Contracting Authority: European Commission
Catalysing creative industries development in Armenia
Guidelines for grant applicants

Budget line: 14.029901
Reference:
EuropeAid/172718/DD/ACT/AM

Deadline for submission of concept notes:
 26/09/2021 at 12:00 (Brussels date and time)
(in order to convert to local time click here)

NOTICE
This is a restricted call for proposals. In the first instance, only concept notes (Annex A.1) must be submitted for evaluation. Thereafter, lead applicants who have been pre-selected will be invited to submit a full application. After the evaluation of the full applications, an eligibility check will be performed for those which have been provisionally selected. Eligibility will be checked on the basis of the supporting documents requested by the contracting authority and the signed ‘declaration by the lead applicant’ sent together with the full application.
To apply to this call for proposals organisations must register in PADOR and submit their application in PROSPECT  (see section 2.2.2 of the guidelines). The aim of PROSPECT is to increase the efficiency of the management of the call for proposals and to offer a better service to civil society organisations through a new panel of functionalities such as the on-line submission and the possibility to follow up online the status of their application.
All organisations may find more information regarding PROSPECT in the user’s manual and the e-learning videos. You may also contact our technical support team via the online support form in PROSPECT.

Table of contents
1.	Catalysing creative industries development in Armenia
1.1.	Background
1.2.	Objectives of the programme and priority issues
1.3.	Financial allocation provided by the contracting authority
2.	Rules FOR thIS call for proposalS
2.1.	Eligibility criteria
2.1.1.	Eligibility of applicants (i.e. lead applicant and co-applicant(s))
2.1.2.	Affiliated entities
2.1.3.	Associates and contractors
2.1.4.	Eligible actions: actions for which an application may be made
2.1.5.	Eligibility of costs: costs that can be included
2.2.	How to apply and the procedures to follow
2.2.1.	Concept note content
2.2.2.	Where and how to send concept notes
2.2.3.	Deadline for submission of concept notes
2.2.4.	Further information about concept notes
2.2.5.	Full applications
2.2.6.	Where and how to send full applications
2.2.7.	Deadline for submission of full applications
2.2.8.	Further information about full applications
2.3.	Evaluation and selection of applications
2.4.	Submission of supporting documents for provisionally selected applications
2.5.	Notification of the Contracting Authority’s decision
2.5.1.	Content of the decision
2.5.2.	Indicative timetable
2.6.	Conditions for implementation after the contracting authority’s decision to award a grant
3.	LIST OF annexes

1.	Catalysing creative industries development in Armenia
1.1.	Background
Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) are an essential contributor and enabler of socio-economic development. In Armenia, artists, craftspeople, designers, and creative content producers mainly ensure occupation for themselves and a limited numbers of collaborators and create small companies in this area. However, the community of creators can not achieve a breakthrough in the Armenian economy as it is fragmented, it tends to work in isolation and overall lacks managerial and entrepreneurial skills; such context hampers the chances for the creative sector to act at its full potential in order to become one of the leading economic sectors with great job generation potential in the country and an engine for socio-economic recovery following the COVID-19 crisis. 
The main elements of this missed opportunity are, on the one hand, leaning on the incapacity of the ecosystem players to implement a sound entrepreneurship support value chain properly designed around the challenges and specific needs of creative entrepreneurs and, on the other hand, on the lack of know-how, skills and the proper entrepreneurial mindset that has a direct effect on tackling and managing the ideation, launch and growth of sustainable businesses in the creative sector.
There is a need, therefore, to provide opportunities of growth to creative entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs. This requires the establishment of business development and financial services, coupled with the improvement of the overall ecosystem in which entrepreneurs in the creative sector operate. Also, the necessary physical infrastructure across the country for creative people to meet, network and operate entrepreneurially, should be enhanced.
More specifically, while artists and craftspeople in the various creative domains in Armenia are renowned for their excellent creative skills, the lack of entrepreneurial mindset and spirit hampers the growth and potential of the sector.  As long as creative skills are not integrated into entrepreneurial activities, they cannot bring products and services to market. The passage to higher-level entrepreneurial thinking needs to be addressed through the activation of methods that generate the proper mindset and of services and tools that are set to accompany creators to become more entrepreneurial. The intake of business skills will render their creations more apt to national and international markets. Creatives often lack management and financial skills as well as knowledge of markets and of funding, rely on weak balance sheets, and lack investment readiness and business acumen. Furthermore, ecosystem players, that could provide the needed support, have difficulties in understanding the underlying business models that can be leveraged by creatives and tend to consider creatives as bearing high risk. 
Reinforcing the creative sector in Armenia, therefore, is not just a matter of empowering the creatives, facilitating the process towards a more entrepreneurial mindset and skillset, but also a matter of enabling a better understanding of cultural and creative industries and their characteristics within the local and national ecosystem players and enablers who have the power to boost their growth. This means, for example, allowing the financial community to get acquainted to the characteristics of the Armenian creatives, putting together financial tools that fit their needs, empowering specialised business support organisations and other relevant actors to design entrepreneurship support services, designing and implementing incubation and acceleration processes , creating the right infrastructural environment for creatives to work and prosper, setting up the relevant policy framework. Ecosystem builders should consider bringing together different stakeholders to create networks and clusters and establish creative hubs. Moreover, creating and expanding existing extensive links to the successful diaspora Armenian entrepreneurs, could lead to knowledge transfer, funding and resource leverage.
Internationalisation and digitalisation are influencing the growth, structure and market of all cultural and creative value chains before and during the COVID 19 pandemic, including changes in creation, production, distribution, and consumption of cultural goods and services. There is therefore a need for Armenian CCIs to connect with international markets, increase exports, to link with global buyers and specialised international organisations to sell services and show individual skillsets and portfolios, etc. Creative cities in partnership with the private sector must be promoted, leveraging creative talent and potential for city competitiveness and inclusive urban transformation. Creative Hubs and creative spaces have an important role to play fostering creative communities’ engagement and development.
The Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) envisages support to trade and investment relations and support to SMEs development, based on the principles of the Small Business Act for Europe, with a focus on micro- and small enterprises, simplification and rationalisation of regulations and regulatory practices; promotion of a more business-friendly environment; and encouragement of greater contacts between businesses from the EU and Armenia. The Joint Staff Working Document “Recovery, resilience and reform: post 2020 Eastern Partnership Priorities” and the Economic and Investment Plan for the Eastern Partnership prioritise the maximisation of the potential of the cultural and creative industries as engines for social and economic development. 
1.2.	Objectives of the programme and priority issues 
The global objective of this call for proposals is the development of the Armenian economy by supporting the creation and strengthening of small businesses in the cultural and creative industries sector, contributing to the country’s job creation and socio-economic growth. 
The specific objective(s) of this call for proposals are:
1.	To support Armenian creatives to set up, grow and expand viable and sustainable businesses with a national and global outreach by providing a proper mix of financial and business development services to unlock the creatives’ and CCIs potential.
2.	To enable the upscaling of entrepreneurial skills of Armenian creatives to support them to establish sustainable businesses by increasing their knowhow in company creation and management, as well as to improve the conditions for market access for CCIs through increased business capacities of different sub-sectors. 
3.	To improve the governance and effectiveness of the Armenian entrepreneurial ecosystem of the cultural and creative industries sector by capacitating ecosystem players and enablers to work with and for creatives and by providing them with sustainable options to build a more effective support system.
4.	To enhance the infrastructure for sustainable creative industries through effective hard (physical) and soft investments, networking, effective business support and effective collaborations  
The priorities of this call for proposals are:
Priority 1: Enhance the growth of the skillset of creatives, to encompass, along the artistic competencies that exist, a set of entrepreneurial skills relative to products and services that are in the ideation and development phases. 
Priority 2: Enable the build-up and implementation of a set of sustainable financial and business development services focused on the needs of local creative entrepreneurs and that allows them to introduce products and services to national and international markets.
Priority 3: Improve the connection with the needed financial sources within the various stages of development of the creative companies, allowing creatives to access finance. 
Priority 4: Enable creative people to network among themselves to draw upon the opportunities through collaborative projects. 
Priority 5: Support the involvement and engagement of all relevant creative ecosystem players and enablers to leverage on the creative and business support structures that already exist in the country, which would provide improved services to creative entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs so that competitive advantages can be exploited.
Applications should reflect the intention to report against relevant SMART, sex-disaggregated indicators. 

1.3.	Financial allocation provided by the contracting authority
The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 3 000 000. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
Size of grants
Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
•	minimum amount: EUR 3 000 000
•	maximum amount: EUR 3 000 000
Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum percentages of total eligible costs of the action:
•	Minimum percentage: 50% of the total eligible costs of the action.
•	Maximum percentage: 80% of the total eligible costs of the action (see also Section 2.1.5). 
Please note that in case of different maximum co-financing rate for local and non-local organisations, international organisations are not entitled to claim the maximum co-financing rate as they may never be considered as a local organisation even though they have local offices or headquarters established in the country.
The balance (i.e. the difference between the total cost of the action and the amount requested from the contracting authority) must be financed from sources other than the general budget of the Union or the European Development Fund.
2.	 Rules FOR thIS call for proposalS
These guidelines set out the rules for the submission, selection and implementation of the actions financed under this call, in conformity with the practical guide, which is applicable to the present call (available on the internet at this address http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/prag/document.do?locale=en).
2.1.	Eligibility criteria
There are three sets of eligibility criteria, relating to:
(1)	the actors:
•	The ‘lead applicant’, i.e. the entity submitting the application form (2.1.1),
•	if any, its co-applicant(s) (where it is not specified otherwise the lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) are hereinafter jointly referred as ‘applicant(s)’) (2.1.1), 
•	and, if any, affiliated entity(ies) to the lead applicant and/or to a co-applicant(s). (2.1.2);
(2)	the actions:
Actions for which a grant may be awarded (2.1.4);
(3)	the costs:
•	types of cost that may be taken into account in setting the amount of the grant (2.1.5).
2.1.1.	Eligibility of applicants (i.e. lead applicant and co-applicant(s))
Lead applicant
(1)	In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
•	be a legal person and
•	be non-profit-making and
•	be a non-governmental organisation and
•	be established in Armenia and
•	be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary  
(2)	Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations listed in Section 2.6.10.1 of the practical guide;

Lead applicants, co-applicants, affiliated entities and, in case of legal entities, persons who have powers of representation, decision-making or control over the lead applicant, the co-applicants and the affiliated entities are informed that, should they be in one of the situations of early detection or exclusion according to Section 2.6.10.1 of the practical guide, personal details (name, given name if natural person, address, legal form and name and given name of the persons with powers of representation, decision-making or control, if legal person) may be registered in the early detection and exclusion system, and communicated to the persons and entities concerned in relation to the award or the execution of a grant contract.In this respect, provisionally selected lead applicants, co-applicants and affiliated entities are obliged to declare that they are not in one of the exclusion situations through a signed declaration on honour (PRAG Annex A14). For grants of EUR 60 000 or less, no declaration on honour is required. See section 2.4. 

In Annex A.1 Section 2 and Annex A.2 Section 5 (‘declaration(s) by the lead applicant’), the lead applicant must declare that the lead applicant himself, the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies) are not in any of these situations.
The lead applicant may act individually or with co-applicant(s).
If awarded the grant contract, the lead applicant will become the beneficiary identified as the coordinator in Annex G (special conditions). The coordinator is the main interlocutor of the contracting authority. It represents and acts on behalf of any other co-beneficiary (if any) and coordinate the design and implementation of the action.
Co-applicant(s)
Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant. 
Co-applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
Co-applicants must sign the mandate in Annex A.2 Section 5.
If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicant(s) (if any) will become beneficiary(ies) in the action (together with the coordinator). 
(3)  Applicants included in the lists of EU restrictive measures (see Section 2.4. of the PRAG) at the
        moment of the award decision cannot be awarded the contract.
2.1.2.	Affiliated entities
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:
(i) 	Control, as defined in Directive 2013/34/EU on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:
Entities affiliated to an applicant may hence be:
-	Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the applicant (granddaughter companies or second-tier subsidiaries) and the same applies to further tiers of control;
-	Entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;
-	Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the applicant (sister companies).
(ii) 	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.

The structural link shall as a general rule be neither limited to the action nor established for the sole purpose of its implementation. This means that the link would exist independently of the award of the grant; it should exist before the call for proposals and remain valid after the end of the action.

By way of exception, an entity may be considered as affiliated to an applicant even if it has a structural link specifically established for the sole purpose of the implementation of the action in the case of so-called ‘sole applicants’ or ‘sole beneficiaries’.  A sole applicant or a sole beneficiary is a legal entity formed by several entities (a group of entities) which together comply with the criteria for being awarded the grant. For example, an association is formed by its members.
	What is not an affiliated entity? 

The following are not considered entities affiliated to an applicant:

-	Entities that have entered into a (procurement) contract or subcontract with an applicant, act as concessionaires or delegatees for public services for an applicant,
-	Entities that receive financial support from the applicant,
-	Entities that cooperate on a regular basis with an applicant on the basis of a memorandum of understanding or share some assets,
-	Entities that have signed a consortium agreement under the grant contract (unless this consortium agreement leads to the creation of a ‘sole applicant’ as described above).

How to verify the existence of the required link with an applicant?

The affiliation resulting from control may in particular be proved on the basis of the consolidated accounts of the group of entities the applicant and its proposed affiliates belong to.

The affiliation resulting from membership may in particular be proved on the basis of the statutes or equivalent act establishing the entity (network, federation, association) which the applicant constitutes or in which the applicant participates.
If the applicants are awarded a grant contract, their affiliated entity(ies) will not become beneficiary(ies) of the action and signatory(ies) of the grant contract. However, they will participate in the design and  in the implementation of the action and the costs they incur (including those incurred for implementation contracts and financial support to third parties) may be accepted as eligible costs, provided they comply with all the relevant rules already applicable to the beneficiary(ies) under the grant contract.
Affiliated entity(ies) must satisfy the same eligibility criteria as the lead applicant and the co-applicant(s).  They must sign the affiliated entity(ies) statement in Annex A.2 Section 5.

2.1.3.	Associates and contractors
The following entities are not applicants nor affiliated entities and do not have to sign the ‘mandate for co-applicant(s)’ or ‘affiliated entities' statement’:
•	Associates
Other organisations or individuals may be involved in the action. Such associates play a real role in the action but may not receive funding from the grant, with the exception of per diem or travel costs. Associates do not have to meet the eligibility criteria referred to in Section 2.1.1. Associates must be mentioned in Annex A.2 Section 4 — ‘Associates participating in the action’. 
•	Contractors
The beneficiaries and their affiliated entities are permitted to award contracts. Associates or affiliated entity(ies) cannot be also contractors in the project. Contractors are subject to the procurement rules set out in Annex IV to the standard grant contract.
2.1.4.	Eligible actions: actions for which an application may be made
Definition: 
An action is composed of a set of activities.
Duration
The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 36 months nor exceed 36 months.
Sectors or themes
Entrepreneurship development of creative industries and creative people in Armenia, with themes related to:
-	Entrepreneurship support services
-	Incubation and acceleration 
-	Sustainable business models for creative industries
-	Access to markets
-	Financial support 
-	Business skillset development
-	Attraction of local and international investors in CCI
-	Entrepreneurship education
-	Entrepreneurial mindset development
-	Entrepreneurial ecosystem building and governance
-	Physical and digital infrastructure development 
-	Diaspora and international networks and collaboration
-	Empowering ecosystem builders
-	System transformation and portfolio approaches to tackle complex challenges
Location
Actions must take place in the Republic of Armenia. However, some specific project activities may take place in EU Member States and in the Eastern Neighbourhood region, such as participation in events, business exchanges, and attendance of meetings and conferences as long as they clearly contribute to the achievement of the project’s overall objective. The project can cover final beneficiary costs related to attendance of such events or meetings; however, these cases need to be duly justified.
Types of action
The types of actions that are eligible and may be financed under this call are those contributing to the achievement of its specific objectives, provide significant and tangible results, and integrate all the below listed components:
1.	Incubation, acceleration, and finance to support creatives/creative businesses in the ideation, validation, launch and growth of business ideas and creative enterprises
2.	Business capacity building to support creatives/creative businesses to become more entrepreneurial
3.	Creative Hubs infrastructural and soft development to support entrepreneurs in the creative sector to find suitable spaces for work, startup development, community-building and networking
4.	Ecosystem development for the benefit of new and existing entrepreneurs and ecosystem builders in the creative sector

The following types of action are ineligible:
•	actions concerned only or mainly with individual sponsorships for participation in workshops, seminars, conferences and congresses;
•	actions concerned only or mainly with individual scholarships for studies or training courses;
Types of activity
The following types of activities may be financed under this call. However, the list is indicative and not exhaustive. 
Activities eligible under this call are those contributing to the achievement of its specific objectives and providing significant and tangible results for micro, small and medium-size enterprises and others involved in the creative industries sector in Armenia.
Actions addressing gender equality, women-led businesses and/or youth employment and entrepreneurship, which are intersectional, as well as involving the regions of Armenia, will be considered as bringing a significant added value. Leveraging diaspora knowledge and funding and international networks are encouraged across activities.
 
Support to third parties shall cover (i) access to finance support to SMEs, entrepreneurs and other relevant organisations (at least EUR 900 000) and (ii) support to ecosystem players.
1. Incubation, acceleration, and finance
To enable successful creative entrepreneurship a fully-fledged incubation and acceleration programme needs to be designed and proposed – covering Yerevan and the selected regional hubs, accompanied by a relevant financial scheme. 
Incubation and acceleration for creative businesses
Programs proposed should consider the overall entrepreneurship support value chain, thus comprising the following elements:
Outreach and stimulation: Generating the pipeline of viable and sustainable startup businesses starts with stimulating creatives to become entrepreneurs, by showing the importance of connecting with market opportunities, of acquiring an entrepreneurial mindset, of understanding entrepreneurship also as a vehicle to showcase and leverage on the artistic talent and as an opportunity to make a decent living.
Pre-start and idea validation: Supporting creatives to assess and improve their business ideas with the intent of bringing creative products and services to market. The aim of the prestart support is to enhance the capacities of the creative would-be entrepreneurs and their teams, and to assist them in comprehensive idea validation, preparing a sound launching phase, by ensuring the proper product-market fit, while allowing them to understand whether they are fit for entrepreneurship.
Launch: Supporting through relevant services and methodologies startups in the very delicate initial years of their development, where many different challenges can bring a startup to fail is essential.  
Acceleration: Supporting startups in the creative sector with high growth and scale potential to achieve fast growth and investability. The acceleration programme consists of a mix of financial and business support services, aimed at ensuring a clearly accelerated go-to-market progression and growth.
Finance
The incubation and acceleration support programme should include an accompanying financial scheme to support creative entrepreneurs in all stages of their development, from seed financing, to support the ideation, idea validation, to early stage to facilitate the prelaunch and launching phase, and the growth and expansion phase. 
Proposals should therefore provide an indication of the financing scheme to be applied to support creative entrepreneurs in the various stages of their entrepreneurial journey considering, wherever possible, the leverage effect that can be applied by factors of additionality with other sources of available finance (matching, co-investment, business angels, etc.). Proposals should therefore include a description of the financial mechanism(s), including the lower and upper limits of the amounts to be granted, the rationale, the selection criteria and the governance mechanisms, aligned to the phases of the incubation/acceleration programme proposed. Furthermore, proposals should highlight where appropriate, the co-financing mechanisms that will be adopted to match and blend the project sub-grants with other funding. 
Among other criteria, consideration should be given to funding being linked to graduation in the incubation and acceleration schemes.
2. Business Skills Development
The objective is to enable the uptake of entrepreneurial skills to support creatives and creative enterprises of Armenia to establish sustainable businesses by increasing their knowhow in startup creation and company management. Proposal should therefore contain a thorough capacity component aimed at deploying targeted business development capacity building to support Armenian creatives to develop their own business.
3. Network of creative hotspots
Proposals need to aim at providing and animating spaces dedicated to creatives, building the right physical environment for them to create, partner, network and do business, starting from, and expanding on, the existing infrastructure already present in Armenia. Proposals should provide clear indication of the processes and methodology to create a network of creative hotspots, capable of providing a set of services to creative entrepreneurs in different regions of the country – with hubs at least in Yerevan, Gyumri and in one town in Southern Armenia – based on a sustainable business model. The creative hotspots should be developed with a broad vision towards “creative cities” concept development and inclusive urban transformation.
Applicants are encouraged to designate their own buildings and/or work with private sector partners or municipalities for designating long-term rent-free infrastructure. The Government of Armenia committed to consider providing, if necessary, public spaces for the implementation of the action
Rental and Renovation expenses should be limited to 10% of the direct costs of the Action.   
	Digital platform
The creation of a sustainable digital platform could be considered, aimed at providing insights and opportunities for Armenian creatives and creative businesses to reach and interact with global markets and with the surrounding support ecosystem, attracting  investment, partnerships, distribution and access new customers for their goods and services, etc. 

4. Ecosystem development
Proposals need to support actions that contribute to the development of the proper ecosystem across different sub-sectors, building long-lasting partnerships and most useful ‘bridges’ among the actors, aimed at supporting the Armenian creative sector, aiming at activities such as:
-	Supporting and being conducive to the enhancement in the capacity of the local ecosystem players in providing support to Armenian creatives/creative businesses/creative educational institutions.
-	Management capacity building for state and other organisations in the cultural and creative field, e.g. in business management, internationalisation, sustainable finance, programming and planning, product/services offer, fund-raising and marketing, promotion, etc. Implementation of a pilot marketing plan for chosen institution(s). Support to implementation of reforms regarding state organisations in the cultural and creative field.
-	Supporting the enabling environment, including respective government policies and respective government institutions. 
-	Being conducive to the formation and strengthening of connections among the ecosystem players for the benefit of Armenian creatives. 
-	Being conducive to an improved and sustainable governance (ESG) of the entrepreneurship service value chain within the creative space.

The activities listed below are examples only:
Priority 1: Enhance the growth of the skillset of creatives and cultural and creative businesses, to encompass, along the artistic competencies that exist, a set of entrepreneurial skills relative to products and services that are in the ideation and development phases: 
-	Set up and deployment of dedicated entrepreneurial skills development courses and workshops
-	Organization of events that connect creatives with agents in other economic sectors and access to markets
-	Private sector engagement and leveraging private sector knowledge and expertise
-	Development of international partnerships, international expertise and knowledge-sharing
-	Organization of peer-exchanges, study tours
-	Introduction of international practices and experiences
Priority 2: Enable the build-up and implementation of a set of sustainable financial and business development services focused on the needs of local creative entrepreneurs and that allows them to introduce products and services to national and international markets:
-	Design and deployment of incubation and acceleration programmes to support creative people in launching new sustainable startups and developing existing businesses in the cultural and creative industries sector containing all the elements of the entrepreneurship support value chains in the creative sector
-	Leveraging private and public funds in investment from various sources
-	Development and deployment of coaching and mentoring programmes
-	Connecting with national and international markets  
-	Connecting with national and international investors 
-	Support to core production skills
Priority 3: Improve the connection with the needed financial sources within the various stages of development of the creative companies, allowing creatives to access  finance:
-	Design and deployment of grants and of mechanisms of blended finance to support Armenian companies in the creative sector,  in connection with and as part of incubation and acceleration activities (priority 2)
-	Design and deployment of financial schemes to support Armenian creatives and creative businesses along the entrepreneurial journey 
-	Design of support schemes for ecosystem players
-	Connections and capacity building for CCI sustainable finance for local financial intermediaries, impact investors, etc.
-	Organizations of demo days
-	Organization of networks of investors/attracting local and international investors into the cultural and creative value chains in different sub-sectors
-	Introducing innovative sources of funding to creative industries, such as crowdfunding  
-	Match-making with sources of finance
Priority 4: Enable creative people to network among themselves to draw upon the opportunities that can be brought about through collaborative projects: 
-	Creation of appropriately equipped spaces
-	Animation events to induce collaboration among creatives and with other economic sectors
-	Establishment of connections among the creatives and engaged ecosystem players
Priority 5: Support the involvement and engagement of all relevant ecosystem players and enablers to leverage on the creative and business support structures that already exist in the country, which would provide improved services to creative entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs so that competitive advantages could be exploited:
-	Build-up and management of specific working groups to ensure alignment of goals among the actors of the ecosystem; consideration of building/supporting clusters
-	Enhancement of the knowledge of the ecosystem players in dealing with entrepreneurs in the creative sector (e.g. impact, equity, venture funds, regional governments, impact foundations, universities, etc.)
-	Activities to present specific entrepreneurs and their challenges to the ecosystem players and in designing support measures that involve more than one player 
-	Development of digital solutions capable of comprehensively supporting the ecosystem and providing better governance 
-	Digitization of distribution and digital integration of CCIs into global value chains and facilitation of business linkages with actors in intermediary/target market
Financial support to third parties 
Applicants shall propose financial support to third parties.
Applicants shall propose financial support to third parties in order to help achieving the objectives of the action.
Applicants shall propose financial support to third parties and this should constitute at least 40% of the overall EU contribution to the grant amount (i.e. min 1 200 000 EUR). This shall be awarded though competitive calls for proposals.
The maximum amount of financial support per third party is EUR 100 000.
Under this call, financial support to third parties is considered essential to achieve the objective of the action.
In compliance with the present guidelines and notably of any conditions or restrictions in this Section, the lead applicant should define mandatorily in Section 2.1.1 of Annex A.2: 
(i)	the overall objectives, the specific objective(s) and the outputs (i.e. the results) to be achieved with the financial support 
(ii)	the different types of activities eligible for financial support, on the basis of a fixed list 
(iii)	the types of persons or categories of persons which may receive financial support  
(iv)	the criteria for selecting these entities and giving the financial support  
(v)	the criteria for determining the exact amount of financial support for each third entity 
(vi)	the maximum amount which may be given of financial support
(vii)	the adequate guarantees as regards a possible recovery of amounts due within the framework of financial support to third parties
(viii)	the criteria for payment (for example for reports based on results to be achieved, or conditional based on clear pre-defined criteria) and the type of required supporting documents allowing to ensure the related actual costs eligibility, and
(ix)	the system put in place by the lead applicant to ensure the proper follow up of the financial supports to third parties.
In all events, the mandatory conditions set above for giving financial support (points (i) to (ix)) have to be strictly defined in Section 2.1.1. of Annex A.2. as to avoid any exercise of discretion.
Visibility
The applicants must take all necessary steps to publicise the fact that the European Union has financed or co-financed the action. As far as possible, actions that are wholly or partially funded by the European Union must incorporate information and communication activities designed to raise the awareness of specific or general audiences of the reasons for the action and the EU support for the action in the country or region concerned, as well as the results and the impact of this support.
Applicants must comply with the objectives and priorities and guarantee the visibility of the EU financing (see the Communication and Visibility Manual for EU external actions specified and published by the European Commission at http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/funding/communication-and-visibility-manual-eu-external-actions_en).
Number of applications and grants per applicants / affiliated entities
The lead applicant may not submit more than 1 application under this call for proposals.
The lead applicant may not be awarded more than 1 grant under this call for proposals.
The lead applicant may not be a co-applicant or an affiliated entity in another application at the same time.
A co-applicant/affiliated entity may not be the co-applicant or affiliated entity in more than 1 application under this call for proposals.
A co-applicant/affiliated entity may not be awarded more than 1 grant under this call for proposals.
2.1.5.	Eligibility of costs: costs that can be included 
Only ‘eligible costs’ can be covered by a grant. The categories of costs that are eligible and non-eligible are indicated below. The budget is both a cost estimate and an overall ceiling for ‘eligible costs’. 
The reimbursement of eligible costs may be based on any or a combination of the following forms:
•	actual costs incurred by the beneficiary(ies) and affiliated entity(ies);
Eligible direct costs
To be eligible under this call for proposals, costs must comply with the provisions of Article 14 of the general conditions to the standard grant contract (see Annex G of the guidelines).
Contingency reserve
The budget may include a contingency reserve not exceeding 5 % of the estimated direct eligible costs. It can only be used with the prior written authorisation of the contracting authority.
Eligible indirect costs
The indirect costs incurred in carrying out the action may be eligible for flat-rate funding, but the total must not exceed 7 % of the estimated total eligible direct costs. Indirect costs are eligible provided that they do not include costs assigned to another budget heading in the standard grant contract. The lead applicant may be asked to justify the percentage requested before the grant contract is signed. However, once the flat rate has been fixed in the special conditions of the grant contract, no supporting documents need to be provided.
If any of the applicants or affiliated entity(ies) is in receipt of an operating grant financed by the EU, it may not claim indirect costs on its incurred costs within the proposed budget for the action.
Contributions in kind
Contributions in kind mean the provision of goods or services to beneficiaries or affiliated entities free of charge by a third party. As contributions in kind do not involve any expenditure for beneficiaries or affiliated entities, they are normally not eligible costs. 
As an exception, contributions in kind may include personnel costs for the work carried out by volunteers under an action or work programme (which are eligible costs).
Volunteers' work may comprise up to 50 % of the co-financing. For the purposes of calculating this percentage, contributions in kind in the form of volunteers' work must be based on the unit cost provided by the contracting authority. This type of costs must be presented separately from other eligible costs in the estimated budget. The value of the volunteer’s work must always be excluded from the calculation of indirect costs.
When the estimated costs include volunteers' work, the grant shall not exceed the estimated eligible costs other than the costs for volunteers' work.
Other co-financing shall be based on estimates provided by the applicant.
Contributions in kind may not be treated as co-financing.
However, if the description of the action as proposed includes contributions in kind, the contributions have to be made.
Ineligible costs
The following costs are not eligible:
•	debts and debt service charges (interest);
•	provisions for losses or potential future liabilities;
•	costs declared by the beneficiary(ies) and financed by another action or work programme receiving a European Union (including through EDF) grant;
•	purchases of land or buildings, except where necessary for the direct implementation of the action, in which case ownership must be transferred in accordance with Article 7.5 of the general conditions of the standard grant contract, at the latest at the end of the action;
•	credit to third parties;
•	salary costs of the personnel of national administrations.
 Ethics clauses and Code of Conduct
a) Absence of conflict of interest
The applicant must not be affected by any conflict of interest and must have no equivalent relation in that respect with other applicants or parties involved in the actions. Any attempt by an applicant to obtain confidential information, enter into unlawful agreements with competitors or influence the evaluation committee or the contracting authority during the process of examining, clarifying, evaluating and comparing applications will lead to the rejection of its application and may result in administrative penalties according to the Financial Regulation in force. 
b) Respect for human rights as well as environmental legislation and core labour standards 
The applicant and its staff must comply with human rights. In particular and in accordance with the applicable act, applicants who have been awarded contracts must comply with the environmental legislation including multilateral environmental agreements, and with the core labour standards as applicable and as defined in the relevant International Labour Organisation conventions (such as the conventions on freedom of association and collective bargaining; elimination of forced and compulsory labour; abolition of child labour).
Zero tolerance for sexual exploitation,  abuse and harassment:
The European Commission applies a policy of 'zero tolerance' in relation to all wrongful conduct which has an impact on the professional credibility of the applicant.  
Physical abuse or punishment, or threats of physical abuse, sexual abuse or exploitation, harassment and verbal abuse, as well as other forms of intimidation shall be prohibited. 
c) Anti-corruption and anti-bribery 
The applicant shall comply with all applicable laws and regulations and codes relating to anti-bribery and anti-corruption. The European Commission reserves the right to suspend or cancel project financing if corrupt practices of any kind are discovered at any stage of the award process or during the execution of a contract and if the contracting authority fails to take all appropriate measures to remedy the situation. For the purposes of this provision, ‘corrupt practices’ are the offer of a bribe, gift, gratuity or commission to any person as an inducement or reward for performing or refraining from any act relating to the award of a contract or execution of a contract already concluded with the contracting authority.
      d)  Unusual commercial expenses 
Applications will be rejected or contracts terminated if it emerges that the award or execution of a contract has given rise to unusual commercial expenses. Such unusual commercial expenses are commissions not mentioned in the main contract or not stemming from a properly concluded contract referring to the main contract, commissions not paid in return for any actual and legitimate service, commissions remitted to a tax haven, commissions paid to a payee who is not clearly identified or commissions paid to a company which has every appearance of being a front company.
Grant beneficiaries found to have paid unusual commercial expenses on projects funded by the European Union are liable, depending on the seriousness of the facts observed, to have their contracts terminated or to be permanently excluded from receiving EU/EDF funds.
e) Breach of obligations, irregularities or fraud
The contracting authority reserves the right to suspend or cancel the procedure, where the award procedure proves to have been subject to substantial breach of obligations, irregularities or fraud. If substantial breach of obligations, irregularities or fraud are discovered after the award of the contract, the contracting authority may refrain from concluding the contract.
2.2.	How to apply and the procedures to follow
To apply for this call for proposals the lead applicants need to:
I.	Provide information about the organisations involved in the action. Please note that the registration of this data in PADOR is obligatory for this call for proposals:
Concept note step: Registration is obligatory for lead applicants applying for EU contributions of more than EUR 60 000.
Full application step: Registration is obligatory for co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies). Lead applicants must make sure that their PADOR profile is up to date. 
II.	Provide information about the action in the documents listed under sections 2.2.2 (concept note) and 2.2.5 (full application). Please note that online submission via PROSPECT is obligatory for this call,
PADOR is an on-line database in which organisations register and update information concerning their entity. Organisations registered in PADOR get a unique ID (EuropeAid ID) which they must mention in their application. PADOR is accessible via the website: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/pador_en 
It is strongly recommended to register in PADOR well in advance and not to wait until the last minute before the  deadline to submit your application in PROSPECT. 
If it is impossible to register online in PADOR for technical reasons, the applicants and/or affiliated entity(ies) must complete the ‘PADOR off-line form attached to these guidelines. This form must be sent together with the application, by the submission deadline (see sections 2.2.2 and 2.2.5). 
Before starting using PADOR and PROSPECT, please read the user guides available on the website. All technical questions related the use of these systems should be addressed to the IT helpdesk at EuropeAid-IT-support@ec.europa.eu via the online support form in PROSPECT.
2.2.1.	Concept note content  
Applications must be submitted in accordance with the concept note instructions in the grant application form annexed to these guidelines (Annex A). 
Applicants must apply in English 
Please note that:
1.	In the concept note, lead applicants must only provide an estimate of the requested EU contribution as well as an indicative percentage of that contribution in relation to the eligible costs of the action. A detailed budget is to be submitted only by the lead applicants invited to submit a full application in the second phase. 
2.	The elements outlined in the concept note may not be modified in the full application. The EU contribution may not vary from the initial estimate by more than 20 %. Lead applicants are free to adapt the percentage of co-financing required within the minimum and maximum amount and percentages of co-financing, as laid down in these guidelines in Section 1.3. The lead applicant may replace a co-applicant or an affiliated entity only in duly justified cases (e.g. bankruptcy of initial co-applicant or affiliated entity). In this case the new co-applicant/affiliated entity must be of a similar nature as the initial one. The lead applicant may adjust the duration of the action if unforeseen circumstances outside the scope of the applicants have taken place following the submission of the concept note and require such adaptation (risk of action not being carried out). In such cases the duration must remain within the limits imposed by the guidelines for applicants. An explanation/justification of the relevant replacement/adjustment shall be included in an accompanying letter or email. 
Own contributions by the applicants can be replaced by other donors' contributions at any time.
3.	Only the concept note form will be evaluated. It is therefore of utmost importance that this document contains ALL relevant information concerning the action. No additional annexes should be sent.
Any error or major discrepancy related to the concept note instructions may lead to the rejection of the concept note.
Clarifications will only be requested when information provided is not sufficient to conduct an objective assessment. 
Hand-written concept notes will not be accepted.
2.2.2.	Where and how to send concept notes
The concept note together with the declaration by the lead applicant (Annex A.1 section 2) must be submitted online via PROSPECT https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/prospect following the instructions given in the PROSPECT user manual.
Upon submission of a concept note online, the lead applicant will receive an automatic confirmation of receipt in its PROSPECT profile. 

Concept notes sent by any other means (e.g. by fax or by e-mail) or delivered to other addresses will be rejected. Hand-written concept notes will not be accepted. 
Please note that incomplete concept notes may be rejected. Lead applicants are advised to verify that their concept note is complete by using the checklist for concept note (Annex A.1, Instructions).
2.2.3.	Deadline for submission of concept notes 
The deadline for the submission of concept notes is 26/09/2021 at 12:00 (Brussels date and time).  In order to convert this deadline to local time you can use any online time converter tool that takes into account timezones and winter/summer time changes (example available here) The lead applicant is strongly advised not to wait until the last day to submit its concept note, since heavy Internet traffic or a fault with the Internet connection (including electricity failure, etc.) could lead to difficulties in submission. The Contacting Authority cannot be held responsible for any delay due to such afore-mentioned difficulties. 
Any concept note submitted after the deadline will be rejected.
2.2.4.	Further information about concept notes

Questions may be sent by e-mail no later than 21 days before the deadline for the submission of concept notes to the address(es) below, indicating clearly the reference of the call for proposals:
E-mail address: DELEGATION-ARMENIA-CALLS-FOR-PROPOSAL@eeas.europa.eu 
The contracting authority has no obligation to provide clarifications to questions received after this date.
Replies will be given no later than 11 days before the deadline for submission of concept notes. 
To ensure equal treatment of applicants, the contracting authority cannot give a prior opinion on the eligibility of lead applicants, co-applicants, affiliated entity(ies), an action or specific activities.
No individual replies will be given to questions. All questions and answers as well as other important notices to applicants during the course of the evaluation procedure will be published on the website of DG International Partnerships: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/online-services/index.cfm?do=publi.welcome, as the need arises. It is therefore advisable to consult the abovementioned website regularly in order to be informed of the questions and answers published.
All questions related to registration in PADOR or the online submission via PROSPECT should be addressed to the IT helpdesk at EuropeAid-IT-support@ec.europa.eu via the online support form in PROSPECT: Please note that the working languages of the IT support are: English French and Spanish. Therefore users are invited to send their questions in English, French or Spanish should they wish to benefit from an optimum response time.
Please note that the contracting authority may decide to cancel the call for proposals procedure at any stage according to the conditions set out in Section 6.5.9 of the PRAG
2.2.5.	Full applications 
Lead applicants invited to submit a full application following pre-selection of their concept note must do so using the grant application form annexed to these guidelines (Annex A.2). Lead applicants should then keep strictly to the format of the grant application form and fill in the paragraphs and pages in order.
The elements outlined in the concept note cannot be modified by the lead applicant in the full application. The EU contribution may not vary from the initial estimate by more than 20 %, although lead applicants are free to adapt the percentage of co-financing required within the minimum and maximum amount and percentages of co-financing, as laid down in these guidelines under Section 1.3. The lead applicant may replace a co-applicant or an affiliated entity only in duly justified cases (e.g. bankruptcy of initial co-applicant or affiliated entity). In this case the new co-applicant/affiliated entity must be of a similar nature as the initial one. The lead applicant may adjust the duration of the action if unforeseen circumstances outside the scope of the applicants have taken place following the submission of the concept note and require such adaptation (risk of action not being carried out). In such cases the duration must remain within the limits imposed by the guidelines for applicants. An explanation/justification of the relevant replacement/adjustment shall be included in an accompanying letter or email.
Lead applicants must submit their full applications in the same language as their concept notes. A copy of the lead applicant’s accounts of the latest financial year (the profit and loss account and the balance sheet for the last financial year for which the accounts have been closed) must be uploaded in PADOR by the full application deadline. A copy of the latest account is neither required from (if any) the co-applicant(s) nor from (if any) affiliated entity(ies)).
Please complete the full application form carefully and as clearly as possible so that it can be assessed properly. 
Any error related to the points listed in the checklist (Annex A.2, Instructions) or any major inconsistency in the full application (e.g. if the amounts in the budget worksheets are inconsistent) may lead to the rejection of the application.
Clarifications will only be requested when information provided is unclear and thus prevents the contracting authority from conducting an objective assessment.
Hand-written applications will not be accepted.
Please note that only the full application form and the published annexes which have to be filled in (budget, logical framework) will be transmitted to the evaluators (and assessors, if used). It is therefore of utmost importance that these documents contain ALL the relevant information concerning the action. 
No additional annexes should be sent.
2.2.6.	Where and how to send full applications 
Full application forms together with the budget, the logical framework and the declaration by the lead applicant must be submitted online via PROSPECT https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/ europeaid/prospect following the instructions given in the users’ manual.
Upon submission of the full application online, the lead applicants will receive an automatic confirmation of receipt in their PROSPECT profile. 
Aplications sent by any other means (e.g. by fax or by e-mail) or delivered to other addresses will be rejected. Hand-written applications will not be accepted.
Please note that incomplete applications may be rejected. Lead applicants are advised to verify that their application is complete using the checklist (Annex A.2, Instructions).
2.2.7.	Deadline for submission of full applications 
The deadline for the submission of full applications will be indicated in the letter sent to the lead applicants whose application has been pre-selected. This letter will appear online automatically in the PROSPECT profile of the lead applicant.  
Lead applicants are strongly advised not to wait until the last day to submit their full applications, since heavy Internet traffic or a fault with the Internet connection (including electricity failure, etc.) could lead to difficulties in submission. The Contacting Authority cannot be held responsible for any delay due to such afore-mentioned difficulties. 
Any application submitted after the deadline will be rejected. 
2.2.8.	Further information about full applications 
Questions may be sent by e-mail no later than 21 days before the deadline for the submission of full applications to the addresses listed below, indicating clearly the reference of the call for proposals:
E-mail address: DELEGATION-ARMENIA-CALLS-FOR-PROPOSAL@eeas.europa.eu 
The contracting authority has no obligation to provide clarifications to questions received after this date.
Replies will be given no later than 11 days before the deadline for the submission of full applications. 
To ensure equal treatment of applicants, the contracting authority cannot give a prior opinion on the eligibility of lead applicants, co-applicants, affiliated entity(ies), or an action.
No individual replies will be given to questions. All questions and answers as well as other important notices to applicants during the course of the evaluation procedure, will be published on the website of DG International Cooperation and Development: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/online-services/index.cfm?do=publi.welcome, as the need arises. It is therefore advisable to consult the abovementioned website regularly in order to be informed of the questions and answers published.
All questions related to registration in PADOR or the online submission via PROSPECT should be addressed to the IT helpdesk at EuropeAid-IT-support@ec.europa.eu via the online support form in PROSPECT. Please note that the working languages of the IT support are: English French and Spanish. Therefore users are invited to send their questions in English, French or Spanish should they wish to benefit from an optimum response time.
2.3.	Evaluation and selection of applications
Applications will be examined and evaluated by the contracting authority with the possible assistance of external assessors. All applications will be assessed according to the following steps and criteria.
If the examination of the application reveals that the proposed action does not meet the eligibility criteria stated in Section 2.1, the application will be rejected on this sole basis. 
(1)	
STEP 1:	OPENING & ADMINISTRATIVE CHECKS AND CONCEPT NOTE EVALUATION
During the opening and administrative check the following will be assessed:
•	If the deadline has been met. Otherwise, the application will be automatically rejected.
•	If the concept note satisfies all the criteria specified in the checklist in Annex A.1, Instructions of the Grant application form. This includes also an assessment of the eligibility of the action. If any of the requested information is missing or is incorrect, the application may be rejected on that sole basis and the application will not be evaluated further.
The concept notes that pass this check will be evaluated on the relevance and design of the proposed action.
The concept notes will receive an overall score out of 50 using the breakdown in the evaluation grid below. The evaluation will also check on compliance with the instructions on how to complete the concept note, which can be found in Annex A.1.
The evaluation criteria are divided into headings and subheadings. Each subheading will be given a score between 1 and 5 as follows: 1 = very poor; 2 = poor; 3 = adequate; 4 = good; 5 = very good.
Evaluation Grid
Section	Maximum Score	
1. Relevance of the action	20	
1.1. How relevant is the proposal to the objectives and priorities of the call for proposals and to the specific themes/sectors/areas or any other specific requirement stated in the guidelines for applicants? Are the expected results of the action aligned with the priorities defined in the guidelines for applicants (section 1.2)?	5	
1.2. How relevant is the proposal to the particular needs and constraints of the target country(ies), region(s) and/or relevant sectors (including synergy with other development initiatives and avoidance of duplication)?	5	
1.3. How clearly defined and strategically chosen are those involved (final beneficiaries, target groups)? Have their needs (as rights holders and/or duty bearers) and constraints been clearly defined and does the proposal address them appropriately?	5	
1.4. Does the proposal contain particular added-value elements (e.g. innovation, best practices) and the other additional elements indicated under 1.2. of the guidelines for applicants?	5	
2. Design of the action	30	
2.1. How coherent is the overall design of the action? Does the proposal indicate the expected results to be achieved by the action? Does the intervention logic explain the rationale to achieve the expected results? 	5x2**	
2.2. Does the design reflect a robust analysis of the problems involved, and the capacities of the relevant stakeholders? 	5	
2.3. Does the design take into account external factors (risks and assumptions)? 	5	
2.4. Are the activities feasible and consistent in relation to the expected results (including timeframe)? Are results (output, outcome and impact) realistic? 	5	
2.5. To which extent does the proposal integrate relevant cross-cutting elements such as environmental/climate change issues, promotion of gender equality and equal opportunities, needs of disabled people, rights of minorities and rights of indigenous peoples, youth, combating HIV/AIDS (if there is a strong prevalence in the target country/region)? 	5	
Maximum total score	50	
**: this scores is multiplied by 2 because of its importance
Once all concept notes have been assessed, a list will be drawn up with the proposed actions ranked according to their total score. 
Firstly, only the concept notes with a score of at least 30 will be considered for pre-selection. 
Secondly, the number of concept notes will be reduced, taking account of the ranking, to the number of concept notes whose total aggregate amount of requested contributions is equal to 300% of the available budget for this call for proposals. The amount of requested contributions of each concept note will be based on the indicative financial envelopes for each lot, where relevant.
Lead applicants will receive a letter indicating the reference number of their application and the respective results. This letter will automatically appear online in the PROSPECT profile of the lead applicant. Lead applicants who, in exceptional cases (see section 2.2), had to submit their application by post or hand-delivery will receive the letter by email or by post if no e-mail address was provided.
The pre-selected lead applicants will subsequently be invited to submit full applications.
(2)	
STEP 2: EVALUATION OF THE FULL APPLICATION 
Firstly, the following will be assessed:
•	If the submission deadline has been met. Otherwise, the application will automatically be rejected.
•	If the full application satisfies all the criteria specified in the checklist (Annex A.2, Instructions). This includes also an assessment of the eligibility of the action.  If any of the requested information is missing or is incorrect, the application may be rejected on that sole basis and the application will not be evaluated further.
The full applications that pass this check will be further evaluated on their quality, including the proposed budget and capacity of the applicants and affiliated entity(ies). They will be evaluated using the evaluation criteria in the evaluation grid below. There are two types of evaluation criteria: selection and award criteria.
The selection criteria help to evaluate the applicant(s)'s and affiliated entity(ies)'s operational capacity and the lead applicant's financial capacity and are used to verify that they:
•	have stable and sufficient sources of finance to maintain their activity throughout the proposed action and, where appropriate, to participate in its funding (this only applies to lead applicants);
•	have the management capacity, professional competencies and qualifications required to successfully complete the proposed action. This applies to applicants and any affiliated entity(ies).
For the purpose of the evaluation of the financial capacity, lead applicants must ensure that the relevant information and documents (i.e. accounts of the latest financial year and external audit report, where applicable) in their PADOR profile are up to date. If the information and documents in PADOR are outdated and do not allow for a proper evaluation of the financial capacity, the application may be rejected.
The award criteria help to evaluate the quality of the applications in relation to the objectives and priorities set forth in the guidelines, and to award grants to projects which maximise the overall effectiveness of the call for proposals. They help to select applications which the contracting authority can be confident will comply with its objectives and priorities. They cover the relevance of the action, its consistency with the objectives of the call for proposals, quality, expected impact, sustainability and cost-effectiveness.
Scoring:
The evaluation grid is divided into Sections and subsections. Each subsection will be given a score between 1 and 5 as follows: 1 = very poor; 2 = poor; 3 = adequate; 4 = good; 5 = very good. 

Evaluation grid
Section	Maximum Score	
1. Financial and operational capacity	20	
1.1. Do the applicants and, if applicable, their affiliated entity(ies) have sufficient in-house experience of project management?	5	
1.2. Do the applicants and, if applicable, their affiliated entity(ies) have sufficient technical in-house expertise (especially knowledge of the issues to be addressed)?	5	
1.3. Do the applicants and, if applicable, their affiliated entity(ies) have sufficient management in-house capacity (including staff, equipment and ability to handle the budget for the action)?	5	
1.4. Does the lead applicant have stable and sufficient sources of finance?	5	
2. Relevance of the action	20	
2.1. How relevant is the proposal to the objectives and priorities of the call for proposals and to the specific themes/sectors/areas or any other specific requirement stated in the guidelines for applicants? Are the expected results of the action aligned with the priorities defined in the guidelines for applicants (section 1.2)?	5	
2.2. How relevant is the proposal to the particular needs and constraints of the target country(ies), region(s) and/or relevant sectors (including synergy with other development initiatives and avoidance of duplication)?	5	
2.3. How clearly defined and strategically chosen are those involved (final beneficiaries, target groups)? Have their needs (as rights holders and/or duty bearers) and constraints been clearly defined and does the proposal address them appropriately?	5	
2.4. Does the proposal contain particular added-value elements (e.g. innovation, best practices) ? [and the other additional elements indicated under 1.2. of the guidelines for applicants]	5	
3. Design of the action	15	
3.1. How coherent is the design of the action? Does the proposal indicate the expected results to be achieved by the action? Does the intervention logic explain the rationale to achieve the expected results? Are the activities proposed appropriate, practical, and consistent with the envisaged outputs and outcome(s)?	5	
3.2. Does the proposal/Logical Framework include credible baseline, targets and sources of verification? If not, is a baseline study foreseen (and is the study budgeted appropriately in the proposal)?	5	
3.3. Does the design reflect a robust analysis of the problems involved, and the capacities of the relevant stakeholders?	5	

4. Implementation approach	15	
4.1. Is the action plan for implementing the action clear and feasible? Is the timeline realistic?	5	
4.2. Does the proposal include an effective and efficient monitoring system? Is there an evaluation planned (previous, during or/and at the end of the implementation)?	5	
4.3. Is the co-applicant(s)'s and affiliated entity(ies)'s level of involvement and participation in the action satisfactory?	5	

5. Sustainability of the action	15	
5.1. Is the action likely to have a tangible impact on its target groups?	5	
5.2. Is the action likely to have multiplier effects, including scope for replication, extension capitalisation on experience and knowledge sharing?	5	
5.3. Are the expected results of the proposed action sustainable?- Financially (e.g. financing of follow-up activities, sources of revenue for covering all future operating and maintenance costs)- Institutionally (will structures allow the results of the action to be sustained at the end of the action? Will there be local ‘ownership’ of the results of the action?)- At policy level (where applicable) (what will be the structural impact of the action — e.g. improved legislation, codes of conduct, methods) - Environmentally (if applicable) (will the action have a negative/positive environmental impact?)	5	

6. Budget and cost-effectiveness of the action	15	
6.1. Are the activities appropriately reflected in the budget?	5	
6.2. Is the ratio between the estimated costs and the expected results satisfactory?	5x2**	
Maximum total score	100	
**: this scores is multiplied by 2 because of its importance
If the total score for Section 1 (financial and operational capacity) is less than 12 points, the application will be rejected. If the score for at least one of the subsections under Section 1 is 1, the application will also be rejected.
If the lead applicant applies without co-applicants or affiliated entities the score for point 4.3 shall be 5 unless the involvement of co-applicants or affiliated entities is mandatory according to these guidelines for applicants.  
Provisional selection
After the evaluation, a table will be drawn up listing the applications ranked according to their score. The highest scoring applications will be provisionally selected until the available budget for this call for proposals is reached. In addition, a reserve list will be drawn up following the same criteria. This list will be used if more funds become available during the validity period of the reserve list.
(3)	
STEP 3:	VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY OF THE APPLICANTS AND AFFILIATED ENTITY(IES)
The eligibility verification will be performed on the basis of the supporting documents requested by the contracting authority (see Section 2.4). It will by default only be performed for the applications that have been provisionally selected according to their score and within the available budget for this call for proposals. 
•	The declaration by the lead applicant (Section 5 of Annex A.2) will be cross-checked with the supporting documents provided by the lead applicant. Any missing supporting document or any incoherence between the declaration by the lead applicant and the supporting documents may lead to the rejection of the application on that sole basis. 
•	The eligibility of applicants and the affiliated entity(ies) will be verified according to the criteria set out in Sections 2.1.1, 2.1.2 and 2.1.3.
Any rejected application will be replaced by the next best placed application on the reserve list that falls within the available budget for this call for proposals.
2.4.	
Submission of supporting documents for provisionally selected applications 
A lead applicant whose application has been provisionally selected or placed on the reserve list will be informed in writing by the contracting authority. It will be requested to supply the following documents in order to allow the contracting authority to verify the eligibility of the lead applicant, (if any) of the co-applicant(s) and (if any) of their affiliated entity(ies):
Supporting documents must be provided through PADOR (see section 2.2).
1.	The statutes or articles of association of the lead applicant, (if any) of each co-applicant and (if any) of each affiliated entity. Where the contracting authority has recognised the lead applicant’s, or the co-applicant(s)’s, or their affiliated entity(ies)’s eligibility for another call for proposals under the same budget line within 2 years before the deadline for receipt of applications, it should be submitted, instead of the  statutes or articles of association, a copy of the document proving their eligibility in a former call (e.g. a copy of the special conditions of a grant contract received during the reference period), unless a change in legal status has occurred in the meantime.  This obligation does not apply to international organisations which have signed a framework agreement with the European Commission.  
2.	For action grants exceeding EUR 750 000 and for operating grants above EUR 100 000, the lead applicant must provide an audit report produced by an approved external auditor where it is available, and always in cases where a statutory audit is required by EU or national law. That report shall certify the accounts for up to the last 3 financial years available. In all other cases, the applicant shall provide a self-declaration signed by its authorised representative certifying the validity of its accounts for up to the last 3 financial years available. 
This requirement shall apply only to the first application made by a beneficiary to an authorising officer responsible in any one financial year.                                                                                    
3.	The external audit report is not required from (if any) the co-applicant(s)) or affiliated entities.
4.	A copy of the lead applicant’s latest accounts (the profit and loss account and the balance sheet for the last financial year for which the accounts have been closed). A copy of the latest account is neither required from (if any) the co-applicant(s) nor from (if any) affiliated entity(ies)).
5.	Legal entity sheet (see Annex D of these guidelines) duly completed and signed by each of the applicants (i.e. by the lead applicant and (if any) by each co-applicant), accompanied by the justifying documents requested there. If the applicants have already signed a contract with the contracting authority, instead of the legal entity sheet and supporting documents, the legal entity number may be provided, unless a change in legal status occurred in the meantime.
6.	A financial identification form of the lead applicant (not from co-applicant(s)) conforming to the model attached as Annex E of these guidelines, certified by the bank to which the payments will be made. This bank should be located in the country where the lead applicant is established. If the lead applicant has already submitted a financial identification form in the past for a contract where the European Commission was in charge of the payments and intends to use the same bank account, a copy of the previous financial identification form may be provided instead.
7.	The lead applicant as well as all co-applicants and affiliated entities shall fill in and sign the declaration on honour certifying that they are not in one of the exclusion situations (see Section 2.6.10.1 of the PRAG). Please note that the declaration on honour should be uploaded in PROSPECT. 
The requested supporting documents (uploaded in PADOR or sent together with the PADOR offline form) must be supplied in the form of originals, photocopies or scanned versions (i.e. showing legible stamps, signatures and dates) of the said originals.
Where such documents are not in one of the official languages of the European Union, a translation into English of the relevant parts of these documents proving the lead applicant's and, where applicable, co-applicants' and affiliated entity(ies)' eligibility, must be attached for the purpose of analysing the application.
Where these documents are in an official language of the European Union other than English, it is strongly recommended, in order to facilitate the evaluation, to provide a translation of the relevant parts of the documents, proving the lead applicant's and, where applicable, co-applicants' and affiliated entity(ies)' eligibility, into English.
Applicants have to take into consideration the time necessary to obtain official documents from national competent authorities and to translate such documents in the authorised languages while registering their data in PADOR.
If the abovementioned supporting documents are not provided before the deadline indicated in the request for supporting documents sent to the lead applicant by the contracting authority, the application may be rejected.
After verifying the supporting documents, the evaluation committee will make a final recommendation to the contracting authority, which will decide on the award of grants.
NB :	In the eventuality that the contracting authority is not satisfied with the strength, solidity, and guarantee offered by the structural link between one of the applicants and its affiliated entity, it can require the submission of the missing documents allowing for its conversion into co-applicant. If all the missing documents for co-applicants are submitted, and provided all necessary eligibility criteria are fulfilled, the above mentioned entity becomes a co-applicant for all purposes. The lead applicant has to submit the application form revised accordingly.
2.5.	Notification of the Contracting Authority’s decision
2.5.1.	Content of the decision
The lead applicants will be informed in writing of the Contracting Authority’s decision concerning their application and, if rejected, the reasons for the negative decision. This letter will be sent by e-mail and will appear online automatically in the PROSPECT profile of the user who submitted the application. Lead applicants who, in exceptional cases (see section 2.2), had to submit their application by post or hand-delivery, will be informed by email or by post if they did not provide any e-mail address. Therefore, please check regularly your PROSPECT profile, taking into account the indicative timetable below.
An applicant believing that it has been harmed by an error or irregularity during the award process may lodge a complaint. See further Section 2.4.15 of the practical guide. 

2.5.2.	Indicative timetable 

	DATE	TIME	
1.	Deadline for requesting any clarifications from the contracting authority	05/09/2021	18:00 Bxl time	
2.	Last date on which clarifications are issued by the contracting authority	15/09/2021	-	
3.	Deadline for submission of concept notes	26/09/2021	12:00 Bxl time	
4.	Information to lead applicants on opening, administrative checks and concept note evaluation  (Step 1)	29/10/2021	-	
5. Invitations to submit full applications	29/10/2021	-	
6. Deadline for submission of full applications	11/01/2022	-	
7. 	Information to lead applicants on the evaluation of the full applications (Step 2)	18/02/2022	-	
8. 	Notification of award (after the eligibility check) (Step 3)	22/03/2022	-	
9.  Contract signature	30/04/2022	-	
All times are in the time zone of the country of the contracting authority.
This indicative timetable refers to provisional dates (except for dates 2, 3, and 4) and may be updated by the contracting authority during the procedure. In such cases, the updated timetable will be published on the web site of DG International Partnerships:	 https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/online-services/index.cfm?do=publi.welcome.
2.6.	Conditions for implementation after the contracting authority’s decision to award a grant
Following the decision to award a grant, the beneficiary(ies) will be offered a contract based on the standard grant contract (see Annex G of these guidelines). By signing the application form (Annex A of these guidelines), the applicants agree, if awarded a grant, to accept the contractual conditions of the standard grant contract. Where the coordinator is an organisation whose pillars have been positively assessed, it will sign a contribution agreement based on the contribution agreement template. In this case references to provisions of the standard grant contract and its annexes shall not apply. References in these guidelines to the grant contract shall be understood as references to the relevant provisions of the contribution agreement .

Implementation contracts
Where implementation of the action requires the beneficiary(ies) and its affiliated entity(ies) (if any) to award procurement contracts, those contracts must be awarded in accordance with Annex IV to the standard grant contract.
In this context, a distinction should be made between awarding implementation contracts and subcontracting parts of the action described in the proposal, i.e. the description of the action annexed to the grant contract , such subcontracting being subject to additional restrictions (see the general terms and conditions in the model grant contract ).  
Awarding implementation contracts: implementation contracts relate to the acquisition by beneficiaries of routine services and/or necessary goods and equipment as part of their project management; they do not cover any outsourcing of tasks forming part of the action that are described in the proposal, i.e. in the description of the action annexed to the grant contract . 
Subcontracting: Subcontracting is the implementation, by a third party with which one or more beneficiaries have concluded a procurement contract, of specific tasks forming part of the action as described in annex to the grant contract (see also the general terms and conditions in the model grant contract ). 

3.	
LIST OF annexes
Documents to be completed
Annex A:	Grant application form (Word format)
	A.1 – Concept note
	A.2 – Full application form
Annex B:	Budget (Excel format)
Annex C:	Logical framework (Word format)
Annex D:	Legal entity sheet
Annex E:	Financial identification form
Annex F: 	PADOR registration form 
DOCUMENTS FOR INFORMATION
Annex G:	Standard grant contract
-	Annex II:	general conditions 
-	Annex IV:	contract award rules
-	Annex V:	standard request for payment
-	Annex VI:	model narrative and financial report
- Annex VII:	model report of factual findings and terms of reference for an expenditure verification of an EU financed grant contract for external action
- Annex IX:	standard template for transfer of ownership of assets

Annex H: Declaration on Honour	
Annex I: Daily allowance rates (per diem), available at the following address: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/funding/about-procurement-contracts/procedures-and-practical-guide-prag/diems_en
Annex J:	Information on the tax regime applicable to grant contracts signed under the call.
Useful links:
Project Cycle Management Guidelines 
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/aid-delivery-methods-project-cycle-management-guidelines-vol-1_en
The implementation of grant contracts
A Users' Guide
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/companion/document.do?nodeNumber=19&locale=en
Financial Toolkit	
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/funding/procedures-beneficiary-countries-and-partners/financial-management-toolkit_en 
Please note: The toolkit is not part of the grant contract and has no legal value. It merely provides general guidance and may in some details differ from the signed grant contract. In order to ensure compliance with their contractual obligations beneficiaries should not exclusively rely on the toolkit but always consult their individual contract documents.
* * *