erasmus+ Programme Guide 3 (2015) The EOC EU Office has consulted many stakeholders, including local and regional actors in different Member States, on their view regarding the possibilities for grassroots sports provided by the Erasmus+ Sports Programme. Many consider that the administrative burden and other requirements currently outweigh the possible benefits. As seen above, the results of the first year 5
of Erasmus+ Sports confirm these concerns. A clear indication is the very limited number of grassroots actors involved as partners in the selected projects. Against this background and considering the legal basis of the Erasmus+ Programme (Regulation No 1288/2013 establishing Erasmus+), the EOC EU Office proposes the following changes to the implementation of the sports chapter to ensure the participation of grassroots sports. These recommendations have been shared with all relevant stakeholders and were already discussed during the Sport Info Day 5. 3.1. Reduce the administrative and financial burden Due to the limited financial and human resources of grassroots sports actors, the administrative and financial burden should be limited to the minimum necessary. In this regard, application and awarding procedures should be simplified. The results of the first year of the Erasmus+ Sports clearly indicate that the current application procedure favours professionalised organisations. This is exemplified by the striking number of research and educational institutes involved. In line with the other chapters of Erasmus+, the pre-financing by the EU should be increased to 70 or 80% from the current 60%. Considering the principle of equal treatment, it is hard to understand why sport activities have less favourable conditions than all actions in the other chapters of Erasmus+. In addition, the possibility to work with lump-sums should be implemented as soon as possible. The Regulation explicitly confirms the need for simplification and rationalisation: The implementation of the Programme should be further simplified by the use of lump-sum, unit-cost or flat-rate funding, as well as by reducing formal and bureaucratic requirements for beneficiaries and Member States. (Recital 42) In addition, the selection results should be announced as early as possible. Furthermore, the grant agreements should be finalised before the actual start of the project to avoid legal Exchange during the Sport Info Day - Lump sums might be accepted in the future, but the European 5 On 11 February Commission 2015, EACEA and and the DG EACEA of the need European some Commission evidence organised for it. for As the many second of year the in a row a Sport Info Day. selected Designed to projects give more will information run three on the years Erasmus+ and Sports as the programme Commission to potential needs applicants a and all interested stakeholders, representative it provided sample, an opportunity this analysis to raise questions and possible and concerns. change The is EOC only EU to Office be had sent several questions expected ahead of towards the event the and end of was the particularly programme active cycle. during that day, voicing concerns and recommendations. - The guide for experts regarding their feedback and decisions will be made public this year. 6 - Lump sums are currently not accepted. - Pre-financing remains unchanged for the moment.
uncertainty as well as additional unnecessary administrative and financial hurdles. Both conditions were not met for the collaborative partnerships selected in the first year of Erasmus+ Sports. 3.2. Allow volunteering as a source of own contribution A significant number of actors in sport at local and regional level are volunteers. Against this background, volunteering should be eligible as a source of own contribution to the budget of the project. The Regulation provides the legal basis for the eligibility of volunteering: In accordance with Regulation No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, volunteer time can be recognised as co-financing in the form of contributions in kind. (Recital 41). The possibility of contributions in kind as co-financing has already been tested during the Preparatory Actions in the field of sport 2009 and 2010. Furthermore, volunteer time has also been accepted as co-financing in other funding Programmes: e.g. in the current European Social Fund (ESF) and in the previous Youth in Action Programme. Exchange during the Sport Info Day A lively debate took place in the financial workshop regarding volunteering as contribution in kind. EACEA confirmed that it is currently not accepted, but that it could be accepted in the future as a contribution to the revenue side of the project, meaning to the 20% own contribution. For the 2015 call, volunteering is not accepted as own contribution nor as an eligible cost. In addition, it was confirmed that volunteering can never be considered as an eligible cost, due to the new Financial Regulation. 3.3. Encourage the setting up of projects with smaller budgets The distribution of allocated grants should be diversified by promoting proposals with smaller budgets. As explained above, the average budget of all selected collaborative partnerships is 505.842 EUR and the average EU grant is 401.650 EUR. Budgets like these require co-funding of easily up to 100,000 EUR which is close to impossible for grassroots actors. 7
One possibility to diversify the allocated grants could be to earmark a certain share of the annual budget for collaborative partnerships with a very limited budget. This would allow more Exchange during the Sport Info Day - EACEA indicated that there are no legal constraints to having smaller projects. In addition, the Agency confirmed its ability to cope with a possible increase of projects. EACEA agreed that smaller projects would make sense for some topics (e.g. HEPA), whereas not for others (e.g. Dual Careers). - The maximum budget for events has been lowered from 2 million EUR to 500,000 EUR. - The estimated average EU Grant for collaborative partnerships foreseen has been lowered from 346,964 EUR (Annual Work Plan 2014) to 292,865 EUR (Annual Work Plan 2015). No earmarking for collaborative partnerships with a very limited budget is foreseen. potential stakeholders from grassroots sports to get involved in Erasmus+ Sports. 3.4. Limit the required number of partners For collaborative partnerships and events, projects involving fewer partners should be eligible. Collaborative partnerships with three partners from three Programme Countries should be allowed. For events, the minimum of participating countries should be, for instance, lowered from twelve to eight. One possibility could be to enable cross-border projects involving a limited number of bordering countries. These cross-border projects have already been successfully tested during the 2012 call of the Preparatory Actions in the field of Sport. Moreover, cross-border projects tend to be more sustainable in the long run. No exchange during the Sport Info Day on that specific point. 8
Conclusion The creation of the Erasmus+ Sports Programme raised high expectations, as it fulfilled a long-standing demand from the sports movement. However, considering the limited amount of funds available under the Programme, these expectations might be hard to meet and the ambitions regarding its real impact must indeed be limited. But one has to take into account that the Erasmus+ Sports Programme is more than merely a financial support programme. It provides the opportunity for the European Commission to implement its sports policy by supporting projects which carry out priorities identified under the current Work Programme for Sport. The very nature of projects and applicants selected therefore partly defines the European sports policy. Considering this duality of expectation and political meaning, the success of the Programme relies heavily on its capacity to reach its objective of supporting the development of grassroots sport in Europe and, on an even broader perspective, to strengthen the place of sport within European society. 9
To achieve these goals, the Erasmus+ Sports Programme must extend its scope in order to not only reach European, but also national and local actors. It is due to this need that organised sport should figure more prominently in the Programme: present everywhere in Europe, reaching 70 million people, it is the natural partner of European citizens when they want to practice sport and is thus able to provide sustainability to the European sports policy. 10
ANNEXES STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ERASMUS+ SPORTS PROGRAMME COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS - 2014 CALL Annex 1 List of successful project applications for collaborative partnerships 11 15 Annex 2 Project involvement per programme country 16 Annex 3 Typology of successful project applicants 17 18 Annex 4 Typology of successful project applicants and projects partners 19 Annex 5 Typology of successful project applicants and partners 20 21 from organised sport Annex 6 Organisations involved in multiple collaborative partnerships 22 11