1 DELEGATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TO THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS

2 EuropeAid/134655/L/ACT/BY Non-State Actors and Local Authorities in Development (NSA&LA) 2013 DISCLAIMER This presentation is intended as useful information for applicants. The information included in this presentation can not and do not replace or overrule the information contained in the respective Guidelines for grant applicants that are published for the Call for proposals. They also do not substitute the provisions in the Practical Guide to Contract Procedures for EU External Actions. In case of discrepancy, the Guidelines for grant applicants are the only legally binding documents.

3 EuropeAid/134655/L/ACT/BY Lot 1 "Non-State Actors in Development" Lot 2 "Capacity building of NSAs" Lot 3 "Local Authorities in Development "

4 FINANCIAL ALLOCATION overall indicative amount available: € 4,600,000 Lot 1: € 2,000,000 Lot 2: € 300,000 Lot 3: € 2,300,000

5 FINANCIAL ALLOCATION grants - minimum amount: € 300,000 maximum amount: € 1,000,000 eligible costs - minimum : 50 % of the total eligible costs of the action maximum : 90% of the total eligible costs of the action for an Applicant of Belarusian nationality 75% of the total eligible costs of the action for an Applicant of a EU Member State nationality

6 ACTORS Applicant (CfP) – Coordinator (contract)– main Beneficiary Co-Applicant(s) – Co-Beneficiary(ies) (if any) Affiliated Entity (ies) (if any)

7 APPLICANT HAS A MANDATE : -to submit a proposal, -to sign the contract, -to represent during the execution of the contract (only interlocutor), -to assume financial responsibility.

8 CO-APPLICANT(S) A Mandate must be signed! Joint responsibility for designing and implementing the action; Beneficiary(ies) of the contract, but represented by the Coordinator; Duty to assist the Coordinator; Costs are eligible; No financial responsibility under the contract.

9 AFFILIATED ENTITY(IES) A Statement must be signed! ONLY the following entity(ies): –forming part of an Applicant (consortium), –With a stable legal or capital link with the Applicant(s) or Co-Applicant(s) (branches of a network). Third party(ies) of the contract, Participate in designing and implementing the action, Costs are eligible.

10 ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: ACTORS Lots 1 and 2: be legal persons and be non-profit-making and be specific types of organisations such as: Non- State Actors constituted in accordance with the legislation in force of the country concerned, and be established in Belarus or in a EU Member State and be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action (not intermediary).

11 ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: ACTORS Lot 3: be legal persons and be all types of Local Authorities (LA) or Associations of Local Authorities (ALA) and be legally established and officially recognized as such, according to the legislation in force in Belarus or in a EU Member State and be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action.

12 ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: ACTORS All Lots: an Applicant may not participate or be awarded grants if it is in any of the situations listed in Section of the Practical Guide (e.g. bankrupt); for the Applicant not established in Belarus, the involvement in the action of at least one Co- Applicant established in Belarus is obligatory.

13 CO-APPLICANTS: ELIGIBILITY In case the Applicant is established in Belarus: Lots 1 and 2: at least one Co-Applicant must be involved in the action; Lot 3: the Applicant may act individually or with Co-Applicant(s). The involvement of Co-Applicant(s) in the action is highly recommended in order to meet the objectives of this Call for Proposals.

14 CO-APPLICANTS:ELIGIBILITY For Lots 1 and 2, NSA and LA from Belarus and from EU Member States can apply. NSA must satisfy the same eligibility criteria as Applicants. In case of LA/ALA, the eligibility criteria identified for Applicants under Lot 3 apply. For Lot 3, NSA and LA/ALA from Belarus and from EU Member States can apply. For the Applicant not established in Belarus, a minimum of one LA/ALA from Belarus shall apply as Co- Applicant. LA/ALA must satisfy the same eligibility criteria as Applicants. In case of the NSA, the eligibility criteria identified for Applicants under Lots 1 and 2 apply.

15 MONO-/MULTI-BENEFICIARY GRANTS - mono-beneficiary; -mono-beneficiary with Affiliated Entities; -multi-beneficiary (Applicant+Co-Applicant(s)); - multi-beneficiary with Affiliated Entities.

16 MONO-BENEFICIARY CASE - CONSORTIUM

17 MONO-BENEFICIARY CASE WITH AE

18 MULTI-BENEFICIARY CASE

19 MULTI-BENEFICIARY CASE WITH AE

20 ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: ACTORS

21 OTHER ENTITIES Associates: play a real role in the action, do not receive funding from the grant, with the exception of per diem or travel costs; Contractors: are awarded contracts by Beneficiaries and their AE, are subject to the procurement rules; Subgrantees: receive financial support, are subject to the nationality and origin rules.

22 NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS AND GRANTS PER APPLICANTS The applicant may submit more than one application per lot; The applicant may not be awarded more than one grant; The applicant may be a co-applicant or an affiliated entity in another application at the same time; A co-applicant may submit more than one application per lot; A co-applicant may be awarded more than one grant per lot; A co-applicant may be the applicant or an affiliated entity in another application at the same time; The affiliated entity(ies) may take part in more than one application. NOTE: One application may cover one lot only.

23 PADOR Potential Applicant Data On-line Registration

24 PADOR Organisations register themselves, upload their supporting documents and update regularly their data; This data concerns the organisation itself, it is not linked to a particular proposal; The data is used for checking the eligibility of the organisations, for evaluating the operational and financial capacity criteria.

25 PADOR Restricted Call for proposals –Concept Note stage: obligatory registration for Applicant; optional registration for Co-Applicant(s), Affiliated Entity(ies). –Full Application stage: obligatory registration for all Applicant, Co- Applicant(s), Affiliated Entity(ies).

26 QUESTIONS/ANSWERS When and where to send questions: 15 July 2013 at the latest Fax: When to receive replies from EU: 25 July 2013 at the latest on the EuropeAid website !Indicate clearly the reference of the Call for Proposals! EuropeAid/134655/L/ACT/BY

27 CONCEPT NOTE SUBMISSION 1.Concept Note and 2.Checklist for the Concept Note and 3.Signed Declaration by the Applicant for the Concept Note (Part A) Keep strictly to the format! To be sent in 1 original and 2 copies! NO CD. Incomplete Concept Notes may be rejected!

28 CONCEPT NOTE SUBMISSION Submission deadline is 05 August 2013 For hand deliveries 16:00 Minsk time Where? For the attention of the Head of Finance, Contracts and Audit Section Delegation of the European Union to Belarus 34A/2 Engels Street, 7th floor Minsk , Belarus How? In a sealed envelope By registered mail By private courier service By hand delivery × Do not send by fax × Do not send by × Do not send to the other addresses Please indicate reference number and the title of the call for proposals

29 CONCEPT NOTE EVALUATION ADMINISTRATIVE CHECK is the first stage in the Evaluation process. The following will be assessed: - The deadline has been respected; - The Concept Note satisfies the criteria specified in the Checklist (points 1-5).

30 CONCEPT NOTE CHECKLIST

31 CONCEPT NOTE EVALUATION The evaluation of the Concept Notes that have passed the first administrative check will cover the: eligibility of the proposed action, relevance of the action, design of the action, by using the Checklist & Concept Note Evaluation Grid. If the examination of the application reveals that the proposed action does not meet the eligibility criteria stated in paragraph 2.1, the application will be rejected on this sole basis. Max. score: 50 points

32 CONCEPT NOTE EVALUATION GRID

33 CONCEPT NOTE EVALUATION –ASSESSMENT - Firstly, only the Concept Notes with a minimum total score of 30 points will be considered; –RANKING - Secondly, the list of Concept Notes will be reduced, taking account of the ranking, to the number of Concept Notes whose total aggregate amount of requested contributions is equal to at least 200% of the available budget for this Call for Proposals; –INFORMATION - The pre-selected Applicants will subsequently be invited to submit Full Application Form. The eliminated applicants will also be informed.

34 CONCEPT NOTE EVALUATION RESULTS Letters to all applicants indicating: - the reference number, - if the deadline was respected, - if the Concept Note was evaluated, - the results of that evaluation (rejected/pre- selected). ONLY pre-selected Applicants will be invited to submit Full Applications, the deadline will be indicated

35 CONCEPT NOTE STAGE DO’s and DON’Ts Start preparing your proposal/concept note now, and do not wait until the last day/minute; Although you are required to provide only the amount requested from the EU at the Concept Note stage, you are strongly advised to have already the detailed design of the project, plan of action, and budget; Each call has its specificities, always cross- check your Concept Note with criteria specified in corresponding Guidelines;

36 CONCEPT NOTE STAGE DO’s and DON’Ts Check EuropeAid website regularly to know questions and answers which may be relevant to you; Respect the deadline for submission, also the timing for hand delivery; Send your Concept Note by courier/registered post if it is only ready on the last day; Suggestion: at least 2 persons involved in preparing the proposal (One person in charge of the substance, one person in charge of the administrative works/budgeting etc.).

37 FULL APPLICATION SUBMISSION IMPORTANT! The elements assessed on the basis of the concept note cannot be modified by the applicant in the full application form. Elements include: target groups, final beneficiaries, target regions, locations, specific objectives, key stakeholder groups. In exceptional cases, when it is indispensable to modify an element (such as adding or replacing Co-Applicant(s), associates or activities), this modification should be clearly stated in the Full Application form and due justification should be provided. Such justification will be taken into consideration during the evaluation of the Full Application. The EU contribution may not vary from the initial estimate by more than 20%, while the Applicant is free to adapt co-financing required within the minimum and maximum amount of co-financing, as laid down in these Guidelines under section 1.3.

38 QUESTIONS/ANSWERS When and where to send questions: 21 days before the deadline at the latest Fax: When and how to receive replies from EU: 11 days before the deadline at the latest on the EuropeAid website !Indicate clearly the reference of the Call for Proposals! EuropeAid/134655/L/ACT/BY

39 FULL APPLICATION SUBMISSION 1.Full Application Form (Part B Annex A) The Checklist and the Declaration by the Applicant must be stapled separately 2. Budget (Annex B) 3. Logical Framework (Annex C) Keep strictly to the format! To be sent in 1 original and 2 copies! NO CD. Incomplete Full Applications may be rejected! No supplementary annexes!

40 FULL APPLICATION SUBMISSION Where? For the attention of the Head of Finance, Contracts and Audit Section Delegation of the European Union to Belarus 34A/2 Engels Street, 7th floor Minsk , Belarus How? In a sealed envelope By registered mail By private courier service By hand-delivery × Do not send by fax × Do not send by × Do not send to the other addresses Please indicate reference number and the title of the call for proposals

41 FULL APPLICATION EVALUATION ADMINISTRATIVE CHECK: - The deadline has been respected; - The Full Application form satisfies the criteria specified in the Checklist (points 1-9). If any information is missing or incorrect, the Application may be rejected on that sole basis

42 FULL APPLICATION CHECKLIST

43 FULL APPLICATION EVALUATION  The selection criteria help to evaluate the Applicants' financial and operational capacity to ensure that they: - have stable and sufficient sources of finance; - have the management capacity, professional competencies and qualifications required to successfully. This also applies to any Affiliated Entity(ies) of the Applicants.

44 EVALUATION GRID

45 FULL APPLICATION EVALUATION  The award criteria help to: - evaluate the quality of the applications in relation to the objectives and priorities; - award grants to projects which maximise the overall effectiveness of the Call for Proposals; - select applications which the Contracting Authority can be confident will comply with its objectives and priorities; - identify the relevance of the action, its consistency with the objectives of the Call for Proposals, quality, expected impact, sustainability and cost-effectiveness.

46 EVALUATION GRID

47 BUDGET FOR THE ACTION Important! Strictly follow the template; Prepare in EUR, not in BYR; Fill in the budget for 'All Years' and also for 'Year 1'; Budget must cover all activities planned - in line with the proposed Action; Budget must be realistic and cost-effective; Only eligible costs are included in the Budget; Provide a narrative clarification of each budget item - necessity of the costs and how they relate to the action (e.g. through references to the activities in the Description of the Action); Provide a justification of the calculation of the estimated costs. Note that the estimation should be based on real costs.

48 ELIGIBILITY OF COSTS Eligible costs are actual costs incurred during the implementation of the Action; ONLY eligible costs are covered by a grant; The budget is both a cost estimate and a ceiling for eligible costs; They must be reasonable, justified and comply with the requirements of sound financial management, in particular regarding economy and efficiency.

49 ELIGIBLE DIRECT COSTS Costs of staff assigned to the Action, corresponding to actual gross salaries; Travel and subsistence costs for staff and other persons taking part in the Action; Purchase of equipment and supplies specifically for the purposes of the Action; Costs of consumables; Costs of contracts awarded by the Beneficiary(ies); Costs deriving from the Grant Contract (ex. dissemination of information, evaluation specific to the Action, audits, translation, reproduction); Duties, taxes and charges paid and non recoverable (Annex J).

50 SIMPLIFIED COST OPTIONS Total amount of simplified costs for any of the applicants cannot exceed EUR unit costs: covering all or certain specific categories of eligible costs which are clearly identified in advance by reference to an amount per unit (ex. working month, small local transport); lump sums: covering in global terms all or certain specific categories of eligible costs which are clearly identified in advance (ex. events, videos); flat-rate financing: covering specific categories of eligible costs which are clearly identified in advance by applying a percentage fixed ex ante (ex. local office costs).

51 BUDGET: 1 Human resources Only staff recruited by the Beneficiary(ies) with an employment contract (i.e. salaries included in the organisation's payroll) can be included in Item 1. Beneficiary(ies)'s recruitment procedures apply; Salaries and costs must not exceed those normally borne by the Beneficiary(ies), as the case may be, unless it is justified by showing that it is essential to carry out the action; If staff are not working full time on the Action, the percentage should be indicated alongside the description of the item and reflected in the number of units (not the unit value); Experts/Consultants recruited with a service contract (and related invoices) is to be considered as "contractors". Procurement rules set out in the draft contract then apply. They should be included in budget Item 5 (Other costs); Per diem are considered as eligible costs provided they do not exceed those normally borne by the Beneficiary(ies) nor the rates published by the European Commission at the time of such mission.

52 BUDGET: 2 Travel Travel costs for staff and other persons taking part in the Action; Indicate the place of departure and the destination. If information is not available, enter a global amount; Clarify modalities for local transport.

53 BUDGET: 3 Equipment and supplies Only if deemed necessary for the Action; Where the Beneficiary(ies) do not have its headquarters in Belarus, all equipment, vehicles and supplies must be transferred to any local Beneficiary(ies) and/or to any local affiliated entity(ies) and/or to the final beneficiaries of the Action, at the latest when submitting the final report. Copies of the proofs of transfers of equipments and vehicles, the purchase cost of which was more than EUR 5,000 per item, must be attached to the final report. Such proofs must be kept for control in all other cases.

54 BUDGET: 4 Local office No need to set-up a specific office for a project, unless duly justified; Costs for using Beneficiary(s) office(s) for project purposes are normally considered to be included in the Indirect costs (Item 10); However, in cases where administrative and running costs can be accurately identified and accounted for in the budget as direct eligible costs and backed up with documents that prove that those costs are related to the proposed action only, the Applicant may choose to budget such costs as eligible direct costs instead of asking for the overheads percentage.

55 BUDGET: 5 Other costs, services Procurement of services must follow the rules set in Annex IV to the contract (contract award procedures) Publications (Only indicate here when fully subcontracted); Studies, research (Only indicate here when fully subcontracted); Expenditure verification/Audit; Evaluation costs; Translation, interpreters; Financial services (ex. bank transfer costs) NB: no bank guarantee will be required thus no bank guarantee charges shall be included in the budget; Costs of conferences/seminars (Only indicate here when fully subcontracted); Visibility actions (Communication and visibility activities should be properly planned and budgeted at each stage of the project implementation).

56 BUDGET: 6 Other Please give details on these "other" costs If the amounts indicated in Item 6 are related to other Items in the budget, then move these "other" costs to these other Items

57 BUDGET: 8 Contingency Reserve A reserve for contingencies and/or Possible fluctuations in exchange rates; Max. 5% of eligible direct costs; Necessary adjustments due to unforeseeable changes on the ground; Duly justified request; Prior written authorisation needed.

58 BUDGET: 10 Eligible Indirect Costs May not be identified as specific costs directly linked to the Action and therefore → May not be booked directly to the Action, however → They are Incurred by the Beneficiary(ies) in connection with the eligible direct costs; Indirect costs are eligible provided that they do not include costs assigned to another heading of the Budget; Max. 7% of total eligible direct costs; The applicant may be asked to justify the requested percentage before contracting.

59 IN KIND CONTRIBUTIONS Provision of goods or services to the Beneficiary(ies) or AE free of charge; May not be treated as co-financing; Do not represent actual expenditure; Not eligible costs; If the Description of the Action as proposed includes contributions in kind, the contributions have to be made.

60 NON-ELIGIBLE COSTS Debts and debt service charges (interest); Provisions for losses or potential future liabilities; Costs declared by the Beneficiary(ies) and financed by another action or work programme receiving a Union (including through EDF) grant; Purchases of land or buildings, except where necessary for the direct implementation of the action, in which case ownership must be transferred to the final beneficiaries and/or local Beneficiary(ies), at the latest at the end of the action; Currency exchange losses; Credit to third parties.

61 TAXES Duties, taxes and charges paid and non recoverable (Annex J) are eligible; Where the beneficiary can show it cannot reclaim, taxes should be included in each relevant heading of the budget. Taxes that can be reclaimed are not considered as eligible costs.

62 FULL APPLICATION EVALUATION RESULTS SELECTION CRITERIA - Financial and Operational Capacity. If there is one “No”, the Application will be eliminated. AWARD CRITERIA - RANKING, table listing the Applications ranked by score and within the available budget will be established, as well as a reserve list. INFORMATION – The rejected and the provisionally selected Applicants will subsequently be informed of the results.

63 ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION Performed only for the provisionally selected Applications; Any rejected Application will be replaced by the next best placed Application in the reserve list that falls within the available financial envelope; Supporting documents provided through PADOR or originals or copies (English language); Legal entity file (LEF) and Financial identification form (FIF) always in original!!!

64 CONTRACTING AUTHORITY’S DECISION The Applicants will be informed in writing of the Contracting Authority’s decision concerning their Application and, if rejected, the reasons for the negative decision.

65 THANK YOU!