Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme

Questions and answers

Support dialogue and exchange of best practice in fostering tolerance and mutual respect

Topic ref. REC-RRAC-RACI-AG-2016

Version 1.2 21 December 2016

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History of changes

Version Date Change Page

1.0 25.11.2016 Initial version

1.1 09.12.2016 New questions added from 53 to 76 19-26

1.2 21.12.2016 New questions added from 77 to 92 26-32

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Nr Question Answer provided

1 Our organization is preparing a project

application for the REC-AG REC Action

Grant, REC-RRAC-RACI-AG-2016: Support

dialogue and exchange of best practice in

fostering tolerance and mutual respect. I

have a few questions regarding the

application:

Can the 20% co-finance be covered from

participation fees for training course and

conferences organized during the project?

Does the grant cover salaries for the

employees involved in the project from the

partner organizations or are salaries

covered just for the applicant?

Are bank costs for transfers of money to

the partner organizations or for other bank

transfers made during the project eligible

costs? In the contract only the bank costs

for transfers from the Commission are

ineligible costs, which is why I was

wondering about the rest.

Can a private university be an applicant

for this call?

In our case, our financial adviser is not our

employee, as we externalize this service

and contract a specialized accountancy

company. Is this an eligible cost for

overseeing the financial aspects of the

project?

By the time we submit the application we

would have finished the annual report for

2016? Should we upload this one or the

report for 2015?

Yes, it can be.

Yes it covers the salaries of the employees involved

in the project.

This would not be considered eligible as direct costs

of the project, only as indirect costs.

Yes it can.

This would not be a direct staff cost, but only

subcontracting. As long as you respect the limits of

subcontracting and do not externalize the overall

management of the project it should be eligible.

2016 will be fine.

2 I would like to ask about the indicative

date of the results for the topic: Support

dialogue and exchange of best practice in

fostering tolerance and mutual respect

(deadline 05 January 2017).

In other words, how many months after

the application deadline can we expect the

results?

The time needed for completing evaluation and

validating the results usually varies from 3 to 6

months depending on the number of proposals

received, complexity, any linguistic issues (need for

translation) etc.

3 I have a question regarding this topic

(Support dialogue and exchange of best

practice in fostering tolerance and mutual

respect):

Point 2.3(a) of the topic notice (Eligibility of the

application) implies that activities of projects will be

trans-national. Furthermore, the award criterion c

(see point 5 of Section C of the guide for applicants)

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Can the project take place in one country

or must it take place in all countries of the

participating organisations?

states the following:

(c) European added value of the project (20 points): The European added value of the project shall be

assessed in the light of criteria such as its contribution to

the consistent and coherent implementation of Union law

and policies and to wide public awareness about the

rights deriving from it, its potential to develop mutual

trust among Member States and to improve cross-border

cooperation, its transnational impact, its contribution to

the elaboration and dissemination of best practices or its

potential to create practical tools and solutions that

address cross-border or Union-wide challenges.

Where national projects are eligible, projects which have

a transnational impact will be more favourable assessed

than projects whose scope is purely limited to one

Member State.

4 Regarding the annexes, and specifically

Annex 3, being a public institution, do we

need to submit our annual activity report?

Also, does the Annex 5 – Letter from the

public authority supporting the application,

apply in this topic?

Also do we need to submit our financial

statements? If so, will you accept our

most recent audited financial statements,

from 2015? The audited financial

statements for 2016 will only be available

around May 2017.

Annex 2 The Annual Activity Report is not requested

at the stage of application if the applicant is a public

body (i.e. a body governed by public law, e.g. public

authorities at local, regional or national level) or a

university (cf. point B.2.3 of the guide for

applicants).

Annex 5 is not requested for this topic.

Financial capacity (based on financial statements)

shall not be verified for public bodies or international

organisations (cf. point C.4.1 of the guide for

applicants). In any case, if applicable, any financial

documents need to be added to the organisation’s

profile in the beneficiary registry. See also :

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/docs/h20

20-funding-guide/grants/applying-for-

funding/register-an-organisation/financial-capacity-

check_en.htm

5 I have a question regarding the Topic

conditions, 2.3 Eligibility of the

application: the project must not have

started prior to the date of submission of

the grant application – does it mean that

the costs incurred after the submission

and before the results announcement will

be reimbursed?

According to the principle of non-retroactivity

mentioned in the Guide for Applicants, section

A.2.1, no grant may be awarded retrospectively for

actions already completed. A grant may be awarded

for an action, which has already begun only where

the applicant can demonstrate the need to start the

action before the grant agreement is signed. In such

cases, costs eligible for financing may not have been

incurred prior to the date of submission of the grant

application. NB. in case the project is not selected

for co-funding or the grant agreement signature is

not finalised, any costs incurred in relation to the

project cannot be reimbursed by the Commission.

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6 As the grant cannot constitute more than

80% of overall eligible project costs, must

the project partner contribute financially to

cover part the outstanding balance?

Please see point A.2.1 of the guide for applicants: The funding under the Justice and the REC programmes

is based on the co-financing principle - unless otherwise

specified in the call notice the grant cannot constitute

more than 80% of overall eligible project costs. The

beneficiaries should ensure that the outstanding balance

is covered from sources other than the EU budget such

as:

- the beneficiary's own resources,

- income generated by the action,

- financial contributions from third parties.

7 Is a partnership agreement a mandatory

annex to the application? Or do you

recommend signing such an agreement?

Or does the Multi-beneficiary agreement

sets out all the necessary provisions?

Please see point 25.3 Internal arrangements between

beneficiaries — Consortium agreement of the model

multi beneficiary grant agreement : http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/other_eu_prog/common/justice-rec_mga-multi_en.pdf

The beneficiaries must have internal arrangements

regarding their operation and co-ordination to ensure that

the action is implemented properly. These internal

arrangements must be set out in a written ‘consortium

agreement’ between the beneficiaries, which may cover:

- internal organisation of the consortium;

- management of access to the electronic exchange

system;

- distribution of EU funding;

- additional rules on rights and obligations related to

background and results (including whether access rights

remain or not, if a beneficiary is in breach of its

obligations) (see Article 19);

- settlement of internal disputes;

- liability, indemnification and confidentiality

arrangements between the beneficiaries.

The consortium agreement must not contain any

provision contrary to the (Grant) Agreement.

To note however that such a partnership agreement

is not needed at the application stage.

8 Are you planning to hold a webinarium or

an event related to this call? As you can

see, we have several questions related to

this topic, and an opportunity to directly

address them would be invaluable.

We do not plan any specific information session

related to this call but we remain at your disposal

for any other questions. You may also see at: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/grants1/calls/2015_action_grants/

just_2015_rrac_ag_en.htm bottom of the page under

6

Selected projects

Award decision (316 kB) (updated 5th July 2016)

Summaries of awarded projects (200 kB)

information on the projects funded under the last

year’s call.

9 We are currently working on a proposal for

the call for proposals to prevent and

combat racism, xenophobia, homophobia

and other forms of intolerance.

You will find here the project description of

the idea at this point of time.

project idea for REC_draft.docx

We would like to get some feedback on

this to see if we are on the right track and

if it would make sense to work on a

further development of an application for

that call.

During the talks about the project idea

with every potential project partner it

became very clear that there is a

difference between Central and Western

Europe regarding the issue of populism.

We can argue that in Central Europe

populism and euro scepticism is on

government, while this is not (yet) the

case in Western Europe. There also seems

to be a difference in the target group.

Would you therefore recommend us to

focus the project only on Central or on

Western Europe or would the EU rather

want to fund a project which includes

partner countries all over Europe?

Please note that the Commission cannot pre-

evaluate or give feedback to proposals of

projects from applicants before the submission

deadline. At this stage the only thing we can

reinstate is that the scope of the proposal for a

project needs to be first and foremost within the

scope of the call, i.e. activities aimed to prevent and

combat racism, xenophobia, homophobia and other

forms of intolerance. Within that scope, the

Commission stated in the call that will give priority

to those projects that fall under the priorities of:

Grassroots projects on preventing and

combating Antisemitism and anti-Muslim

hatred and intolerance (as a follow up of the

Colloquium), see at

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/events/colloquiu

m-fundamental-rights-2015/index_en.htm

projects on preventing and combating

homophobia and transphobia;

projects promoting the development of

tools and practices to prevent (counter-

narratives), monitor and combat online

hate speech including, but not limited

to, means of criminal law;

Projects to create better understanding

between communities, including religious

communities, and prevent and combat

racism and xenophobia through interreligious

and intercultural activities.

As regards hate speech, the Commission will give

preference to those projects setting-up or focusing

on development of monitoring tools on hate

speech, with a particular focus on online hate

speech and dissemination and awareness

raising activities.

Regarding the question of European coverage of the

project, we are not in position to indicate preference

to this or other region. Projects will be evaluated

according to the award criterion c) European added

value of the project (20 points): The European added value of the project shall be assessed in the light of criteria such as its contribution to the

7

consistent and coherent implementation of Union law and policies and to wide public awareness about the rights deriving from it, its potential to develop mutual trust among Member States and to improve cross-border cooperation, its transnational impact, its contribution to the elaboration and dissemination of best practices or its potential to create practical tools and solutions that address cross-border or Union-wide challenges. Where national projects are eligible, projects which have a transnational impact will be more favourable assessed than projects whose scope is purely limited to one Member State.

See section C.5 (award criteria) of the guide for

applicants: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/other_eu_prog/common/just-rec-guide-applicants_en.pdf ,

10 We would also like to know if there is a

maximum budget for the call?

The budget allocated to this topic is 4,475,000 EUR.

11 Are costs of universities’ permanent staff

(e.g. professors, researchers) eligible

under the call in reference (i.e. REC-RRAC-

AG-2016)?

Yes, such costs are eligible. The limitation for co-

funding of staff costs applies only to permanent staff

of public entities (see section 2.1.2 of the Annex to

the Guide for applicants, page 49) but not to

universities, regardless of their status.

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/o

ther_eu_prog/common/just-rec-guide-

applicants_en.pdf

12 Should every partner be responsible for a

particular work stream?

Not necessarily, it is up to the applicant/consortium

to define the responsibilities

13 Do we have the opportunity to provide

management cost (monthly) to our

partners?

It is up to you to define this as part of internal

arrangements within the consortium

14 In case of costs (transport, living costs,

expert fee, etc.) do you have fix amounts

to calculate with? Could you provide cost

charts?

We do not have charts with indicative amounts. In

short, as regards travel and subsistence costs – they

must be reasonable and in line with the Beneficiary's

usual practices on travel costs. For personnel costs,

the rates at which staff is charged to the project

must correspond to the relevant Beneficiaries'

normal remuneration policy (documented by salary

grids, long-term work contracts, etc.) and should

not significantly exceed the rates generally

applicable in the relevant area, both geographically

and with respect to the profile of the staff concerned

(and necessary for the project).

For living (per diem) costs you can have a look at :

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/funding/about-calls-

tender/procedures-and-practical-guide-

prag/diems_en

Please see point 2. DETAILED PROVISIONS ON

ELIGIBLE EXPENDITURE of ANNEX ON ELIGIBILITY

OF COSTS of the Guide for Applicants for more

extensive information:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/o

8

ther_eu_prog/common/just-rec-guide-

applicants_en.pdf.

15 Should we require Letter of Intent from

our partners?

No, it is not needed at the application stage

16 I am interested in applying for the call of

proposal REC-DISC-AG-2016, topic REC-

RRAC-RACI-AG-2016.

My institute, which is an international

organisation legally residing in Spain, due

to a previous participation in a

Horizon2020 proposal, is already

registered with a PIC number. However,

the only information that the admin person

who dealt with the registration before

could provide to me is the following, in

which I read “temporary Participation

Identification Code”.

May I please kindly ask you if this code is

correct and I could go further in the

application process?

May I also kindly ask you could to confirm

that we are eligible as applicants for this

call?

On our side, indeed we can confirm that your

organisation is eligible, however the question related

to the status/validation of the PIC should be

addressed, I think, to the H2020 IT Helpdesk.

17 Regarding the beneficiary’s own resources

or resources of the project partners– how

should they be accounted for in the final

report?

I believe it is too early to anticipate issues relating

to reporting also in the light of the fact that our

reporting templates might change. Until now,

beneficiaries were asked to fill in a template excel

table which had a similar format of the budget table

prepared at the application stage with, inter alia, the

following fields:

I

Financial contributions specifically assigned by donors to the financing of the eligible costs & Income generated by the financed activities

K Other income, including own contribution from the beneficiary/-ies

18 I have a question regarding the partner

organizations.

According to the Glossary of the Guide for

the Applicants (page 6):

Partner is an organisation which, in

cooperation with the Applicant,

participates in designing the project

activities and participates in the

partnership which submits the application.

The Partner aims to receive Union co-

financing for the costs it incurs during the

implementation of the project.

What about organizations that will

In the past, we used to classify them as “associate

partners” and there was a place foreseen for them

in the application form. With this year’s calls, this

notion has disappeared, and we advise you to

mention their involvement (you can call them

according to your convenience) in Part B project

description.

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cooperate in the project but do not aim to

receive Union co-financing? What should

they be called to differentiate them from

the Partners, as defined in the Glossary?

In the Model grant agreement for multi-

beneficiary grants I have stumbled across

the notion of “affiliated entities” – would

that be a good notion to use when talking

about these organizations and their

involvement?

The term of affiliated entities is linked to the legal

status of beneficiaries who might have some ‘child’

entities affiliated to them. In fact, it is an option of

the MGA which will not be used by us in the REC

programme. Therefore, no, this term is not to be

used.

19 Can you indicate where I can find the call

for proposal for the above?

We are a bit confused! I thought annex 3

was the document that all partners fill in

describing their role and signing as a form

of a partnership agreement. However, we

can't see such a document. What

document in fact should the partners sign?

(also for associate partners)

The way our 2016 calls are presented and published

has changed, as you saw. As from this year, we will

use Horizon 2020 (EU research programme) IT tools

for managing our calls. The new submission system

has a different configuration from Priamos and

Annexes are not the same as well. No Partner

declaration forms are needed anymore, the notion of

associate partners has disappeared (you can

mentioned their involvement in Part B which is the

project description, former Annex I).

Please consult our guide for applicants 2016 :

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/o

ther_eu_prog/common/just-rec-guide-

applicants_en.pdf

All the 2016 REC calls are published at :

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/des

ktop/en/opportunities/rec/index.html#c,calls=hasFo

rthcomingTopics/t/true/1/1/0/default-

group&hasOpenTopics/t/true/1/1/0/default-

group&allClosedTopics/t/true/0/1/0/default-

group&+PublicationDateLong/asc

20 I want to clarify – p. 30 of the guide for

applicants says that an annual activity

report for the last available year is NOT

required if the applicant is a university.

Please confirm that this includes private

universities.

The guide for applicants does not distinguish

between public or private universities, therefore the

provision you mention here below applies to both.

21 We would like to ask your support

concerning the topic “REC-RRAC-RACI-AG-

2016 – Support dialogue and exchange of

best practice in fostering tolerance and

mutual respect”.

Among activities linked to Hate Speech

priority, the call states “Priority should be

given to languages of the countries where

the extent of the problem is considerable

but no solutions are being genuinely

developed”. Please, would it be possible

for you to better explain the focus on

One of the aims of the call is to fund projects aimed

at developing monitoring tools concerning hate

speech online. In this regard, the Commission will

give priority to projects based in Member States

facing particular difficulties on the notification of

content to the Internet Companies due to the

language used in the Member State.

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“languages”?

22 I have a theoretical question. What

happens when, after singing the multi-

beneficiary grant agreement, once the

project has started, one of the partners is

unable to implement its part of the action,

and cannot bear the costs previously

stated as his own contribution?

In such a case usually we proceed with an

amendment to the grant agreement, in 2 following

ways:

- Either you find a new partner to replace the one

who decided to leave;

- Or the tasks and financial contribution of the

leaving partner will be covered by the remaining

partners.

23 I have two questions related to the

budget.

1. Can the project participants contribute

to the action by covering part of the costs,

i.e. the cost of their transport? If so,

should they be declared as financial

contribution given by third parties to the

beneficiaries?

2. Do the financial contribution of the

partners form part of “own contribution”?

1. If the participants pay for the transport

themselves that will be considered as cost incurred

by third parties. Unfortunately as specified in section

1.3 of the guide for applicants, cost incurred by third

parties are not eligible costs.

You can however co-finance the project through

costs incurred by you or one of your partners. In

that case the cost must appear both as expense and

as income. Please note however that project costs

must always be incurred by you or your partners

and be registered in your accounting in order to be

considered eligible for funding.

2. Yes, it is considered as “own contribution” for the

budget.

24 We have an issue concerning the eligibly

criteria on this programme.

The project will involve a partnership

between 4 countries (Romania, Czech

Republic, Poland and Netherlands).

Applicants are SMEs constituted

independent countries of origin. The Dutch

company holds shares in each of the other

three companies. However the companies

in Romania, Poland and the Czech

Republic are not subsidiaries of the Dutch

company.

Nevertheless, we are now working in co-

opt into this partnership three NGOs.

So our question is, is there any restriction

on this aspect? Or, more easier, this

partnership is eligible or not?

In principle, your proposed partnership would be

eligible, it has a mix of profit and non-profit entities

coming from at least 2 EU Member States (you

therefore need involvement of NGOs)

Please read carefully the eligibility criteria as stated

in the call text.

25 I would also like to ask about a situation,

when the project partner is unable to

implement a part of the tasks to be

covered by the grant – but does not want

to withdraw from the project. Does it

mean that the funds provided for the tasks

Normally, such situation should not happen. A

partner who does not wish to work on the project

anymore should give his agreement to withdraw

from the partnership.

I asked my colleagues project officers who are in

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will be reduced from the whole grant (after

the submission of the final report)?

change of management of grants and projects

follow-up an they said that such (rare) cases indeed

happened. First of all, they give advice for the

coordinator not to transfer too much of the pre-

financing amounts to the partners at once, but do it

gradually based on advancement of the work and

reports (note that the Commission provides usually

up to 80% of pre-financing following the signature

of the grant agreement). In serious cases such as

for example where fraud is suspected, the

Commission can terminate the grant agreement.

Otherwise, at the occasion of the final report

analysis and approval, the project will be less

favourably scored and the final payment will be

reduced.

26 I'm a potential applicant on this call: REC-

RRAC-RACI-AG-2016.

Can I submit the project as Coordinator

and another project at co-beneficiary?

Please see Part B of the guide, page 16:

The applicant may submit more than one application

under each topic and may be awarded more than

one grant under each topic. An organisation may

participate as applicant or partner in several

applications.

27 I just want to be sure that I have

understood correctly – is it correct to say

that our partners do not need to sign or do

anything during the application phase? It

is sufficient that we have incorporated

their PIC number and included their details

on PART A as well as CVs of persons

involved? Other than that, nothing is

needed from them as I understand.

Is that correct?

Indeed, your understanding is correct – when

submitting the proposal in the electronic system, the

coordinator has to confirm that he has agreement

and commitment of the partners. See Part A

Declaration, either directly in the SEP Submission

system or in the Standard proposal template under

Topic conditions and documents.

28 Regarding 2.1 Personnel costs of the

Annex on eligibility of costs, in The

Calculation Method (page 50):

Point (c) includes a prediction on a

number of days of the annual leave taken,

sickness etc.

Therefore, how should it be calculated?

Can we insert a predicted, average

number of days or hours working on the

grant?

The actual predicted nr of days/hours working on

the grant needs to be indicated, without the

estimated nr of leave/holiday days. However, the

cost of the holidays should be included in the

(daily/hourly) amount in the same way as other

staff costs (social charges etc).

Please note however that, for 2016 calls, a detailed

budget is not needed to be provided with the project

proposal. The excel table, to which you probably

refer, published on the Participant Portal (Detailed

budget template to facilitate the planning of your

project) is only indicative.

The budget to be filled in is included in

administrative forms (Part A); please see Standard

proposal template (if not already seen by you). The

guidance on how to fill it in is provided on page 25

of the Guide for Applicants.

29 Just to double check, does that mean that Indeed, in line with p. 26 of the guide for applicants:

12

we do not have to provide the detailed

budget such as the table below?

A detailed budget template (see ''Topic conditions and

documents'' on the Participant Portal) is also made

available by the Commission to facilitate the planning of

your project. Please note that it is not obligatory to use

this template when preparing your application for funding

and that it is NOT foreseen for the detailed budget to be

uploaded in the Electronic Submission System (i.e. at the

application stage). However, following the finalisation of

the evaluation procedure by the Commission, applicants

recommended for the award of a grant may be requested

to provide their detailed budget estimate (either prior to

the signature of the grant agreement or at any point

during the project’s implementation phase).

At the moment the budget template is completed with

sample data for demonstration purposes, which you need

to replace with the data corresponding to your project.

30 Regarding point 2.2.2 of the Annex on

eligibility of costs:

Costs for subsistence (cost of

accommodation, meals, local travel within

the place of mission and sundry expenses)

are eligible, provided that they are

reasonable.

The amounts per country published under

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/funding/ab

out-calls-tender/procedures-and-practical-

guide-prag/diems_en give an indication of

what will be considered as reasonable.

Do the amounts per country published

under

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/funding/ab

out-calls-tender/procedures-and-practical-

guide-prag/diems_en refer to the amount

per person?

Yes, these amounts refer to one person per day.

31 In the documentation of the call for

proposals of the REC programme I cannot

find a model partner declaration form for

partners not receiving EU funding. Also it

is not clear to me whether or not project

For our 2016 calls for actions grants published on

the Participant Portal, several changes and

simplification have been introduced. In fact, no

more partner declarations are needed, and the

notion of associate partners has disappeared.

13

partners not receiving EU funding should

also create an ECAS account when the

beneficiaries submit their application.

32 Do all the activities have to occur in all

partner countries? Could we have 1 or 2

countries just doing some of the activities

due to their expertise on that area?

There is indeed no obligation from our side that all

activities have to take place in all partner countries.

33 I am writing to ask were I can find the

"Guidance for evaluators" of REC proposals

2016, or if you can attach the document.

Thanks in advance for your kind response.

The guidance for evaluators document is currently

under preparation and will be published later, I

believe by the end of the year normally.

34 I have a question regarding Part B Part 2,

Workstream 0 Management and

Coordination of the Project.

What type of outputs is recommended in

these types of activities? Would an interim

and final report be an output? Or the

implementation of the planned activities as

planned in the timeline?

The previous experience shows that applicants

indeed include (interim and final) reports under

Worsktream 0 outputs, and also project (partner,

consortium) meetings, meetings with the EC, project

evaluation, project plan, overview of tasks to be

completed, timeline and milestones.

35 With reference to this call:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/

portal/desktop/en/opportunities/rec/topics

/rec-rrac-raci-ag-2016.html, can you

please clarify what the general condition

"Cooperation with other existing projects

in the EU should be properly ensured;

outcomes of the past projects should be

taken into account" exactly means?

In other words, our aim is to encourage applicants

to explore what kind of projects have already been

carried out in the area in order to take into account

their results and use the outcomes, lessons learnt

and not to duplicate initiatives.

36 We are looking at one of the calls, you

have been launched, as follows:

Topic identifier: REC-RRAC-RACI-AG-2016

TOPIC : Support dialogue and exchange of

best practice in fostering tolerance and

mutual respect

Can you please clarify:

* Is this call available for mono-beneficiary

applicants from 1 country or it needs to be

in transnational partnership with

international partners?

Thank you very much in advance for the

clarification.

Please see under point 2.3 of Topic conditions and

documents at:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/des

ktop/en/opportunities/rec/topics/rec-rrac-raci-ag-

2016.html

2.3 Eligibility of the application (a) the application must be transnational and involve

organisations from at least two participating countries;

37 I have a question regarding the proposal

template for Part B 1.3 Relevance and

justification, the sub-question: How does

your project address the call priority under

which you are applying?

In the topic description, it’s stated that:

Indeed, a project can address more than one

priority, no problem with that.

According to our approach, grass root (project)

activities are not linked to the size of the

organisation but to the nature of the activities

14

The priorities of this call for proposals are:

Grassroots projects on preventing

and combating Antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred and intolerance (as a follow up of the 2015 Colloquium on Fundamental Rights event);

projects on preventing and combating homophobia and transphobia;

projects promoting the development of tools and practices to prevent (counter-narratives), monitor and combat online hate speech, including but not limited to means of criminal law (as a follow up of the

Colloquium);

Projects to create better understanding between

communities, including religious communities, and prevent and combat racism and xenophobia through interreligious and intercultural activities.

Does that mean that we have to choose

just one priority?

Or we can point out the main priority, but

touch upon the second as well?

The project that we will be applying with

lies addresses the first priority, but the

activities fall also under the fourth priority.

Most importantly, being a rather important

in size institution, could that mean that

our project (that would be implemented

with 3 other partners, including one NGO)

would not be regarded as a grassroot

project?

carried out (which are going to the field, working

directly with the target groups).

38 Regarding the proposal template for Part B

point 1.7 Timeline by workstream – given

that we are requested to provide it in a

structured manner, can we insert a chart

and not the text itself?

It is up to you to decide how you wish to present

your project.

39 Regarding the proposal template for Part B

point 1.11 Evaluation of the project

activities outputs and results and the

Note: For the evaluation of the activities

you will be requested to use participation

evaluation questionnaire to be provided by

the Commission:

What does the evaluation questionnaire

This document is still in preparation and will be

made available at a later stage (in any case, such a

questionnaire will be needed only after the signature

of the grant agreement and start of the project, if

the application is successful). Yes, once it is

available, its use will be obligatory. However, this is

not linked to the possibility or not to sub-contract

this task. Your sub-contractor will be then

requested to use our model.

15

provided by the Commission looks like and

when will it be provided? Does that mean

that we cannot carry out the evaluation

using other questionnaires? And more

importantly – does that mean that we

cannot subcontract the external evaluators

to carry out the evaluation?

40 Regarding the proposal template for Part B

point 1.16 IF APPLICABLE: Description of

child protection policy – given that in our

project none of the participating

organization will have contact with

children, will the answer “not applicable”

be sufficient? Or should we elaborate on

it?

Indeed, the child protection policy should not be

applicable to you given the profile of your project.

41 Regarding the proposal template for Part B

point 1.17 IF APPLICABLE: English

translation of the abstract – our proposal

will be written in English, should we

answer “not applicable”, copy the abstract

from point 1.1 or leave the space blank?

As the proposal is in English, then indeed, this point

does not need to be filled in or you can refer to the

earlier relevant section or indicate not applicable.

42 Given that my country is not in the euro

zone, what exchange rate should we use

when calculating the costs to be incurred

in my country?

Please see Art. 15.6 of the multi-beneficiary model

grand agreement:

15.6 Currency for financial statements and conversion

into euro Financial statements must be drafted in euro.

Beneficiaries [and affiliated entities] with accounting

established in a currency other than the euro must convert

the costs recorded in their accounts into euro, at the

average of the daily exchange rates published in the C

series of the Official Journal of the European Union,

calculated over the corresponding reporting period.

If no daily euro exchange rate is published in the Official

Journal of the European Union for the currency in

question, they must be converted at the average of the

monthly accounting rates published on the Commission’s

website, calculated over the corresponding reporting

period.

Beneficiaries with accounting established in euro must

convert costs incurred in another currency into euro

according to their usual accounting practices.

Until now in our grant agreements we used the

underlined in yellow option, see

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/i

nforeuro/index_en.cfm

For your estimated proposal budget, please use the

current conversion rates, and the above-mentioned

Article will apply for financial statements. Note that

16

exchange losses are not eligible costs.

43 Does the PART 3 of the proposal template

for Part B – INFORMATION CONCERNING

OTHER GRANTS / PROCUREMENT concern

only the applicant or the partner

organisations as well?

And regarding the budget and the

eligibility of the VAT, in the subcontracting

part of the budget, should we include the

net or gross amounts?

The part 3 concerns only the applicant: “3.1 Grant

applications or offers submitted under other

grants/procurement procedures by the applicant to

the EU institutions in the current year.”

In principle, VAT is eligible including for sub-

contracted activities, unless your organisation is a

public body (State, regional or local government

authority or other public body) acting as a public

authority, or can recover VAT.

Please see p.42 of the guide for applicants for more

complete information: 1.4 Eligibility of VAT.

44 I am writing to request further information

about the Standard Submission Form "Part

B" that now shall be uploaded directly as a

PDF file into the Electronic Submission

System. In particular, we need clarification

of the following details:

• As regards the final version to be

uploaded, could we delete the

explanations for each section and maintain

only the section titles?

(E.g., 1.14. Ethical issues related to the

project; instead of 1.14. Ethical issues

related to the project (max. 2000

characters) Describe any ethical issues

which you could come across during the

implementation of your project, including

with regard to interactions with target

groups or persons benefiting from the

project, and present your strategy to

address them)

• if yes, could we do the same for the

workstreams?

This is important because the page limit

for Part B of the proposal is 30 pages.

• Is it possible to use use bold, italics

and strikethrough?

Finally, could we add also tables and

figures - in addition to the Gantt Chart

(e.g., a project management chart within

section "1.8. The partnership and the core

project team"; and/or a table containing

risks and mitigation strategies within

section "1.10. Monitoring of the project

implementation; risks and measures to

mitigate them")?

You are not allowed to modify the template for

project description (Part B) such as delete some

parts. Also technically this is not possible as the

editable Word template is locked and only allows for

inputting text in foreseen places.

It is up to you to use font styles of your choice (if

the part B template allows for this) if you think this

is relevant for your project description.

It is up to you to decide on the presentation of the

descriptive part of your project, we cannot provide

specific guidance in this aspect.

17

45 Our project would be implemented in 3

countries, we kindly ask a clarification

regarding the Letter from the public

authority supporting the application

(annex 5 - page 33; Guide for Applicants):

Do we need the support letter from each

country and does the public authority have

to be national or can it be regional/local?

Annex 5 does not apply under this call and therefore

does not need to be submitted, it is not mentioned

among the eligibility criteria. Information in the

guide for applicants is more general, with mention

“if applicable”.

46 I formulate the REC project - DISC - AG -

2016 and would like to know if you have

to be planned in English, or may be in

another language (Portuguese).

It is possible to submit your project application in

Portuguese which is one of the official languages of

the EU.

Please note however the following provision as

stated in the guide for applicants (p. 20/21):

Languages

In principle, project proposals may be submitted in

any official language of the European Union.

However, for reasons of efficiency, the Commission

would strongly advise Applicants to use English.

Please also note that for this call, a trans-national

partnership is required, see under Topic conditions and

documents

2.3 Eligibility of the application (a) the application must be transnational and involve organisations from at least two participating countries;

47 Regarding the budget and the categories, I

have a question related to personnel costs

and project coordination.

Should the cost of a person responsible for

the project coordination be included in

category A (direct personnel costs) or

category F (indirect costs)? Does the same

go for the financial manager?

Such costs are eligible under A category, to the

extent of the days/hours to be worked on the

project.

48 1. What about the cost of lunch and

coffee breaks during the activities for the

project participants – should they fall

under category B.2 or category E?

2. The same goes for the catering during

a dissemination event – the cost is eligible

under category B.2 or category E?

3. Finally, is the cost of promotion and IT

support eligible under F category?

1. Such costs, related to conferences, seminars and

other events, are to be put under category E. Please

see point 2.4.5 of the Guide for Applicants’ Annex

on costs eligibility (page 59).

2. See above

3. Publication and dissemination activities are

eligible under category E as well. IT support will be

indeed under category F (see page 60 of the guide).

49 I would like to confirm that there is no

character count for question 1.2 in Part b

for proposal under JUST Action grants

2016.

Indeed, no characters limit is set for section 1.2

Definition of the problem (but also for 1.6

Methodology and 1.12 Dissemination). For this

/these section(s) therefore the individual characters

18

Is this correct or a mistake?

limit does not apply, however, please keep in mind

that the Part B document should exceed 30 pages in

total.

50 There is any guide or document about

question 1.15 on template related to REC-

RRAC-RACI-AG-2016?

Yes, please see the note on page 37 of the guide for

applicants:, this in line with the legal base and 2016

REC annual work programme

(http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/

other_eu_prog/rec/wp/rec-awp-2016_en.pdf, page

3), where the following is stated:

All activities implemented under this work

programme shall respect and shall be implemented

in line with the rights and principles enshrined in the

Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European

Union and shall support gender mainstreaming and

the mainstreaming of non-discrimination.

51 Could you please clarify whether the sub-

question “What are the communication

needs and objectives of the project?” in

the proposal template for Part B point 1.12

Dissemination strategy and

communication tools regards the

communication between the partners or

the communication of the project, that is

promotion?

From the description provided next to the Part B

point 1.12, the external promotion of the project is

concerned.

52 I have two additional questions related to

the budget categories:

1. The remuneration of the external

expert that will be taking part in the

dissemination seminar – should this fall

under category E or C?

2. Specific evaluation of the project –

external evaluators – should this fall under

category E or C?

1. In fact such costs could be put either under E or

C depending the status of the experts contracts and

the type of their involvement in the project.

However, from our experience, if the expert

intervention is punctual, this would rather fall

under E category.

2. Similar as above, but as this activity is usually

not punctual but on-going over the period of project

implementation and is part of the project tasks

(workstreams), usually it is sub-contracted

(category C)

See page 46 of the Guide for applicants (Annex on

costs eligibility):

1.5.2. Implementation contracts - category E of the

estimated budget

These contracts refer to the procurement of ordinary

services, goods or equipment needed to carry out the

project (e.g. dissemination of information, evaluation,

audits, translations, reproduction, purchase of tickets,

renting of rooms and accommodation, purchase of

consumables and supplies, website development, etc.).

19

These contracts do not, contrary to subcontracting, imply

any externalisation of the project activities described in

the proposal.

Such contracts have to comply with the provisions

specified above. No additional conditions need to be

complied with.

1.5.3. Subcontracting of tasks - category C of the

estimated budget

A "subcontract" is a procurement contract which covers

the implementation by a third party of tasks forming part

of the action as described in Annex I of the grant

agreement (contrary to implementation contracts

described above).

and pages 56-60 (Annex) referring to costs

categories C and E.

53 One question regarding the proposal

template for Part B point 1.8 The

partnership – Introduce the persons of the

core project team:

Should we also list the project consultants

(who are permanent staff working for the

partners) but who are not part of the core

project team?

Regarding the question on point 1.8 of the Part B,

the core project team is concerned, and it is up to

you to decide who should be included.

54 (as a follow-up to Question 52), it means

that if the activity is sub-contracted, but

punctual, the cost should be put under E

category?

Usually, this is the case as mentioned in the reply to

Question 52, and in line with the quoted parts of the

guide for applicants. However, also the nature of the

tasks categorizes the cost rather in E or C. If no

externalisation of the project activities described in

the proposal is concerned, but rather purchasing of

ordinary services or goods needed to carry out the

project (e.g. dissemination of information,

evaluation, audits, translations, reproduction,

purchase of tickets, renting of rooms and

accommodation, purchase of consumables and

supplies, website development, etc.), then the costs

would fall in the category E.

In any case, if necessary some costs can be

transferred upon request of the Commission to a

different cost category before the signature of the

grant agreement, if the project is successful.

55 I would be grateful if you could clarify for

me the following:

Is it compulsory/desirable for a proposal to

meet only one of the 4 priorities presented

in your call or can a proposal address

more than one priority?

In other words, can we propose a set of

Indeed, a project can address more than one

priority.

20

actions related to online hate speech as

well as others related to promoting a

better understanding between

communities?

The priorities of this call for proposals are:

Grassroots projects on preventing

and combating Antisemitism and

anti-Muslim hatred and intolerance

(as a follow up of the 2015 Colloquium

on Fundamental Rights event);

projects on preventing and

combating homophobia and

transphobia;

projects promoting the development of

tools and practices to prevent

(counter-narratives), monitor and

combat online hate

speech, including but not limited to

means of criminal law (as a follow up of

the Colloquium);

Projects to create better

understanding between

communities, including religious

communities, and prevent and combat

racism and xenophobia through

interreligious and intercultural

activities.

56 If there are 2-3 partners that working

directly with children, in the voice "Annex

4 - Child Protection Policy" in the online

submission system I have to upload one

pdf that resume the policies of each

partner?

Indeed, as requested in point 1.16 of the Part B

template, a description of child protection policy

needs to be provided as Annex 4 for the

Applicant/partners concerned, i.e. who work directly

with children for the purposes of the project. Please

note that the submission system accepts one file per

Annex, so you will need to merge documents if there

are several.

57 (as follow-up to Question 56) Thus, I have

to enclose (for the partners that working

with children) the child protection policy

for each partner (in one file)?

Or it is enough a general/overall child

protection policy for all?

It depends on the situation in your partnership – if

your partners have their own child protection policy,

then they should be submitted next to the applicant

policy.

58 Still in the subject of budget categories,

could the salaries of the staff specifically

recruited for the project, such as trainers

This depends on the employment status of the

persons concerned. If they have a contract of

employment or an assimilated contract explicitly

21

or evaluators, fall under A category?

According to the Guide of Applicants, p.

48-49:

Salaries (fees) of non-permanent staff

(staff specifically recruited for the project)

may be charged to this budget category

provided that the following conditions are

fulfilled:

• the individual concerned works for one of

the Beneficiaries with a contract of

employment or an assimilated contract13

explicitly linking the person to the project;

• the individual concerned works under the

instructions/supervision of the Beneficiary

and, unless otherwise agreed with the

Beneficiary, on the premises of the

Beneficiary;

• the result of the work belongs to the

Beneficiary;

• the costs are reasonable and not

significantly different from the costs of

staff performing similar tasks under an

employment contract with the Beneficiary;

• travel and subsistence costs related to

such a person participation in project

meetings or other travel relating to the

project is directly paid by the beneficiary;

• the individual uses the Beneficiary’s

infrastructure (i.e. generates indirect costs

for the Beneficiary).

linking the person to the project, and the other

conditions from the guide for applicant as mentioned

by you in bullet points are met, then yes.

59 I have a very practical question.

In the guide of applicants it is written that

we need to have the balance sheet and

profit & loss accountants.

"Financial capacity check will be performed

by the Research Executive Agency (REA).

For the purpose of demonstrating its

financial capacity, the applicant must

provide the most recent closed financial

statements of his organisation containing

the balance sheet and profit & loss

accounts. In case of an application

submitted on behalf of a consortium, only

the coordinator needs to submit this

information." page 36 Guide

But when uploading the documents in the

electronic submission system system, we

found no button for this doc.

What should we do in this situation? How

can we upload the document?

The financial documents referred to need to be

uploaded in the beneficiary registry, not in the SEP

submission system together with the project

application.

Please see at

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/des

ktop/en/organisations/register.html for more

information.

22

The only documents that we are allowed to

upload are:

Part B

Annex 1 - CVs

Annex 2 - Annual activity report

Annex 3 - Indicators

60 I have a question regarding Part B point

1.7 Timeline by workstream: how precise

should the timeline be? If needed, can we

make adjustments to the timeline at a

later stage?

It is up to you to define how detailed your planning

can be, on a scale of a typical 24-month long

project. Yes, some flexibility is indeed possible at a

later stage, changes may already be needed at the

grant preparation phase (for a successful project)

and then during the project implementation (N.B. as

long as the overall duration is not modified).

61 I am contacting you on the behalf of a

regional entity in Spain. We are looking for

partners for the REC Programme TOPIC:

Support dialogue and exchange of best

practice in fostering tolerance and mutual

respect (REC-RRAC-RACI-AG-2016).

My question is if there is a platform or

some other way for us to look for suitable

partners, beside from CORDIS.

We do not have a specific platform for partners

search for our programme.

Nevertheless, you can have a look at the last year’s

call page under “Selected projects”:

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/grants1/calls/2015_actio

n_grants/just_2015_rrac_ag_en.htm, this might be

helpful.

62 I met a problem how to find the annexes

of part B for example. I have edited the

document but I don’t find the annexes !

annex 1 : curriculum vitae

annex 2: annual report

annex 3 : indicators.

annex : 4 : child ….

Do we create itself or is there a model ?

The template for Annex 3 Indicators (in excel

format) is available in the electronic submission

system in Steps 4 and 5 (see button "download Part

B templates"). There are no templates for the other

annexes.

63 We are preparing a proposal. One of our

partners has just received his pic code and

they are pending validation. Can you

please check and let me know if they are

allowed to be a partner to this proposal?

In principle there should be no problem if your

partner organisation is legally constituted in one of

the eligible countries. However, I am not able it

verify their status in the beneficiary register of the

Participant Portal as the related tasks are managed

centrally by the Research Executive Agency.

Therefore REA needs to be contacted (via the

beneficiary register) regarding the validation.

Please note that for the purposes of submitting a

proposal, the organisations do not need to be in

validated status.

64 I am writing to get information about the

call REC-RRAC-RACI-AG-2016.

To participate in the call we have to use

the old application form and partner

declarations?

We cannot find online the new formats.

Following the move of our calls to the Participant

Portal, the format of publication and submission

system has changed and some issues have been

simplified. The editable templates to be used are

available directly in the electronic submission

system (see button “Download Part B templates” in

Step 4 and 5). They are Part B in word formal

(former Annex I project description) and Annex 3

indicators (excel format). There is no more a

23

Waiting for your kind reply detailed budget template in Excel, a consolidated

budget per partner and per cost category is to be

filled in directly in the submission system Part A

(green button “edit forms” in Step 5). Partner

declaration forms do not exist anymore (replaced by

a declaration of the applicant in Part A), the notion

of associate partners has disappeared.

Please consult our guide for applicants, Section 3:

Budget, pages 24-26 for guidance.

Note that, as stated on page 26, “A detailed budget

template (see ''Topic conditions and documents'' on the

Participant Portal) is also made available by the

Commission to facilitate the planning of your project.

Please note that it is not obligatory to use this template

when preparing your application for funding and that it is

NOT foreseen for the detailed budget to be uploaded in the

Electronic Submission System (i.e. at the application stage).

However, following the finalisation of the evaluation

procedure by the Commission, applicants recommended for

the award of a grant may be requested to provide their

detailed budget estimate (either prior to the signature of the

grant agreement or at any point during the project’s

implementation phase).

At the moment the budget template is completed with sample

data for demonstration purposes, which you need to replace

with the data corresponding to your project.”

65 I’m writing the inquiry about the role of

associate partners in the new calls (such

as REC-RRAC-RACI-AG-2016). At the time

of PRIAMOS and previous management

guides, there was a distinction between

partners and associate partners, with the

latter receiving no money. Is this

distinction disappeared? How do we

involve associate partners now? Do we

include them in the consortium and assign

them no budget in the part A of the

application package?

Indeed, with the new system and publication of calls

/ submission using the Participant Portal, as several

issues have been simplified, also the notion of

associate partners has disappeared. Please indicate

involvement of such “associate partners” if relevant

for your project in the Part B project description

(former Annex I).

66 It is possible to upload the annual activity

report in Italian language?

Yes, it is possible.

67 Coming back to Point 3 of the application's

Part B template, regarding question 3.1, if

an application was submitted in a

partnership, should the amount refer to

the requested grant for the whole

partnership or only for the applicant?

The point 3.1 of the Part B refers only to the

applicant:

3.1 Grant applications or offers submitted under other

grants/procurement procedures by the applicant to the EU

institutions in the current year.

The amount requested by the applicant should be

then mentioned.

24

68 Regarding the Part B template, does the

column “year” in point 3.1 and 3.2 refer to

the year of the application submission or

of the project duration?

Year of submission of the project application is

concerned here.

69 Regarding the Part B template, just to

double check, in point 3.2. EU Grants or

contracts awarded to the applicant in the

last 4 years, the year is submission is

concerned as well? Or does it concern the

year of the award?

Here the year of award of the grant / contract

should be mentioned.

70 Regarding the Part B template, if we have

submitted an EU grant application in 2016

and have been awarded the grant in 2016,

should this be noted only in point 3.2 or

also in point 3.1?

I think you can mention this in both points.

71 I refer to the application form

JUST/2016/ACTION GRANTS PART B -

SUBMISSION TEMPLATE PROJECT

DESCRIPTION AND IMPLEMENTATION

page 11.

In the table displayed there is a column

called "Amount received by applicant

during the year of the latest certified

accounts".

1. Could you, please, specify what this

means? Does it mean that the last

financial year (so 2015) has to have

certified accounts and that if an amount

has been received by the applicant then

this amount has to be mentioned here?

Does it mean that all the amounts

received by the applicant in 2015 from EU

grants or procurement will have to be

enumerated here?

2. What is meant by "applicant"? Does it

mean only the lead partner has to fill in

the table or do the other project partners

in the consortium also have to give this

information? I understand that only the

lead partner fills in this table.

3. On the page before this table in the

application there is point 3.1 "grant

applications or offers submitted under

other grants/procurement procedures by

the applicant to the EU institutions in the

current year". There is one column saying

"applicant/partner". I understand this

1. Indeed, in principle the year 2015 is concerned as

this is will be the last closed / certified year from the

accounting point of view.

2. Your understanding is correct: only the lead

partner has to fill in the table.

3. Yes, only the lead partner (applicant) needs to

complete this table. For the column

"applicant/partner" you can put the name of the

Applicant/lead partner (if your organisation applied

as partner), otherwise, it will be also sufficient to

specify if you applied as main partner/applicant or

as partner.

25

column as follows: Only the lead partner

(=applicant) has to fill out this table. In

the column "applicant/partner" the

applicant/lead partner has to mention the

respective applicant of that former

application, i.e. it has to be mentioned

who was the lead partner of that former

application. Is that right?

72 Are the statutory documents of all project

partners needed for the application or only

those of the applicant organization, i.e. the

lead partner? Where do I find this

information?

Do you refer to the legal / organisations' registration

documents ? They need to be uploaded in the

beneficiary registry and if not already done will be

later validated in relation to the PIC nr of the

organisations. The main applicant as well as project

partners need to be at least self-registered (i.e. it is

not mandatory to have a validated status at the

application stage).

Please see the following page for more information :

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/des

ktop/en/organisations/register.html

73 (follow-up to Question 72) Thank you for

your answer. "Self-registered" means that

no LEAR has to be appointed yet at the

submission date? Or does it mean that the

status as an applicant or partner does not

have to be validated yet on the portal at

the submission date?

When the applicant/partner have received

the PIC number this means that the legal

registration documents and the financial

viability of the organisation have been

validated by the Validation Service team?

On your first question, I think that both options

mentioned by you are correct. The LEAR has to be

appointed at the validation of the organisation in the

beneficiary registry (status validated, and not

declared anymore). Please see at :

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/des

ktop/en/organisations/register.html for more

information.

On the second question, the PIC nr is received upon

registration and not validation.

74 I have a question regarding Annex 3 –

Indicators.

In point 1. Analytical activities, in the

column “Specify, if applicable” should we

include a description or the characteristics

of each activity. Or it rather applies to

when the activity “other” is selected?

I think you can fill in the column “Specify, if

applicable“ if you wish to further describe any type

of analytical activity, not only in cases where “other”

is selected.

75 I would like to ask a few questions

concerning the call (topic: REC-RRAC-

RACI-AG-2016).

- Eligible countries are the EU Member

States plus Iceland and Liechtenstein.

Does that mean that if a training activity

or conference takes place, only those costs

can be covered by the grant which are

connected to persons coming from these

countries? We are working with NGOs from

- In principle persons coming from non-EU countries

can participate in your trainings or conferences and

the related costs will be considered eligible as long

as these activities take place in eligible countries.

However, the participation of such persons should

not be too extensive and needs to be justified by the

project and indeed bring added value at the EU

level.

- Volunteer time, even though it can be mentioned

in the project description (Part B) if applicable,

26

all Council of Europe countries, although

all of the partners in the planned project

would be based in EU, we consider that

participants outside of the EU could also

participate on our training which would be

a part of the project. Would it be possible?

My other question is:

- Is volunteer time recognised as own

contribution from the partners?

cannot be part of the project budget (except for

covering minor subsistence expenses of volunteers

working for the project). Please note that, as stated

on page 42 of the guide for applicants, contributions

in kind from third parties are considered as ineligible

expenses. Furthermore, as stated on page 61:

2.6. Contributions in kind

Contributions in kind shall not be calculated as actual

expenditure and shall not constitute an eligible cost. They

shall not be taken into account for the calculation of total

eligible costs and the final amount of the grant.

! Note Contribution in kind refer to non-cash inputs from

third parties, such as:

• Any donation of raw materials (i.e. paper and ink for

publication purposes);

• Unpaid volunteer work or unpaid provision of service;

• Any other good or service provided to the project whose

cost is borne by another organisation and not reimbursed

by the Beneficiary.

Contributions in kind do not constitute an eligible cost.

They cannot be reported either as income at final

reporting stage.

76 In the call's text you mention

"representatives". Could you specify more

precisely what kind of representatives are

meant in this context, please? Do you

mean representatives of local authorities

or do you mean opinion leaders or ...?

Secondly, a participation evaluation

questionnaire for the evaluation of the

project activities, results and outputs is

mentioned in the application documents. I

have downloaded your questions and

answers document. There it says the

document is not available yet neither

needed for the submission of the

application. At the same time in the

standard proposal template it says it is

mandatory to hand in also this document

and integrate the indicators mentioned in

this document in the application.

Could you, please, confirm that the

document and the indicators mentioned in

it are necessary for the application or are

not? Could you tell me, please, when this

document will be available or where I can

find it?

On your 1st question, we meant

representatives/leaders of relevant minority

communities. This can be at local, regional or

national level; it could also simply refer to

community-based organisations.

Regarding your second question, no, the evaluation

questionnaire is not needed at the application stage.

As mentioned in the reply to the previous question

you refer to (Question 39), such a questionnaire will

be needed only after the signature of the grant

agreement and start of the project, if the application

is successful.

At this stage, we do not know when this

questionnaire will be made available.

77 I’m writing the inquiry about the role of

associate partners in the new calls (such

as REC-RRAC-RACI-AG-2016). At the time

of PRIAMOS and previous management

Indeed, with the new system and publication of calls

/ submission using the Participant Portal, as several

issues have been simplified, also the notion of

associate partners has disappeared. Please indicate

27

guides, there was a distinction between

partners and associate partners, with the

latter receiving no money. Is this

distinction disappeared? How do we

involve associate partners now? Do we

include them in the consortium and assign

them no budget in the part A of the

application package?

involvement of such “associate partners” if relevant

for your project in the Part B project description

(former Annex I).

78 (follow-up to question 77) Don’t we have

to add them as partners with the PIC

numbers then? Only list them in the part

B?

Yes, only partners (with a share of financial

contribution to appear in the budget of Part A) have

to be added with their PIC numbers. Former

“associate partners” are not financially involved in

the project, therefore please simply mention them,

if applicable, in Part B.

79 I am writing with what might not be the

most important question, but has been

giving me concern over the last week as

regards our application for the rec-rrac-

raci-ag-2016 (anti-discrimination,

preventing and combatting intolerance)

call and I just wanted to make sure that I

wasn't terribly confused about the process

as we come into the last stretch.

When I've turned in, for instance,

Erasmus+ applications in the past it was

necessary to have the Rector of the

University sign the application as the legal

representative of the organization. It also

demanded a stamp from the office

certifying the validity of the signature. This

was a part of the validity check, meaning

that only then could the document be

uploaded to the application portal.

Accomplishing that actually shrank the

timeline considerably because I had to be

finished with ample time for the

application to make it to and back from his

desk.

As far as I can see though, there is no

place where a signature is needed in this

application portal, and I just wanted to

make sure that I wasn't terribly confused

as to the process as we come into the last

stretch.

In the new online submission system, a hand-

written signature and stamp are not required. The

applicant makes an electronic declaration on honour

regarding the correctness of information and

commitment of the partners directly in the system

(see Part A).

Regarding the validation of the applicant’s legal

entity (PIC number), if not yet validated (before

organisations are validated they have a declared

status in the beneficiary registry), it will be done at

a later stage, and before the signature of the grant

agreement at the latest, if the application is

successful. Note that the applicant and partners do

not have to be in validated status at the proposal

submission stage.

80 Just to double check – is it possible to

submit an application if one of the

organisations is in the status “declared”?

Yes, the applicant and partners do not have to be in

validated status at the project application stage.

81 1. Do we correctly understand that

freelance experts can be included in the

project application through a temporary

1. Yes, your understanding seems correct. This

would be the case of Natural persons working for a

Beneficiary for the implementation of the project

28

contract of employment under which

people work exclusively for the project?

And that timesheets are not mandatory in

such cases?

2. Is also possible that freelance experts

apply for a PIC code themselves so they

can fully participate as a partner in the

project?

under a contract other than an employment contract

(see page 64 of the guide for applicants:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/o

ther_eu_prog/common/just-rec-guide-

applicants_en.pdf)

• Specific contract linked to the project with

description of tasks, reference to the project, to the

duration of the contract, to the time to be allocated

to the project, to the hourly/daily rate;

• Timesheets or equivalent system established and

certified by the employer containing the minimum

requirements specified in section 2.1.3.2 (if the

person does not work exclusively for the project);

• Invoices with indication of tasks performed, date,

number of hours worked and price per hour;

• Proof of payment.

! Note Timesheets are mandatory if the person does

not work exclusively for the project.

2. No, this is not possible. Only organisations can be

partners in our projects.

82 I had a quick question regarding the rec-

rrac-raci-ag-2016 (anti-discrimination,

preventing and combatting intolerance)

call.

We’re putting together the budget and I

am confused as to where travel for a

subcontracted actor might be placed. If we

invite a speaker to give motivational

speech and/or training to the participants

of our project, their salaries are clearly

subcontracting costs, but where is their

travel budget meant to reside?

Thank you for your interest. In principle, all travel

costs (of staff, invited speakers etc) should be

included in the category B of the budget. Please see

page 25 of the guide for applications for more

details.

83 I am fairly new to the EC application

system. I am mostly familiar with the UK

Department for International Development

(DFID).

With DFID bids, DFID post the names and

email addresses of attendees to the early

market engagement meetings. Thus giving

SME’s a chance to partner with

organisations and develop bids together. I

was wondering if you do something

similar?

I have only just been made aware of a call

of yours (REC-RRAC-RACI-AG-2016) which

is excellent for our organisation and we

We do not have a specific platform for partners

search for our programme. There is a platform

created for research applicants: CORDIS Partner Service

One of the largest databases of partner profiles

(self-registered profiles).

Otherwise, you can have a look at the last year’s call

page under “Selected projects”: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/grants1/calls/2015_action_grants/

just_2015_rrac_ag_en.htm , this might be helpful.

29

could certainly be an asset to many of the

priorities. However, as we don’t know any

organisations that we can partner with in

other member states, we are a bit stuck

and are therefore ineligible.

Any help you could give would be so much

appreciated.

84 We will submit the application by 2017

January 5, when should we expect a

decision from the EC? If the decision is

positive, how long does it take to sign a

contract and receive funding?

What is the total financial contribution the

EC can provide for the project?

What is the proportion of pre- and post-

financing?

Before submitting the proposal, do the

partners need to sign a formal agreement?

Is there any restriction, on having 2

partners from organizations that are

working on national levels (in the UK and

Germany) but use the same methodology,

have the same name?

It usually taken between 3 and 6 months until the

finalization of the proposals’ selection process.

Following this, for a successful proposal, one needs

to count up to 3 months for preparation and

signature of the grant agreement.

The maximum EU co-financing rate is 80%.

The pre-financing paid following the signature of the

grant agreement is in principle 80%, but can be

lowered depending on the call and the individual

situation of the beneficiary, following the

assessment of the financial capacity.

No, the applicant only needs to make a declaration

on honour that he has the agreement and

commitment of the partners.

If the national organizations have their own legal

entity, then yes, they can be separate partners to

the project.

85 I have a question related to the project

team and the personnel costs.

One of the key persons in our project team

works at the partner organisations but

does not receive the salary from this

organisation, because she is a liaison with

a different institution she is employed by

(=receives the salary from). There’s an

agreement between the two institutions.

In that case, should we include her salary

as own contribution of the partner

organisation. Or we shouldn’t count that

cost at all?

Such cost would not be considered eligible as it is

not incurred by one of the project partners (the

salary of the person in question is already financed

by another organisation). According to the guide for

applicants page 42, contributions in kind from third

parties are quoted among ineligible costs.

86 1. I'm filling out the budget and I'm in

trouble with 2.4.3 Consumables-2.4.4

Publications/dissemination and 2.3

subcontracting.

If I want to write a training module and

print 100 copies (by a company which

there isn't in the project), this is only a

1. In line with the guide for applicants (see page 46

points 1.5.2 and 1.5.3), Implementation contracts -

category E of the estimated budget:

These contracts refer to the procurement of ordinary

services, goods or equipment needed to carry out the

project (e.g. dissemination of information, evaluation,

audits, translations, reproduction, purchase of tickets,

30

subcontract?

If I want to print 10.000 raising-awareness

brochures/leaflets by a company which

there isn't in the project, this is only a

subcontract?

2. Can I have an example of consumables?

3. The costs of insurance for people attend

an international event/workshop/training

in room, are indirect costs?

renting of rooms and accommodation, purchase of

consumables and supplies, website development, etc.).

These contracts do not, contrary to subcontracting, imply

any externalisation of the project activities described in

the proposal.

Therefore consumables, publication and

dissemination, printing costs would fall in the budget

category E.

However, developing (writing) a training module

would be considered as sub-contracting (category C)

as it implies externalisation of project activities.

2. For example consumable office supplies are such

products as paper, pens, file folders, Post-it notes,

and toner or ink cartridges.

3. Indeed, they are indirect cost (please see page

60 of the guide for applicants, point 2.5 Indirect

Costs (category F))

87 1. Regarding point 3.2 of the Part B,

should we include a project that has been

awarded funding, but in which we

participated as a partner and did not apply

for any funding, and therefore the total

amount of award received by us was 0?

2. Regarding the page limit, the minimum

font size allowed is 11 points. However,

the font type is not specified in the Guide

for Applicants. Therefore, can we use

Times New Roman, size 11?

1. In such a case it is not necessary to mention this

project.

2. Yes, please use the font type you mentioned.

88 Another question regarding point 3.2 of

the Part B: could you please clarify what

does “the latest certified accounts” mean?

It means the latest closed year form the accounting

point of view (here normally 2015).

89 One question about application form part

B - costs

Which is the logic difference between 1.5.2

and 1.5.3 in the guide? May make you an

example?

A translation contract is not a sub-

contract... and a video editing yes?

why a website in an E contract and a video

is a C'?

The difference, as explained on page 46 of the guide

for applicants between

1.5.2. Implementation contracts - category E of the

estimated budget

and

1.5.3. Subcontracting of tasks - category C of the

estimated budget

is that category C subcontracting implies

externalisation of projects tasks or (parts of)

activities, for example developing training materials

31

(where training is part of project activities).

Category E concerns purchase of usual services or

goods needed to carry out the project such as

dissemination of information, evaluation, audits,

translations, reproduction, purchase of tickets,

renting of rooms and accommodation, purchase of

consumables and supplies, website development,

etc.

These contracts refer to the procurement of ordinary

services, goods or equipment. These contracts do

not, contrary to subcontracting, imply any

externalisation of the project activities described in

the proposal.

90 (follow-up to question 89) however we are

sorry but the concept is still not clear to

us.

For example, a video editing and

publishing on YouTube... is in the C

category?

If so, why website is in E? We don't

understand the difference.

The examples you mention seem to fall in the

category E not C. Video editing and publishing would

fall under E implementation of ordinary contracts for

purchase of goods/services as this does not seem

involving externalisation of project activities. On the

other hand, if for example writing the video's

scenario / content would have been concerned

(involving creating content), then this would fall

under C sub-contracting.

In any case, if there is doubt, such issues can

always be clarified and costs transfers done at the

request of the Commission if necessary during the

grant agreement proration phase if the project is

successful.

Finally, please note that at the application stage you

do not need to fill in the detailed budget template

(excel format). The budget to be filled in is a

consolidated one in Part A administrative forms

directly in the submission system. Please see page

26 of the guide for applicants:

"A detailed budget template (see ''Topic conditions and

documents'' on the Participant Portal) is also made

available by the Commission to facilitate the planning of

your project. Please note that it is not obligatory to use

this template when preparing your application for funding

and that it is NOT foreseen for the detailed budget to be

uploaded in the Electronic Submission System (i.e. at the

application stage). However, following the finalisation of

the evaluation procedure by the Commission, applicants

recommended for the award of a grant may be requested

to provide their detailed budget estimate (either prior to

the signature of the grant agreement or at any point

during the project’s implementation phase).

32

At the moment the budget template is completed with

sample data for demonstration purposes, which you need

to replace with the data corresponding to your project."

91 Are we allowed to delete the empty rows

in tables 3.1 and 3.2 of the Part B?

I did not modify the Part 3 of the Part B.

As a result, the empty rows are on page

31, therefore will be watermarked.

In line with the Guide for Applicants, any

text after page 30 will be watermarked

and evaluators will not take those pages

into consideration, but it does not mean

that the application will be ineligible?

Given the fact that Title 3 of Part B template is not

locked, it will be better that indeed you delete the

empty rows in the two tables 3.1 and 3.2 and keep

your proposal description within 30 pages.

92 In order to submit Annex 4, is it

mandatory for the partners working

directly with children to have a published

official document on child protection

policy?

Or is it sufficient to draft ad hoc

guidelines/behaviour protocol/code of

conduct that would be adopted by adults

working with/in contact with children in

case of project implementation? In this

case, we would describe our child

protection policy preparing an ad hoc

document where we identify: our purpose

of the child protection policy; application

of the policy (applicable to which staff, in

which situations); responsibility (who is

responsible for ensuring that the policy is

adhered to); description of recruitment

and screening processes with regard to

child protection policy (details of training

on child protection policy and rights of the

child, screening, vetting (criminal

background check); processes exist to

help minimise the possibility of children

being abused by those in positions of

trust.

Or can we refer to an existing child

protection policy elaborated by another

entity (not taking part to the partnership)

and specifying all the elements mentioned

above, that the partnership would adopt in

case of project implementation?

If your do not have (yet) an official document on

your organisation’s child protection policy, then

please prepare and submit an ad-hoc one as you

suggest (where you can also refer to the third

organisation which inspired your document). It will

be assessed accordingly and within your project

context.