Please find below the responses of the Joint Secretariat and the Managing Authority on questions posed by potential beneficiaries.
In order to be eligible for co-funding, a beneficiary must fall under one of the categories, as specified in article 5 - 'Eligible Partnerships' of the 4th Call for project proposals.
The MA/JS cannot comment on the eligibility of a potential beneficiary. The eligibility of beneficiaries will be part of the project assessment. It is the applicant's sole responsibility to determine its own status and eligibility to apply for funding.
The eligible cross-border area of the Programme in Albania includes the Regions of Vlorë, Gjirokastër, Korçë and Berat.
In principle -as stipulated in article 3.8.3: Special Categories of costs and budget limits Activities located outside the Programme area and Financing, of the Programme & Project Manual- all activities of a project should take place within the eligible Programme area. If a project plans to finance activities or events outside the eligible Programme area, this is possible in the context of the Cooperation Programme and in duly justified cases, provided that Article 44 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 447/2014 of 2 May 2014 is respected.
The total budget allocated to activities outside the Programme area cannot exceed 20% of the budget of the Project.
If you wish to find partner beneficiaries for a project idea that you aim to submit under the 4th Call for Project Proposals, you will have to visit our website, find the section for project ideas, click on the tab to submit your project idea and proceed respectively. For your facilitation the link to the form for the submission of a project idea is https://2014-2020.greece-albania.eu/partner-search
When you submit your project idea, we will publish it to the website and beneficiaries that are interested in participating will be able to contact you either directly or through the Joint Secretariat.
If you don’t have a particular project idea on your mind and you wish to find or meet with beneficiaries you may:
- visit the keep.eu website where information on all projects approved under all Interreg Programmes and respective beneficiaries is available. You may search per programme, per area, per theme, etc. (https://www.keep.eu/keep/)
- visit our website on the section “Beneficiaries” or “Projects” to find the beneficiaries that suit you best or even get an idea of what is already approved under our Programme
- participate in the info-days that will be organized in both countries and aim at informing you on how to apply. Numerous beneficiaries participate in these events, thus giving you the opportunity to meet in person and discuss issues of common interest.
In order to be eligible for co-funding, a beneficiary must fall under one of the categories, as specified in article 5 - 'Eligible Partnerships' of the 4th Call for project proposals.
For beneficiaries located outside the eligible area, it should be recalled that, in principle, the activities of a project should be carried out within the eligible area of the Programme. Actions outside the eligible Programme area may be implemented in duly justified cases, provided that the conditions laid down in Article 44 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 447/2014 of 2 May 2014 are respected. The activities should be for the benefit of the Programme area, coherent to the rest project actions, necessary for the proper implementation of the project and included in its Application Form. The total budget allocated to activities outside the Programme area, irrespective of whether the potential beneficiary is located inside or outside the eligible area of the Programme, cannot exceed 20% of the budget of the Project.
According to the Programme and Project Manual of the Interreg IPA CBC Programme Greece-Albania 2014-2020, the possibility to have an Associated partner in a partnership is not foreseen. A partnership consists of project beneficiaries, one of which is appointed as the Lead Beneficiary.
Beneficiaries located outside the eligible area of the Programme may be included in a partnership, provided that their operation, in the framework of the project, is for the benefit of the programme area. If a project plans to finance activities or events outside the eligible Programme area, this is possible in the context of the Cooperation Programme and in duly justified cases, provided that Article 44 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 447/2014 of 2 May 2014 is respected. The total budget allocated to activities outside the Programme area cannot exceed 20% of the budget of the Project.
In order to be eligible for co-funding, a beneficiary must fall under one of the three categories, as specified in article 5 - 'Eligible Partnerships' of the 4th Call for project proposals.
For beneficiaries located outside the eligible area, it should be recalled that, in principle, the activities of a project should be carried out within the eligible area of the Programme. Actions outside the eligible Programme area may be implemented in duly justified cases, provided that the conditions laid down in Article 44 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 447/2014 of 2 May 2014 are respected. The activities should be for the benefit of the Programme area, coherent to the rest project actions, necessary for the proper implementation of the project and included in its Application Form. The total budget allocated to activities outside the Programme area, irrespective of whether the potential beneficiary is located inside or outside the eligible area of the Programme, cannot exceed 20% of the budget of the Project proposal.
The necessary documents to be submitted are referred in article 11 – “Evaluation procedure” and specifically in the section ‘Eligibility of beneficiaries’.
The 4th Call for Project Proposals does not provide a standard form for ‘No 9: Bill of Quantities and Costs’. The necessity and the form of the document depends on the nature of the proposed project’s activities. In relation to document ‘No 8: Guidance for the eligibility of expenditure’, it can be found at the annexes to the Programme Manual.
3. The presentations from the info-day on the 4th call for proposals that took place in Arta on 7/12, are available at the following link: https://2014-2020.greece-albania.eu/events/info-day-the-4th-call-for-project-proposals-arta-gr
4. In order to be eligible for co-funding, a beneficiary must fall under one of the three categories, as specified in article 5 - 'Eligible Partnerships' of the 4th Call for project proposals. For beneficiaries located outside the eligible area, it should be recalled that, in principle, the activities of a project should be carried out within the eligible area of the Programme. Actions outside the eligible Programme area may be implemented in duly justified cases, provided that the conditions laid down in Article 44 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 447/2014 of 2 May 2014 are respected. The activities should be for the benefit of the Programme area, coherent to the rest project actions, necessary for the proper implementation of the project and included in its Application Form. The total budget allocated to activities outside the Programme area, irrespective of whether the potential beneficiary is located inside or outside the eligible area of the Programme, cannot exceed 20% of the budget of the Project proposal.
The total number of beneficiaries should not be less than two (2) and must not exceed four (4) including the Lead beneficiary, for both Specific Objectives.
In order to participate in a project you have to either design a project and submit it according to the guidelines of the respective Call or you may look for a project proposal leaded by another organization where you might participate as a project beneficiary.
If you wish to start a new project and you cannot find partners, you may submit your project proposal through our website: https://2014-2020.greece-albania.eu/partners (section “Submit your project idea) or look for beneficiaries through www.keep.eu .
In case you are looking for a project leaded by another body, you may search through the already submitted project ideas to see if something interests you, in order to contact the respective beneficiaries.
You should be aware that you have to follow the restrictions and guidelines of the 4th Call for Project Proposals, that is open until the 28th of February 2019 https://2014-2020.greece-albania.eu/calls/4th-call-for-project-proposals
The Partnership Agreement is a document signed by the project beneficiaries of the partnership after the approval of the project proposal and it is not a prerequisite for the submission of the project proposal. For the approved projects the JS will provide specific instructions regarding the signature of the Subsidy Contract and the Partnership Agreement.
The Partnership Agreement should not be confused with the Partnership Declaration. The Partnership Declaration should be signed and stamped by each of the beneficiaries of the partnership on a single page, and it is a prerequisite for a faultless submission of a project proposal.
Your remark is correct. The problem is due to a function which copies the amounts of ‘Audit’ from the expenditure category 'External Expertise' to 'Budget Check' sheet. The problem appears only to the Lead Beneficiary. We have corrected the file and uploaded to the Programme site. In any case, you should know that the problem which occurred in the ‘07_SoBC_revised’ file affects only the control over the excess of the limits or not of the Management Cost rule (up to 10% of the beneficiary’s total budget). Also, please be informed that the use of the ‘07_SoBC_revised’ file instead of the new corrected file does not constitute a reason for rejection.
There is no limit in the budget category "Infrastructure and Works".
Since the Lead beneficiaries will be asked to submit in hard copy the documents for the eligibility of the beneficiaries after the pre-approval of the project proposals (Step 1), the date of signature on these documents can be after the deadline for the submission of the proposals.
We do not have the authority to suggest or nominate beneficiaries that you can cooperate with. If you wish to start a new project and you cannot find partners, you may submit your project proposal through our website: https://2014-2020.greece-albania.eu/partners (section “Submit your project idea) or look for beneficiaries through www.keep.eu. In case you are looking for a project leaded by another body, you may search through the already submitted project ideas to see if something interests you, in order to contact the respective beneficiaries. You should be aware that you have to follow the restrictions and guidelines of the 4th Call for Project Proposals, that is open until the 28th of February 2019 https://2014-2020.greece-albania.eu/calls/4th-call-for-project-proposals.
