EU Call for Proposals: IPA Agriculture and Rural Development Support Grant Scheme

Deadline: 14 April 2019

The European Union is currently accepting proposals from eligible organizations for a program entitled “IPA Agriculture and Rural Development Support Grant Scheme”.

Objectives

• The global objective of this grant scheme is to support improved access to and competitiveness on the national and international markets for Kosovo’s agri-rural goods and services.
• The specific objective of this grant scheme is support Kosovo’s farmers and agri-rural economic operators to build the capacities that they need in order to become more present and competitive on the market.

All actions under this call shall address the challenges of climate change and promote gender equality.

Program Lots

The program is divided into three lots:

• LOT 1: Investments in physical assets of agricultural holdings
• LOT 2: investments in physical assets concerning processing and marketing of agricultural and fishery products
• LOT 3: Development of rural areas – farm diversification and business development

Size of Grants

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

• Lot 1:
  • minimum amount: 150,000 Euro
  • maximum amount: 300,000 Euro
• Lot 2:
  • minimum amount: 200,000 Euro
  • maximum amount: 400,000 Euro
• Lot 3
  • minimum amount: 100,000 Euro
  • maximum amount: 200,000 Euro

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead applicant
  • In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
    • For Lot 1:
      • be a legal person established in Kosovo, as defined by Kosovo’s national legislation
      • be registered agriculture producer or group of farmers/producers or a private business entity
      • be operational ,in Kosovo in the agriculture sector for at least one year preceding the launch of this call for proposals, as reflected by the relevant financial statements
      • 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.
    • For Lot 2:
      • be a legal person established in Kosovo, as defined by Kosovo’s national legislation
      • be registered as business entity of any form as per applicable Law no 06/L-016 on business organizations, for at least the last fiscal year completed before the launch of this call for proposals (e.g. for the fiscal year 2018)
      • be operational ,in Kosovo in the area of agri-food processing for at least one year preceding the launch of this call for proposals, as reflected by the relevant financial statements
      • 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.
    • For Lot 3:
      • be a legal person established in Kosovo, as defined by Kosovo’s national legislation
      • be registered rural operator (e.g. farmer, agricultural enterprise, business entity, or farmer’s cooperative)
      • be operational ,in Kosovo for at least one year preceding the launch of this call for proposals, as reflected by the relevant financial statements
      • 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.
  • Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations
• Co-applicant(s)
  • 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 entity(ies)
  • 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, 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

• The application procedure consists of two phases:
  • Concept notes
  • Full applications
• The concept note together with the declaration by the lead applicant must be submitted at the address given on the website.

For more information, please visit https://bit.ly/2Np0Sg8 and download the guidelines.