EU Call for Proposals: VET-Business Partnerships on Work-Based Learning and Apprenticeships

Deadline: 17 April 2018

The European Union (EU) is currently accepting proposals from eligible organisations for a program entitled “VET-Business Partnerships on Work-Based Learning and Apprenticeships” to contribute to stimulate sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development through improved transition from training to employment.

Objectives

• To strengthen the interface between labour market needs and the VET sector development with an aim to equip young people with skills relevant to work requirements and make them more capable to find relevant jobs or start their own business;
• To encourage the introduction/testing of important novelties in Vocational Education and Training and labour market reforms (e.g. work –based learning, apprenticeships, skills and jobs matching mechanisms);
• Increasing the employability and productivity of VET graduates, in particular in terms of facilitation of their access to entry level jobs;

Size of Grants

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between EUR 150,000 and EUR 250,000.

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, a VET provider , a foundation, private sector non-profit agencies (business associations), and
    • be established in a Member State of the European Union or in Armenia and
    • For British applicants: Please be aware that eligibility criteria must be complied with for the entire duration of the grant. 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 be required to leave the project on the basis of the General Conditions to the grant agreement.
    • 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.
• 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 applicant may hence be:
        • Entities directly or indirectly controlled by an applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by an 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 online via given website.

Eligible Countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK and Armenia.

For more information, please visit Europeaid and download the guidelines.