Deadline: 31 January 2020
Applications are now open for fostering institutional cross-border cooperation among Slovak and Ukrainian public institutions in the area of good governance, accountable institutions and transparency.
The objective of the call is to find projects dedicated to fostering institutional cross-border cooperation with Ukraine related to good governance, accountable institutions, transparency and contributing to improved integrity and accountability of public administration.
This call is primarily dedicated to national cooperation between Slovak and Ukrainian public institutions to support larger scale initiatives. In addition, activities focused on facilitating the Ukrainian accession process to the EU shall be prioritised.
Expected Outcomes
- Measures fostering Slovak-Ukrainian cooperation implemented;
- Slovak-Ukrainian institutional cooperation enhanced.
Funding Information
- Maximum grant to be applied for: EUR 1,000,000;
- Minimum grant to be applied for: EUR 200,000;
- Total allocation: EUR 2,000,000.
Priorities
Priority shall be given to:
- Projects with activities that are sufficiently described, needed and appropriate;
- Projects reflecting the recommendations of the OECD recommendation of the Council on Public integrity;
- Projects to be implemented in partnership with entities from Norway/Iceland/Liechtenstein, especially a partner from the public sector;
- Projects aimed at facilitating the Ukrainian accession process to the EU;
- Projects including cooperation with an NGO active in the field of good governance as a project partner/cooperating entity;
- Projects involving cooperation with line ministries in Slovakia and Ukraine.
Eligibility Criteria
- Any public entity established as a legal person in the Slovak Republic;
- Cooperation with NGOs as project partners/cooperating entities in the field of improvement of good governance, accountable institutions; transparency will be appreciated and encouraged;
- All the projects shall include awareness raising activities and appropriate communication activities about the ambitions and the achieved results of the project to the general public.
Eligible Activities
The project grant can be used for the following purposes and activities in the area of good governance, accountable institutions and transparency:
- Networking, exchange, sharing and transfer of knowledge, technology, experience and best practice;
- Joint seminars, workshops and trainings organized between Slovak and Ukrainian public institutions;
- Internships realized between Slovak and Ukrainian public institutions;
- Secondments from Ukraine to Slovakia;
- Improvement of the level of bilingualism in Slovak and Ukrainian public institutions (e. g. language course);
- Awareness raising and capacity building in Slovak and Ukrainian public institutions;
- Joint strategies of public institutions in Slovakia and Ukraine provided that at least one pilot element of the joint strategy is implemented within the project;
- Awareness raising activities and the activities aiming at appropriate communication about the ambitions and the achieved results of the project to the general public (mandatory activity).
Selection Criteria
- The project evaluation and award of grants shall be in accordance the Regulation;
- The Programme Operator shall be responsible for project evaluation and for the award of grants;
- The Programme Operator shall establish a Selection Committee that shall recommend the projects to be funded;
- The Selection Committee shall consist of at least six persons possessing the relevant expertise. At least two of them shall be external to the Programme Operator and its Partners. The DPP shall be a voting member of the Selection Committee. The International Partner Organisation, the Financial Mechanism Committee, the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Bratislava and the National Focal Point shall be invited to participate in the meetings of the Selection Committee as observers;
- The Programme Operator shall review the project applications for compliance with administrative and eligibility criteria. Applicants whose project applications are rejected at this stage shall be informed and given a reasonable time to appeal that decision;
- Each project application that meets the administrative and eligibility criteria shall be reviewed by two experts: one of these experts shall be appointed by the Programme Operator and the other shall be appointed by the DPP. The experts shall be impartial and independent of the Programme Operator and the Selection Committee;
- The experts shall separately score the project according to the selection criteria published with the call for proposals. For the purposes of ranking the projects, the average of the scores awarded by the experts shall be used;
- If the difference between the scores given by the two experts is more than 30% of the higher score, a third expert shall be commissioned by the Programme Operator to score the project independently. In such cases the average score of the two closest scores shall be used for the ranking of the projects;
- The Programme Operator shall provide the Selection Committee with a list of the ranked projects. The Selection Committee shall review the ranked list of projects. It may modify the ranking of the projects in justified cases. The SC can mainly give priority to the projects enabling to achieve the target value of the indicators, to cover the certain geographical regions lagging behind; and clearly defined less privileged target groups. The justification for the modifications shall be detailed in the minutes of the meeting of the Selection Committee. If such a modification results in a project’s rejection, the affected applicant shall be informed in writing about the justification for the modification. The Selection Committee shall submit the list of recommended projects to the Programme Operator;
- The Programme Operator shall verify that the selection process has been conducted in accordance with the Regulation and that the recommendations from the Selection Committee comply with the rules and objectives of the Programme. Following such verification, the Programme Operator shall, based on the recommendation of the Selection Committee, make a decision on which projects shall be supported. Prior to making such decision, an on the spot visit may be carried out by the Programme Operator. If, in exceptional cases, the Programme Operator modifies the decision of the Selection Committee or suggests modification of the project, it shall inform the Selection Committee and the applicants affected and provide them with a justification;
- The Programme Operator shall notify the applicants about the results of the selection process within a reasonable time and publish the results.
How to Apply
Project applications must be submitted electronically in English via given website.
Eligible Country: Slovak Republic.
For more information, please visit https://www.eeagrants.sk/en/news/institutional-cooperation-with-ukraine-starts/