Call for Applications: EU support for Economic and Political Studies in the Southern Neighborhood

Deadline: 2 September 2019

The European Union (EU) is seeking proposals for its grant program entitled “EU support for economic and political studies in the Southern Neighborhood” to contribute to an increased awareness and evidence-based policy making of regional and national actors in relation to areas of relevance for the European Neighbourhood Policy in the Southern Mediterranean region.

Objectives

The specific objectives of this call for proposals are:

• To foster evidence-based research policy dialogue and research in the priority areas of economic development, security and migration. Each action should have the necessary flexibility to adapt to emerging regional issues.
• Based on peer-to-peer work, to build the analytical and research skills and capacities in Southern Neighbourhood countries. Each action should seek to strengthen cooperation between research networks, think-tanks, universities, academia, policy makers, civil society, non-governmental organisations and the private sector.
• To have a strong outreach component and wide dissemination of research results to stimulate policy debate with national policy-makers, EU institutions, and other relevant stakeholders.

Priorities Area

• Economic development: Trade and investments as factors of regional integration as well as their impact on employment; trends and policies aiming at an increased integration of North Africa in the African continent; private sector development and job creation, in particular for youth; the role of digital in the new economy; role of informal/parallel sectors in the local economies and policies to lead it to formalisation; perspectives and policies aiming at enhancing new economic models in the Southern Neighbourhood region, respectful of its social foundations and the environment, also looking at issues such as inclusive finance, circular and social economy.
• Security: Modernisation of the national security sectors (also called Security Sector Reform – SSR), terrorism and other forms of violent extremism (including prevention), trans-national organised crime, cybercrime, the full cycle of crisis and disaster management (prevention, preparedness and response).
• Migration: Regular economic migration and mobility; asylum and protection; irregular migration; migrant smuggling; border management; economic impact of migration in countries of origin, transit countries and countries of destination modalities to ensure a positive role of the diaspora in the socio-economic development.

Each action should address at least two of the above priorities.

Size of Grants

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

• minimum amount: EUR 1,600,000
• maximum amount: EUR 2,500,000

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead applicant
  • In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
    • be a legal person and
    • be non-profit-making and
    • be a specific type of organisation such as: non-governmental organisation, public sector operator, local authority, international (inter-governmental) organisation as defined by Article 43 of the rules of application of the EU Financial Regulation and
    • be established in a Member State of the European Union or one of the following ENP South countries: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Lybia, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia.
  • For British applicants: Please be aware that eligibility criteria must be complied with for the entire duration of the grant. Unless sector-specific eligibility rules provide otherwise16, if the United Kingdom withdraws from the EU during the grant period without concluding an agreement with the EU ensuring in particular that British applicants continue to be eligible, you will cease to receive EU funding (while continuing, where possible to participate) or will be required to leave the project on the basis of Article 12.2.e) of the General Conditions applicable to the grant contract.
  • This obligation does not apply to international organisations and
  • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the coapplicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.
• Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations.
• Co-applicants
  • Each action must involve a partnership with at least four co-applicants (in addition to the lead applicant). The co-applicants should be established in at least three different ENP South countries and one EU Member State.
  • Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant.
  • Co-applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
• Affiliated entities
  • The lead applicant and its co-applicants may act with affiliated entity(ies).
  • Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to coapplicants:
    • Only entities having a structural link with the applicants (i.e. the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular a legal or capital link.
    • This structural link encompasses mainly two notions:
      • Control, as defined in Directive 2013/34/EU on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:
        • Entities affiliated to an applicant may hence be:
          • Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the applicant (granddaughter companies or second-tier subsidiaries) and the same applies to further tiers of control;
          • Entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;
          • Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the applicant (sister companies).
        • Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as a e.g. network, federation, association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate or the applicant participates in the same entity (e.g. network, federation, association) as the proposed affiliated entities.

How to Apply

In order to apply for the grants, applicants have to register themselves in PADOR, an on-line database via given website.

For more information, please visit http://bit.ly/2ECoCtE and download the guidelines.