Call for Proposals: Cross-border Programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina – Montenegro

Deadline: 25-Jul-23

The European Commission (EC) is offering grants to promote good neighbourly relations, foster Union integration and contribute to social, economic and territorial development of the programme cross-border area by developing sustainable nature-and-culture tourism.

Objectives of the Programme and Priority Issues

• As a result of a decision made by the JMC of the programme on April 2023, out of the two thematic priorities of the programme document:
  • Priority 1: Environment protection, climate change adaptation and mitigation, risk prevention and management
  • Priority 2: Tourism and cultural and natural heritage
• The following is the specific objective and the corresponding result that the applications submitted under this call will contribute to attaining:
  • Specific Objective: Sustainable natural and cultural heritage tourism contributes more to the tourism of the programme area.
  • Result: More sustainable and better cultural/natural tourism products

Cross-cutting issues

• Mainstreaming of cross-cutting issues:
  • This call for proposals will consider the mainstreaming of cross-cutting issues at project level. When developing a project to address any of the specific objectives of the call, cross-cutting issues need to be mainstreamed in the following manner:
    • Improved capacity of local and regional authorities to tackle local challenges
      • Every application should demonstrate that regional and local authorities have been involved in their development and their future implementation. Every operation should describe how it has been developed, how it is aligned to and contributes to local development plans or how its implementation will be monitored and evaluated.
    • Gender equality and promotion of equal opportunities.
      • Equality between sexes must be taken into consideration when setting the project objectives, defining activities (e.g., participation in capacity building activities) and expected results. Equal opportunity prevails when women and men have the same rights, obligations and opportunities.
    • Protection and promotion of ethnic minority rights, including their participation in decision making processes.
      • Enforcement of equal opportunities has to be secured in the project design in order to promote the integration of ethnic minorities and ensure their participation in decision-making processes in line with project activities and expected results.
    • Integration of persons with physical and mental disabilities.
      • Enforcement of equal opportunities has to be secured in the project in order to promote integration of persons affected by disabilities and in securing their participation in project activities (e.g. accessibility to buildings and project sites) and in decision-making processes in line with project activities and expected results.
    • Safeguard and promotion of children’s rights and promotion of children’s participation in decision-making processes.
      • The project should involve children as relevant stakeholders where and if appropriate (e.g. in case the specific project objective is in a sector mainly relating to children’s needs, such as education, health, sports and culture, but also in sectors in which the project can indirectly influence their lives).
    • Democratic standards, anti-discriminatory practices and good governance.
      • Activities and operations cannot set up barriers in relation to religion or belief, age, gender, sexual orientation, political affiliation, racial or ethnic origin particularly regarding employment and HR policy pursued towards persons who will be employed within the projects implemented under this grant scheme. Actions must secure a wide public participation and consultation, where appropriate, throughout project activities. This may include setting up consultative processes in developing strategies/policies; executing infrastructural works; ensuring inclusion of target groups and a wide range of different stakeholders.
    • Protection of environment and preservation of natural resources and biodiversity.
      • The project needs to describe how it will contribute to a better environment or otherwise have a neutral impact on the environment. The concept of environment involves not only issues of pollution, but issues sustainable development (e.g., waste supply chain management and recycling), nature protection and biodiversity, renewable energy, etc.

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 2 160 000.
• Size of grants
  • Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
    • Thematic priority/specific objective: Sustainable natural and cultural heritage tourism contributes more to the tourism of the programme area.
    • Minimum amount of EU-funded grant: EUR 250 000
    • Maximum amount of EU-funded grant: EUR 450 000

Duration

• The initial planned duration of an action or operation will meet the following requirements depending on the programme’s specific objective addressed by the application, namely:
  • Minimum number of months: 12
  • Maximum number of months: 24

Location

• Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead applicant(s)
  • In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
    • be a legal person, and
    • be non-profit-making, and
    • be effectively established in either Bosnia and Herzegovina or Montenegro, and
    • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary, and
    • be one of the following institutions or organisations:
      • Local and regional authorities
      • Local and regional organisations engaged in tourism or tourism related activities
      • Organisations, institutions and authorities responsible for protection and management of the cultural and natural heritage
      • Organisations and institutions working in the field of rural development
      • Education and training organisations and institutions
      • Research organisations and institutions
      • CSOs active in the field of cultural or natural heritage, education, rural development and other related fields.
• Co-applicant(s)
  • The applicant must act with at least one co-applicant as specified hereafter.
  • If the applicant is established in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at least one co-applicant must be established in Montenegro, and vice versa.
  • The maximum number of co-applicants that could be involved in the action is not set.
  • Co-applicant(s) must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
  • Co-applicant(s) must sign the mandate form.
• Affiliated entities
  • The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with affiliated entity(ies). Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to co-applicant(s):
    • 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 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.

For more information, visit European Commission (EC).