Courtesy translation
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
Directorate General for Europe and International Trade Policy
The Director General
ANNOUNCEMENT – CALL FOR PROPOSALS BALKANS 2022
Applications for the request for contributions pursuant to Article 23 of the Presidential Decree 18/67 for initiatives aimed at allowing Italian participation to international peace and humanitarian initiatives and for the protection of human rights
Article 1 – Subject of this Announcement
1. In relation to the provisions of the Decrees of the Director General for the European Union No. 3110/19 of 2 May 2022 and No. 3110/26 of 15 July 2022, through this Announcement, the DGEU intends to acquire, through a public procedure, proposals aimed at obtaining the concession of grants for the implementation of initiatives aimed at allowing Italian participation in peace and security initiatives in international headquarters and the implementation of humanitarian initiatives and the protection of human rights, relating to the geographical and thematic areas referred to in Article 3 below.
2. The total resources for financing of the abovementioned proposals for year 2022 amount to €250,000, allocated through the Decision adopted by the Council of Ministers on 15 June 2022, and whose related parliamentary procedure is ongoing.
3. The DGEU reserves the right not to assign all or part of the funds covered by this Announcement in the event that all or part of the project proposals received are inadmissible, manifestly incongruous or the applicants are unsuitable for funding, or in the event that the proposals do not reach the minimum sufficiency threshold established by the examining commission during the evaluation.
4. If the resources referred to in the abovementioned Decisions are not actually assigned for reasons not foreseeable at the date of publication of this Announcement, or if they are assigned for an amount lower than that indicated in paragraph 2 of this Article, the DGEU reserves the right not to disburse contributions or to consequently reduce the overall financial endowment of this Announcement, as well as to proportionally reduce the amount of the contribution for individual projects. The DGEU also reserves the right to allocate the resources referred to in this Announcement to alternative commitments to those outlined here, should needs arise deemed priority at the sole discretion of the Administration. This will be promptly informed via the MFAIC website (www.esteri.it).
Article 2 – Recipients of contributions and requirements for submitting proposals
Italian and foreign private entities are eligible to apply for a grant:
a) if the conditions of exclusion referred to in Article 80 of the Legislative Decree No. 50 of 18 April 2016 are not applicable to them;
b) if they are in compliance with the tax, social security and insurance obligations provided for by current legislation;
c) if they are in compliance with the anti-mafia documentation pursuant to Article 85 of Legislative Decree No. 159/2011 and subsequent amendments and additions.
Article 3 – Areas of intervention and financial activity
1. The contributions are granted to proposals of initiatives with the purposes referred to in article 1 and related to the following thematic areas, in the Western Balkans region (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia):
a) consolidation of democratic institutions and support to national and regional reconciliation processes; strengthening of the process of adhesion of the Western Balkans to the EU and promotion of EU integration; prevention of terrorism and extremism, reform of justice and electoral systems, transparency, fight against corruption and organized crime;
b) inclusion and enhancement of youth, women, LGBTIQ+ communities and national minorities within the processes of regional reconciliation;
c) strengthening the protection and promotion of human rights;
d) promotion of dissemination and protection of international and humanitarian law.
The proposed initiatives may be bilateral or regional.
2. The available funding amounts to €250,000.
3. Each selected proposal may benefit from a contribution not exceeding a percentage of 90% of the total amount of costs necessary for the implementation of the proposed activities and in any case for a maximum amount of €30,000. General expenses for which reporting is not required, including coordination and secretarial expenses, must not exceed 8% of total expenses.
4. Each initiative subject to a contribution under this Announcement must have a maximum duration of 12 months from the date of acceptance confirmation pursuant to Article 9, paragraph 4, without prejudice to the possibility for the beneficiary, in the face of unequivocal and justified reasons, to request an extension for the completion of the project activities.
Article 4 – Presentation of the project proposal – terms and conditions
1. The submission of proposals by private entities who have their registered office in Italy or in another country of the European Union takes place exclusively by certified e-mail to the address dgue.adriatico-balcani@cert.esteri.it . The transmission e-mail must indicate in the subject the words “REF. Call Balkans 2022” and the name of the proposing body.
2. For entities who have their registered office in a non-EU country, the application is presented exclusively through the Italian Diplomatic Representation with territorial jurisdiction.
3. The submission of the proposal must be sent using only the specific application form “Request for contribution” attached to this Announcement (Annex A), possibly translated into English, attaching the required documentation referred to in the following Article 5.
4. The grant application must be signed by the legal representative (or his/her attorney) of the applicant. As an alternative to the authentication of the signature, a photocopy of an identity document of the subscriber may be attached to the Application.
5. For private entities who have their registered office in Italy or in another country of the European Union, the substitutive declaration is made pursuant to Articles 46 and 47 of the Presidential Decree No. 445 of 28 December 2000, and subsequent amendments and additions. Private entities who have their registered office in a non-EU country must produce equivalent suitable documentation according to the legislation of the country of origin, legalized by the Italian Diplomatic Representation with territorial jurisdiction.
6. Under penalty of exclusion, the final deadline for submitting the application is set at h12.00 on 30 September 2022, Rome local time. The date and time of receipt certified by e-mail or by the stamp of the Diplomatic Representation will be considered as certification.
7. Any question relating to this procedure may be addressed, exclusively in writing, to the address dgue.adriatico-balcani@cert.esteri.it, indicating in the subject the words “REF. Balkans call 2022- QUESTIONS “, by 23 September 2022, at h12.00.
Article 5 – Accompanying documentation
1. The grant application (Annex A: Request for contribution) must be accompanied by the following documentation in Italian or English, using the pre-filled form referred to in Annex A1 (Annex A1-Application Form) and Annex A2 (Annex A2: Budget), following the instructions for compilation contained therein:
a) a descriptive note of the project for which financial support is requested, including the clear indication of the aims to be pursued (outcome), the activities to be carried out (output) and the resources to be used (inputs), as well as any other element subject to evaluation by the Commission pursuant to the following Article 7.
b) the program of activities with an indication of the timing of their implementation (time schedule);
c) an analytical estimate, accompanied by a detailed description of the expenses, which indicates compliance with the eligibility criteria referred to in the following Article 6; the financial statement should describe in detail the expenses to be incurred, broken down into costs to be borne by the proponent and/or any other contributions and contributors and the costs to be borne by MFAIC, with the relative percentage; any item relating to overheads must not exceed 8% of the subtotal costs of the initiative;
d) a description of the proposing entity, with a summary of the type of activities carried out by the same, highlighting the previous experience gained in the sector on which the proposal is based (projects carried out and overall value).
e) the administrative data of the entity (company name, address, contact person, email address and, if Italian, the tax code and/or VAT number);
f) bank account details, which must be in the name of the applicant body, on which to credit the contribution in case of selection of the proposal;
g) any other information/documentation deemed useful for evaluating the initiative.
2. In addition to the Attachments A1 and A2 referred to in paragraph 1, the following must also be attached to the Application for Contribution (Annex A), including a translation in Italian or English:
a) instrument of incorporation and the statutes of the Entity (in a certified copy of the original);
b) final balance sheet for the financial year 2021, approved by the competent statutory bodies (in a certified copy of the original);
c) budget for the financial year 2022 and any note of variation thereof, approved by the competent statutory bodies (in a certified copy of the original);
d) reports of the auditors on the abovementioned financial statements, where an auditing body is required by the statute of the applicant entity (in a certified copy of the original);
e) list of the names of the members of the governing bodies, on the entity’s headed paper;
f) list of public and private funding/contributions received in 2021 and expected or received in 2022, on the entity’s headed paper;
g) organic plant with indication of staff with permanent contracts and managers, on the entity’s headed paper;
h) summary list of the facilities and equipment available to the entity for carrying out its activities, on the entity’s headed paper;
3. The documentation listed above must be electronically signed by the competent administrative bodies; alternatively, where the electronic signature is not available, a photocopy of an identity document of the subscriber may be attached to the aforementioned documentation. The declaration of a certified copy of the original can be made using the model referred to in Annex B – Declaration of Certified Copy. In the case of a certified copy in a foreign language, the relative translations in Italian or English must be attached.
4. The application and all accompanying documentation must be sent in pdf. format files attached to the certified e-mail (PEC) of transmission. Attachments A1 and A2 must also be sent in word and excel format respectively.
5. In the event of incompleteness and any other irregularity found in the documentation received, the DGEU may assign the proposing entity a term, not exceeding ten days, for the necessary declarations/documentation to be integrated or regularized. If the term expires without providing the requested documentation, the proposing entity is automatically excluded from the procedure. Deficiencies in the documentation that do not allow the identification of the content of the proposal or of the person responsible for it are irregularities that cannot be remedied.
Article 6 – Eligibility criteria
1. To be considered admissible, the proposal must:
a) be consistent with the institutional action that the DGEU, Unit for the Adriatic and the Balkans, is called upon to carry out within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, as referred to in Article 3.1 of this Call;
b) contain a request for a grant not exceeding €30,000 in total;
c) contain a request for a grant not exceeding 90% of the total cost of the initiative;
d) provide for a duration not exceeding 12 months, with the obligation to effectively start project activities by 31 December 2022. Failure to start by that date will result in the forfeiture of the contribution and the return of any sums received for the implementation of the approved initiative;
e) be complete with the documentation referred to in Article 5.
Article 7 – Proposal evaluation process
1. The process of approval of the initiatives will be implemented through the stages described below.
2. The Director General for the European Union appoints a Commission in charge of evaluating the proposals. The Commission is chaired by a diplomatic official of not less than a Counsellor of Embassy and is made up of at least three members. The Secretariat of the Commission is provided by the Secretariat of the DGEU and by the Unit for the Adriatic and the Balkans of the same Directorate.
3. The Commission carries out checks on the existence of the requirements referred to in Article 2, on compliance with the terms and conditions set out in Article 4, on the completeness of the accompanying documentation referred to in Article 5, as well as on the eligibility criteria pursuant to Article 6. By checking the eligibility requirements, the Commission will carry out random checks on the veracity of the declarations made in the Request for contribution (Annex A) according to the procedures set out in art. 4.5 of this Call, in compliance with the provisions of art.71 of Presidential Decree 445/2000 and subsequent amendments, and reserves the right to exclude from the evaluation initiatives related to statements and / or documentation found to be wholly or partly untrue, without prejudice to further actions pursuant to art. 75 and 76 of the same Presidential Decree.
4. The Commission assigns a score to each initiative deemed admissible on the basis of the provisions referred to in article 8 below and draws up the single ranking.
Article 8 – Evaluation and scores
1. The Commission referred to in Article 7 assigns a score to each initiative, according to the following evaluation criteria:
a) Quality of the proposals presented in terms of compliance with the purposes outlined in this call, with reference to:
i. consolidation of democratic institutions and strengthening of the process of adhesion of the Western Balkans to the EU;
ii. support to the reconciliation process, at national and regional level, and to the processes on intra-regional integration;
iii. prevention of terrorism and extremism, reform of justice and electoral systems, transparency, fight against corruption and organized crime;
iv. inclusion and enhancement of youth, women, LGBTIQ+ communities and national minorities within the processes of regional reconciliation;
v. strengthening the protection and promotion of human rights;
vi. promotion of dissemination and protection of international and humanitarian law.
Maximum 30 points
b) Quality of the proposals presented in terms of effectiveness and technical validity, as inferred from the presence of:
i. clearly delineated activities and results;
ii. in-depth analysis of the operating context and adequate consideration of any precedents, similar initiatives, also in terms of “lessons learned”;
iii. integration of the proposed activities with other initiatives in the same area/sector of intervention, also with a view to avoiding duplication;
iv. correct risk analysis and adequate assessment of external and/or local conditions, where also relevant in terms of safety.
Maximum 30 points
c) Quality of the overall structure of the proposer with respect to the initiative to be implemented, with regard to:
i. adequacy of the organization chart;
ii. adequacy of the structures and equipment available to the proposer;
iii. balance of the previous year positively or characterized by low debt exposure
Maximum 20 points
d) Adequacy of the initiative in promoting the creation of ad hoc partnerships and consortium between two or more entities, or which are part of international networks that also involve foreign entities and in providing, where relevant, an adequate involvement of local authorities, beneficiaries and local communities.
Maximum 10 points
e) Previous experience in the area or with reference to the activity covered by the proposed initiative, as demonstrable through the implementation and positive conclusion of projects in the geographical or thematic area on which the proposed initiative relates or related to it in the previous five years.
Maximum 10 points
Article 9 – Identification of the eligible proposals
1. Based on the scores assigned to the proposals, the Commission draws up the ranking and proposes it to the DGEU for approval. The initiatives are declared eligible if they have received an evaluation equal to or greater than 60 points, and until the foreseen financial allocation is exhausted.
2. If additional resources become available other than those indicated in Article 1, paragraph 2, the DGEU reserves the right to finance further proposals deemed suitable by the ranking.
3. The eligible proposals identified by the Commission are sent to the Unit for the Adriatic and the Western Balkans for the initiation of the granting process.
4. The entities who have proposed the initiatives usefully placed in the ranking for funding are informed by the DGEU by means of communication via PEC, to which the subject replies via PEC within 10 days, for acceptance, under penalty of forfeiture of the financing.
Article 10 – Method of reporting the expenses incurred for the project
1. The contribution can be paid on reporting in one or more tranches(maximum three). The times of funds transfer will depend on the actual availability of the funds referred to in Article 1, paragraph 2.
2. The related documentation must be presented by the applicant in Italian or English.
3. For each tranche referred to in paragraph 1, the payment of the contributions will be subject to the presentation of a detailed report on the activities carried out and a statement of the expenses incurred in the meantime as follows:
a) summary report of the expenses incurred, drawn up on headed paper and electronically signed by the competent administrative bodies, divided by type of expense (for example: travel expenses, hotels, translations, premises rent, general expenses, etc.), from which it is also inferred that general expenses, including coordination and secretarial expenses, do not exceed 8% of total expenses;
b) detailed list of the same (for example: air tickets, indicating the price for each guest, hotel receipts, catering invoices, etc.), with attachments the originals of all invoices/receipts, made out to the institution, with related receipt or proof of payment. In place of the originals, it is also possible to attach copies of the abovementioned documentation, provided that they are accompanied by a declaration certifying, according to the model referred to in Annex C – Declaration of original supporting documents, their conformity with the originals in the possession of the private entity and that the latter are kept at the institution for any future checks;
c) declaration in which it is specified, according to the model set out in Annex D – Declaration of relevance of the costs of the project, that the costs incurred refer to services actually performed and relating to the initiative;
d) declaration specifying that the entity has not received other contributions or indemnities for the same expense items;
e) letter containing the tax data and bank details of the beneficiary.
4. If the proposer intends to request an advance payment of all or part of the contribution in 2022, the relevant request must be received by 18 November 2022, 12.00 hrs. In the event of requests received after that date, the settlement will be carried out according to the financial resources available in the course of 2023.
5. The liquidation of the final tranche, or the liquidation in a single reporting solution, of the contribution is also subject to the presentation of a summary report on the results of the initiative carried out.
6. The above documentation must be electronically signed and sent to the certified e-mail address dgue.adriatico-balcani@cert.esteri.it, bearing in the subject the words “REF. Balkans Call 2022” and the name of the beneficiary of the grant.
Article 11 – Transparency
The list of proposals eligible for the grant, as well as the results of the projects that will receive a grant, will be published in a special section of the institutional website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (www.esteri.it).
Article 12- Protection of privacy
The processing of personal data required for participating to the Call for Proposals referred to in this Announcement will conform to the principles of lawfulness, correctness and transparency in order to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons. To this end, the following information is provided, pursuant to Article 13 of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679:
1. The Data Controller is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFAIC) of the Italian Republic which, in this specific case, operates via the Secretariat of the DGEU: dgue.segreteria@esteri.it , tel. 06 36918775.
2. For inquiries or complaints on privacy, the data subject may contact the MFAIC data protection officer / DPO [responsabile protezione dati / RPD] (Piazzale della Farnesina 1, 00135 ROME, tel. 0039 06 36911 -switchboard, e-mail: rpd@esteri.it; pec: rpd@cert.esteri.it).
3. The requested personal data is needed exclusively to select the beneficiaries of contributions of this Call.
4. The legal bases of the processing are this Announcement notice, the rules on administrative transparency and the consent of the interested party. Failure to provide the aforementioned data or withdrawal of consent will render the project proposal inadmissible.
5. Data processing will be carried out in a mixed mode (manual and automated) by the members of the Evaluation Commission, as well as by the staff specifically appointed by the Office of the DGEU;
6. The aforementioned data will be communicated to the supervisory bodies of the MFAIC. For selected subjects, some personal data may be published on the MFAIC website, within the limits provided for by art. 4 bis and 26 of Legislative Decree 33/2013 and subsequent amendments;
7. The data will be kept for 10 years, except for reasons of suspension or interruption of the civil prescription, starting from the date of conclusion of the project as regards the selected entities and from the date of conclusion of the public procedure for the other proposing entities, pursuant to Articles 2220 and 2946 of the Civil Code.
8. The natural persons concerned may request access to their personal data and their rectification. Under the conditions provided for by current legislation and without prejudice to any consequences on the participation in this public procedure, they may also withdraw their consent, request the deletion of data, as well as the limitation of processing or opposition to processing. In the aforementioned cases, interested parties must submit a specific request to the Office indicated in point 1, informing the MFAIC DPO for information.
If one believes his/her privacy rights have been violated, interested parties can file a complaint with the MFAIC RDP. If they are not satisfied with the answer, they can contact the Guarantor for the Protection of Personal Data (Piazza Venezia 11, 00187 ROME, tel. 0039 06696771 (switchboard), peo: garante@gpdp.it , pec: protocol@pec.gpdp.it).
Article 13 – Person in charge of the procedure
Pursuant to Article 5 of the Law No. 241 of 7 August 1990 and subsequent amendments and additions, the person in charge of the procedure is the Cons. Leg. Renato Quartarone, serving at the Unit for the Adriatic and the Balkans of the Directorate General for the European Union of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Rome, 15 July 2022
The Director General
Min. Plen. Vincenzo Celeste
