Turkey-Bulgaria
Cross-Border Cooperation:
JoInt Small Projects Fund
Call for Proposals TR 0602.17 issued by the CFCU
on 04 February 2008 with deadline of 14 April 2008
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
II
Question 1: When must the contribution of the project owners (co-financing) be visible in the Applicants' and/or partners' accounts/accountancy? Must it be visible in the relevant bank accounts at the stage of application?
Answer 1: The sources of matching contribution have to be stipulated at the application stage in the Expected Sources of Funding (Annex B3). Therefore, it is not obligatory to invest co-financing amount into bank account at the stage of application. However, Beneficiary and/or partner's co-financing must be visible in the accounts/accountancy of project partners during project implementation period. Please see the General Conditions Article 17.
Question 2: Does 50.000 EUR corresponds to 90% of the project budget?
Answer 2: As stipulated in the Guidelines Section 1.3., the maximum grant amount under this programme is EUR 50,000 and it should not exceed 90% of the total eligible costs of the action.
Question 3: Is equal allocation of funds by applicants such as chambers, unions, etc. or by provinces, districts, villages considered during evaluation?
Answer 3 : There is no equal allocation of funds by type of applicants/administrative divisions. As stipulated in the Guidelines Section 2.3.(3), following the evaluation of the pre-selected proposals, a table listing the proposals ranked according to their score and within the available financial envelope will be established as well as a reserve list following the same criteria. Only projects scoring minimum 65 points will be proposed for grants award depending on the funds available.
Question 4 : Can we submit only one project?
Answer 4: As stipulated in the Guidelines Section 2.1.3., an Applicant may submit more than one proposal. However, an Applicant may be awarded only one grant under this Call for proposals.
Question 5: Can faculties of the universities or vocational schools apply?
Answer 5: As long as they comply with the eligibility criteria defined in the Section 2.1.1 . of the Guidelines, universities, faculties and vocational schools can apply to this Call for proposals.
Question 6: Can the rent of the office that we are using now be included in the project budget? If we rent an office for the project, can its costs be covered under the Administrative Costs?
Answer 6: Overheads of the Applicant and project partners must be covered within the “Administrative costs”. Therefore, the rent of Applicant and project partners' office can be requested from the Administrative Costs in proportion to its use for the project. However, if a special office is set up for the purposes of implementing the project, other than the office s of applicant and partners for the implementation of the project activities such as trainings, seminars, conferences, etc., it should be budgeted under “Local Office costs” (Budget item 4).
Question 7: Can a municipality or school staff get salary from the project?
Answer 7: The salaries of the governmental officials are not eligible costs for the grant as stipulated in the Section 2.1.4. of the Guidelines. However, as long as they have the necessary qualifications for this responsibility and commits himself/herself to the project of his/her institution, they can work in the projects and their salaries can be co-financing provided that the applicant proves that the civil servant works for its project with respective documentation. If the civil servant works for other projects not under the responsibility of his/her institution, the salary of the civil servant cannot be treated as co-financing (please see the Answer to the Question 1 in the first set of FAQ and also Reference document published in the web page; www.cfcu.gov.tr ).
Question 8: If our partner withdraws, is the project cancelled?
Answer 8 : If there is only one Bulgarian partner in the project and it is withdrawn, the project is certainly cancelled as to have a partner from other side of the border is obligatory for all applicants. If it is a Turkish partner, this change necessitates an addendum, and if the request is not well-justified, it may lead to the termination of the project.
Question 9: Can the costs of the Bulgarian partners incurred during the implementation of the project be funded from the Turkish JSPF budget? Can they procure equipment for the project?
Answer 9: Yes provided that they are eligible costs as stipulated in the Section 2.1.4. of the Guidelines and duly substantiated in the Description of the Action. They should also comply with the rules stated in the Articles 1.3 and 14 of the General Conditions and Annex IV to the standard grant contract regarding the secondary procurement. Moreover, as stipulated in the Annex J Special Conditions of the Contract Article 7.2.3., at the end of the implementation of the Action, equipment, vehicles and supplies paid for by the Budget for the Action must stay in the Turkish eligible region where the Action is implemented or be transferred to a local partner (if any) in the region disregard of the unit price of equipment.
Question 10: Can a member of the Management Board of a Chamber or retired person be a project coordinator?
Answer 10: Yes, as long as he/she has necessary qualifications for this responsibility and commits himself/herself to the coordination of the project, she/he can work as project coordinator. However, please note that according to the Turkish Labor Law he/she can not work full-time in two positions at the same time and can not get double-funding. For the assignment of retired persons in the project, please see Reference document published in the web page; www.cfcu.gov.tr ).
Question 11: Should we submit proforma invoices for the equipment with the application?
Answer 11: No.
Question 12: What is the audit cost?
Answer 12: It is the cost of a n expenditure verification report which is attached to the request for payment of the balance where the grant amount exceeds EUR 100.000. It is not obligatory for this grant scheme as the maximum grant amount is EUR 50.000, but recommendable. The report should be made by an approved auditor who is a member of an internationally recognized supervisory body for statutory auditing such as Chamber of Certified Public Accountants.
Question 13: Can we make printing in Bulgaria?
Answer 13: The activities realized on the Bulgarian side are eligible provided that they are elaborated in the Decription of the Action and they comply with the eligibility criteria defined in the Sections 2.1.3 and 2.1.4 of the Guidelines.
Question 14: It is stated in the Guidelines that sub-grants with a maximum amount of EUR 5.000 can be distributed to third parties. Can we directly give it to a single person?
Answer 14: As stipulated in the Section 2.1.3 of the Guidelines, in order to support the achievement of the objectives of the Action, and in particular where the implementation of the Action proposed by the Applicant requires financial support to be given to third parties, the Applicant may propose awarding sub-grants. If this is the case, the Applicant has to specify in its proposal the total amount of the grant which may be used for awarding sub-grants as well as the minimum and maximum amount which may be paid to third parties and the criteria for determining the exact amount for the sub-grant. The sub-grants can not be given to a single person.
The maximum amount is limited to 10% of total budget with maximum amount of EUR 5.000 per third party of the sub-grant.
The list containing the types of activities which may be eligible for sub-grants under this Call for proposal have to be submitted by the Applicant together with the submission of its proposal.
Question 15: Is there a condition for the period of establishment for the associations?
Answer 15: There is no requirement regarding the establishment period, however the applicants should have necessary financial and operational capacity and experience to manage the project.
Question 16: Can we find sponsors for the co-financing amount and can we make their advertisement?
Answer 16: As stipulated in the Section 1.3 of the Guidelines, the co-financing can be financed from the applicant's or partners' own resources, or from sources other than the European Community budget or the European Development Fund. However, you can not advertise any sponsor during the implementation of the project.
Question 17: If we employ university students for the project activities, can we make payment to them?
Answer 17: Provided that the action requires their employment for the realization of some project activities such as surveys, questionnaires, etc. and it is decribed in the Decription of the Action and Budget, you can employ them and make payment to them.
Question 18 : Can we submit the same project after revisions to this Call for Proposals?
Answers 18: Provided that the project is revised in accordance with the current programme objectives and priorities and also correspond to the eligibility criteria stated in the Section 2.1.3. of the Guidelines, you may re-apply.
Question 19 : Can health centers that are linked to the Provincial Directorate of the Ministry fo Health apply?
Answers 19: No. As stipulated in the Section 2.1.1 of the Guidelines, only non-governmental organisations (any non-profit organizations which are independent from government and typically value-based organizations that depend in whole or in part on charitable donations and voluntary service) may apply to this grant scheme.
Question 20: Can the same person be a project coordinator and a trainer at the same time?
Answer 20: According to the Turkish Labor Law he/she can not work full-time in two positions at the same time and can not get double-funding. However, if she/he has necessary qualifications and skills for these two positions in the project, she/he can work part-time in these positions provided that he/she satisfactorily fulfil his/her coordinating role in the project.
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