All bodies/institutions interested in being part of a project proposal must fulfil all the following criteria (exception related to the “Assimilated partners” are provided in a separate question):

• Established under the national law of one of the Partner States participating in the Programme. Nationality will be determined on the basis of the organisation’s statute/articles of incorporation which should demonstrate that it has been established by an instrument governed by the internal law of a country participating to the Programme. In this respect, any legal entity whose statute has been established under the national law of a country not participating to the programme cannot be considered an eligible partner, even if it has established branches/offices legally registered under the national law of a Country participating to the Programme;
• Have their official seat and their seat of operations in the country/part of the country included in the Programme area (with the exceptions reported under the sub-paragraph “Assimilated partners”);
• Be endowed with legal personality.

In addition to what above, eligible partners shall be:

• National, regional and local public bodies (including EGTCs in the meaning of Article 2(16) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and associations formed by one or several of such public bodies;
• Body governed by public law, and associations constituted by one or several bodies governed by public law, as defined in Article 2(4) of Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement, i.e. bodies that have all of the following characteristics:

(a) They are established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character;

(b) They have legal personality; and

(c) They are financed, for the most part, by the State, regional or local authorities, or by other bodies governed by public law; or are subject to management supervision by those authorities or bodies; or have an administrative, managerial or supervisory board, more than half of whose members are appointed by the State, regional or local authorities, or by other bodies governed by public law;

• Private bodies, including private companies, having legal personality and operational from at least 2 fiscal years at the time of submission of the candidature;
• International organisations acting under the national law of one of the Partner States participating to the Programme operational from at least 2 fiscal years at the time of submission of the candidature.

Applicants are strongly advised to carefully check the indicative list of potential beneficiaries included in the description Programme Priority Axis 2, namely section 2 of the ADRION CP: such lists are referred to the typologies of beneficiaries that can best contribute to the Programme specific objectives.

In case of public and private entities whose ordinary main scope of activities and whose role in the project consists mainly in project coordination, management, communication or knowledge management, cannot be considered as eligible partner/beneficiary. The involvement of such bodies in the project should be, instead, as external service providers to be contracted following the applicable public procurement procedures.

The following bodies located in ADRION ERDF Partner States shall be considered as eligible Lead Applicants:

• Public bodies (national, regional or local level), including associations formed by one or several regional or local authorities governed by public law;
• Bodies governed by public law, including associations formed by one or several bodies governed by public law;
• EGTC;
• Assimilated partners;
• International organizations acting under national law acting under the national law of one of the Partner States participating to the Programme operational from at least 2 fiscal years at the time of submission of the candidature.

All eligible bodies located in IPA Partner States can participate to projects only as partners.

A Body governed by public law is an institution as defined in Article 2(4) of Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement, i.e. bodies that have all of the following characteristics:

(a) It is established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character;

(b) It has legal personality; and

(c) It is financed, for the most part, by the State, regional or local authorities, or by other bodies governed by public law; or are subject to management supervision by those authorities or bodies; or have an administrative, managerial or supervisory board, more than half of whose members are appointed by the State, regional or local authorities, or by other bodies governed by public law.

According to art. 2(16) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 the category bodies governed by public law also frame “any European grouping of territorial cooperation (EGTC) established in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council, regardless of whether the EGTC is considered to be a public law body or a private law body under the relevant national implementing provisions”.

EGTC can be a Project Partner on condition that it is governed by the law of the country where the EGTC has its registered office, which is located in one of the EU Partner States/part of a Partner States participating to the Programme. The minimum number of members of an EGTC is the one reported in art. 3 a) of Regulation (EU) No 1302/2013 modifying Regulation 1082/2006.

In order to overcome to the Programme geographical constraints applying to Italy, those Italian public authorities or bodies governed by public law which are competent in their scope of action for certain parts of the eligible area but which are located outside of it (e.g.: Ministries) are considered as assimilated partners, with equal rights and obligations to applicants located within the programme area.

The attribution of the characteristic of assimilated applicant to an Italian institution located outside the Programme area shall be duly justified in the project application and further assessed with the support of the Italian National Contact Point.

The following institution can act as project partner:

• National, regional and local public bodies (including EGTCs in the meaning of Article 2(16) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and associations formed by one or several of such public bodies;
• Body governed by public law, and associations constituted by one or several bodies governed by public law, as defined in Article 2(4) of Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement, i.e. bodies that have all of the following characteristics:

(a) They are established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character;

(b) They have legal personality; and

(c) They are financed, for the most part, by the State, regional or local authorities, or by other bodies governed by public law; or are subject to management supervision by those authorities or bodies; or have an administrative, managerial or supervisory board, more than half of whose members are appointed by the State, regional or local authorities, or by other bodies governed by public law;

• Private bodies, including private companies, having legal personality and operational from at least 2 fiscal years at the time of submission of the candidature;
• International organisations acting under the national law of one of the Partner States participating to the Programme operational from at least 2 fiscal years at the time of submission of the candidature.

The minimum eligible partnership much comprises 6 financing partners from 6 Partner States, out of them:

• At least 4 partners from 4 different ERDF Partner States;
• At least 2 partners from 2 different IPA Partner States.

The partnership can include a maximum of 2 partners from the same Partner State and consist of a maximum of 16 partners.

Potential beneficiaries – regardless whether they apply for the role of Lead or Project Partners – may be involved in ADRION proposals in no more than 6 project proposals. More specifically the same institution:

• Cannot be Lead Partner in more than 1 project proposal per Specific Objective;
• Cannot be Project Partner in more than 2 project proposals if also applying as Lead Partner in a project proposal in the same Specific Objective;
• For those beneficiaries which do not apply as Lead Partner, they can be Project Partner in no more than 3 project proposals per Specific Objective;
• A private institution can participate only in one project proposal per Specific Objective and cannot act as Lead Partner.

In case an infringement of the requirements above is detected, the eligibility of the partner – if compliant with all the other requirements – shall be determined by the time of arrival (i.e.: submission to the online application system e-MS system) of the project proposal.

Partners outside the programme area but within the EU cannot participate as financing partners to the projects. The only exception refers to the assimilated partners.

 

The Programme allows the participation of financing partners from non-EU countries outside the Programme area. Participation is open to public institutions located in Third Countries not included in the Programme area: their financial participation cannot be, however, supported with Programme funds. Interested organizations from Third Countries shall search for other sources of funding (e.g.: ENI, IPA II, United Nation) or use their own funds. Third Countries participation shall not count for the fulfilment of the minimum eligible partnership size requirement.

The ADRION Programme foresees the involvement of associated partners, i.e.: those bodies willing to be involved in a project with an observer or associated status without financially contributing to the project. The associated institutions do not account for the partnership minimum requirements; all expenditure incurred by these bodies shall be finally borne by any of the institutions acting as financing beneficiaries in order to be considered as eligible. The associated institutions must not act as service providers in order not to enter in conflict with public procurement rules.

The partnership must demonstrate the benefits that the involved associated partner shall bring to the project and its follow up. Expenditure incurred by these bodies shall be limited to reimbursement of travel and accommodation costs related to their participation in project meetings.

Associated partners can also be located outside the Programme area.

The partner designated by all beneficiaries to act as lead beneficiary (art. 13 of Regulation (EU) No 1299/2014) assumes the following responsibilities:

1. Is responsible for the coordination of the drafting of the project application and of its submission on behalf of the entire partnership. In case clarifications are necessary during the assessment phase, the Joint Secretariat (JS) will address to it;
2. Signs a subsidy contract on behalf of the entire partnership with the MA;
3. Ensures arrangements with the other partners comprising provisions able to guarantee the sound financial management of the funds allocated to the project and arrangements for recovering the amounts unduly paid (a template of the subsidy contract and partnership agreement are elaborated by the Programme and downloadable from the Programme web site);
4. Assumes the responsibility for ensuring the implementation of the entire operation; in this respect it sets the coordination structure through the appointment of key figures (e.g.: a project coordinator, a financial coordinator and a communication manager) operating for the entire partnership;
5. Ensures that expenditure presented by all partners has been incurred in implementing the operation and corresponds to the activities agreed between all the beneficiaries, and is in accordance with the subsidy contract;
6. Ensures that the expenditure presented by all partners has been verified by the controllers appointed by the country where the partner is located according to the specificities of the national system;
7. Ensures that the promised outputs as in the approved application are delivered in accordance with the set timeline;
8. Receives the reimbursed amount from the Programme on behalf of the entire partnership and transfers the due amounts to its partners as soon as possible without deducting any amount or specific charge;
9. Guarantees the reimbursement of amounts unduly paid to the MA upon receiving a recovery order following the detection of an irregularity on behalf of the affected partner(s) (itself or Project Partner);
10. Ensures that all project documentation (e.g.: progress report etc.) shall be kept available for a period of two years from 31 December following the submission of the payment request of the MA to the European Commission including the final expenditure of the completed projects or otherwise required by the specific legislation (e.g.: State Aid). The time period referred to shall be interrupted either in the case of legal proceedings or by a duly justified request of the Commission;
11. Coordinates the communication flow towards the MA/JS with regard to the timely submission of the progress reports and requests for reimbursement;
12. Is responsible of the communication flow between the partnership and the Programme (mainly with the JS and the MA), it is in charge of spreading communication and information received by the Programme to its Project Partners, including the announcements to participate to seminars organized by the Programme;
13. Ensures prompt solutions of management problems (e.g.: change of partners, requests for revision of activities etc.).

Each project partner carries out activities planned in the approved AF within the deadline agreed at Programme and partnership level. Each project partner shall:

1. Signs the Partnership Agreement;
2. Respects and implement project arrangements to ensure a sound project implementation and ensure that its expenditure has been verified by the/a controller appointed by its country;
3. Assumes responsibility towards the LP of repaying the received undue amount in case of irregularities in the declared expenditure;
4. Ensures quality implementation of all the activities under its responsibility within the set timeline;
5. Keeps regular contacts with the LP and communicate its eventual difficulties emerging during the project implementation;
6. Provides the LP with the relevant information, data and material to be included in the progress reports;
7. Provides the LP all financial data necessary for drafting the request for reimbursement to be sent to the JS;
8. Ensures that all project documentation (e.g.: progress report etc.) shall be kept available for a period of two years from 31 December following the submission of the payment request of the MA to the European Commission including the final expenditure of the completed projects or otherwise required by the specific legislation (e.g.: State Aid). The time period referred to shall be interrupted either in the case of legal proceedings or by a duly justified request of the Commission.

Private partners can participate on condition that:

• they have been constituted from at least 2 financial years;
• specific criteria, aimed at ensuring their financial capacity and reported below, are met;
• they participate in no more than one project proposal per Specific Objective.

Private partners, both commercial and non-commercial are asked to perform a self-assessment financial viability check (using ADRION template) aimed at verifying if they:

1. Have the ability in managing the project budget;
2. Have the capacity in incurring expenditure in advance;
3. Have the ability in managing the project along the project duration.

In case of private commercial partner, 3 out of 4 of the following criteria shall be met. Liquidity and debt rate are compulsory. The third criterion to be respected can be either Subvention rate or Operating profit rate.

Liquidity rate:	the ratio “current assets” / “current liabilities” is higher than 1
Debt rate:	the ratio “total debts” / “total assets” is lower than 0.8
Subvention rate	the ratio “total grant requested divided by the number of project years” / “shareholders’ equity” is lower than 1
Operating profit rate	there is a positive operational profit

In case of private non-commercial partner (e.g.: NGOs) 2 out of 3 of the following criteria shall be respected:

Liquidity rate:	the ratio “current assets” / “current liabilities” is higher than 1
Debt rate:	the ratio “total debts” / “total assets” is lower than 0.8
Subvention rate	the ratio “total grant requested divided by the number of project years” / “subsidies” is lower than 1

According to art 106 of Regulation (EU) No 966/2012, potential beneficiaries might be excluded if any of the following conditions apply:

• 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;
• 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 Partner State which has the force of res judicata;
• They have been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the contracting authority can justify, including by decisions of the European Investment Bank and international organisations;
• 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 contracting authority or those of the country where the contract is to be performed;
• 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 illegal activity is detrimental to the Union’s financial interests;
• They are subject to an administrative penalty imposed by any contracting authority for behaviours mentioned above.

Additionally, and in accordance with art. 107 of Regulation (EU) No 966/2012, applicants will not be granted financial assistance if, in the course of the grant award procedure, they:

• Are subject to a conflict of interests;
• Are guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the information required by the Programme as a condition of participation in the grant award procedure or fail to supply this information;
• Find themselves in one of the situations of exclusion, referred to in the previous paragraph.

An institution is considered to be the same if it has the same VAT number and the same legal representative.

Project proposals can be submitted only through the on-line system of ADRION programme (e-MS). Other forms of submission shall not be accepted.

 

Lead partners need to register on the e-MS system and provide a set of credentials (username and password) to create and submit AFs on behalf of the entire partnership.

Interested applicants are invited to access the online application system http://www.adrioninterreg.eu/index.php/projects/second-call-for-proposals-priority-axis-2/ for the purpose of creating credentials (ID and Password) as early as possible. Credentials must refer to the legal representative/delegated/ person: no general email address (e.g: info@xxxxx. Xxx) shall be accepted.

In case an institution already applied in the first call for proposals, the following instructions must be followed:

Role of potential beneficiary	The institution intends to be in the 2nd call for proposals:	Steps to be taken for registration:
Institution acting as a Lead Partner in operations approved in the 1st call for proposals	Lead Partner	None Same credentials are used
	Project Partner	New credentials are necessary New registration on eMS using a different email from the one used in the 1st call
Institution acting as a Project Partner in operations approved in the 1st call for proposals	Lead Partner	New credentials are necessary New registration on eMS using an email linked to the legal representative but different from the one used in the 1st call
	Project Partner	None Same credentials are used

No, it is not possible, otherwise potential applicants may risk to loose the inserted data and text.

eMS guidance is available on ADRION web site, in the section Application Documents

With reference to the 2^nd Call for proposals, ADRION shall mainly support the delivery of the following outputs:

• Networking structures;
• Joint management systems and cooperation agreements;
• Strategies and Action Plans;
• Methodologies and Tools;
• Pilot Actions (small scale investments and demonstration projects).

A project proposal must focus on one Specific Objective.

 

As a general rule, one project proposal can address only to one topic of those reported both in the call announcement and in the Programme Manual.

A project proposal can address 2 topics within the selected Specific Objective on condition that it contains due justifications that shall be thoroughly analysed during the assessment process.

Each eligible topic of S.O. 2.1 and S.O. 2.2 provides a certain number of compulsory sub-topics. Each project proposal shall freely identify one or more sub-topics among those listed within the selected topic on the basis of its thematic focus.

Applicants must carefully read the ADRION Cooperation Programme to meet its goals and objectives as well as follow the project intervention logic in order to define project objectives and outcomes. The project intervention logic has to be coherent and to highlight the changes the project intends to bring with regard to the present situation.

Project intervention logic must be defined from the beginning, setting their objectives and expected results and indicating clearly the change that they would like to bring in respect of the initial situation. The project intervention logic can be visualized as follows:

In order to ensure the necessary consistency while measuring the project output indicators vis-à-vis the programme indicators, kindly refer to the following tables:

Specific Objective 2.1

Output Indicator	Measurement unit	Target value (2023)	Source of data
Number of supported transnational cooperation networks	Number	20	Monitoring/Project progress reports
Number of strategies and action plans developed in the field of natural and cultural heritage and tourism	Number	30	Monitoring/Project progress reports
Number of small scale investments and demonstration projects	Number	10	Monitoring/Project progress reports
Increase in expected number of visits to supported sites of cultural and natural heritage and attractions	Visits/year	20.000	Monitoring Project progress reports

 

Specific Objective 2.2

Output Indicator	Measurement unit	Target value (2023)	Source of data
Number of supported transnational cooperation networks	Number	20	Monitoring/Project progress reports
Number of strategies and action plans developed in the field of environmental protection	Number	15	Monitoring/Project progress reports

At least two and up to three risks potentially jeopardizing the project must be listed and described in the Application Form.

The maximum project budget should be up to EUR 2.500.000,00 EU contribution. There is not a ceiling regarding the minimum project budget.

It is warmly recommended that the project budget follows the ratio between ERDF and IPA funds 85:15 as available in this Priority Axis of the Programme.

The EU co-financing is up to 85%.

The remaining part (i.e.: at least 15%) has to be funded via:

1. Public national contribution (at national, regional or local level) obtained via specific co-financing schemes at Partner State level or via own funds of the project partners with a public status. The co-financing of international organization falls under this category;
2. Private national contribution refers to the amount of own funds provided by private bodies.

Project implementation shall not be longer than 30 months. Applicants shall indicate the start and end date in the application form, taking into account the necessary time for the evaluation process and contracting procedures.

 

Indicatively, the projects should consider being able to start within the first semester of 2019.

Three levels of rules apply to the eligibility of expenditure in the framework of all Interreg programmes, including ADRION. The following list expressly refers to the hierarchy of rules to be respected as far as the financial rules are concerned and it is applicable both to ERDF and IPA project partners.

EU Regulations, i.e.: all general rules mainly referred to the ERDF and IPA as far as public procurement is concerned (PRAG);

Programme rules, as outlined in the Programme Manual;

National rules, which include national, regional and or/local legislation, institutional rules and regulations.

Eligible expenditure is grouped in budget lines in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 481/2014:

1. Staff costs;
2. Office and administrative expenditure;
3. Travel and accommodation costs;
4. External expertise and services costs;
5. Equipment expenditure.

Eligibility of expenditure date is the one reported in the application form (date when the project activities start, in case of approval).

Costs for project closure refer to the finalization of all the legal and administrative obligations related to the granted activities and to incurred expenditure. It includes the preparation of the last progress report, the final report and the reconciliation with the initial granted amount, if necessary. These activities take place after the project official finalization of activities reported in the application form and can last not more than 3 months.

The preparatory phase can start as from 1^st January 2014 and ends the day before the submission of the project proposal; it can be financially supported by the Programme only in case of project approval. Any preparation costs incurred by the partnership shall be indicated in the Application Form, under the specific budget line(s) concerned and included under the budget of the affected partners.

The preparation costs has the form of a lump sum reimbursement of max EUR 11.800 of total eligible expenditure per project: this means that in case of project approval, preparation costs shall be reimbursed to partners with no need to present invoices or other administrative justification for the incurred costs.

The practice of shared costs shall not be allowed, i.e.: the costs incurred for activities carried out by one partner – or under its responsibility by a sub-contractor – and covered by more than one project partner (the practice of splitting cost items paid by one partner among project partners), even in cases where such activity is for the benefit of the whole project partnership. The budget allocated to a project partner shall fully reflect the activities actually implemented by that partner.

There are two options for calculating staff costs:

1. Based on real costs;
2. Based on flat rate.

The choice is made at partner level and cannot be changed during the project implementation.

Staff costs reimbursed based on real costs

Eligible expenditure under this budget line is limited to salary payments and any other costs directly linked to salary payments.

Staff costs reimbursed according to the flat rate option

Staff costs of any beneficiary choosing this option will be reimbursed for an amount equal to 20% of the sum of costs under all other budget lines, except “staff costs” and “office and administrative expenditure”, without the need of submitting any employment/work contract, any invoice or document having equivalent value nor any proof of payment.

Staff costs cannot exceed 50% of the project budget.

Office and administration costs related to the project implementation will be calculated automatically on a flat rate basis of 10% of the eligible direct staff costs. Cost items comprised in the budget line are the following (exhaustive list):

• Office rent;
• Insurance and taxes related to the buildings where the staff is located and to the equipment of the office (e.g. fire, theft insurances);
• Utilities (e.g. electricity, heating, water);
• Office supplies;
• General accounting provided inside the beneficiary organisation;
• Archives;
• Maintenance, cleaning and repairs;
• Security;
• IT systems;
• Communication (e.g. telephone, fax, internet, postal services, business cards);
• Bank charges for opening and administering the account or accounts where the implementation of an operation requires a separate account to be opened;
• Charges for transnational financial transactions.

 

Expenditure under this budget line refers to the costs incurred by the partner organisation for travels and accommodation of its own staff necessary for the delivery of the project.

Travel costs of external speakers, guests or freelancers or other service providers have to be included under budget line External expertise and services costs.

In kind contribution is not eligible. According to the art. 69 Regulation (EU) No 1303/2014 and art. 2 of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 481/2014) in kind contributions, in the form of provision of works, goods, services, land and real estate for which no cash payment supported by invoices, or documents of equivalent probative value, have been made are not eligible;

Catering or meeting facilities provided by an external service provider must be reported under budget line External expertise and services costs.

The nature of the service provider’s and the partner’s activities is different. While the service provider does a specific work, defined in a contract, the partner participates to the project and co-finances it.

Costs referring to project-related tasks sub-contracted by the beneficiary to in-house bodies are eligible under external expertise and service budget line on condition that the following is met:

• Costs incurred by the in-house body are charged on a real costs basis without any profit margin;
• The sub-contracting to the in-house body of project related tasks complies with national and institutional public procurement provisions in force.

It is not possible to be a project partner and at the same time act as a service provider for another project partner within the project partnership.

This budget line covers costs related to equipment purchased, rented or leased by a beneficiary which is essential for the implementation of the project and for carrying out project activities.

Cost of equipment is only eligible if foreseen in the approved AF. During project implementation, purchase of any equipment not explicitly mentioned in the AF will have to be subject to prior approval by the MA/JS.

In the case of small scale investments implemented in pilot activities, the related expenditure must be included in the budget line e) “equipment expenditure”.

Eligible cost items under this budget line are:

• Office equipment;
• IT hardware and software;
• Furniture and fittings;
• Laboratory equipment;
• Machines and instruments,
• Tools or devices;
• Vehicles;
• Other specific equipment needed for the project.

Equipment necessary for the project implementation: i.e.: a tool or device used to carry out project activities and necessary for the delivery of the project outputs and, therefore, used for that scope can be classified within the following two categories:

• Equipment for general office use as computers, office furniture, printers, cameras, etc. upon condition that it is for the exclusive use for the project and it can be demonstrated. When the exclusive use for project purposes and activities cannot be demonstrated, such costs are deemed to be covered under the office and administration budget line.

Costs of office equipment already in possession of the beneficiary organisation and used to carry out project activities are not eligible under this budget line, as such costs are already covered under the budget line office and administration.

Equipment for general office use shall be reimbursed by the Programme, based on the depreciation rates in compliance with the national rules and calculated only for the time period between the purchase of the equipment and the end of the project.

The full cost of equipment is only eligible when the following conditions are satisfied:

• Equipment item is exclusively used for the project implementation;

and

• The depreciation period is shorter than the time lap between the purchase of the equipment and the end of the project;

or

• Equipment item is not depreciable (e.g. low value asset) according to the national legislation of the concerned partner.

• Equipment considered as thematic and functional to the implementation of pilot actions (small scale investments and demonstration projects). It can be a tool or a device that remains in use by the partnership after the completion of the project. Thematic and functional equipment are reimbursed in full.

Cost items accounted under the equipment budget line cannot be reimbursed under any other budget line.

All the equipment items must be clearly indicated in the AF. Projects are required to describe the nature, quantity and cost of each equipment item foreseen to be purchased, as well as indicate the link with the deliverables and outputs foreseen in the work plan. In case of depreciation, it should be also illustrated how the costs for the project were calculated.

The selection of the suppliers for the purchasing, rental and/or leasing of any equipment item shall comply with the relevant EU and national public procurement law in force, and in case of the IPA partners, with the PRAG rules.

Irrespective if under category (i) or (ii), the equipment cannot be sold (i.e.: change of owner) for at least 5 years after the project end date.