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ROMANIA
EUROPEAN UNION
MANAGING AUTHORITY
GOVERNMENT OF
BULGARIA
NATIONAL AUTHORITY
MINISTRY OF REGIONAL
DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
MINISTRY OF REGIONAL
DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLIC WOKS
ROMANIA
BULGARIA
Applicants Guide
www.interregrobg.eu
Call for proposals no.3
2017
Applicants Guide
Draft version
2017
Table of Contents
Glossary of terms...................................................................................3
Glossary of Acronyms..............................................................................4
Explanation of text-boxes........................................................................6
Legal basis...........................................................................................6
I. GENERAL INFORMATION........................................................................8
I.1. Overview of Interreg V-A Romania-Bulgaria...............................8
I.2. Programme Strategy..........................................................8
i. Programme Objectives and priority axes..............................9
I.3. Programme Implementation Structures..................................10
I.4. Programme Financial Allocation...........................................10
I.5. Programme Indicators ......................................................11
I.6 Financial allocation for the call for proposals............................14
I.7. State Aid.......................................................................15
I.8. Revenue Generating Projects..............................................17
II. RULES OF THE CALL FOR PROPOSALS.....................................................19
II.1. Type of call for proposals..................................................19
II.2. Eligibility Criteria...........................................................23
i. Eligibility of Applicants..................................................23
ii. Eligibility of Actions.....................................................29
iii. Eligibility of Expenditure.............................................38
II.3. How to apply for funding...................................................40
i. How to fill in the Expression of interest.............................40
ii. How to fill in the Application Form and its Annexes...............46
iii. How to submit the applications......................................69
iv. Deadline for receipt of applications.................................69
II.4. Evaluation and Selection of Applications................................69
III. Pre-Contractual conditions.................................................................73
IV. Annexes.........................................................................................75
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Glossary of terms
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Applicant
Beneficiary
Biodiversity
Discounting
Discount rate
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2017
Eligible
expenditure
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protected
area
Net
Present
Value
(NPV)
Operating
costs
Priority Axis
Potential
applicant
Potential
beneficiary
Project
Reference
period
Residual value
Revenue
generating
project
Revenues
Soft project
Secondary
nodes
Tertiary
nodes
Draft version
2017
flora species, bio-geographical, landscape, geological, paleontological, speleological or other elements and systems with
outstanding ecological, scientific or cultural value, governed by
special preservation and protection rules in compliance with legal
provisions
The sum that results when the expected costs of the investment
are deducted from the discounted value of the expected benefits
Cost incurred in the operation of an investment, including cost of
routine and extraordinary maintenance but excluding depreciation
or capital costs
A strategic priority within the operational programme, that
corresponds to a thematic objective and comprises one or more of
the investment priorities of that thematic objective in line with
the EU Regulations
Any legal entity meeting the eligible criteria for submitting an
application to be financed by the programme
Any applicant or potential applicant is a potential beneficiary until
the decision for financing its project has been issued
An operation comprising a series of works, activities or services
intended in itself to accomplish an indivisible task of a precise
economic or technical nature, which has clearly identified goals,
expressed as the application form and its annexes.
The number of years for which forecasts are provided in the cost
benefit analysis
The net present value of assets at the final year of the reference
period selected for evaluation analysis
Any project involving an investment in infrastructure, the use of
which is subject to charges borne directly by users, and any
project involving the sale or rent of land or buildings or the
provision of services against payment
Income to be expected from an investment through pricing or
charges
Project that does not have an infrastructure component or which
does not grant more than half of its total eligible budget to
purchase of equipments
Secondary nodes are the branching or crossing points of the core
and comprehensive networks, provided they represent cities (at
least of regional importance) and/or multimodal connections
Tertiary nodes are urban areas (regional towns, towns, cities)
providing jobs and public and private services (e.g. schools, health
or social care, employment services, banks) beyond their
administrative boundaries, and/or places of multimodal nodes
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Glossary of Acronyms
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AA
Audit Authority
BG
Republic of Bulgaria
CU
CBC
Cross-Border Cooperation
CBC RO
Calarasi
CBA
EC
European Commission
ERDF
EU
European Union
GD
Government Decision
ICT
IRR
IT
Information Technology
MC
Monitoring Committee
JS
Joint Secretariat
MA
Managing Authority
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MRDPA
MRDPW
MF
MPF
MEF
MoI
MS
Member States
NA
National Authority
NGO
Non-Governmental Organization
NUTS
OP
Operational Programme
PC
Personal Computer
e-MS
PSC
Programme
R&D
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RTD
RO
Romania
SMEs
SWOT
VAT
2017
Explanation of text-boxes
Across the following pages you will find a series of highlighted text. Highlights draw attention
on important issues, possible mistakes or offer practical advices.
Legal basis
In the elaboration of this guide the following legal provisions have been observed:
Interreg V-A Romania-Bulgaria Programme;
Regulation (EU) No 1299/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17
December 2013 on specific provisions for the support from the European Regional
Development Fund to the European territorial cooperation goal
Commission Regulation (EU) No 1301/2013 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 17 December 2013 on the European Regional Development Fund and on the
specific provisions concerning the Investment for growth and jobs goal and repealing
Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006
Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17
December 2013 laying down common provisions on the European Regional
Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European
Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries
Fund and laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development
Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Maritime and
Fisheries Fund and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006
Implementing Acts
(http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/information/implementing/index_en.cfm)
Delegated Acts
(http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/information/delegated/index_en.cfm)
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I. GENERAL INFORMATION
This Applicants Guide aims to provide practical information for project applicants to
the Interreg V-A Romania - Bulgaria. It is the most practical level of documentation
needed for the successful submission of a project under this programme. This guide
provides information on how to fill in the application, budget and related forms, the
application procedure, the project selection criteria, the decision procedure and
other practical advices.
Please bear in mind that this call for proposals only concerns Priority Axis 1, 2
and 3.
I.1. Overview of Interreg V-A Romania-Bulgaria
The Programme is financed by the European Union through the European Regional
Development Fund and co-financed by Romania and Bulgaria through contributions
from state budget and from project beneficiaries.
The programming document drafted jointly by the two countries through a large
partnership with national, regional and local stakeholders was approved by the
European Commission on 12th of February 2015.
The Programmes eligible area includes 7 counties from Romania (Mehedinti, Dolj,
Olt, Teleorman, Giurgiu, Calarasi, Constanta) and 8 districts from Republic of Bulgaria
(Vidin, Montana, Vratsa, Pleven, Veliko Tarnovo, Ruse, Silistra, Dobrich).
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The above specific objectives and priority axes focus on the establishment of a sound
basis for joint development of the eligible area.
For further details on programme strategy please refer to the programming
document and to the Project Implementation Manual.
Only the first five priority axes finance projects submitted by regular applicants
while the sixth one is dedicated to ensuring the proper functioning of the
programme implementation bodies.
I.3. Programme Implementation Structures
According to the EU Regulations on Structural Instruments, the two partner states in
the programme - Romania and Bulgaria - have established a number of bodies forming
the implementation and monitoring mechanism of the programme. The most relevant
bodies for the potential beneficiaries are:
Managing Authority (MA) the Romanian Ministry of Regional Development and Public
Administration - is responsible for managing and implementing the operational
programme in accordance with EC Regulations and the principles of sound financial
management. The Managing Authority signs the ERDF subsidy contracts with the Lead
Beneficiaries as well as the co-financing contracts with the Romanian project partners
(for the co-financing granted from the Romanian state budget). The Managing
Authority took over the role of certifying the expenditures (role of Certifying
Authority).
National Authority (NA) - the Bulgarian Ministry of Regional Development and Public
Works is the counterpart of the Managing Authority and will sign the co-financing
contracts with the Bulgarian project partners (for the co-financing granted from the
Bulgarian state budget).
Monitoring Committee (MC) is formed of representatives at national, regional and
local level from both countries, supervises the programme and selects the projects.
All the decisions relevant for the Programme implementation are taken by the
Monitoring Committee.
Joint Secretariat (JS) is based within the Cross Border Cooperation Regional Office
Calarasi for Romania-Bulgaria Border, situated in Calarasi (Romania), within the Cross
Border Cooperation Regional Office Calarasi for Romania-Bulgaria Border. It assists the
Managing Authority in carrying out their respective duties and is the main contact
point between the programme and the potential beneficiaries/project partners.
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A JS Antenna (JSA) is a structure within the CBC RO Calarasi, organized as its branch,
located in Ruse, Bulgaria, that develops information and monitoring related activities,
having as main role to serve as local contact point for potential beneficiaries/project
partners (tasks related to information and monitoring).
For further details on programme implementation structure please refer to the
programming document.
I.4. Programme Financial Allocation
The total budget of the programme for the entire 7-year programming period is
258,504,126 Euro, of which 215,745,513 Euro is represented by EU contribution
through the European Regional Development Fund. The remaining 42,758,613 Euro are
national contributions from state budgets and project partners.
The breakdown of the total budget of the programme on priority axes and national
contributions approved by the European Commission as part of the programme is
shown in the table below:
Priority axes by source of funding (in euro)
Community
Funding
National
counterpart
Total funding
(a)
(b)
(a)+(b)
81,983,295
14,467,641
96,450,936
53,936,379
9,518,185
63,454,564
40,991,647
7,233,821
48,225,468
2,665,093
17,767,279
1,903,637
12,690,913
Priority Axis 6
Assistance
12,944,730
6,970,236
19,914,966
215,745,513
42,758,613
258,504,126
ERDF (a)
Priority Axis 1
connected region
Total
well
Technical
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*Includes the contributions from state budgets and local budgets from both countries
For further details on programme financial provisions please refer to the programming
document and to the Project Implementation Manual.
Please note that the programme financial allocation is not broken down by state or
NUTS III eligible region (county/district).
I.5. Programme Indicators targeted by the call
The focus in the 2014-2020 programming period is on the results.
The Programme results are measured by indicators. The performance framework is
one of the tools to achieve a result-orientation of the ESI Funds. It is a table in which
a set of milestones and targets is defined for each priority in the programme. The
achievement of milestones will be assessed by the European Commission in 2019 and
in case of failure it could lead to the suspension of payments. The achievements of
final targets will be assessed in 2025 and might form the basis of financial
corrections.
Indicators measure whether the project has achieved its objectives or not. In this
respect, each project must contribute to the achieving of the programme indicators
(both output and result indicators). The choice of appropriate indicators and the way
your project contributes to the Programme results is important for the project and its
selection by the Monitoring Committee.
Below you will find a situation of Programme indicators targeted by the present calls
(outputs and results), namely the indicators which are not reached or overreached (in
principle) after selection of projects under the first call, as well as their current
status.
Attention! The current call will finance only project proposals contributing to the
below indicators.
Priority Axis 1 A well connected region
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Output indicators
2017
Programme
Target
Contribution
of
projects
selected
under the first call
To be achieved
(by the present
call)
120 km
79.940 km
40.06 km
30
22
20 km
8 km
12 km
81,983,295.00
euro
31,593,951.74 euro
50,389,343.26
euro
Contribution
of
projects
selected
under the first call
To be achieved
(by the present
call)
1,83%
21.88%
I5 - Financial indicator
Result indicators
or
Programme
Target
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Output indicators
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Programme
Target
Contribution
of
projects selected
under the first call
To
be
achieved (by
the
present
call)
I9 - Number of integrated
tourism
products/services
created
100
52
48
50
24
26
53,936,379.00
euro
23,032,651.01 euro
30,903,727.99
euro
Programme
Target
Contribution
of
projects
selected
under the first call
To
be
achieved (by
the present
call)
1,250,000.00
692,871.00
557,129.00
I17 - Population
from forest fire
measures
1,250,000.00
540,006.00
709,994.00
I18
Number
of
joint
partnerships in the field of
joint
early
warning
and
emergency response
50
41
40,991,647.00
euro
27,586,520.64 euro
13,405,126.3
6 euro
benefiting
protection
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Result indicators
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Programme
Target
The satisfaction
degree of the
stakeholders in
the area 3 satisfactory
2017
Contribution
of
projects
selected
under the first call
12 projects will
provide
contribution to this
indicator.
To
be
achieved
(by
the
present
call)
Since this is a
qualitative
indicator, a
quantificatio
n of projects
contribution
cannot
be
made at the
present
moment.
Therefore
surveys shall
be used for
identify the
satisfaction
degree of the
stakeholders
in the area.
N.B. The indicators marked in red are concerning the performance framework
I.6 Financial allocation for the call for proposals
The total amount allocated for this call for proposals for the three priority axes,
matched by national public and private funding is TBD Euro, broken down as
follows:
Priority Axis
Community Funding
Total funding
ERDF (a)
National
counterpart*
(a)
(b)
(a)+(b)
PA1
PA2
PA3
Total
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*Includes the contributions from state budgets and local budgets from both
countries
First, the status of the entity under national law is not decisive. For example, an
entity that is classified as an association or a sports club under national law may
nevertheless have to be regarded as an undertaking within the meaning of Article
107(1) of the Treaty. The only relevant criterion in this respect is whether it
carries out an economic activity.
Second, the application of the state aid rules as such does not depend on
whether the entity is set up to generate profits.
1 See also the Commission Notice on the notion of State aid as referred to in Article 107(1)
of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (2016/C 262/01)
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
www.interregrobg.eu
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2 Provision of R&D services and R&D carried out on behalf of undertakings are not
considered as independent R&D
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
www.interregrobg.eu
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measures:
In the preparation phase, in the application form, the applicants shall mention if
their project is revenue generating 3. The projects generated net revenues are
deducted from the investment cost, thus establishing the eligible costs of the
project.
According to the EC interpretation (please see the EC documents related to the revenuegeneration
projects)
corroborated
with
the
EIB
interpretation
(http://www.eib.org/epec/resources/blending-ue-structural-investment-fund-ppp):
Project
revenues comprise cash inflows from private users (i.e. not including availability payments made by
the procuring authority) for the use of the service (or part of the service) provided by the project,
as well as any cash from the sale or rent of buildings.Therefore, it has to be determined and
justified by the beneficiaries in the Application Form whether the project has positive or negative
net revenue.
If a projects revenue is less than its operating costs (i.e. negative net revenue), the project is no
longer considered a revenue-generating project (independent of whether or not the infrastructure
asset has a positive residual value).
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The projects budget included in the application form shall not include the net
revenue. Net revenue shall be mentioned however, in the application form in
section 2.8.
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the result youre going for (and how is that related to the Programme
indicators)
For the expressions of interest the project indicative budget will also be mentioned in
this section as well as reference of the project contribution to the achievement of the
Programmes Output Indicators targeted by the 3-rd call.
PART B Project Partners
Annexes to be submitted on stage 1:
1 Declaration of submission
2 Legal documents of the applicants
3 Mandates of delegation from the legal representatives of beneficiaries, if the
case
4 Declarations of Eligibility
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
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5 Declarations of Commitment
6 Partnership declarations
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The maximum number of beneficiaries in a project will be five (5), including the
Lead Beneficiary!
Please make sure you correlate the budget of your project with the contribution
you bring to the Programme indicators listed in the table in section I.5 above
(for this, please consult the available financial allocation).
The expressions of interest are to be submitted within the deadline only via the E-MS
system from the link: http://tstrobg.mdrap.ro/.
Please note this is a demo version for you to see how the system works and the
real version might be slightly changed. The demo version does not reflect at the
moment the two step process, however the information from the application form
will not change!
Please note that in order to upload the expression of interest the Lead Beneficiary
must create a user account. We highly recommend you to create the user and
password at least a week before the deadline in order to avoid any difficulties.
The deadline is: .2017 (16:00 oclock)
Please note that the system is allowing uploading expressions of interest within
the abovementioned deadline, you will not be able to upload it afterwards,
therefore we strongly encourage you not to wait until the last day to upload your
expression of interest.
The Programme bodies will assess the expression of interest and eligibility of
applicants during phase 1 according to the criteria in Annex B.
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i. Eligibility of Applicants
The applicants have to comply with a set of requirements related to their:
- legal status,
- geographical location,
- professional and financial background.
(1) The applicants must fulfill the following criteria:
Be Romanian or Bulgarian non-profit making bodies/organizations (that were not
established with the goal to obtain profit), legally established according to the
national legislation of the state on whose territory they are located;
Be non-governmental organizations (associations or foundations), public sector
operators, local/regional/national authorities which fulfill one of the following
criteria:
have their headquarters in the eligible cross border region or;
are organizations whose headquarters are not situated in the eligible area, but
are located in Romania or Bulgaria and have local/regional branch offices with legal
statute (legal entity) established in the eligible area.
are Romanian or Bulgarian national public authorities whose area of
competence, established by legal acts, extends to the eligible area of the
programme.
If the applicant has its headquarters outside the eligible area but the legal
possibility to open a local/regional branch office with legal personality exists, than
this branch should apply for financing without any budgetary restrictions. In case
the above applicants do not have the option of opening and applying with an
local/regional branch office with legal personality they may participate in project
provided that the project budget limitation of 20% for partners outside the
programme eligible area is respected.
In case the applicant is a Romanian or Bulgarian national public authority whose
area of competence, established by legal acts, extends to the eligible area of the
programme, than the applicant may apply without any budgetary restriction.
The applicants, located in Romania and Bulgaria, but whose headquarters are not
situated in the eligible area and cannot legally open a local/regional branch office
with legal personality in the eligible area and whose area of competence does not
extend to the eligible area may participate in projects provided that the project
budget limitation of 20% for partners outside the programme eligible area is
respected . In this case the applicant should be the mother organization.
Be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action together
with their partners, not acting as an intermediary (e.g. one of the partner has a
single task, for example some communication activities, and plans to externalize
entirely that activity, thus its role in the project is purely formal, the respective
partner, in this case, would act as an intermediary);
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
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Appoint, for each project, a lead beneficiary among the project partners. The
tasks of the Lead Beneficiary are provided in the framework subsidy contract (Annex
H) and in the model partnership agreement (Annex J);
Have at least one partner on the other side of the border, which must fulfill the same
eligibility criteria. Applicants without any partners from the other side of the border
will not be eligible (with the exception of sole beneficiaries, as defined art. 12 of
Regulation 1299/2013);
The maximum number of beneficiaries in a project will be five (5), including the
Lead Beneficiary!
Have stable and sufficient financing sources to ensure the continuity of the
operation of their organization throughout the project and, if necessary, to
contribute to its financing;
Have not benefited of financing support from public funds in the past 5 years before
the deadline for submitting the applications under this call for proposals for the
same project in terms of objectives, activities and results (for infrastructure
projects, this provision refers to the same infrastructure/segment of infrastructure).
For investment projects, the applicants must prove they hold a right under the
property law over the land and/or building by the following documents:
a) the applicant is the owner of the land and/or building:
1. for public authorities:
- the legal act (e.g. government decision, law, government ordinance,
decision of local counties, Council of Ministers Decrees etc.) stating the
public property on the land and/or building;
- documents related to the registration of property of the respective
applicant on the land and/or building in the relevant public registers.
2. for NGOs
- property act on the land and/or building;
- documents related to the registration of the land and/or building in the
relevant public registers.
b) the applicant has received the land and/or building in concession or holds any
other right under the property law:
1. for public authorities:
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the legal act proving the concession or the real property right; it must be
proved that the duration of the concession of the land and/or building is
in line with the provisions of article 71, paragraph 1 from Regulation
1303/2013 and that the owner of the land and/or building has given his
written agreement saying that the applicant may perform the investment.
- Declaration from the land and/or building owner that the land and/or
building is:
o free of any encumbrances;
o not the object of an pending litigation;
o not the object of a claim according to the relevant national
legislation.
The land and/or building, which are subject of the application for financial
support for investment, must:
-
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All applicants (Lead beneficiaries and Project Beneficiaries) shall prove their
professional and financial liability by not falling under any of the cases presented
below.
Potential applicants are not allowed to participate in calls for proposals if:
(a) they are bankrupt or being wound up, they have their affairs administered by the
courts, they have entered into an arrangement with creditors, they have
suspended business activities, they are the subject of proceedings concerning
those matters or they are in any analogous situation, arising from a similar
procedure provided for in the national legislation or EU regulations;
(b) the legal representative has been convicted of an offence concerning professional
conduct by a judgment which has the force of res judicata (i.e., against which no
appeal is possible);
(c) the legal representative is guilty of serious professional misconduct proven by any
means;
(d) they have not fulfilled obligations related to the payment of debts to the central
or local budget;
(e) the legal representative has been the subject of a judgment which has the force of
res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organization or any
other illegal activity detrimental to the Communities or national financial
interests;
(f) they have been declared to be in serious breach of contract for failure to comply
with their contractual obligations in connection with a procurement procedure or
other grant award procedure financed by the Community or national budget.
Applicants are also excluded from participation in calls for proposals or the award of
financial support if, at the time of the call for proposals, they:
(g) are subject to a conflict of interests; the conflict of interests represents any
circumstances that may affect the evaluation or implementation process, in an
objective and impartial manner. Such circumstances may result from economic
interests, political or national preferences or family connections.
(h) are guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the information required by the
Managing Authority/ Joint Secretariat as a condition of participation in the call for
proposals or fail to supply this information;
(i) have attempted to obtain confidential information or influence the evaluation
bodies during the evaluation process of current or previous calls for proposals
under the Programme;
In the cases referred to in points (a), (c), (d), (f), (h) and (i) above, the exclusion
applies for a period of two years from the time when the infringement is established.
In the cases referred to in points (b) and (e), the exclusion applies for a period of four
years from the date of notification of the judgment.
In the signed Declaration of eligibility included in the application form (Annex A.4),
applicants must declare that they do not fall into any of the above categories (a) to
(i).
The applicants must state their financial and administrative capacity to manage
their share of the project, namely:
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
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have the capacity to ensure their own contribution and the financing for noneligible expenditures of the project; they must also have the capacity to ensure
the temporary availability of funds until they are reimbursed by the programme.
The own contribution represents the share of the total eligible expenditure
that will be supported by the beneficiaries of the project;
The value of the own contribution of the applicant, the list of eligible expenditures
and the list of Ceilings for expenditure (Annex D to the present Guide, the prices are
calculated without VAT) must be followed when completing the budget of the project
in the Application Form. In case equipment is not on the list or beneficiary duly
justifies enhanced/superior technical specifications for an item, 3 offers or an
independent evaluation of the cost will be provided. Independent evaluations are to
be provided only in case of special items, where 3 offers cannot be provided. They
are provided by an expert, a person that has the know-how on that particular item.
The applicant should prove the absolute necessity of purchasing of equipment with
enhanced/superior parameters and to demonstrate how it will contribute to the
implementation of project activities and achievement of programme indicators. In
case the service which is going to be purchased is not following the list of ceilings,
the proposal to exceed the ceiling will be analyzed, when a proper and clear
justification is provided, as well as the related supporting documents (including 3
offers or an independent evaluation of the cost). The proposal will be analyzed and
will be subject to acceptance / rejection from the evaluators.
In case you do not submit the 3 offers to the evaluators (clarifications included, if
applicable), nor an independent evaluation, if the case, nor observe Annex D,
then the following consequences exist:
-for services: the entire amount for the service concerned will be deducted from
the budget
-for equipment: the evaluators will amend the budget with the price they consider
reasonable, according to their professional judgment.
Any non-eligible expenditure and any additional expenditure that may appear in the
implementation period of the project shall be covered by the applicants.
All applicants shall annex to the Application form the Declaration of Commitment
(Annex A.5) regarding the coverage of expenditures related to the project.
According to the Declaration of Commitment, the applicants shall:
- provide their own contribution to the eligible expenditure and ensure the
temporary availability of funds necessary to run the project until their
expenditures will be reimbursed;
- cover all non-eligible expenditures corresponding to their activities incurred
during project implementation;
- ensure that the representatives in the project management team are available
throughout the entire project implementation period;
- ensure the availability of all other resources planned to be used for
implementing the project, as they were described within the Application Form.
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
www.interregrobg.eu
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The Managing Authority or the Joint Secretariat may demand at any time additional
documentary evidence and argumentations regarding financial capacity.
Examples of potential applicants for all three Priority axes (list is indicative,
not exhaustive):
Counties/ District Administrations;
Bodies governed by public law;
Cities/Communes/Municipalities;
Associations of local public authorities;
Chambers of Commerce/ SMEs associations;
Educational and research institutions (schools, universities etc.);
Ministries and their local/regional departments/bodies;
NGOs acting in the fields addressed by the present call
EGTCs.
Given the provisions of the General Regulation concerning the durability of
operations, the duration of an entity acting as beneficiary under this
programme, according to its legal establishing documents, should be at least 5
years from the final payment to the beneficiary.
All State Aid provisions must be observed! (see I.7 and sections dedicated to the
eligibility of actions II.2.ii)
ii. Eligibility of Actions
The project must be in line with the specific objective of the priority axis for which
the Lead Beneficiary applies.
The activities have to be implemented in the Programme eligible area. However,
in case a project has to be implemented partially outside the eligible area, it has
to prove that it is for the benefit of the programme area. The share of the costs
incurred outside of the eligible area (related to any activity or any category of
expenditure) shall be limited to 20% of the total eligible project budget,
irrespective of the location of the partner.
In order to avoid the risk of double financing the activities proposed must not be
financed by EU funded programmes or projects in Romania and Bulgaria. All State
Aid provisions must be observed for any type of action! (see I.7)
Please pay special attention to the types of actions marked with a * or **,
which were identified as being most susceptible to be subject of state aid
provisions!
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
www.interregrobg.eu
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management plans,
etc., related to works
in order to connect
reduce transportation
2. Developing co-ordinated concepts, standards and tools on the cross-border level for
improved mobility services in the public interest (e.g. for disadvantaged groups, for
shrinking regions);
3. Facilitating active cooperation among the providers of traffic and travel
information and value added services in order to improve the local public transport in
the cross-border area and the connection between twin cities (e.g., harmonisation of
timetables, provision of bilingual information on cross-border timetables, operating
cross-border transport public services especially between twin cities);
4. Improving the cross-border secondary and tertiary nodes connections to TEN-T
infrastructure (e.g., improve/build bicycle routes, bicycle-sheds, construction and
modernization of road infrastructure)*
5. Setting up of joint traffic management for smart mobility in the cross-border area
(e.g. route guidance, incidents/emergencies detection and management, studies on
traffic flows, traffic safety measures, black-spot maps)
Types of outputs
Within the indicative operations different types of outputs can be obtained. Types of
outputs (without being limited to this list) can thus be:
o Joint solutions and strategies in order to connect secondary and tertiary nodes
to TEN-T infrastructure and to reduce transportation time and improve public
mobility services;
o Investments for the construction/modernization of road infrastructure,
(including) to improve the cross-border secondary and tertiary nodes
connections to TEN-T infrastructure.
Project duration
For soft projects, the duration of a project should not exceed 18 months from the
starting date of the project.
For hard projects, the duration of a project should not exceed 36 months from the
starting date of the project.
Project budget
For soft projects, the total financial support from the programme for one project
will range between 200,000 Euro and 600,000 Euro.
For hard projects, the total financial support from the programme for one project
will range between 1.000,000 Euro and 8,000,000 Euro. In case a entire new road is
constructed, the budget could go up to 10,000,000 Euro.
Please make sure you correlate the budget to the contribution to indicators. The
maximum limit is envisaged only for projects ensuring a major contribution to an
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
www.interregrobg.eu
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Figure 1: Infrastructure map, including indicative secondary and tertiary nodes (indicative map)
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the beneficiary has the obligation to stipulate in the contract that all
renovation or reparation works must be supported by the economic operator to
who the contract is awarded.
The existence of state aid is excluded where the State acts by exercising public
power or where authorities emanating from the State act in their capacity as
public authorities. Any entity may be deemed to act by exercising public powers
where the activity in question is a task that forms part of the essential functions of
the State or is connected with those functions by its nature, its aim and the rules
to which it is subject. Generally speaking, unless the Member State concerned has
decided to introduce market mechanisms, activities that intrinsically form part of
the prerogatives of official authority and are performed by the State do not
constitute economic activities. Examples are activities related to: the army or the
police; air navigation safety and control; maritime traffic control and safety; antipollution surveillance and the organisation, financing and enforcement of prison
sentences.
Indicative operations
1. Exchanging experience: joint seminars, study visits, surveys and trainings leading to
implementation of new methods in order to maintain the navigability of the
Danube/Black Sea during winter as well.
2. Investing (infrastructure and equipment) in improved freight and passenger on river
and sea transport on cross-border level*;
3. Developing integrated plans and measures in order to improve the navigation
conditions for the common sector of the Danube and the Black Sea in the cross-border
area (e.g., joint feasibility studies, engineering planning documents, morphological
and hydrodynamic studies in establishing the sediment accumulation conditions etc.
on river regulation works, unify the reference system used in Romania and Bulgaria on
the Danube and introduce the River Information system, elaboration of maritime
spatial plans (MSP) for the Black Sea);
4. Developing and implementing joint co-ordinated strategies, tools and pilot
applications to improve the development of multimodal nodes and port services;
Types of outputs
Within the indicative operations different types of outputs can be obtained. Types of
outputs (without being limited to this list) can thus be:
o Integrated plans and measures in order to improve the navigation conditions;
o Joint co-ordinated strategies, tools and pilot applications;
o Investments to improve freight and passenger river and sea transport.
Project duration
o For soft projects, the duration of a project should not exceed 18 months
from the starting date of the project.
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
www.interregrobg.eu
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o For hard projects, the duration of a project should not exceed 36 months
from the starting date of the project.
Project budget
For soft projects, the total financial support from the programme for one project
will range between 200,000 Euro and 600,000 Euro.
For hard projects, the total financial support from the programme for one project
will range between 1.000,000 Euro and 6,000,000 Euro.
Priority axis 2 - A green region
State aid: Please note that the costs for participation of undertakings in fairs are not
eligible.
State aid: for the actions marked with * the following conditions must also be
observed:
* The infrastructure is not designated to selectively favor a specific undertaking or
sector but provides benefits for society at large;
* Should not confer an indirect advantage (should not channel its secondary effects
towards identifiable undertakings or group of undertakings);
* Wide dissemination of common tourism products and services on a non-exclusive and
non-discriminatory basis. The tourism products/cultural events must not grant an
advantage in a selective way to certain undertakings or categories of undertakings,
therefore their must not contain any reference to a particular tour operator /some
tour operators
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Project duration
o For soft projects, the duration of a project should not exceed 18 months
from the starting date of the project.
o For hard projects, the duration of a project should not exceed 36 months
from the starting date of the project.
Project budget
o For soft projects, the total financial support from the programme for one
project will range between 200,000 Euro and 600,000 Euro.
o For hard projects, the total financial support from the programme for one
project will range between 500,000 Euro and 1,000,000 Euro.
Obiectivul specific 2.1 Pentru a mbunti utilizarea durabil a patrimoniului i a resurselor
naturale i a patrimoniului cultural
1. Pregtirea de studii comune, strategii, planuri comune de management, etc., n domeniul
conservrii comune, dezvoltarea i utilizarea patrimoniului cultural / naturale
2. Modernizari / construcia de drumuri la punctele de interes ale patrimoniului natural i
cultural, care vor face parte dintr-un produs turistic transfrontalier *
3. Dezvoltarea de produse i servicii turistice comune, bazate pe patrimoniul natural i
cultural i promovarea n comun *
Tipuri de ieiri
n cadrul operaiunilor indicative pot fi obinute diferite tipuri de ie iri. Tipuri de ie iri (fr
a fi limitat la aceast list) pot fi:
o studii, strategii, planuri comune de management pentru conservarea, dezvoltarea i
promovarea patrimoniului cultural / natural;
o produse i servicii turistice comune, bazate pe utilizarea n comun durabil a patrimoniului
cultural / natural;
o Investiii n infrastructura turistic i culturale monumente comune i durabile pentru a
dezvolta patrimoniul cultural / natural.
durata proiectului
o Pentru proiectele "soft", durata unui proiect nu trebuie s dep easc 18 luni de la data de
ncepere a proiectului.
o Pentru proiectele "hard", durata unui proiect nu trebuie s dep easc 36 de luni de la data
de ncepere a proiectului.
Bugetul proiectului
o Pentru proiectele "soft", sprijinul financiar total din partea programului pentru un proiect va
varia intre 200.000 Euro si 600.000 Euro.
o Pentru proiectele "hard", sprijinul financiar total din partea programului pentru un proiect
va varia ntre 500.000 Euro i 1.000.000 Euro.
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Types of outputs
Within the indicative operations different types of outputs can be obtained. Types of
outputs (without being limited to this list) can thus be:
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
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o Common strategies for hazard management and risk prevention including joint
action plans;
o Joint partnerships created in the field of joint early warning and emergency
response;
o Action plans for disaster resilience and mitigation;
o Integrated and common standards for the urban planning and risk management
o Equipment in the field of environmental parameters monitoring, equipment in
the field of hazard management and disaster resilience;
o Awareness raising campaigns for the cross-border population on the hazards
and risk and on the measures for their mitigation, management, reduction;
o Exchanges of experiences.
Project duration
For soft projects, the duration of a project should not exceed 18 months from the
starting date of the project.
For hard projects, the duration of a project should not exceed 36 months from the
starting date of the project.
Project budget
For soft projects, the total financial support from the programme for one project
will range between 200,000 Euro and 600,000 Euro.
For hard projects, the total financial support from the programme for one project
will range between 500,000 Euro and 1,000,000 Euro.
Please make sure you correlate the budget to the contribution to indicators. The
maximum limit is envisaged only for projects ensuring a major contribution to an
indicator targeted by the call or for contribution to multiple indicators targeted by
the call.
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Declarations.
Joint implementation means that activities must be carried out and
coordinated among partners on both sides of the border. It is not enough that
activities run in parallel. There must be clear content-based links between what
is happening on either side of the border and regular contact between the two
sides. The Lead Beneficiary is responsible for ensuring that activities are
properly coordinated, that schedules are kept and that the right quality levels
are achieved;
Joint staffing means that the project should not duplicate functions on either
side of the border. Therefore, regardless of where the person is located, there
should be one joint project manager, one joint financial manager etc., (of
course more staff may be required for larger projects). These staff will be
responsible for project activities on both sides of the border. The Lead
Beneficiary is generally the employer of core project staff;
Joint financing means that there will be only one contract per project and
therefore there must be one joint project budget. The budget should be divided
between partners according to the activities carried out. A project with 0 Euro
or very small financing from one side of the border cannot be considered as
having joint financing. There is also only one project bank account for the ERDF
contribution (held by the Lead Beneficiary) and payments representing EU
support are made from the programme to this account. The Lead Beneficiary is
responsible for administration and distribution of these funds and for reporting
on their use. Match-funding should come from both sides of the border and
illustrates the commitment by each partner to the joint project.
To be noted that according to article 12 from Regulation 1299/2013, operations
selected under cross-border cooperation shall involve beneficiaries from both
participating countries. An operation may be implemented in a single country,
provided that cross-border or transnational impacts and benefits are identified.
Applicable law
The projects must be in line with the relevant national and European legislation
(including that concerning equal opportunities, environmental protection and public
procurement). The project must observe the European legislation provisions on
information and publicity.
The project must include activities for information and publicity, according to
the European Commission Regulations and observing the Visual Identity Manual
of the Programme (published at www.interregrobg.com).
Programme/project financing
The ERDF will finance 85% of the eligible expenditure and the state budgets of the
two countries shall provide an additional 13% to public bodies and NGOs. 2%
represents own contribution of project partners. This means that every single cent
financed from the operation shall be reimbursed from these three sources, not that
part of the expenditures will be financed by ERDF and part from national cofinancing.
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Eligibility of Expenditure
is necessary for initiating and carrying out the project and must comply with the
principles of sound financial management, in particular value for money and costeffectiveness.
it does not exceed the ceiling set in the present Guide (Annex D). Please note
that the prices in the annex exclude the VAT, so in case your organization does not
recover the VAT you can add it in the prices budgeted for the project. In case one
item is not found in Annex D, the projects must submit evidence about the market
price of that particular item (either 3 offers from operators well-known on the
market print-screens from websites of such operators are accepted, prints from
national systems on public procurements are accepted - or an independent
evaluation of the cost of that particular item). In case of 3 offers, the budgeted
prices must not exceed the average value of the 3 offers (calculated at the
Inforeuro exchange rate from September 2016). In case equipment is not on the
list or beneficiary duly justifies enhanced/superior technical specifications for an
item, 3 offers or an independent evaluation of the cost will be provided. The
applicant should prove the absolute necessity of purchasing of equipment with
enhanced/superior parameters and to demonstrate how it will contribute to the
implementation of project activities and achievement of programme indicators. In
case the service which is going to be purchased is not following the list of
ceilings, the proposal to exceed the ceiling will be analyzed, provided a proper
and clear justification is provided, as well as the related supporting documents
(including 3 offers or an independent evaluation of the cost). The proposal will be
analyzed and will be subject to acceptance / rejection from the evaluators.
Annex D values will be periodically updated and during the implementation period
of the projects, the beneficiaries may use the updated version, provided the total
budget per category of expenditure is not exceeded.
the costs are definitively borne by the partner and would not have arisen without
the project.
Is paid out by the beneficiary the latest in 2 months after the project
implementation period, but no later than 31.12.2023 (but please note the
expenditures committed after the implementation period are not eligible, the
commitment for the expenditure must be made at the latest before the
finalization of the implementation period).
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the expenditure has actually been paid out. Expenditure is considered to be paid
when the amount is debited from the partner institution bank account. The date
when the invoice was issued, recorded or booked in the accounting system does
not count as a payment date.
Preparation costs are eligible if they are incurred between 01.01.2014 and expression
of interest submission date.
Preparation costs have to be requested for reimbursement at the first reimbursement
claim. Therefore, they have to be paid before requesting the first level control (for
the first reimbursement claim).
Preparation costs include: travel and accommodation costs related to meetings
between project beneficiaries, external expertise and services, feasibility study or
equivalent technical document, Cost Benefit Analysis, studies and costs for
documentation necessary to obtain the necessary endorsements and authorizations,
documentation concerning the urban planning plan, impact assessments, location
studies/appraisals, including their technical verification and shall be reimbursed as
real costs (support documents will be necessary).
Preparation costs are eligible in a 10% limit applied to the direct costs (Budget lines:
Travel and accommodation, External expertise and services, Equipment,
Infrastructure and works).
Implementation expenditures are eligible from the first day after approval of the
project by the Monitoring Committee on the phase two.
The Programme decided to use simplified costs flat rate on staff and office and
administrative costs. For details please consult both Annex List of Eligible
Expenditures and Annex Simplified costs).
Using this simplified cost option means that no justification, no supporting
documents will be requested by any Programme bodies for staff costs and office
and administrative costs.
All national legislation should be observed, regardless of using or not simplified
costs.
II.3. How to apply for funding
i. How to fill in the Expression of interest
The expression of interest is to be submitted via e-MS system accessible from the link:
http://ems-robg.mdrap.ro/app/main?execution=e1s1
The fields to be filled-in for the expression of interest are fields that will be part of
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
www.interregrobg.eu
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the application form in case the expression of interest is selected by the Monitoring
Committee for step 2 (the e-MS will link the expression of interest fields with the
application form).
Make sure you fill in the Expression of Interest fields correctly and completely, in
English.
In order to record an expression of interest in e-MS system, the lead applicant has to
follow the system procedure:
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the common challenge of the programme area you are jointly tackling in your
project;
the overall objective of the project and the expected change your project will
make to the current situation;
the main outputs you will produce and who will benefit from them;
the approach you plan to take and why is cross-border approach needed;
For the expressions of interest the project indicative budget will also be mentioned in
this section.
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Choose the partner role in the project (lead partner/project partner) and
fill in its name in native language and in English, the abbreviation and
the position of the Legal representative (only position in the
organization, not name).
The Lead Beneficiary is responsible for the implementation of the
entire project. The Lead beneficiary will be the addressee of the
entire correspondence during both phase 1 and 2 of the assessment
and during selection process. More information about the role and
tasks of the Lead Beneficiary are included in the draft contracts
annexed to this Applicant Pack.
For address section:
First choose a Nuts 0, Nuts 2 and Nuts 3 regions. In case the partner is
from outside the eligible area of the programme, thick the box From
all regions and then select the relevant option for Nuts 0, Nuts 2 and
Nuts 3 regions.
Fill in the relevant fields for street, number, postal code, City and web
page if the case.
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C.1.2 How does the project tackle the identified common challenges and/or
opportunities and what is new about the approach the project takes?
Please describe new solutions that will be developed during the project and/or
existing solutions that will be adopted and implemented during the project lifetime
and in what way the approach goes beyond existing practice in the
sector/programme area/participating countries.
C.1.3 Why is cross-border cooperation needed to achieve the projects objectives and
result?
Please explain why the project objectives cannot be efficiently reached acting only
on a national/regional/local level and/or describe what benefits the project
partners/target groups/ project area/programme area gain in taking a cross-border
approach.
C.1.4 Please select all cooperation criteria that apply to your project and describe
how you will fulfill them.
The proposal must respect the principles of Joint Development and Joint
Implementation. In addition, you should choose at least one of the following criteria
as well: Joint staffing or Joint financing. In the column Justification, you should
explain how the project meets the selected cooperation criteria.
Avoid answering the question with a simple, one-sentence answer (e.g. The project
proposal was developed by all project partners). You are advised to be more
convincing by describing what has been the exact role of each partner organization in
the project development. The same recommendation refers to the other cooperation
criteria as well.
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! Stick to the essence. Operational details are for the next round.
C.2 Project focus
C.2.1 Project objectives, expected results and main outputs
In this section you will have to explain how your project contributes to the
Programmes result and output indicators and to which ones.
Any further version of the same project proposal will not be considered as valid and
will not be assessed!
ii. How to fill in the Application Form and its Annexes
In case the expression of interest is accepted by the Monitoring Committee for phase
2 of the call, the application form is to be filled in and submitted via E-MS system.
The system will link your expression of interest with the application form (The project
id ROBG-XX will be identical in system).
Make sure you fill in correctly and completely, the application form and its annexes
and annex all related documents. The annexes are part of the Application Form.
Annexes not available as template in the E-MS must be submitted (scan version) using
the standard templates included in the Applicants Guide (pay particular attention to
observing the limit of characters imposed in the template of application formcharacter includes space, otherwise the system will not allow you to submit your
application form).
The application and its annexes must be filled in using English. The supporting
documents issued by national/local authorities or other bodies shall be attached (pdf)
in the original language accompanied by a translation in English (authorized
translations are not required!).
Where the format of the annexes requires, they should be signed and stamped by the
legal representative of the lead beneficiary or of the beneficiary to which the annex
refers (in case of annexes which should be annexed for each beneficiary) or by an
empowered person (a letter of empowerment will be attached) wherever this is
requested by the standard templates.
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
www.interregrobg.eu
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You can watch at the link below tutorials on how to fill in the Application Form.
Please note that not all the fields were used in our application form, so some extra
fields may appear in the tutorial.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvYGVfGv4leEn2QC4ztZAFAwlCQztWGyY.
Please note that the Programme is using simplified costs for staff costs and
administrative costs.
All documents should be valid at the date of submission!
The Application Form will be filled in by the Lead Beneficiary. The Annexes are part of
the Application Form and must also be filled in and submitted in the attachments
section together with the Application form.
In order to record a full application in e-MS system, the Lead Beneficiary has to follow
the system procedure (will edit the expression of interest approved for phase 2).
the common challenge of the programme area you are jointly tackling in your
project;
the overall objective of the project and the expected change your project will
make to the current situation;
the main outputs you will produce and who will benefit from them;
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the approach you plan to take and why is cross-border approach needed;
The information concerning A1 and A2 is already filled in in these fields for the
expression of interest approved for phase 2!
A.3 Project budget overview is automatically filled in by E-MS from part B and part
D
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duly justification!
In case you need to operate such changes, please refer to the indication above for
filling in Part B for the expression of interest.
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Target groups
(automatically
work plan)
inserted
from
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Target value
Please indicate the size
of the target group you
will reach.5
5 To avoid double counting of target groups, the quantification of the target groups reached had to be taken out of the work
plan section.
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
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Indicate if the project contributes to the following strategies and describe in what way.6
EU 2020 Strategy
EU Strategy for the Danube Region
Blue Growth Strategy
Other
EU/national/regional/local
strategies/programmes/initiatives
C.3.2 What are the synergies with past or current EU and other projects or initiatives the project makes
use of?
Relevant strategies need to be listed; its usually only one macro regional or sea basin strategy per programme area.
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Type of contribution
Sustainable development
Equality
women
between
men
and
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In order to record all the work packages the Lead Beneficiary has to follow the eMS procedure:
WP Nr
WP title
WP
month
Project preparation
MM.YYYY
start
WP
month
end
WP budget
Automatically
filled in from part
D or E
MM.YYYY
Partners involvement
Involved partners
Drop-down list
WP Nr
WP title
WP
month
Project management
Automatic
activities
start
from
WP end month
WP budget
Automatic
activities
Automatically
filled in from
from
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part D or E
Partners involvement
WP responsible partner
Involved partners
Drop-down list
Describe how the management on the strategic and operational level will be carried out in the
project, specifically:
-
structure, responsibilities and procedures for the day-to-day management and co-ordination;
D 1.1.1
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Target value
Delivery
month
Activity description
Deliverable
(MM.YYYY)
Activity title
Activit
y 1.2
D 1.2.1
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Target value
Delivery
month
Activity description
Deliverable
(MM.YYYY)
Activity title
Activit
y 1.3
D 1.3.1
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Target value
Delivery
month
Activity description
Deliverable
(MM.YYYY)
Activity title
Activit
y 1.4
Activity description
D 1.4.1
Deliverable
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Target value
Delivery
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month
(MM.YYYY)
Activity title
Activit
y 1.5
D 1.5.1
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Target value
Delivery
month
Activity description
Deliverable
(MM.YYYY)
WP Nr
WP title
WP
month
Communication activities
Automatic
activities
start
from
WP end month
WP budget
Automatic
activities
Automatically
filled in from
part D or E
from
Partners involvement
WP responsible partner
Drop-down list
Involved partners
Drop-down list
Communication objectives
Approach/Tactics
Specific objective 1
(Pre-filled from C.2.1)
Specific objective 2
(Pre-filled from C.2.1)
Specific objective 3
(Pre-filled from C.2.1)
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D 2.1.1
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Target value
Delivery
month
Activity description
Deliverable
(MM.YYYY)
Activity title
Activit
y 2.2
D 2.2.1
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Target value
Delivery
month
Activity description
Deliverable
(MM.YYYY)
Activity title
Activit
y 2.3
D 2.3.1
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Target value
Delivery
month
Activity description
Deliverable
(MM.YYYY)
Activity title
Activit
y 2.4
D 2.4.1
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Target value
Delivery
month
Activity description
Deliverable
(MM.YYYY)
Activity title
Activit
y 2.5
D 2.5.1
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Target value
Delivery
month
Activity description
Deliverable
(MM.YYYY)
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WP Nr
WP title
3-7
IMPLEMENTATION?
Draft version
WP
month
Automatic
activities
2017
start
from
WP end month
WP budget
Automatic
activities
Automatically
filled in from
part D or E
from
Partners involvement
WP responsible partner
Drop-down list
Involved partners
Drop-down list
Summary description and objective of the work package including explanation of how will
partners be involved (who will do what).
Please describe project main outputs that will be delivered based on the activities carried out in
this work package. For each project main output a programme output indicator should be chosen.
Please note that they need to have the same measurement unit.
Project main output7
Quantify
your
contributio
n
Deliver
y
month
Choose
a
programme output
indicator to which
the project main
output
will
contribute
Main output 1
Number
MM.YYYY
Drop-down list
Main output 2
Number
MM.YYYY
Drop-down list
(500 characters)
Output 3.1
(automatic
numbering)
Output 3.2
(automatic
numbering)
Not every work package must/will have one or several project main outputs. Good guidance will be needed to instruct
projects on what to consider a project main output (an output that contributes directly to the project result) and what to
consider a deliverable (a side-product of the project that contributes to the project main output).
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
www.interregrobg.eu
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Output
(automatic
numbering)
Draft version
Main output n
Number
2017
MM.YYYY
Drop-down list
D 3.1.1
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Target value
Delivery
month
Activity description
Deliverable
(MM.YYYY)
Activity title
Activit
y 3.2
D 3.2.1
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Target value
Delivery
month
Activity description
Deliverable
(MM.YYYY)
Activity title
Activit
y 3.3
D 3.3.1
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Target value
Delivery
month
Activity description
Deliverable
(MM.YYYY)
Activity title
Activit
y 3.4
D 3.4.1
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Target value
Delivery
month
Activity description
Deliverable
(MM.YYYY)
Activit
y 3.5
Activity title
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Activity description
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
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D 3.5.1
Draft version
2017
Deliverable
Target value
Delivery
month
(MM.YYYY)
WP Nr
Investment title8
WP
month
Automatic
activities
8-n
start
from
WP end month
WP budget
Automatic
activities
Automatically
filled in from
part D or E
from
Partners involvement
WP responsible partner
Drop-down list
Involved partners
Drop-down list
Summary description and objective of the work package including explanation of how will
partners be involved (who will do what).
Investment description including technical specification and quantification.
Justification
Explain the need for investment to achieve project objectives and results.
Describe clearly the cross-border relevance of the investment.
Describe who is benefiting (e.g. partners, regions, end-users etc.) from this investment and in what
way.
In case of pilot investment, please clarify which problem it tackles, which findings you expect from
it, how it can be replicated and how the experience coming from it will be used for the benefit of
the programme area.
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Investment documentation
Please list all technical requirements and permissions (e.g. building permits) required for the
investment according to the respective national legislation. In case they are already available
attach them to this application form, otherwise indicate when do you expect them to be available.
Ownership
Who owns the site where the investment is located?
Who will retain ownership of the investment at the end of the project?
Who will take care of maintenance of the investment? How will this be done?
Please describe project main outputs that will be delivered based on the activities carried out in
this work package. For each project main output a programme output indicator should be chosen.
Please note that they need to have the same measurement unit.
Project main output9
Quantify
your
contributio
n
Deliver
y
month
Choose
a
programme output
indicator to which
the project main
output
will
contribute
Main output 1
Number
MM.YYYY
Drop-down list
Main output 2
Number
MM.YYYY
Drop-down list
Main output n
Number
MM.YYYY
Drop-down list
Output 8.1
(automatic
numbering)
Output 8.2
(automatic
numbering)
Output
(automatic
numbering)
Not every work package must/will have one or several project main outputs. Good guidance will be needed to instruct
projects on what to consider a project main output (an output that contributes directly to the project result) and what to
consider a deliverable (a side-product of the project that contributes to the project main output).
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
www.interregrobg.eu
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D 8.1.1
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Target value
Delivery
month
Activity description
Deliverable
(MM.YYYY)
Activity title
Activit
y 8.2
D 8.2.1
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Target value
Delivery
month
Activity description
Deliverable
(MM.YYYY)
Activity title
Activit
y 8.3
D 8.3.1
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Target value
Delivery
month
Activity description
Deliverable
(MM.YYYY)
Activity title
Activit
y 8.4
D 8.4.1
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Target value
Delivery
month
Activity description
Deliverable
(MM.YYYY)
Activity title
Activit
y 8.5
D 8.5.1
Start month
End month
(MM.YYYY)
(MM.YYYY)
Target value
Delivery
month
Activity description
Deliverable
(MM.YYYY)
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C.6 Activities outside (the Union part of) the programme area 10
If applicable, please list activities to be carried out outside (the Union part of) the programme
area. Describe how these activities will benefit the programme area.
Total budget of activities to be carried out outside (the Union part of) the
programme area (indicative)
EUR
EUR
manually inserted
manually inserted
10
All activities to be carried out outside the fund eligible area should be described (including activities by
partners located inside and partners located outside (the Union part of) the programme area). In line with Art 20
ETC Regulation, the benefits of any activity carried out outside (the Union part of) the programme area need to be
justified.
11
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Month
1
Period 2
Month
2
Month
3
Month
4
Period 3
Month
5
Month
6
Month
7
Month
8
Month 9
WP 1 title
A 1.1 title
A 1.2 title
D.1.2.113
A 1.3 title
A 1.4 title
A 1.5 title
D.1.4.1
O1.1
WP 2 title
A 2.1 title
A 2.2 title
A 2.3 title
A 2.4 title
A 2.5 title
WP 3 title
Etc.
12
There are different options to show time: implementation month / calendar month / period / quarter of the
year.
13 In case a delivery date has been specified for deliverables (optional field), deliverables could also be shown in
the Gantt chart.
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
www.interregrobg.eu
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C.8 Investments
Investment number
1-n
Title
Description
Justification
Explain the need for the investment to achieve project objectives and results.
Describe clearly the cross-border relevance of the investment.
Describe who is benefiting (e.g. partners, regions, end-users etc.) from this investment
and in what way.
In case of a pilot investment, please clarify which problem it tackles, which findings you
expect from it, how it can be replicated and how the experience coming from it will be
used for the benefit of the programme area.
Location of the physical investment; if possible a concrete address where the investment
will take place
Location
Description of the risks associated with the investment, go/no-go decisions, etc. (if any)
Start date
MM.YYYY
Delivery date
MM.YYYY
Investment documentation
Please list all technical specifications and permissions (e.g. building permits) required for
the investment according to the respective national legislation. If they are already
available, attach them to this Application Form; otherwise indicate when do you expect
them to be available.
(incl. specification
requirements)
and
Responsible partner
Drop-down list
Involved partners
Drop-down list
Ownership
WP nr or Activity nr
Drop-down list
Investment budget
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and
services
WP nr
Drop-down
list
Contracting
partner
Drop-down list
Budget
(breakdown
indicative)
EUR
Automatically filled
from PART D / PART E
Total
Equipment description
Please list and justify
equipment in the project.
Total
WP nr
the
use
of
Drop-down
list
Contracting
partner
Drop-down list
in
Budget
(breakdown
indicative)
EUR
Automatically filled
from PART D / PART E
in
Applicants Guide
Draft version
2017
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the project from the respective first degree depositor to be requested, (e.g. Council
of Ministries for the given example). In case of participation of Bulgarian
municipalities a Decision of Municipal Council regarding the project development and
implementation has to be provided as well.
Annexes 6 to the Application Form - Partnership declarations
The format provided in Annex A.6 will be filled in by each beneficiary, duly signed and
stamped by the legal representative of the Lead Beneficiary and beneficiaries or by
an empowered person (a letter of empowerment and English translation, if issued in
other language than English will be attached to the Application Form in this case) and
will be annexed to the Application Form.
Annex 7 to the Application Form - Cost-Benefit Analysis (only for investment
projects)
Investment projects for which Cost-Benefit Analysis is required will be rejected
without further analysis in case the Cost-Benefit Analysis (Annex A.7) is not
included in the initial package of the Application Form!
The Cost-Benefit Analysis and English translation (if issued in other language than
English) will be annexed to the Application Form. For more explanation on filling in
the
Cost-Benefit
Analysis
please
also
see
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/studies/pdf/cba_guide.pdf.
This annex is mandatory for all applications including infrastructure/investments
generating revenues as it is an evaluation instrument regarding the advantages of the
investments from the point of view of all interested target groups, on the basis of the
monetary values for all positive and negative consequences of the investment.
Important for Bulgarian applicants:
Cost benefit analysis is not required for investment projects related to risk prevention
and development of road infrastructure. Annex(es) 8 to the Application Form Documents certifying the right of property/ concession/ administration/ rent/
loan on the land and/or building and English translation (if issued in other language
than English) will be annexed to the Application Form.
Annex(es) 9 to the Application Form - Feasibility studies / equivalent technical
documents (only for investment projects) and English translation (if issued in other
language than English) will be annexed to the Application Form. For Romanian
beneficiaries it should be annexed: feasibility study for new investments/DALI plus
energy audit plus technical expertise for upgrading/reconstruction. For Bulgarian
beneficiaries it should be annexed: preliminary design (including estimation of bill of
quantities and values) or technical design.
In order to evaluate the technical characteristics of a new investment project, the
applicants must annex the feasibility studies or the equivalent technical documents
for the investment project to the application form. The elaboration and approval of
the feasibility studies or equivalent technical documents must observe the national
provisions in this matter (see Annex L Relevant national and EU legislation).
The Feasibility Study or equivalent technical documents should not have been
elaborated or updated more than 1,5 year before the expression of interest
submission date (the document must bear the date of elaboration/revision). If not,
Annex A.9 will be considered as missing, therefore the project will be rejected.
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
www.interregrobg.eu
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The annexes are being uploaded into the system. Please make sure the size of each
document does not exceed 50 Mb per document.
iv. Deadline for receipt of applications
Expressions of interest (phase one) may be uploaded in the system at any moment
starting with the publication of the present Guide and until
Application forms (phase two) may be uploaded in the system for two months after
the publication on the programme website of the selected expressions of interest by
the Monitoring Committee until .
Projects uploaded in the E-MS system after the deadline will not be taken into
account.
II.4. Evaluation and Selection of Applications
The project evaluation and selection criteria prepared by the Managing Authority
together with the Bulgarian National Authority and the Joint Secretariat are approved
by the Monitoring Committee and are available to potential beneficiaries as annex to
the present Applicants Guide.
For Phase 1:
The assessment of expressions of interest is performed by the Joint Secretariat, after
the deadline set for phase 1 of the call.
In order to pass to phase 2 of the call, an expression of interest has to be first
selected by the Monitoring Committee. The expressions of interest are pre-ranked in
descending order according to the score awarded and are grouped into two
categories:
1. Expressions of interest proposed for selection for phase 2
2. Expressions of interest proposed for rejection
Subsequently, all Lead Beneficiaries will receive notification on the
selection/rejection of their expressions of interest and may appeal the decision of the
Monitoring Committee..
The complaints will be analyzed by a special committee appointed by the Monitoring
Committee, according to the procedure described in Annex G to the present Guide.
For phase 2:
The project evaluation is performed by the Joint Secretariat, with support from
external expertise for technical specific fields in which the JS does not already
possess the expertise.
The evaluators may request clarifications and/or additional documents to be
submitted by the applicant. During the process of evaluation of an application
maximum 3 requests for clarification can be submitted per project.
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
www.interregrobg.eu
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The evaluators shall be very clear in specifying what kind of information and/or
document they ask for and they will equally treat all the applications checked (all
applications with the same type of problem will be requested to clarify the issue in
the same manner).
The clarifications are sent by fax and e-mail (scan version) to the no./address
indicated in the application form/expression of interest.
Applicants will have maximum 5 working days but no less than 3 working days granted
to submit the requested information and/or documents, via the e-MS (change in the
application forms for parts of the application forms/ scanned documents uploaded for
annexes).
The projects evaluation shall be performed after the deadline, for the applications
submitted before the respective deadline.
In order to be considered for financing, the applications must respect the
administrative and eligibility criteria and receive at least 60 points at the technical
and financial evaluation. The 60 points represent a minimum condition and does not
guarantee the project selection, the Monitoring Committees decision takes into
consideration when deciding the list of selected project also the Programme status,
level of reaching indicators, absorption targets, and timeframe also. .
The projects are evaluated in the order they are received. In case a project has at
least 85 points as final score it goes immediately to the Monitoring Committee for
approval and, after observing the contracting procedure, the financing contracts
are signed.
The rest of the projects are proposed for financing when the evaluation is finalized,
according to the score received, in the limit of the available financing and after
analysis of Programme indicators, which may influence the selection process. At the
proposal of the Managing Authority, the Monitoring Committee may decide to create a
reserve list.
The projects are pre-ranked in descending order according to the score awarded and,
taking into consideration also the contribution to Programme indicators (output and
result), grouped into two categories:
1. projects proposed for financing;
2. projects proposed for rejection.
The contribution to Programme indicators (output and result) shall be taken into
consideration at selection.
After the pre-ranking, the projects are forwarded to the Monitoring Committee, which
selects the projects for financing and approves the list of rejected projects.
Subsequently, all Lead Beneficiaries will receive notification on the
approval/rejection of their projects and may appeal the decision of the Monitoring
Committee.
The complaints will be analyzed by a special committee appointed by the Monitoring
Committee, according to the procedure described in Annex G to the present Guide.
One beneficiary cannot simultaneously have more than four projects in
implementation. In case 5 projects are selected, the fifth one shall be put on a
reserve list (and could be contracted after the finalization of at least one of the
other projects, provided the Programme has the financial allocation available).
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
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Applicants appoint the Lead Beneficiary and start drafting the expression of interest
The applications must be filled in and submitted in e-MS system within the deadline specified for phase 1 of the call for p
e-MS submission
The expressions of interest are ranked according to the score and submitted to the Monitoring Committee of the Program
Monitoring Committee
Lead Beneficiaries can submit complaints after the Monitoring Decision is communicated.
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
www.interregrobg.eu
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Phase 2
The applications must be submitted in e-MS within the deadline specified for the second step of t
e-MS submission
The applications are assessed by the assessment working group formed with JS s
Assessment Working Group withing the Joint Secretariat
The applications are ranked according to the score and submitted to the Monitoring Committee of the Programme for decision. Lead Beneficiaries c
Monitoring Committee
Additional documents and information may be requested and verified by the JS or MA, on-the-spo
Pre-contractual phase
The ERDF contract is signed between the Lead Beneficiary and MA; separate co-financing contracts from state budgets are
Contracting
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after approval of the project by the Monitoring Committee. Therefore, the day after
the project approval by the Monitoring Committee, the project can proceed with
expenditures (other than the ones for preparing the project). These expenditures will
be eligible from this date (subject to the MA signing of the contract with the related
final budget).
For the projects approved, the JS prepares the subsidy contracts (for ERDF
contribution), which are concluded between the MA and the Lead Beneficiary. The JS
also prepares the co-financing contracts, which are concluded between the Managing
Authority (Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration from Romania)
and Romanian partners on the other hand. The National Authority (Ministry of Regional
Development and Public Works from Bulgaria) prepares co-financing contracts, which
are concluded between NA and Bulgarian partners.
Please bear in mind that the Managing Authority has the right to decide not to sign
a financing contract in case a Beneficiary already has in implementation 4
projects. After the finalization of one project the decision may be reconsidered,
provided the financial allocation is available.
Before signing the contracts, other documents may be requested by the JS/MA (e.g.
proof that there are no debts to the consolidated budgets or to the Programme
budget, proof that the VAT is non-recoverable from other sources etc.) and on-thespot visits may also take place. On-the-spot visits may be performed by the MA, NA,
JS and by any other body with responsibilities in the implementation of the
programme. All partners have the obligation to provide all necessary documents and
to be available for the on-the-spot visits in order for the contracts to be signed (e.g.
partnership agreement - see Annex J for model - must be presented to the MA/JS
before the signing of the contract). Please take into consideration that failure to
provide the requested documents within the set deadlines during pre-contracting
period will lead to the rejection of the project.
All partners in a project must sign a partnership agreement before the signing of the
subsidy contract with the MA that stipulates the rights and duties of the partners. A
model of partnership agreement is annexed to the present Guide. The partners may
decide, with prior agreement of the MA, to stipulate additional or more restrictive
provisions than those mentioned in the model partnership agreement.
A project may submit a reimbursement claim at any given time (the latest being at 5
months after the project is finalized), for one or more beneficiaries, the only
condition being that it is not lower than 5.000 euro ( see Project Implementation
Manual
available
at
http://www.interregrobg.eu/en/rules-ofimplementation/programme-rules/project-implementation-manual.html).
Progress reports will be submitted independently of reimbursement claims (once
every three months).
The schedule for submitting first level control claims is submitted in the precontractual phase (for each beneficiary).
Due attention is to be paid to the schedule, particularly to the amount set for the
middle of the implementation period (this sum will be mandatory to be
established and its planning is extremely important, since at the middle of the
implementation period, the Programme will analyse this particular amount, and
may decide to decommit funds from your project). The schedule of
reimbursement shall mention the amounts to be requested for reimbursement for
*common output indicator; **calculation basis for the flat rates
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each beneficiary, according to the template provided by MA. At the half of the
implementation period (the execution at half on the implementation period is
mandatory to be mentioned in the schedule), the JS shall analyse the project
financial execution, as compared to the initial schedule. In case the project has a
financial execution lower than:
- 75%, a 10% decommitment will apply to the budget of the beneficiaries who have
not respected the initial schedule of reimbursement.
- 50%, a 25% decommitment will apply to the budget of the beneficiaries who have
not respected the initial schedule of reimbursement.
Also, considering the focus on the 2014-2020 period is on results, the same
approach shall be used for reaching the indicators. The JS shall analyse the
project contribution to indicators, as compared to the application form. In case
the project has reached:
- 75% (average at project level considering all indicators), a 10% decommitment
will apply to the budget of the beneficiaries.
- 50% (average at project level, considering all indicators), a 25% decommitment
will apply to the budget of the beneficiaries.
In case the JS analysis shows that the project did not contribute to the result
indicators (a non-quantifiable one) a 10% decommitment will apply to the budget
of the beneficiaries.
In case the JS analysis shows the project goal was not reached, the contract shall
be terminated.
In any of the abovementioned cases, the Lead Beneficiary will be granted a two
weeks deadline to submit a revised budget and in case such a budget is not
provided within the deadline, the decommitment will be applied proportionally to
all budgetary lines for the concerned beneficiaries. The Lead Beneficiary and its
beneficiaries may decide to stop implementing the project, but in this case all the
paid funds shall be reimbursed.
The subsidy contracts will be signed by MA and then sent to the Joint Secretariat.
The Lead Beneficiaries will be invited to the Joint Secretariat to sign the contract
until a certain deadline. In exceptional circumstances, the contracts may also be
submitted for signature via post. In this case, the LB has a 5 working days
deadline, from the receipt of the contacts, to submit the signed contract back to
the JS (stating the date of the signature on the contract), otherwise the MA may
decide to cancel the financing.
MA and NA decided to grant advance payments to beneficiaries in an amount of
60% for Romanian beneficiaries, respectively 80% for Bulgarian beneficiaries of
the signed national co-financing contracts.
The contracts annexed to this Guide are only indicative; the final version of all
contracts will be presented to the beneficiaries of the selected projects in the
pre-contractual phase.
IV. Annexes
Annex A. Application Form and its annexes
A.1.
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A. 2.
Draft version
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A. 3. Mandates of delegation (in case the application form is not signed by the
legal representative of the Lead Beneficiary)
A. 4.
Declarations of Eligibility
A. 5.
Declarations of Commitment
A. 6.
Partnership declarations
A. 7.
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2. Announcement
on
the
Programme
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/RomaniaBulgariaCbcProgramme
2017
Page:
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