HERCULE II

Training, Seminars and Conferences – Legal Part

Grant Programme 2013

Call for Proposals2013:

to support, enhance and develop the legal and judicial protection of the EU Financial interests against fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities.

DEADLINE: Tuesday, 30 April 2013

OUTLINE

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) launches a Call for Proposals in order to receive proposals that contribute to the achievement of the specific objectives set out in the Hercule II programme, which promotes activities in the field of the protection of the financial interests of the European Union. This Call for proposals is based on the Annual Work Program for the Hercule II Program[1], which implements Decision No 878/2007/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2007 establishing a Community action programme to promote activities in the field of the protection of the Community's financial interests[2].

This Call relates to section 9 of the Annual Work Program as well as the activities under Article 1(a) (b) of the Hercule II Decision, which consists of the organisation of training, seminars and conferences. The budget available in 2013 amounts to 700.000 Euro and only one Call will be launched. Administrations, research and educational institutes and NPOs are eligible to receive funding up to 90% of the eligible costs of the proposed activity.

1.INTRODUCTION

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) has been created in 1999 with the following mission:

  1. to protect the financial interests of the European Union by combating fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities;
  1. to protect the reputation of the European Institutions by investigating serious misconduct by Members and staff and that could result in disciplinary proceedings, and:
  1. to support the European Commission in the development and implementation of fraud prevention and detection policies.

By the end of 2012 OLAF investigated almost 500 cases, 115 of them related to EU staff. In 2011, OLAF opened 178 new cases (144 internal and external investigations and 34 coordination or monitoring cases). In 2011 OLAF's activities led to the recovery of almost 700 million Euros. Since the start of its activities, OLAF recommended the recovery of undue payments amounting to 1.9 billion Euro, of which 1.1 billion Euro were recovered and returned to the European taxpayer. OLAF employs around 500 staff members.

The European Union and the Member States have set themselves the objective of countering fraud and any other illegal activities affecting the Union's financial interests. All available means must be deployed to attain that objective, whilst maintaining the current distribution and balance of responsibilities between the national and the Union's levels. One of the means to attain that objective has been the establishment of the Hercule II programme by Decision 878/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

The Hercule II programme promotes activities in the field of the protection of the financial interests of the European Union by focusing in particular on the following specific objectives[3]:

a)enhancing transnational and multidisciplinary cooperation between Member States' authorities, the Commission and OLAF;

b)building networks throughout the Member States, acceding countries and candidate countries — in accordance with a memorandum of understanding — facilitating the exchange of information, experience and best practices, while also respecting the distinct traditions of each Member State;

c)providing technical and operational support for the law enforcement authorities of the Member States in their fight against illegal cross border activities, emphasizing support for customs authorities;

d)without undermining operational effectiveness, striking a geographical balance by including, if possible, all Member States, acceding countries and candidate countries — in accordance with a memorandum of understanding — in the activities financed under the program;

e)multiplying and intensifying the measures in the areas identified as the most sensitive, particularly in the field of cigarette smuggling and counterfeiting.

Decision 878/2007 lists three categories[4] of activities that can be financed under the Hercule II program:

a)technical assistance for national authorities;

b)training, seminars and conferences aimed at the protection of the EU financial interests;

c)IT-support for national authorities.

This Decision is implemented on the basis of an annual work program that is adopted as annex to the Commission Decision concerning the adoption of the annual Financing Decision[5].

2.SUBJECT OF THE CALL

This Call relates to the legal part of the"training, seminars and conferences" category[6],and particularly furthers the enhancement of the degree of development of the specific legal and judicial protection of the financial interests against fraud.

2.1.Supported actions

The following activities, which have to comply with the objectives and the priorities set out in the Annual Work Programme of the Hercule II programme, are eligible for funding up to 90% of the eligible costs:

  • The organisation of seminars and conferences;
  • Studies in comparative law;
  • Dissemination, including the publication, of scientific knowledge concerning the protection of the EU's financial interests;
  • Publication and distribution of a scientific periodical on the protection of the European Union's financial interests;
  • The organisation of the annual meeting of the Presidents of the Associations for European Criminal Law and for the protection of the EU Financial Interests.

2.2.Bodies and legal entities that can submit proposals

Proposals eligible for funding can be submitted by the following applicants:

  • all national or regional administrations of a Member State, an acceding country or a candidate country, as defined in the Decision of 21 April 2004 (Hercule Programme), as modified, and which promote the strengthening of the EU's actions in the field of the protection of the EU's financial interests;
  • all research and education institutes that have had legal personality for at least one year and are established and operating in a Member State or in a country outside the Union, as defined in the Decision of 21 April 2004 (Hercule Programme), as modified, and that promote the strengthening of the EU's action in protecting its financial interests;
  • all nonprofitmaking bodies that have had legal personality for at least one year and are legally established in a Member State or a country outside the Union, as defined in the Decision of 21 April 2004 (Hercule programme, cited above), as modified, and that promote the strengthening of EU action to protect the EU's financial interests.

2.3.Available budget, co-financing rates and periods for funding

  • The total amount available in 2013 for proposals to fund projects within the scope of this Call is € 700.000,-;
  • This Call provides for one deadline (see point 3.1);
  • In case the budget is not exhausted after the first Call, a possible second Call will be launched in the 3rd Quarter 2013;
  • The support provided by the Commission under the actions described in point 2.1 consists of grants to the applicants. Grants will not exceed 90% of the total eligible costs. The detailed description of eligible costs is given in the application form, which can be downloaded from OLAF's website[7]. Applicants are recommended to carefully examine each of the budgeted cost items and consider whether they are eligible or not;
  • The total amount of assistance granted by the Commission for each project will not exceed:

–€50 000 for a oneday seminar; €100 000 for a twoday seminar;

–€300000 for a comparative law study;

–€25 000 for the dissemination of expertise;

–€60 000 for the publication and distribution of a periodical publicationby the associations for one year;

–€45 000 for the meeting of presidents of the associations.

  • The applicant must indicate the source of funding for the costs not covered by the grant;
  • The Commission reserves the right to award a grant that is lower than the amount requested by the applicant, if the costs are considered to be too high or unjustified;
  • The grants are given for specific actions and confer no automatic obligation of the Commission for co-financing in subsequent years. The grants cover the period necessary to carry out the project;
  • The project has to start between 01/09/2013 and 28/02/2014. The project must be ended by the date indicated in the grant agreement;
  • Applicants will not be permitted to include in their budgets expenditure incurred prior to or after the period specified in the grant agreement;
  • The grant agreement must be signed by both parties before starting the action and incurring expenditure.

2.4.Topics 2013

The activities that can be funded in 2013have to relate to the topics listed below:

  1. Future development of OLAF and other European bodies in charge with the protection of the financial interests of the EU (past experience and forward-looking suggestions);
  2. Legal aspects of the cooperation between OLAF and all anti-fraud agencies, including the customs, police and judicial authorities;
  3. Law and administrative practices relating to the fight against fraud in the Member States, including inspections and penalties in relation to VAT, in particular cooperation between fiscal and judicial authorities to investigate VAT fraud;
  4. Law and administrative practices relating to OLAF investigations, with special reference to procedural guarantees;
  5. Law and administrative practices in the field of fraud prevention[8] and fraud awareness raising, in particular blacklisting and early-warning system procedures in thepolicy areas in which the European Union provides substantial financial support or in which the European Union plays a significant role, such as External Assistance and Research and Development;
  6. Penalties and limitation periods:
  7. comparitive law study on the impact of limitation periods on the protection of financial interests under criminal law, and the relation between criminal law procedures and limitation periods for recovery;
  8. administrative penalties, disciplinary penalties and criminal penalties notably in the field of customs and smuggling and the relation between such and the procedures for applying them, taking into account administrative penalties in criminal law procedures and vice versa.
  9. National and/or EU rules on evaluating the financial dimension of fraud against the Union's financial interests and recovery of funds;
  10. Mechanisms to facilitate and improve the gathering, the quality and the reliability of evidence, both for and against ("à charge et à décharge") the person(s) under investigation during an investigation into and the trial of irregularitiesand suspected fraud against the financial interests of the EU;
  11. Prospects for criminal law at EU level regarding the protection of the EU's financial interests:
  12. approaches to specify the relations between national and European law for better synergies between the legislators and the authorities at a national and an EU level;
  13. liability of company directors in a comparative criminal law context;
  14. same treatment for European and national officials;
  15. Enhancement of the exchange of information on suspicious transactions and its effectiveness for anti-fraud purposes:
  16. banking secrecy, fiduciary secrecy and tax secrecy (Steuergeheimnis) and effective (administrative or judicial) assistance with regard to economic crime;
  17. transnational corporate structures and enhanced (criminal and civil) liability for financial offences;
  18. The identification of new threats against the EU's financial interests (both revenues and expenditures) as the result new (policy) developments.

2.5.Expected results and deliverables

The activities to be funded shall generate the following results and deliverables. This list is non-exhaustive and applicants are encouraged to come up with proposals for new and innovative actions:

  • organisation of seminars and conferences on the priority topics identified above and described in the calls for proposals;
  • production of studies that help the Commission (OLAF) identify measures to protect the EU's financial interests;
  • production of scientific studiesand/or articles that can serve to stimulate debate on one of the topics identified;
  • translation of texts of interest with regard to the protection of the EU's financial interests;
  • promotion of the dissemination of scientific knowledge relating to the protection of the EU's financial interests and the results of the measures referred to above;
  • publication of a periodical on the protection of the EU's financial interests;
  • organisation of an annual meeting of the chairpersons of the Associations for European Criminal Law and for the protection of the EU financial interests.

3.PROCEDURE

3.1.Timetable

The applicants must submit their proposal before:

TUESDAY, 30 APRIL 2013, 16.00h (Brussels time)

The proposals must be delivered by post to the address mentioned under point 3.4 and under the conditions set out in the application form. The applicant must also send a copy by e-mail to Functional Mail Box indicated under point 3.4.

Please note that the Hercule Financing Decision 2013 provides for the organisation of only one Call for Proposals in 2013.

3.2.Evaluation of the proposals

The Commission will appoint an Evaluation Committee to examine the proposals and to verify the compliance of each proposal with the procedural requirements set out in the application form (such as the timely delivery and the completeness of the proposal). The Evaluation Committee will examine eachproposal on the basis of theeligibility, exclusion and selection criteria described below. After these steps are successfully completed, the Evaluation Committee will examine the content of each proposal on the basis of the award criteria described under 3.2.4.

3.2.1.Eligibility criteria

Eligibility criteria are used to determine whether an applicant is allowed to participate in this Call for proposals. Tobe eligible for this Call, proposals must be:

  • submitted by an applicant as defined by Section 2.2 of this Call;
  • received by email, and sent by post, before 16.00h (Brussels time) on 30 April 2013.

To prove that the applicant meets the required above-mentioned eligibility criteria, the statutes or articles of association of the applicant organisation sent as annex with the requested legal entity form is required[9].

3.2.2.Exclusion criteria

Applicants will be excluded from participatingin the Call for Proposals if they are in any of the following situations:

a)they are bankrupt or being wound up, are having their affairs administered by the courts, have entered into an arrangement with creditors, have suspended business activities, are the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or are in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations;

b)they or persons having powers of representation, decision making or control over them have been convicted of an offence concerning their professional conduct by a judgment of a competent authority of a Member State which has the force of res judicata;

c)they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the contracting authority can justify including by decisions of the EIB and international organisations;

d)they are not in compliance with their obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country in which they are established or with those of the country of the RAO or those of the country where the grant agreement is to be performed;

e)they or persons having powers of representation, decision making or control over them have been the subject of a judgment which has the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation, money laundering or any other illegal activity, where such an illegal activity is detrimental to the Union's financial interests;

f) they are currently subject to an administrative penalty referred to in Article 109of the Financial Regulation (FR)[10].

Applicants willnot be granted financial assistance if, in the course of the grant award procedure, they:

g)are subject to a conflict of interests;

h)are guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the information required by the Commission as a condition of participation in the grant award procedure or fail to supply this information;

i) find themselves in one of the situations of exclusion, referred to in section 3.2.2 (a-f).

Administrative and financial penalties may be imposed on applicants, or affiliated entities where applicable, who are guilty of misrepresentation.

Applicants must sign a declaration on their honour certifying that they are not in one of the situations referred to in this section, filling in the relevant form attached to the application form (§6 of Application Form). This requirement does not apply for applicants submitting a proposal below EUR 60 000,- or when such certification has recently been provided in an another award procedure[11].

3.2.3.Selection criteria

After verification of the exclusion criteria, each proposal will be evaluated on the basis of its operational and financial capacity.

a)Operational capacity[12]

Applicants must have the professional competencies and the qualifications necessary to complete the project or work programme. Applicants must submit a declaration on their honour, and the following supporting documents:

  • the organisation' s activity reports (if applicable);
  • a short narrative description of which existent professional competencies/resources will be used to implement the project and/or curriculum vitae of the people primarily responsible for managing and implementing the operation;
  • an exhaustive lists of previous projects and activities performed and connected to the policy field of a given call or to the actions to be carried out;
  • an inventory of natural or economic resources involved in the project.

The CV's shall only indicate the information relevant to the assignment, shall be submitted in the Europass format, shall contain a 200 word summary and shall not exceed 2 pages (1200 words)[13].

b)Financial capacity[14]

Applicants must have stable and sufficient sources of funding to maintain their activity throughout the duration of the project and they must participate in its funding. The financial capacity will be assessed for all applicants, except public bodies and international organisations[15], on the basis of the following supporting documents to be submitted with the application:

  • Low value grants (≤ EUR 60 000): a declaration on their honour (§7 of Application Form).
  • Grants over EUR 60 000: a declaration on their honour and:
  • the profit and loss account, the balance sheet for the last financial year for which the accounts were closed;
  • for newly created entities, the business plan might replace the above documents.

On the basis of these documents, if the European Commission considers that financial capacity is not proved in a satisfactory way, it may: