Background information
The Central European Initiative and the CEI Fund at the EBRD
The Central European Initiative (CEI) was founded in Budapest on 11 November 1989. It is a regional intergovernmental forum committed to supporting European integration and sustainable development through cooperation between and among its Member States and with the European Union, international and regional organisations as well as with other public or private institutions and non-governmental organisations.
While acting as a platform for political dialogue, the CEI has developed a strong operational, result-oriented approach to regional cooperation. It combines multilateral diplomacy and fund, programme and project. The CEI currently counts 17 Member States: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Ukraine.
In 1992 the Italian Government established the CEI Fund at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), acknowledging the great opportunity the newly created multilateral development bank presented for the objectives of the CEI. The Fund was created “to assist the Bank’s countries of operation in Central and Eastern Europe in their economic and social transformation process.” The KEP is solely financed by the CEI Fund at the EBRD.
The CEI Know‐how Exchange Programme (KEP)
Launched in 2004, the KEP is a development instrument aimed at supporting the transfer of expertise from organisations in the EU to peers in the non‐EU countries within the CEI region. The rationale of the Programme is based on the assumption that the economic development in non‐EU countries can be strengthened through the transfer of best practices and benchmarks already in place in more advanced economies. These transfers could have an invaluable impact by ensuring social cohesion and economic dynamism in the region. By co‐ financing capacity building and technical assistance projects, the KEP offers grants to institutions willing to share their experience with their partners in the non‐EU CEI Member States, thus helping non-members to advance on their path towards EU standards and policies. The KEP focuses on areas of intervention where EU CEI countries demonstrate strong‐rooted experience, and where beneficiary states exhibit the strongest need for assistance according to the CEI Plan of Action 2018-2020.
Rules for this Call for Proposals
Available amount and general rules
The overall indicative amount for this Call for Proposals is up to a maximum cumulative amount of one hundred eighty thousand euro (180,000 EUR) that will be made available through the CEI Fund at the EBRD, entirely financed by the Italian Government. The CEI reserves the right not to award all available funds, to cancel the Call for Proposals and reject all project proposals at any time prior to the awarding of grants, without thereby incurring any liability. Up to fifteen (15) days before the deadline for submission of project proposals, the CEI reserves the right to amend this Call for Proposals by issuing addenda. Any addendum published at https://application.cei.int/application/kep-2020/ will become an integral part of the Call for Proposals. If a project proposal has been submitted before the issuing of the last addenda, the applicant has the right to withdraw or substitute, its project proposal within the deadline for the submission of the project proposals.
Compliant project objectives
The overall objective of this Call for Proposals is to contribute to the development of the CEI region, bolstering social cohesion and economic dynamism while strengthening cooperation between/among the CEI Member States. A project proposal has to be in line with the CEI Plan of Action 2018‐2020. The KEP focuses on areas of intervention where EU CEI countries have demonstrated strong‐rooted experience, and where beneficiary states have shown the strongest need for assistance. All project objectives – general and specific -stated in the Application Form must be well defined, attainable and linked to tangible project activities. Overambitious objectives, not directly linked to activities of the project or impossible to post‐evaluate, are likely to be poorly scored.
Eligibility criteria
Any project proposal awarded under this Call for Proposals shall fully satisfy all the following eligibility criteria:
- Compliance of project objectives.
- Eligibility of applicants.
- Eligibility of know-how providers.
- Eligibility of know-how beneficiaries.
- Eligibility of project activities.
- Eligibility of costs, CEI grant ceiling and percentage of the project total cost.
The CEI electronic submission system helps detect basic eligibility problems, e.g. issues related to the type and number of required partners or their place of establishment. Since the eligibility rules cannot be fully automated, the applicant is to be fully aware of those rules.
The Call requires the participation of at least two partners per proposal. At least one know-how provider and one know-how beneficiary. The applicant institution can coincide with a know-how provider or with a knowhow beneficiary institution.
Eligible applicants
The applicant institution can be registered in all CEI member states.
It might coincide with a know-how provider or with a know-how beneficiary institution.
o If the applicant coincides with a know-how provider, it shall be registered in an EU CEI Member State, namely: Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia.
o If the applicant coincides with a know-how beneficiary, it shall be registered in a non-EU CEI Member State, namely: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Ukraine.
The following types of applicants are eligible to apply: all public and private sector bodies (not individuals), international and non‐governmental organisations operating in the public interest, e.g. national, regional and local authorities, education/research institutions, and environmental organisations. In case of applications from international organisations facilitating cooperation between the know‐how providers and the beneficiary institutions in the CEI region, the CEI grant shall be transferred to and managed by this international body. The applicant shall demonstrate and give evidence of experience in project management. The applicant is expected to be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the project for its entire duration. Preference will be given to projects displaying the ability of applicants to integrate or align project proposals into wider frameworks of related interventions.
How to apply
Application Package
The CEI Application Package is composed of:
- Online Application Form
- Annex 1
- Annex 2
- Annex 3
It shall be completed in accordance with the instructions provided in this Call for Proposals and in the KEP 2020 Application Form Guidelines. The applicant is requested to complete the documents as carefully and as clearly as possible. Please note that:
- The project proposal’s assessment will be based only on the Application Form and related Annexes the applicant submits.
- The Application Form and related Annexes must be completed in English.
- Incomplete applications and Annexes will be rejected.
- Under this Call for Proposals, applicants can submit one project proposal only.
- Handwritten Annexes will be rejected.
Submission
Proposals must be submitted electronically using the CEI Electronic Submission System accessible at https://application.cei.int/application/kep-2020/. Access to the CEI Electronic Submission System is subject to registration as a CEI user at https://application.cei.int/wp-login.php?action=register .
Who?
Proposals must be submitted by a representative/contact person of the project coordinating Organisation/Institution (applicant).
How?
Once you have your CEI Login username and password you can start the submission process by logging in at https://application.cei.int/wp-login.php and accessing the CEI Electronic Submission System.
The CEI Electronic Submission System is an online wizard that guides you through the preparation of your proposal step-by-step. In order to allow an early preparation of the proposal, please note that the submission process consists of the following parts (additional information is available in the KEP 2020 Application Form Guidelines):
- Project description (be prepared with structured project information including title, implementation period, origin and background, summary and objectives, activities and workplan, results and impact).
- Contact data (be prepared with indication of the project applicant and partners, identification of know-how provider institution(s) and know-how beneficiary institution(s); brief descriptions for each partner, indication of project partners’ previous cooperation experience – if applicable).
- Project visibility (be prepared with info on project promotion and dissemination, use of CEI logo) o Two financial Annexes (be prepared by downloading and filling-in Annex 1 with a breakdown of estimated costs, Annex 2 with co-financing scheme). Please note that these two templates can be downloaded in Excel format and shall be converted into PDF format by the applicant before uploading.
- Annex with signature of the applicant’s legal representative/authorised legal representative (be prepared: download, fill-in, print and sign Annex 3 template in advance). Please note that this template can be downloaded in Excel format and shall be scanned into PDF format by the applicant before uploading.
Filled-in application forms can be saved during the submission procedure while they cannot be modified once they are submitted unless the Call is amended according to point 2.1. of the Call for Proposals. After call closure, the submission is prohibited, and proposals are locked.
Deadline
The deadline for the submission of project proposals is Friday, 13 November 2020, 11:59 pm (UTC+1). Do not wait until the very end to submit. It is highly recommended that applicants submit proposals as early as possible and at least 48 hours before the deadline. This will avoid being confronted with incompatible local IT configuration settings shortly before the deadline when insufficient time would be left to resolve them.
Proposals are safe and secure in our systems and will not be accessed before the deadline of the call. There is no reason to delay submission for fear of disclosure.