Deadline: 18 February 2020

The European Union (EU) is currently accepting proposals from eligible organizations for its Kosovo Justice Sector Programme.

Objectives

• The global objective of this call for proposals is to reform the justice system in line with European and international standards.
• The specific objectives of this call for proposals are:
  • Specific Objective 1: To strengthen the independence and impartiality, accountability, professionalism, quality, efficiency and transparency of the institutions in the justice sector in a coordinated effective process in accordance with the Functional Review of the Rule of Law sector and the Strategy that is being developed.
  • Specific Objective 2: To improve access to justice, particularly for women and disadvantaged or marginalised groups.

Priority Issues

The priorities of this call for proposals are:

• Priority 1 Support to interinstitutional coordination and policy and legal development: Establish interinstitutional coordination and improve functioning for the justice sector through the Functional Review process and implementation of the sector strategy and develop further the legal and institutional framework in line with European standards and practices.
• Priority 2 Capacity building: Improve independence, impartiality, accountability and professionalism and efficiency of justice sector institutions and its professionals.
• Priority 3 Access to Justice: Put in place conditions to guarantee better access to justice for all citizens, with particular focus on women, ethnic minorities, vulnerable, marginalised and unrepresented groups.

This project will be implemented through a Grant Agreement with a partnership of Government departments, public bodies, or relevant mandated bodies of a Government department or public body authorities of a European Union Member State and will include the mobilization of a team of local and international Long Term Experts (LTE) in Kosovo. This core team will be complemented by the assistance of Medium Term Experts (MTE) and, in few duly justified cases, by Short Term Experts (STE).

Size of Grants

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must be equal or less than the available budget of EUR 7,000,000.

Location

The action must take place in Kosovo.

Duration

The initial planned duration of the action may not be lower than 36 months nor exceed 40 months.

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead applicant: In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
  • be a legal person,
  • be non-profit-making, and
  • be a specific type of organisation such as: a competent Government Department, Public body, or relevant mandated body of a Government Department or public body authority of a European Union Member State in the fields related to this action,
  • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicants, not acting as an intermediary.
  • ‘For British applicants: Please be aware that eligibility criteria must be complied with for the entire duration of the grant. Unless sector-specific eligibility rules provide otherwise, if the United Kingdom withdraws from the EU during the grant period without concluding an agreement with the EU ensuring in particular that British applicants continue to be eligible, applicants will cease to receive EU funding (while continuing, where possible to participate) or will be required to leave the project on the basis of the General Conditions to the grant agreement’.
• The lead applicant must act with co-applicant(s) as specified hereafter.
  • If awarded the grant contract, the lead applicant will become the beneficiary identified as the coordinator. The coordinator is the main interlocutor of the contracting authority. It represents and acts on behalf of any other co-beneficiary (if any) and coordinate the design and implementation of the action.
  • Co-applicants should include at least one (1) competent Government Department, Public body, or relevant mandated body of a Government Department or public body authority of a European Union Member State in the fields related to this action (Co-applicants must be from a different Member State then the lead applicant).
  • Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant.
  • Co-applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
  • If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicant(s) (if any) will become beneficiary (ies) in the action (together with the coordinator).
  • Applicants included in the lists of EU restrictive measures at the moment of the award decision cannot be awarded the contract .
• Affiliated entity(ies)
  • The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with affiliated entity(ies).
  • Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to co-applicant(s):
    • Only entities having a structural link with the applicants (i.e. the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular a legal or capital link.
    • This structural link encompasses mainly two notions:
      • Control, as defined in Directive 2013/34/EU on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:
        • Entities affiliated to an applicant may hence be:
          • Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the applicant (granddaughter companies or second-tier subsidiaries) and the same applies to further tiers of control;
          • Entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;
          • Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the applicant (sister companies).
      • Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as a e.g. network, federation, association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate or the applicant participates in the same entity (e.g. network, federation, association) as the proposed affiliated entities.

How to Apply

In order to apply for the grants, applicants have to register themselves in PADOR, an on-line database via given website.

For more information, please visit https://bit.ly/2MEck8z and download the guidelines.