Call for proposals 2010 - Europe for Citizens Programme (2007-2013): Implementation of the programme actions: Active Citizens for Europe, Active civil society in Europe and Active European Remembrance

The Europe for Citizens programme has the following specific objectives:
- bringing together people from local communities across Europe to share and exchange experiences, opinions and values, to learn from history and to build for the future
- fostering action, debate and reflection related to European citizenship and democracy, shared values, common history and culture through cooperation within civil society organisations at European level
- bringing Europe closer to its citizens by promoting Europe's values and achievements, while preserving the memory of its past
- encouraging interaction between citizens and civil society organisations from all participating countries contributing to intercultural dialogue and bringing to the fore both Europe's diversity and unity, with particular attention to activities aimed at developing closer ties between citizens

Applicants must be established in one of the countries participating in the Programme and either a public body or a non-profit organisation. Eligible countries are the 27 EU Member States, plus Albania, Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

This call offers project grants and operating grants to support the following:

Action 1: Active Citizens for Europe

Measure 1 : Town Twinning
This measure is aimed at activities that involve or promote direct exchanges between European citizens through their participation in town-twining activities.

Measure 1.1: Town twinning citizens' meetings (project grant)
This measure is aimed at activities that involve or promote direct exchanges between European citizens through their participation in town-twinning activities. A project must involve municipalities from at least two participating countries, of which at least one is an EU Member State. The project must have a minimum of 25 international participants coming from the invited municipalities. The maximum duration is 21 days. The maximum grant is €25,000 per project. The minimum grant is €5,000. The grants for town twinning citizens' meetings are targeted to co-finance the organisational costs of the host town and the travel expenses of the invited participants.

Measure 1.2: Networks of twinned towns (project grant)
This measure supports the development of networks created on the basis of town twinning links, which are important for ensuring structured, intense and multifaceted cooperation among municipalities, and therefore for contributing to maximising the impact of the Programme. A project must foresee at least three events and involve municipalities from at least four participating countries, of which at least one is an EU Member State. The project must have a minimum of 30 international participants coming from the invited municipalities. The maximum project duration is 24 months; the maximum duration of each event is 21 days.
Maximum amount eligible for a project within this measure is €150,000. The minimum amount eligible is €10,000.

Measure 2: 'Citizens' projects' and 'Support measures'

Measure 2.1: Citizens' projects (project grant)
This measure addresses a major challenge of the European Union today: how to bridge the gap between citizens and the European Union. It aims at exploring original and innovative methodologies capable of encouraging citizens' participation and stimulating the dialogue between European citizens and the institutions of the European Union.
A project must involve at least five participating countries, of which at least one is an EU Member State and involve at least 200 participants. The maximum project duration is 12 months.
The grant awarded may not exceed 60% of the total amount of the project's eligible costs. The minimum grant will be €100,000. The maximum grant eligible for a project within this measure is €250,000.

Measure 2.2: Support measures (project grant)
This measure aims at supporting the activities which may lead to the establishment of long-lasting partnerships and networks reaching a significant number of different stakeholders promoting active Europe citizenship, thus contributing to provide a better response to the programmes' objectives and maximising the overall programme impact and effectiveness.
A project must involve at least two participating countries, of which at least one is an EU Member State. The maximum is 12 months. At least two events per project have to be foreseen.
The grant may not exceed a maximum rate of 80% of eligible costs of the action concerned. The minimum grant eligible is €30,000. The maximum grant eligible for a project within this measure is €100,000.

Action 2: Active civil society in Europe
Measures 1 and 2: Structural support for European public policy research organisations and for civil society organisations at EU level (Operating grants)

Measure 1 — Structural support for European public policy research organisations (think tanks) — aims at supporting the work of European public policy research organisations (think tanks), which are able to provide new ideas and reflections on European issues, on active citizenship at European level or on European values.

Measure 2 — Structural support for civil society organisations at EU level — will provide civil society organisations of European dimension with the capacity and stability to develop their activities at European level. The purpose is to contribute to the emergence of a structured, coherent and active civil society at European level.
The period of eligibility must correspond to the applicant's budget year. The grant can be calculated following two different methods:
(a) budget based on flat rates;
(b) budget based on real costs. The amount of the grant will be calculated on the basis of a balanced, detailed forecast budget, expressed in euro. The grant may not exceed a maximum rate of 80% of eligible costs of the action concerned.
The maximum grant is €100,000.

Measure 3: Support for projects initiated by civil society organisations (project grant)
The aim of this measure is to support concrete projects promoted by civil society organisations belonging to different participating countries. These projects should raise awareness on matters of European interest and contribute to foster mutual understanding on different cultures and to identify common values through cooperation at European level.
A project must involve at least two participating countries, of which at least one is an EU Member State. The maximum duration of projects is 18 months.
The grant can be calculated following two different methods, corresponding to different approaches and to which specific rules apply:
(a) budget based on flat rates for 'event projects';
(b) budget based on real costs for 'production and realisation projects'. The grant requested in that case may not exceed 70% of the eligible costs of the action concerned.
The maximum grant is €150,000. The minimum grant eligible is €10,000.

Action 4: Active European Remembrance (project grant)
The aim of projects supported under this action is to keep alive the memory of the victims of Nazism and Stalinism and to improve the knowledge and understanding of present and future generations about what took place in the camps and other places of mass-civilian extermination, and why.
The maximum duration of project is 12 months.
The grant can be calculated following two different methods:
(a) budget based on flat rates and lump sum for 'event projects';
(b) budget based on real costs for 'production and realisation projects'. The grant requested in that case may not exceed 60% of the eligible costs of the action concerned.
The maximum grant is €55,000. The minimum grant eligible is €10,000.

Deadlines for applications vary from 1 February - 15 October.

Further details can be found in the Europe for Citizens Programme Guide on the Citizenship Citizenship and EACEA websites. 

Reference: 2010/C 340/14

(Added 2010-12-15)