FAQ EuropeAid/126415

Investing in people – access to local culture, protection and promotion of cultural diversity

Applicants will find below a series of questions which have been sent to EuropeAid-CULT2007@ec.europa.eu mailbox since the launch of the above-mentioned Call for Proposals.

In the interest of equal treatment of applicants, the European Commission cannot give a prior opinion on the eligibility of an applicant, a partner, an action or specific activities.

In the case of the hand-deliveries: 12/02/2008- 16hrs (Brussels date and time)

As a general answer to all the questions indicated below, in the guidelines for this call the EC has laid out the objectives of the programme but has only given a general indication of how these objectives could be achieved by the proposed actions, thus leaving scope for applicants to structure their action in the way suited to the achievement of the objectives. Selection will be based on the quality and coherence of the proposed action in relation to the set objectives.

Q1: How many partners should we looking for? What is the recommended maximum and minimum number of local partners?

Applicants who are nationals of a Member State of the EEA, of one of the official EU candidate or potential candidate countries, or of a country concerned by reciprocal access, must act in partnership with one or more local organisations having the nationality of one of the eligible countries where the action is to take place (listed in Annex I). The minimum requirement is therefore one but there is no maximum requirement.

Applicants having the nationality of one of the countries listed in Annex I may act individually or with partner organisations. There is no minimum or maximum requirement in this case. However, partnerships are encouraged and this is reflected in the evaluation grid for the Full Applications where it foresees a score of only 1 point for the criteria 3.3 where no partners are present in a proposed action.

Q2: Which nationality would you recommend to have for partners? Should partners have the nationality of an EEA country or of one of the countries where the action will take place?

As indicated under section 2.1.2 of the guidelines for this call for proposals, when applicants are nationals of a Member State of the EEA, of one of the official EU candidate or potential candidate countries, or of a country concerned by reciprocal access, they must act in partnership with one or more local organisations having the nationality of one of the eligible beneficiary countries indicated at Annex I.

For applicants having the nationality of one of the countries indicated in Annex I, their partners may have any of the nationalities indicated under section 2.1.1. of the guidelines.

As indicated under section 2.1.2 of the guidelines for this call for proposals, "partners must satisfy the same eligibility criteria referred in Section 2.1.1. as applicants. They will participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the partners.

However, associates do not have to meet the eligibility criteria referred to in Section 2.1.1. They will be involved in the action. play a real role in this action but won't receive funding from the grant (with the exception of per diem or travel costs)

The Partnership Statements should not accompany the Concept Note, but the signed Declaration by the Applicant must be sent with the Concept Note Form.

As indicated under section 2.1.3. of the guidelines for this call for proposals, "actions must take place in one or more of the eligible countries or territories indicated in Annex I to the guidelines".

Q2: What percentage of activity may take place outside the eligible country?

As indicated under section 2.1.3. of the guidelines for this call for proposals, "actions must take place in one or more of the eligible countries (or territories) indicated in Annex I to the guidelines. AND, if duly justified by the nature of the action, certain activities may take place in other countries only if these activities constitute only a minor part of the action and they contribute directly to the objectives of the programme"

Q1: la acción debe ejecutarse en el país del solicitante o puede él hacer la solicitud y ejecutarse en uno o varios de los países indicados en el anexo I de la Guía para los solicitantes de subvenciones?

Como estipulado en la sección 2.1.3.," las acciones deberán ejecutarse en uno o más de los países o territorios elegibles indicados en el Anexo I"