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Section 2: EU Programmes Important Remark In May 2000, the European Commission put forward a new strategy on public health that will take shape in 2003. Meanwhile the current eight EC programmes in public health (listed below) have been extended until the end of December 2002. These eight programmes are open to CEE countries, i.e. funding is available for them provided their country has adopted the necessary legal instruments. For this information please contact the EC delegation in-country. A joint call for applications has been published with the same procedures for each programme. Budget Line Number
Budget Amount
Objective The programmes are, Programme of Community Action on…
Eligibility Public bodies and non-governmental organisations active in the above areas are eligible to apply. Geographical Area EU and CEE Deadline for Funding 30 October 2001 for all programmes. Contact Name There are three different units dealing with
the eight programmes. Please consult the relevant heads of unit. Health Promotion; Health Monitoring; and Injury
Prevention - unit G/3 Horst Kloppenburg AIDS and other communicable diseases; and Rare
Diseases - unit G/4 Roland Haigh Contact Address European Commission An information pack containing all the documents needed for submitting an application is available on written request by letter to the above address, or by fax to (352) 4301 34511. Important Remark This initiative brings together the budget lines for promoting human rights, democracy and conflict prevention in countries outside the EU. The Commission identifies themes to which it gives priority. Budget Line Number
Budget Amount
Objectives EIDHR budget covers promotion and protection of human rights; support for democratisation; prevention of conflict and dealing with the consequences of conflict; international criminal courts and free and fair elections. It has three principle means of implementation:
Eligibility NGOs & NPOs, private or public sector operators and/or local authorities. Geographical Area Global Deadline for Funding The call for proposals for 2002 is expected to be launched in December 2001, and the deadline would follow two months later. Contact Name Tim Clarke Contact Address
NB : EuropeAid manages all technical aspects of all the Commission's external relations DGs (i.e. External Relations, Development, ECHO, except Enlargement), including the preparation and signing of contracts, financial transfers, interim and final reporting, audits, and evaluations. In practical terms, this means that NGOs will be in contact with the relevant DG concerning policy priorities. Programme guidelines, application process and, once a project has been selected for funding, the signing of the contract, payments, extensions and reports will be handled by EuropeAid. Background The Phare Programme is currently the main channel for the European Union's financial and technical cooperation with the accession countries. Set up in 1989 to support economic and political transition, Phare had, by 1996, been extended to include 13 partner countries from the region Phare's assistance takes the form of grants, and its work has grown to encompass a wide range of activities. Since 1994, the Programme has been characterised by a large increase in support for the legislative framework and administrative structures, as well as for projects promoting democratisation and civil society, and for investment in infrastructure, including cross-border cooperation. Under the "reinforced pre-accession strategy", all the different forms of support available (including Phare) for each country are brought together within a single framework, called an Accession Partnership (AP). Individual APs have been drawn up with each candidate country, and outline the priority areas in which each country needs to make progress in order to prepare for accession. The first priority is to help the administrations of the candidate countries acquire the capacity to implement the 'acquis communautaire' (the European Communities' body of legislation). This process is known as institution-building. Phare will thus help the national and regional administrations, as well as regulatory and supervisory and other bodies, in the candidate countries to familiarise themselves with Community objectives and procedures and to prepare for their implementation. The second priority is to help the candidate countries bring their industries and major infrastructure up to Community standards by mobilising the investment required. This effort will be largely devoted to areas where Community norms are becoming increasingly demanding: environment, transport, industrial plants, quality standards in products, working conditions, and so on. Please see http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/pas/phare/pt/invsup.htm for further details on this priority. In addition to Phare (euro 1.5 billion per year), since 2000 there have been two additional programmes: aid for agricultural and rural development (SAPARD) will amount to euro 500 million per year, while structural aid (ISPA) will total euro 1 billion per year. The structural aid will be directed mainly towards aligning the candidate countries with Community infrastructure standards, particularly in transport and environment. It will also help familiarise the candidate countries with the arrangements for implementing structural measures. Please see the Special Preparatory Programme for Structural Funds: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/pas/phare/pt/spp.htm for further details on targeted Phare support in this area. Programmes The PHARE programme is divided into three main categories:
Few of the PHARE programmes are open to proposals from NGOs and those that are, are organised at national level by the European Commission's delegations. For this reason the only programme falling under PHARE outlined in this guide is the Access programme. This is specifically aimed at strengthening civil society, although here again, priorities are defined on a country-by-country basis. For an outline and details of all the programmes, past and present, under the multi-beneficiary programmes, please see http://www.multi-bene.org/. General information on the PHARE programme is available on the European Union website at http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/pas/phare/index.htm.
Contact Address For more specific inquiries there is a PHARE and TACIS Information Centre in Brussels, for details see http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/contacts/info_centre.htm Or contact : Budget Line Number
Budget Amount
Objectives
Projects may be either transnational "macroprojects" or local "microprojects". Macroprojects will receive an EC contribution of up to euro 200,000, and must be submitted by at least two partner organisations from different countries. The maximum size of an EC grant for microprojects is euro 50,000, and projects may be submitted by a single CEE-based eligible organisation. ACCESS will also provide support for participation costs in EU-wide NGO networks. Delegations have the responsibility for dividing their national allocation between macroprojects, microprojects and the networking facility. The Access programme has only received budgetary allocation in 1999 and 2000. Once the funds have been spent the programme will end. Instead national governments will be heavily encouraged to set aside a proportion of the funds allocated under the national PHARE programme for civil society. The programme is implemented by the EC delegations which are also responsible for identifying the specific priorities as well as preparing the detailed programme guidelines, the delegations in the eligible countries are responsible for issuing the calls for proposals, and for project selection, contracting, and payments. Eligibility NGOs established and run in a candidate country of CEE or in an EU country, and which are non exclusive organisations, i.e. organisations which do not condition their support or actions to ideological, doctrinal or religious adherence. Local and regional authorities may be partners or co-financiers of projects, but may not apply as the lead applicant. Geographical Area CEE Deadline for Funding Each EC delegation will launch one or more calls for proposal per year, therefore the timing will vary from country to country. The delegations will also evaluate and select projects for funding, conclude contracts and follow up the project through their implementation. Contact Address
Important Remark The Consensus programme is a two year multi-national programme financed under Phare to provide technical assistance to the CEE countries. It aims to support the sustainability of social protection reform in Central and Eastern Europe. The programme focuses on designing an inter-institutional social protection reform policy, preparing adequate tools for its implementation and encouraging exchanges of experience on a multi-country basis. The multi-country approach is a tool to capitalise on experience gained through national Phare programmes in the field of social protection. Consensus III will continue to monitor social policy developments in the candidate countries and help guide the social security reform process depending on each country's needs and state of progress. From 2000, assistance in adopting and implementing the social acquis will be supported under Phare national programmes, following the priorities set out in each country's Accession Partnership. Consensus III will act as a bridge between this new approach and the previous Consensus programmes. The Central Financing and Contracting units in the partner countries will be responsible for the procurement of contracts and payments in relation to the grant-funding component of the programme. Twinning fiches will be prepared by the countries' ministries of labour and social affairs for approval by the European Commission; the ministries will have responsibility for technical implementation. It is therefore not open to NGOs. Budget Line Number
Budget Amount
Objectives The Tacis Bistro programme is designed to respond quickly to requests for support to small-scale projects (with a duration of no more than six months and a budget of up to 100,000 Euro) anywhere in Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine. The priority areas include enterprise support and financial services, human resources (education and training, public administration), social protection, food production, processing and distribution, agriculture, energy, transport, telecommunications and environment. The projects may involve: - study tours, to enable Russian/Ukrainian
participants to access western know-how; Bistro does not pay for scholarships or other individual educational activities, nor does it support equipment purchases only. Bistro projects should also not benefit just one actor but should have a systemic impact, with results that can benefit a number of actors in the sector either directly or through the dissemination of results. Eligibility Any organisation based in the EU, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russian or Ukrainian may propose a project. Bistro does not provide complementary funding for projects already financed through the main Tacis programme. Application forms and guidelines are available from the EC delegations mentioned below. Geographical Area Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation, and Ukraine. Contact Address
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