All project proposals submitted under the 1st Open Call, either soft or hard, will be selected in one round, at the end of the assessment process of both types of projects. The results of the assessment and selection process will be published at the same time, irrespective of the submission deadline of the project proposals, and it is expected to be finalised and published by the end of March 2024. All applicants must have legal entity, to be eligible (if the Department does not have distinct legal identity, the Municipality can apply). Also, all applicants must prove legal competencies in the project intervention field, as provided by relevant documents (ex. legislation). The Applicant's Guide does not particularly identify associated partners in the projects financed within the Interreg VI-A Romania-Hungary Programme, as the number of project's partners is not limited, to the extent that their relevance and role in the implementation of the project are properly justified. All partners shall fulfil eligibility criteria provided for in the Applicant's Guide, section 2.2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants. The role of each partner in the partnership must be well justified. The documents requested for all partners are listed under chapter 3.2. List of mandatory Annexes to the Application Form. The Applicant's Guide does not identify associated partners as eligible in the projects financed within the Interreg VI-A Romania-Hungary Programme. However, there is no limitation in what concerns the maximum number of partners involved. Annex A to the Guidelines for Applicants provides information on the indicators that can be selected for each specific priority and objective covered by the Call, as well as on how to quantify the indicators. According to Applicant's Guide, section 2.2.1.3 Eligibility of costs/expenditure, the project management is an eligible cost, that can be assimilated to, for example, consultancy services/other specific expertise and services needed for operation. However, if the project partners decide to externalize the project management, the externalised management tasks shall not overlap the tasks of the internal management team, if any. Also, the ToR for such services shall be submitted together with the application (see AG section 3.2 List of mandatory Annexes to the Application Form). So, staff cost (based on) flat rate and external management cannot not be allocated/reimbursed for the same tasks (to avoid double financing). According to chapter 3.2 List of mandatory Annexes to the Application Form, point 4, The job descriptions / CVs for all positions included in the proposed management team AND/OR the Terms of references in case the management is externalized. No supporting documents are requested for implementation team, however, all applicants involved in the project must prove their professional [...] capacity to manage their share of activities in the field of action they are applying for (see 2.2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants, letter e). Thus, although not compulsory, the CVs of the implementation team staff could contribute to the technic and financial assessment of the application. In case a partner submits 2 projects partially including the same costs, and both of them are selected for financing, the partner must, at contracting, withdraw the overlapped costs from one of the projects, in order to avoid double financing. Following a clarification process, the budget of the relevant/indicated project shall be diminished accordingly. Annex B to the Applicant's Guide details (under column Language) .for each requested document, the language in which it should be provided, as well as the documents for which an EN summary/extract of the parts relevant for the quality assessment is requested. A: In case neither of the partners is required to obtain a building permit for its part of the project’s activities, the deadline for submitting the application is September 27th, 2023, irrespective of the fact that the project includes both construction works and procurement of goods. December deadline applies ONLY to HARD projects, i.e. including works components requiring a building permit. For renovation works that do not require a permit, the deadline for submission is September 27th, 2023. In case of a study visit (or any other activity implying external services contracts), the travel and accommodation costs of the beneficiary's staff involved in projects' implementation shall not be included in the services contract costs, as already reimbursed based on flat rate (up to 15% of the staff costs). Please also be advised that the costs related to activities implemented outside the Programme Area (such as a study visits), shall not exceed 10% of the project budget. The costs of the services can cover for example travel and accommodation costs for external experts, speakers, chairpersons of meetings and service providers. According to Annex B to the Applicant’s Guide, if the planned works activity does not require a building permit, the HU applicants shall submit technical description and diagrammatical plan and the general plan of each building site affected by the investment envisaged in the project, in engineering software (i.e. general and detailed sketches drafted by a competent professional/body). The level of details should properly justify the related budget. Also, a detailed cost estimation (Tételes költségbecslés) /price quotation by type of work issued by a designer indicating unit prices and the costs of materials and works / Detailed price quotation issued by an actor of the market, indicating unit prices and the costs of materials and works has to be attached to the Application Form on submission, in the original language, with EN summary. The price quotation should match the budgeted costs under budget line ‘Works’. For a proper answer, further clarification is needed. Details on the related activities to be performed within the rented space and the related surface thereof out of the total surface of the renovated building should be also provided. The possible net revenues generated by the project will be handled according to the relevant national legislation. If the case, further clarifications will be made in the Project Implementation Manual. The implementation period starts on the day the Subsidy Contract is signed by both parties. The envisaged timeline for the contracting process within the 1st Open Call is June-July 2024 The services contract for organizing events should not include travel and accommodation costs related to project staff, which are covered through a flat rate. Such costs are travel costs (e.g. tickets, travel and car insurance, fuel, car mileage, toll, and parking fees); cost of meals; accommodation costs; visa costs; and daily allowances (please see art. 41 of Interreg Regulation and section 2.2.1.3 Eligibility of costs/expenditure in the AG). We recommend that the costs related to the services contract be broken down so as to allow the exclusion of the aforementioned costs (for e.g., the translation/room rental costs should be separately identified among the services contract costs). The official statement is requested for all types of projects and for each project partner. It has to state the relevant body (County/local council, board of directors, etc) approval regarding participation in the project and the availability of the partner's own contribution. The Commitment of the relevant authority/body is requested ONLY in case of projects involving exclusively the elaboration of technical plans/feasibility studies, i.e. a Feasibility Study/Technical Documentation is drafted through the project and the related investment (foreseen by the study/plan) is not planned to be implemented through the same project. In case of a successful application, Hungarian applicants will receive advance payment in compliance with Gov. Degree 241/2023. (VI. 20.) provisions. There is no limit for the activities included in one WP, however, your work plan should be realistic and feasible in relation to the project timeframe. Each activity should have one or more deliverables. The outputs to be delivered should be based on the project’s activities implemented to achieve the project's specific objective of a work package. Under each WP there is an output indicator(s) table, where project outputs directly contributing to Programme’s output indicators’ achievement shall be listed. Project outputs’ title should be in line with the Programme output indicator definition and have the same measurement unit as the related Programme output indicator, which has to be selected from those specified in Annex A to the Applicant’s Guide and The Performance Framework for each (Interreg) Specific Objective. The Application Form will be submitted online, via Jems. However, when your AF is ready for submission, it is recommended to save the final version as a pdf file. In case of a successful application, Hungarian applicants will receive advance payment in compliance with Gov. Degree 241/2023. (VI. 20.) provisions. Further, reimbursements will be made by the Programme to the Lead Partner, based on the approved project reports, submitted to JS, generally, every six months (several financial project reports can be submitted to JS within a reporting period if necessary). Subject to the availability of ERDF funds, the Managing Authority will pay the ERDF amount of eligible expenditure no later than 80 calendar days from the date of submission of the project report in Jems by the Lead Partner. The Project Implementation Manual details the reporting and reimbursement processes. As CJRAE Satu Mare is a public body, the applicant does not have to submit the establishing documents (see 3.2, List of mandatory documents). In this case, the applicant should mention the Law/Order of establishment attesting the competences in the relevant field, in the Application Form (section B.1.6). The sector of activity at NACE group level is an additional field relevant for State aid only. In case no economic activities are performed by an applicant, the field "sector of activity at NACE group level" should not be filled-in (the risk of State aid incidence can be auto-evaluated by answering the 4 questions - State aid criteria self-check, in the State aid section of each partner). According to Applicant’s Guide, section 2.2.1.2 Eligibility of actions (projects), HARD projects, including people-to-people, are those envisaging infrastructure component requiring a building permit. December deadline applies ONLY to HARD projects. According to Applicant’s Guide, section 2.2.1.2 Eligibility of actions (projects), HARD projects, including people-to-people, are those envisaging infrastructure component requiring a building permit. December deadline applies ONLY to HARD projects. According to Applicant’s Guide, section 2.2.1.2 Eligibility of actions (projects), HARD projects, including people-to-people, are those envisaging infrastructure component requiring a building permit. December deadline applies ONLY to HARD projects. According to Applicant’s Guide, section 2.2.1.2 Eligibility of actions (projects), HARD projects, including people-to-people, are those envisaging infrastructure component requiring a building permit. December deadline applies ONLY to HARD projects. In order to be financed under the Call, the submitted proposals shall meet the eligibility criteria set in the Applicant's Guide, related to the potential applicants, actions (activities/operations) and costs. These criteria shall apply for the entire Programme duration. In case Szegedi Vízmű Zrt. fulfills the criteria listed under section 2.2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants, (for ex. if it is a body governed by public law, meaning organisations established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character, having legal personality, and which are either financed, for the most part, by the state, regional or local authorities or by other bodies governed by public law; or subject to management supervision by those bodies; or have an administrative, managerial, or supervisory board, with at least half of the members appointed by the state, regional or local authorities or by other bodies governed by public law (with exceptional status by law, the state-owned companies having portfolio of public interest), then the applicant would be eligible. According to Interact HIT External expertise and services : costs incurred in-house can be reported under the External expertise and services cost category, provided there is an actual cash flow between the partner organisation and the in house company. For affiliated companies (different legal entities from the partner organisation) the division should be even more clear. Consequently, if the project management services are provided by an in-house company, the related costs should be framed under external expertise and services budget line. However, the relevant national legislation must also be complied with. The supporting documents that have to be submitted upon application, respectively contracting when envisaging works components/activities are specified in Annex B to the Applicant's Guide. Thus, construction technical plans (engineering plans, descriptions) / Építési engedélyezési dokumentáció (tervrajzok, műszaki leírás); Detailed cost estimation of works / Tételes költségbecslés; Photo documentation / Fotó dokumentáció are to be submitted together with the Application, while Technical Plans and Building/Construction permit (if already obtained)/Építési engedélyezési tervek és építési engedély (amennyiben már rendelkezésre áll) are to be submitted upon contracting. According to Annex B to the Applicant's Guide, Technical Plans and Building/Construction permit (if already obtained) OR Considering the official language of the Interreg VI-A Romania-Hungary Programme is English, all Call-related documents have been drafted in English. Also, according to criterion no 2 of the Administrative and eligibility assessment grid and as stipulated in the Applicant's Guide section 3.1 - Process overview, the Application form and its annexes must be filled-in using English. In order to be eligible, all expenditures have to be incurred and paid by a beneficiary for project implementation. Also, the outcomes shall justify the resources used (efficiency) and whether the activities carried out really contribute to the project objectives (effectiveness). Thus, only the costs related to the renovation of the parts of the building used exclusively for the implementation of project's activities, contributing to the achievement of the project's objective(s), can be included in the project budget. Also, please be advised that, based on the provisions of art. 65 of Regulation (EU) No. 1060/2021 and Subsidy Contract template, in case of projects comprising investment in infrastructure or productive investment, the Lead Partner shall reimburse the MA the amounts received, if within 5 years after the final payment to the Lead Partner, or within the period of time set out in State aid rules, where applicable, it is subject to... Moreover, in case economic activities (such as renting) are envisaged by the project, the incidence of State Aid might be also relevant (see section 1.5 in the Applicant's Guide). According to Annex B to the Applicant's Guide, Technical Plans and Building/Construction permit (Építési engedélyezési tervek és építési engedély (amennyiben már rendelkezésre áll) have to be submitted upon contracting. Consequently, the Settlement Plan (which is necessary for obtaining the building permit) should be completed, at the latest, by the contracting phase, estimated for June 2024. Section 2.2.1.1 of the Applicant's Guide defines the main criteria regarding the eligibility of applicants, including those concerning the geographical location thereof. In case the entity’s headquarter is registered outside the eligible Programme Area, but there is a regional/local branch office with a legal entity in the Programme area, then the regional/local branch shall apply for financing and in case of contracting, it shall be the beneficiary. The regional / local branch office needs to prove its existence and the relation with the headquarter. Parts of an operation may be implemented outside of the Programme Area, provided that the operation contributes to the objectives of the programme. However, the total costs incurred outside of the eligible area (related to any activity or any category of expenditure) shall be limited to 10% of the support from the ERDF at project level. The categories of eligible applicants are mentioned under section 2.2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants of the Applicant's Guide. In order to receive funding under Interreg VI-A ROHU Programme, the applicant has to declare (see Annex 1 - Project (Lead) Applicant Declaration to the AG) that no financing support from public funds was received for the same project in terms of objectives, activities and results achieved (for infrastructure projects this provision refers to the same type of infrastructure/segment of infrastructure), in the previous 5 years. That means that double financing is avoided if the sustainability period (5 years) of a previously implemented project having the same objectives, activities and results achieved as the one submitted under the present Call, has already expired. To prove the professional, operational/administrative capacity, the applicant shall attach to the application form, the job descriptions/CVs for all positions included in the proposed management team AND/OR the Terms of references in case the management is externalized. Also, in terms of financial capacity, the applicant shall attach the official statement of the relevant decision-making body regarding the support of the project and the availability of the own contribution for the planned investment, during the implementation of the project (e.g. County Council Decision, Local Council Decision, Board of Directors Decision, authorised person, etc). Moreover, all applicants should dispose of the knowledge, resources, and capacity to fulfil their designated tasks. The applicants must state their financial and administrative capacity to manage their share of the project (see Annex 1 - Project (Lead) Applicant Declaration to the AG). During Project implementation the % set in the application form for staff, travel & accommodation and office and administrative costs can not be changed. Reallocations between budgetary lines are possible ONLY in case of direct costs: external expertise & services, equipment and Infrastructure & works. The expenditure incurred by HU project partners shall be submitted, through Partner Reports, to the Hungarian First Level Control Unit, in the national language. According to the Applicant's Guide, Section 2.2.1.3 Eligibility of costs/expenditure, staff costs will be reimbursed based on an up to 20% flat rate applied to direct costs, other than direct staff costs, i.e to the eligible costs for external expertize and services, equipment and infrastructure and works. However, staff costs can not exceed 150,000 euro per partner. This rule applies to all Priorities/Specific Objectives. According to the Applicant's Guide 2.2.1.2 Eligibility of actions (projects), "HARD projects, including people-to-people, are those envisaging infrastructure component requiring a building permit and will have to be submitted within 6 months from the launching of this call (i.e 27.12.2023). In addition to all requirements applicable for the soft type of projects, hard projects will have to be ready to start execution of the planned investment Immediately after the subsidy contract is signed, at the latest! (see annex B concerning required supporting documents for submission of the application and for contracting). Ideally, infrastructure works will not be foreseen in natural protected areas, to avoid the prolonged approval process and most importantly, to “do not significant harm” principle. According to art. 39 of Reg (EU) 1059/2021, Article 39 staff costs shall consist of gross employment costs of staff employed by the partner in one of the following ways: full time; part-time with a fixed percentage of time worked per month; part-time with a flexible number of hours worked per month; or on an hourly basis. The presence of economic activities, even after project completion, might entail State aid incidence (Please refer to Annex 2 & Annex C to the AG and the 4 questions in the Application Form - Partners overview - State aid). In case the proposed works do not require, according to national legislation, the issuance of a building permit, the Feasibility Study/DAIW are not requested upon submission. The documents to be submitted in case of projects foreseeing investments in infrastructure are listed in Annex B to the Applicant's Guide. Thus, a works estimate would be sufficient to justify the expenditure included in the budget. Nevertheless, please be advise that the project budget should be developed based on real/market prices supported by relevant documents. Please consider also the provisions under section 2.2.1.3 Eligibility of costs/expenditure of the AG. The S.O. 2.7 aims at enhancing protection and preservation of nature, biodiversity, and green infrastructure, including in urban areas, and reducing all forms of pollution. The indicative actions under such objective are listed in the Applicant's Guide (AG) under section 2.2.1.2 Eligibility of actions (projects), as well as in section 2.1.1.1 for S.O 2.7 - Related types of action, and their expected contribution to those specific objectives and to macro-regional strategies and sea-basin strategies, where appropriate, of the Interreg VI-A ROHU Programme (https://interreg-rohu.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/sfc2021-PRG-2021TC16RFCB042-1.1.pdf). Activities related to construction of exemplary, permanent green and recreational facilities, including cycling infrastructure are among the eligible activities. The ERDF eligible budget for a project submitted/selected under S.O 2.7 ranges between 250,000 - 2 mil euro (see the AG relevant Table under Chapter 2. RULES OF THE CALL FOR PROPOSALS, Section 2.1 Description of the Call).To such amounts, the related co-financing contributions and partners own contributions are added (see AG section 1.4 Financial Allocation for the Call for Proposals - Sources of funding). The S.O. 4.6 aims at enhancing the role of culture and sustainable tourism in economic development, social inclusion and social innovation. The indicative actions under such objective are listed in the Applicant's Guide (AG) under section 2.2.1.2 Eligibility of actions (projects), as well as in section 2.1.1.1 for S.O 4.6 - Related types of action, and their expected contribution to those specific objectives and to macro-regional strategies and sea-basin strategies, where appropriate, of the Interreg VI-A ROHU Programme (https://interreg-rohu.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/sfc2021-PRG-2021TC16RFCB042-1.1.pdf). The project idea objective regarding the improvement of the social care system (daycare and residential/boarding care) seems to fall outside the scope of the S.O 4.6, while the construction of a "House of Crafts" and the creation of a showroom/museum i, as well as the organisation of events and programmes in social institutions and municipalities, seem to correspond. In case the proposed works do not require, according to national legislation, the issuance of a building permit, the Feasibility Study/DAIW are not requested upon submission. The documents to be submitted in case of projects foreseeing investments in infrastructure are listed in Annex B to the Applicant's Guide. Thus, a works estimation would be sufficient to justify the expenditure included in the budget. Nevertheless, please be advise that the project budget should be developed based on real/market prices supported by relevant documents. Please consider also the provisions under section 2.2.1.3 Eligibility of costs/expenditure of the AG. In case of projects not envisaging investment in infrastructure including a building permit, it is not necessary to upload any technical documentation (nor feasibility study). In order to be eligibile, all expenditures have to be incurred and paid by a beneficiary for project implementation. Also, the outcomes shall justify the resources used (efficiency) and whether the activities carried out really contribute to the project objectives (effectiveness). Thus, only the costs related to the renovation of the parts of the building used exclusively for the implementation of project's activities, contributing to the achievement of the project's objective(s), can be included in the project budget. Also, please be advised that, based on the provisions of art. 65 of Regulation (EU) No. 1060/2021 and Subsidy Contract template, in case of projects comprising investment in infrastructure or productive investment, the Lead Partner shall reimburse the MA the amounts received, if within 5 years after the final payment to the Lead Partner, or within the period of time set out in State aid rules, where applicable, it is subject to... Considering that all the premises to be renovated are used for the implementation of the project activities, it seems that the renovation is eligible. In case the costs are not linked to an investment, as it is the example described, it is not necessarry to correlate the costs with the Investment, therefore the related Jems field will remain N/A (not applicable). According to Applicant's Guide, section 2.2.1.2 Eligibility of actions (projects), point 4, for infrastructure investments: The restriction regarding the possibility of one applicant to be selected in maximum 5 projects reffers to the current call for proposals. Other calls shall regulate the maximum number of projects an applicant can be selected in, within the respective Applicants' Guide. In case of private NGOs, the rules that should be followed when running procurements are those provided by the relevant legislation and Programme eligibility rules. The expenditure shall be eligible if it has been incurred by a partner of an operation and paid in implementing operations from the 1st of January 2021 until the end date of the project implementation period, but not later than the 31st of December 2029. Romanian project partners may receive an advance of 70% of the national state budget co-financing, following the co-financing contract conclusion. According to Applicant's Guide section 2.2.1.3 Eligibility of costs/expenditure, the purchase of land is limited to an amount NOT exceeding 10% of the total eligible expenditure for the operation concerned; for derelict sites and for those formerly in industrial use which comprise buildings, that limit shall be increased to 15 %. According to Applicant's Guide section 2.2.1.2 Eligibility of actions (project), one of the indicative activities mentioned under SO2.2 is: renewable energy projects based on the high geothermal/photovoltaic potential. However, each and every activity performed by the partners has to contribute directly to the cross-border cooperation and public benefit of the border region. Sole modernization of buildings cannot be supported under SO.2.2 unless the modernisation has a cross-border effect with a nature of public benefit. According to Applicant's Guide, section 2.2.1.3 Eligibility of costs/expenditure, staff costs are reimbursed as a flat rate of up to 20% of direct costs (other than direct staff costs, but below 150,000 euro at partner level) under all Specific Objectives within the Call. As an exception from this general rule, in case of Priority 3, ISO 6.3, projects MAY use the simplified off-the-shelf option provided by Art 56 of EU Regulation No. 1060/2021 (i.e. a flat rate of up to 40 % of eligible direct staff costs). Consequently, projects under ISO 6.3 may apply either the up to 20% of direct costs flat rate for staff costs reimbursement, or the simplified off-the-shelf option of a flat rate of up to 40% of eligible direct staff costs, in the latter case the staff cost being reimbursed on real costs basis. There is no maximum amount for travel expenditures for the participants in an event organized within the project (other than those related to partner's staff, which are limited to 15% of the staff costs). However, please be advised that the project budget should be developed based on real/market prices supported by relevant documents (print-screens, price offers, market research etc.). The activities implemented within the project are encouraged to be continued during the sustainability period, but due to the fact that other sources of financing should be used after the implementation period is over, continuity of events is up to the financial capacity of the partner. However, investments in infrastructure and works, with the original purposes, shall be maintained for as long as possible, but at least until the end of the sustainability period. Also please be advised that, based on the provisions of art. 65 of Regulation (EU) No. 1060/2021 and Subsidy Contract template, in case of projects comprising investment in infrastructure or productive investment, the Lead Partner shall reimburse the MA the amounts received, if within 5 years after the final payment to the Lead Partner, or within the period of time set out in State aid rules, where applicable, it is subject to... According to Applicant's Guide, section 2.2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants, the following organisations are eligible to apply under the Call: According to Applicant's Guide, section 2.2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants, in terms of geographical location, the Applicants must have their seats or a regional/local branch registered in the eligible programme area, i.e.: Satu Mare, Bihor, Arad and Timis counties in Romania, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Hajdú-Bihar, Békés and Csongrád-Csanád counties in Hungary. According to Applicant's Guide, section 2.2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants, with exceptional status by law, the state-owned companies having portfolio of public interest are eligible. (please see point 2. of the respective section). As EU regulation 1059/2021 stipulates in article 23(6), a cross-border legal body or an EGTC may be the sole partner of an Interreg operation under Interreg A, B and D programmes, provided that the members thereof involve partners from at least two participating countries. Therefore, if the European Border Cities Limited Liability European Territorial Cooperatifor on Grouping (ETC) fullfils the above-mentioned criteria, it is eligible to submit an application as sole partner. Please refer to the exception regarding geographical location 1 section 2.2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants of the Applicant's Guide, which specifies: According to Section 1.4 Financial allocation for the call for proposals of the Applicant's Guide, in case the partner is a HU central state-owned budgetary organization, the own contribution will be also covered by the Hungarian State, meaning that as a general rule, 20 % of the total eligible costs will be provided from the Hungarian state budget. However, although the partner is not required to provide own resources for project implementation, the official statement of the relevant decision-making body regarding the support of the project and the availability of the own contribution for the planned investment, during the implementation of the project (e.g. County Council Decision, Local Council Decision, Board of Directors Decision, authorised person etc.) shall be provided by the Applicant with 0,00 own contribution but stating the participation of the organisation in the project and the commitment in its implementation (mentioning the title of the project and the Jems identification code). The Partnership Agreement is a supporting document for the Subsidy Contract signature. It will mainly include the same provisions as the provided template of Subsidy Contract (see Annex I) but the parties signing it will be the project partners. The Partnership Agreement template will be provided in due time, along with the final Subsidy Contract template. When checking the eligibility of any cost type, please refer to chapter 2.2.1.3 Eligibility of costs/expenditure of the Applicant's Guide. When checking the eligibility of a type of partner, please refer to chapter 2.2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants of the Applicant's Guide. When checking the eligibility of a type of partner, please refer to chapter 2.2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants of the Applicant's Guide. Regarding the number of partners, there is no limited number of partners within this Call for Proposals. Also, there is no requirement to have different types of eligible partners within the same partnership. When checking the eligibility of a type of partner, please refer to chapter 2.2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants of the Applicant's Guide. Also, please consult the examples of actions supported under SO 2.2., available in Section 2.2.1.2 Eligibility of actions, for checking the eligibility of actions. The proposed activities seem to fall under the SO2.2 objective. You can either enter just one legal representative, or use the sections first name/last name to enter the full name of the legal representatives (if necessary, more than one full name may be entered in those sections). There is NO dedicated communication WP. All communication activities should be included in the work packages, as an integral part of the project. Under each WP the applicant can define one ore more communication objectives that will contribute to the achievement of the WP specific objective and the related activities and deliverables. Because projects are different, it is possible for the applicants to include zero, one or more communication objectives per work package depending on what is relevant for their project. According to Interact HIT (Harmonized Implementation Tools), every project must have at least one communication objective but the applicant will decide in which work packages they are needed. Communication objectives should aim at changes in a target audience's behaviour, knowledge or belief. According to section 2.2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants, the (Lead) Applicant must have legal competencies in the project relevant field. For all projects, it is compulsory that the applicants have among their legal attributions, according to their statute or according to the national legislation, the implementation of the proposed activities. In case of interventions in Protected Natural Areas, RO applicants shall observe the GEO 57/2007 provisions. Also, the AG foresees that, ideally, infrastructure works will not be foreseen in natural protected areas, to avoid the prolonged approval process and most importantly, to “do not significant harm” principle. Moreover, Annex E to the AG provides: The aims related to the protected natural areas and the Natura 2000 sites and the necessary actions to achieve the purposes are presented in the management and maintenance plans. In the case in which the protected areas /Natura 2000 can be affected directly or indirectly, environmental impact evaluations are needed and, if Natura 2000 sites are impacted, an estimate of the Natura 2000 impact will be prepared, taking also into account the provisions of the relevant national legislation. For this purpose, it must also be examined the possibility to observe the management/maintenance plans. For projects foreseeing investments in infrastructure see Annex B. Supporting documents in case of projects with works components/activities to the Applicant's Guide. There is no requirement/condition in the Applicant's Guide regarding the date of organization establishment/minimum period of activity. According to Annex A to the AG, indicators RCO 81 and RCR 85 counts the number of participations in joint actions across borders implemented in the supported projects/after the completion of the project. (Please also refer to Annex A, for more details). According to Applicant's Guide, no ownership documents are requested upon submission in case of projects that do not foresee investments in infrastructure. However, you should mention in the application form the educational buildings affected by your project ( equipped with photovoltaic panels). It is also worth to highlight that each and every activity performed by the partners has to contribute directly to the cross-border cooperation and public benefit of the border region. Sole modernization of buildings cannot be supported unless the modernisation has a cross-border effect with a nature of public benefit. Please cheack the Answer to Question 41 in the FAQ section available on our website: The Lead Applicant is responsible for managing the entire project. The communication responsible could be part of the project management team, and therefore its salary may be included in the staff costs. In Section C.7.3 of the Jems Application form, the communication function should be described and the applicant should specify who will coordinate project communication and how will he/she ensure the involvement of all partners, how will the communication function contribute to transfer of the project results. There is no specificication in the Applicant's Guide regarding the proposed management team. However, in Annex H Hints and tips for a successfull Interreg project, it is specified that the project implementation requires several aspects to be covered, out of which an important one is the general project management. In this regard, all the activities necessary to coordinate the work of the partnership, to monitor it, to verify expenditure, to report it to the Programme and oversee the general implementation of the project should be considered by the management team. According to Applicant's Guide, Section 2.2.1.1. Eligibility of applicants, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) governed by specific national legislation in each partner state, established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character are eligible. When checking details on indicators, please refer to Annex A. Guidelines on indicators to the Applicant's Guide and to the ROHU Programme's Performance Framework, available at https://interreg-rohu.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Performance-Framework.pdf. When checking details on indicators, please refer to Annex A. Guidelines on indicators to the Applicant's Guide and to the ROHU Programme's Performance Framework, available at https://interreg-rohu.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Performance-Framework.pdf. When checking details on indicators, please refer to Annex A. Guidelines on indicators to the Applicant's Guide and to the ROHU Programme's Performance Framework, available at https://interreg-rohu.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Performance-Framework.pdf. When checking details on indicators, please refer to Annex A. Guidelines on indicators to the Applicant's Guide and to the ROHU Programme's Performance Framework, available at https://interreg-rohu.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Performance-Framework.pdf. When checking details on indicators, please refer to Annex A. Guidelines on indicators to the Applicant's Guide and to the ROHU Programme's Performance Framework, available at https://interreg-rohu.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Performance-Framework.pdf. The Project Implementation Manual is work in progress, it will be published in the shortest possible time. However, all the requirements needed for the submission phase are available in the Applicant's Guide package and the ROHU Programme Document, both available on the website: https://interreg-rohu.eu/en/home-en/. 1. Ideally, each WP should have one project specific objective that will be achieved when all activities in the work package are implemented and outputs delivered. It means that the project will have as many WPs as the number of specific objectives are established at project level. Also, communication objective might be introduced under each WP. In accordance with art. 63(6) of the EU Regulation No. 1060/2021, the eligibility of expenditure shall be determined based on national rules, except where specific rules are laid down in, or based on this Regulation or the Fund-specific Regulations, in this case, the EU Regulation No 1059/2021. When drafting the project budget, please take into consideration the note in the Applicant's Guide: The Annexes required in Chapter 3.2 List of mandatory Annexes to the Application Form of the Applicant's Guide shall be submitted by the Lead applicant and by each partner included in the project partnership, each of them using the header of their institution. According to Applicant's Guide, to determine the State Aid incidence at activity level, each partner shall submit, together with the application package, the State Aid Self-Assessment – Annex 2 to the Applicant's Guide. According to Art 64 of EU Regulation No. 1060/2021, the following costs shall not be eligible: (ii) for operations the total cost of which is at least EUR 5 000 000 (including VAT) where it is non-recoverable under national VAT legislation. According to the Applicant's Guide, the sources of funding for RO partners are: When drafting the project budget, please take into consideration the note in the Applicant's Guide: According to Applicant's Guide, the documents should be uploaded into the Jems system either scanned in PDF format (for the documents signed traditionally) or electronically signed (in this case the original document is the electronic one), as the case may be. According to Annex A to the Applicant's Guide, RCR 73 counts the number of patients served by the new or modernised health care facility during the year after the completion of the intervention. One individual can be counted more than once if using facilities multiple times. The indicator baseline refers to the registered patients served at least once by the health care facility during the year before the start of the intervention, and it can be zero for new facilities. Healthcare facilities include hospitals, clinics, outpatient care centres, specialized care centres etc. For the purpose of elaborating the budget, there is one note in the Applicant's Guide: Within a work package, more investments (to be delivered under such WP) are allowed. An Investment section (for e.g I 1.1) should contain information related to one project partner, while for other partner(s), new Investments section(s) (e.g. I 1.2) should be created. According to Article 64(1) of Regulation 2021/1060 the purchase of land is eligible for an amount of up to 10% of the total eligible expenditure for the operation concerned; for derelict sites and for those formerly in industrial use which comprise buildings, that limit shall be increased to 15 %. The aspects regarding the justification of costs will be regulated within the Project Implementation Manual (PIM) and shall follow the relevant national legislation. As for the flat rate (staff, travel), some underlying cost justification will be checked in a unified way to keep the audit trail. The PIM is work in progress and will be published in the shortest possible time. However, all the requirements needed for the submission phase are available in the Applicant's Guide package and the ROHU Programme Document, both available on the website: https://interreg-rohu.eu/en/home-en/. There is only one reference in the Applicant's Guide regarding the split of the project budget between partners, namely at chapter 2.2.1.3 Eligibility of costs/expenditure: According to Applicant's Guide, Section 2.2.1.2 - Eligibility of actions(projects), point 2: Projects must be prepared in line with the objective of promoting sustainable development, considering the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement, and the "do no significant harm" principle. Projects shall be pursued in full respect of the Union environmental acquis if the case. PLEASE SEE FAQ 45 PLEASE SEE FAQ 120 According to Applicant's Guide, Section 3.2 List of mandatory Annexes to the Application Form, projects foreseeing investments in infrastructure have to attach upon submission mandatory the documents listed in Annex B to the AG, i.e., for RO applicants, the Feasibility study / DAIW (according to national legislation), also verified by criterion 3. i) of the AEC Grid. Therefore the Feseability Study should be submitted (especially when the related cost is included in the project budget). PLEASE SEE FAQ 2 According to Applicant's Guide, Section 3.2 List of mandatory Annexes to the Application Form, projects foreseeing investments in infrastructure have to attach upon submission mandatory the documents listed in Annex B to the AG, i.e., for RO applicants, the Feasibility study / DAIW (according to national legislation), also verified by Criterion 3. i) of the AEC Grid. Other permits/approvals should be provided upon contracting. However, submitting such permits/approvals upon submission would proof the project's maturity, assessed under criterion B.2 of the Quality Assessment Grid (Annex D.1). PLEASE SEE FAQ 26 According to the estimated Call Timeline on the Programme's website (https://interreg-rohu.eu/en/home-en/), the 2nd Open Call for project proposals is envisaged to be launched in the first part of 2024. However such decision is the Monitoring Committee's attribute. We recommend you to regularly consult Programme's website and follow the social media accounts, in order to be informed on the latest news. According to Applicant's Guide, Section 2.2.1.2 - Eligibility of actions (projects), hard projects (requiring a building permit) will have to be ready to start execution of the planned investment Immediately after the subsidy contract is signed, at the latest. Therefore, the mandatory documents to be attached upon submission are those provided for in Annex B to the AG. According to Applicant's Guide, Chapter 2.2.1.3 Eligibility of costs/expenditure, point d) External expertise and services costs is considered eligible, including other specific expertise and services needed for operations. According to Applicant's Guide, Chapter 3.2 List of mandatory Annexes to the Application Form, and Annex B to it, the Application form should be accompanied, in case of RO applicants, by: In Applicant's Guide there are no special annexes required at submission for the acquisition of land. In case the land that is identified, the declarations from the current owner of the real estate should be attached, in accordance with Annex B to the Applicant's Guide. As for the justification of costs included in any of the budgetary lines, there is one Note in Applicant's Guide (section 2.2.1.3 Eligibility of costs/expenditure) , specifying: The project budget should be developed based on real/market prices supported by relevant documents (print-screens, price offers, market research, DAIW/Feasibility study, etc.). In this specific case - because the purchase of land does not fall under the rules of Act CXLIII of 2015 on Public Procurement (9. § (8) point b)) – this case should not arise. The estimated start of the project's implementation period could be August 2024, in case all the contracting requirements are met. Section 2.2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants of the Applicant's Guide mentions several possible exceptions (in terms of geographical location) – in the case of public entities not having their legal seat in the eligible area, but having legal competencies for implementing operations in the programme area. The legal competences for implementing operations in the programme area must be proved and substantiated by the public entity upon submission. In case of the legal competence of certain tematic fields for implementing operations in a cross-border nature is not justified, regional/local branch office with a legal entity in the eligible programme area is required from the public entity to be eligible for funding. From the short description is not evident, what is the role of the MFOI in the given project proposal to give proper reply to this question. According to Quality Grid (Annex D.1 to AG), projects envisaging activities that involve complex/public procurement procedure(s) will not be awarded the maximum score for criterion A.4(3) unless they can demonstrate their public procurement capacities with internal staff (job description/CVs) or external expertise (ToR) in case the expertise is missing inside the organization. According to Annex B of the Applicant's Guide „In case the land and / orbuilding / item of infrastructure is in concession/administration, etc., it must be proved that the duration of the concession/administration of the land and/or building / item of infrastructure is based on a long term contract/enactment (i.e. from the submission of the application and covering the implementation period and min. 5 years after the estimated month for the financial closure of the project) and that the owner of the real estate has given his written agreement (no standard format) that the applicant is free to perform the investment and stating that the land and / or building / item of infrastructure is free of any encumbrances, not the object of a pending litigation, not the object of a claim according to the relevant national legislation.” 2.One applicant organisation can submit 5 proposals OR one organisation can participate in 5 projects and submit an unlimited number of proposals? In the latter case, is the selection of the 5 projects in which it participates made by the JS or by the applicant organisation?
The selection of projects proposed for financing is the attribute of the Monitoring Committee and is described in the Applicant's Guide, section 4.2 Selection of applications. In case there will be partners in more than 5 projects scored above 65 points and fitting into the available allocation, they will be asked, through a clarification letter, to indicate which are the most important 5 projects to be further implemented. Failing to indicate the 5 project proposals will result in Programme deciding upon the 5 projects to be selected for financing, based on the highest scores obtained, in descending order.
3.Will the evaluation and announcement of the results of the two rounds (27.09 and 12.27 deadlines) be carried out at the same time?
4.If the evaluation is not carried out at the same time, please clarify how you intend to ensure that applicants are not placed in a situation where they are not at a disadvantage through no fault of their own in deciding whether or not to proceed with their winning proposal on the basis of the first call for results, due to the fact that the results are not published at the same time?
5.Is our association eligible to apply for the Interreg RO-HU program under the conditions that, according to the accounting balance for the year 2022, there is a deficit?
According to Applicant's Guide, section 2.2.1.1. Eligibility of applicants, the applicants should have stable and sufficient financial resources throughout the duration of project and its sustainability period.
Moreover, together with the application, the applicants shall submit the official statement of the relevant decision-making body regarding the support of the project and the availability of the own contribution for the planned investment, during the implementation of the project, as well as the Project (Lead) Applicant Declaration - Annex 1 to the AG - according to which:
the applicant will provide its own contribution to the eligible expenditure and ensure the temporary availability of funds necessary to run the project before and between the reimbursements from the Programme; will ensure the availability of all other resources planned to be used for implementing the project, as they were described within the Application Form; and will cover all non-eligible expenditures corresponding to its activities incurred during project implementation.
No additional supporting documents to substantiate the applicant's financial capacity to implement the proposed project are requested by the Programme on submission. However, the applicant undertakes (through the above-mentioned Decision and Declaration) to ensure the temporary availability of necessary funds.
In terms of financial resources, under Interreg VI-A ROHU Programme, the following applicants are excluded from financing:
1. The applicant is bankrupt, subject to insolvency or winding-up procedures, its assets are being administered by a liquidator or by a court, it is in an arrangement with creditors, its business activities are suspended, or it is in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for under Union or national law;
2. The applicant is under a bankruptcy proceeding, does not bear full legal capacity and is not financially reliable, and its foundation and activities are not in line with the relevant national legislation.
Consequently, in order to be eligible, the Association must not be in one of the 2 situations mentioned above and must assume the availability of the resources necessary for the project implementation.
On the other hand, if the activities of the proposed project are relevant in relation to the State Aid, the applicants who fall under the definition of the company in difficulty, according to art. 4, letter w) of the GBER Scheme related to the Program (Annex G to the Applicant's Guide) will not be able to benefit from financing. We mention that the assessment of the state aid incident takes place during the contracting phase of the project, if selected for financing.
6.Please let us know if an accredited public provider of social assistance services (in this case the Social Assistance Department of the Municipality of Timișoara - DAS MT) is an eligible applicant under RSO4.5 for investments in infrastructure, equipment for licensed social services that, according to its own organizational and operational regulations and applicable standards (HG 867/2015; MMJS Order 29/2019 annex 1 and annex 6, updated) provides also medical services and recovery/rehabilitation services (physical therapy). We are especially thinking about social services such as: Home for the elderly, Assistance and recovery day center for the elderly, Social integration/reintegration day center for people in difficulty, Home care services
7.Please let us know if the investments/endowments can only cover medical and recovery/rehabilitation activities or can also cover related investments/endowments (e.g. sanitary facilities, rehabilitation of facilities, furniture for rooms/living rooms for the elderly, works to make spaces accessible for people with disabilities, etc.)
The investments/endowments can concern both the purchase of equipment directly involved in the medical activity and related investments/endowments to ensure the smooth running of the project's activities, if properly justified.
8.Please specify what type of technical-economic documentation is required when submitting the application for equiping the CCIPT building with its own photovoltaic energy production system. Is such an investment considered in the program as purchase of equipment with installation (in which case the deadline is September 2023) or investment work that requires DTAC with the deadline December 2023?"
If, according to national legislation, the installation of photovoltaic panels requires a construction permit, then the submission deadline is December 27, 2023.
In case NO building permit is requested for the installation of photovoltaic panels, then the submission deadline is September 27, 2023.
The technical-economic documentation depends on the obligation to have a building permit or not. These details are to be determined by a competent professional (e.g. architect/engineer) / authority (e.g. municipality, etc).
9.How are defined the associated organisations - AO?
10.What criteria should a non-governmental organisation fulfill, non-profit organisation (ONG), to participate in a project as associated organisation - AO?
11. What document should be annexed (and where?) to make the proof of establishing the collaboration with the AO and to identify the obligations that belong to the parties in order to ensure collaboration?
12.Activities can be allocated to the AO, in the sense of pro bono organizing them, within the project?
13.The participation of the AO in the activities during the project, respectively after it, but in direct connection with it, can be counted when establishing the output/result indicators?
14.If the activities implemented during the project are carried out with the direct participation of organisations that do not have a formal status within the project (they are not de facto partners or associated organisations), but have a well-defined role and quantifiable results -cross-border- specifically assumed, is it correct that the number of these organisations is taken into account when establishing the RCO87 indicator? a. In order to quantify the participation of organisations without a formal role in the project, is it necessary to establish a document (e.g. collaboration agreement / letter of commitment or similar) between the project leader and those organisations when establishing the RCO87 indicator? b. If yes, please indicate whether this document should be established before the submission of the application for funding or after funding has been obtained? c. How can the existence of the collaboration/engagement agreement be proved?
Concerning the Interreg RCO87 indicator - Organisations cooperating across borders, it is specified that it should quantify organisations formally cooperating within the project.
The organisations to be quantified under this indicator are project partners, as mentioned in the partnership agreement and the grant contract. This indicator must be selected by all projects.
Therefore, organisations that are not part of the project partnership agreement (lead partner/partner) will not be quantified for this indicator.
15.Same questions for the situation of post-implementation collaboration with organisations that do not have a formal role in the project. Can the existence of a larger number of organisations collaborating after the end of the project as beneficiaries of the long-term results (outcomes) created by the project, but which were not partners in the project, be reflected by the RCR84 indicator? If yes, how can this (post implementation) collaboration be supported/documented in the project proposal?
RCR84 indicator - Organisations cooperating across borders after project completion refers to organisations that continue to cooperate across borders after project completion. Organisations are the legal entities involved in the implementation of the project, counted under RCO87.
The concept of cooperation is evidenced by a declaration that the entities will sign a formal agreement to continue cooperation after the end of the supported project. Cooperation agreements can be established during the implementation of the project or within one year after the end of the project. The sustained cooperation does not have to cover the same topic as addressed by the completed project.
16.Please clarify if we can participate together - if the National Research and Development Institute for Earth Physics from Romania (INCDFP) is an eligible partner under RSO2.4, in case of a project for earthquake monitoring and construction of population alarm systems? The INCDFP does not have a branch (does not have legal personality) in the project area, but it is the only competent and relevant institution at national level for such events. Moreover, all the investment can be made in the eligible area. Even if they do NOT have a branch, instead they have a seismic observatory received by Government Decision and which is noted in the title deed for Timis county.
The Applicant's Guide, in section 2.2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants, identifies 3 possible exceptions for the case of public entities not having their legal seat in the eligible area, but having legal competencies for implementing operations in the Programme Area. Point 2 specifies: In case the public entities headquarter is registered outside the eligible Programme Area without a branch office in the eligible area, the respective public entity may apply.
Thus, if the National Research and Development Institute for Earth Physics (INCDFP) does not have a branch (legal personality) in the Programme Area, but is the only authorized and relevant entity at national level responsible for earthquake monitoring and the creation of population alarm systems, this partner is eligible.
Please note that this is not an official assessment, the provided answers are for clarification purposes only.
17.Is project management an eligible cost?
18.Are job descriptions necessary for the implementation team as well, or are those referring to the management team enough?
19.Considering that a project partner submits 2 projects in which some costs are overlapped (such as the elaboration of technical documentation - the partener not knowing which of the projects shall be financed), and both projects are accepted for financing, can the partener waive these costs from one of the projects at project contracting, in order to avoid double financing?
20.To what extent do project attachments (such as technical documentation, title deeds etc.) be translated in English?
21.Is it correct to assume that the hard projects including an infrastructure component that requires a building permit, include also projects that would require any sort of official licensing/authorization proceedings? As an example, we would mention a planning task affected by the heritage protection licensing procedure, which, together with the preparatory work, often takes more time than a planning task including a building permit procedure.In the case of such projects, as part of the planning process, it becomes necessary to involve experts (wood protection, wall diagnostics), whose preparatory work lays the foundation for the development of architectural plans, the related authorization and the planned costs. For this, it is necessary to conduct official consultations in order to prepare a planning documentation at the level of authorization for the submission of the application. The heritage protection licensing procedure can be started afterwards (similar to the construction permit procedure).Thus, according to our interpretation, this case also falls within the scope of construction projects subject to a permit.
According to Applicant’s Guide, section 2.2.1.2 Eligibility of actions (projects), HARD projects, including people-to-people, are those envisaging infrastructure component requiring a building permit and will have to be submitted within 6 months from the launching of this call. In addition to all requirements applicable for the soft type of projects, hard projects will have to be ready to start execution of the planned investment immediately after the subsidy contract is signed, at the latest.
In case the heritage protection authorization can be assimilated to a building permit, according to national HU legislation, the submission deadline would be December 27th, 2023, at the latest.
22. Is it possible o With one partner, we are applying for construction investment that does not require a permit, plus procurement of goods, with the other only for procurement of goods o We are applying for licensed activities with one partner, and only for procurement of goods with the other?
23. Is it possible to apply for the December deadline call only with construction investment that requires a permit, or is it also possible to apply for renovations that do not require a permit?
24.How many offers are needed in connection with the purchase of assets/services to support the costs case, in what form are the price offers required to be submitted with the application? What kind of supporting document is required to upload with the application?
The budget must include realistic costs and should be well-justified by relevant supporting documents (see Note! on page 20 of Applicant's Guide, section 2.2.1.3).
Also, according to Applicant’s Guide section 2.2.1.3 Eligibility of costs/expenditure, for expenditures where no public procurement procedure is required, the HU applicants shall observe the following rules:
• For procurements above EUR 10,000 (excl. VAT): applicants must perform and document the execution of adequate market research (e.g., through collecting bids – at least three independent and comparable offers requested, using centralised e-procurement services, etc.). The value and the complexity of the procurement should be reflected in the specification and breakdown of the terms of reference, as well as in the respective offer. Also, when performing the proof of market prices, the applicants shall avoid conflict of interest.
• In case the threshold regarding public procurements according to national legislation is lower than EUR 10,000 (excl. VAT), national-level legislation shall prevail. In such cases, the principles of sound financial management must be applied, but no specific proof of the market price is required to be submitted by the applicants. Nevertheless, please note that, during project implementation, the HU FLC has the right to check the compliance with market price and may apply deductions in case the compliance is not ensured. Note that procurement must not be split artificially to circumvent the EUR 10,000 threshold. The procurement must comply with the basic principles of transparency, non-discrimination, and equal treatment
25.In case of a study visit (outside the programme area), the cost of the service for organizing it can include any costs related to project staff (catering, accommodation, transport) or are these covered by travel and accommodation flat rate?
26.What exactly are the technical documents that must be attached when the application is submitted for investments that do not require a building permit. So what exactly does a "technical description and sketch and general plan of each building plot" cover? The technical description is understandable, but what exactly does the other wording cover, and how detailed should these documents be? Do you not even need a design cost estimate?
27.In this case, can the part of the construction cost that would cover the renovation of this room be accounted for?
28.Is Szeged University an eligible applicant under Interreg VI-A Romania-Hungary Programme?
The Applicant's Guide, in section 2.2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants, identifies the types of eligible partners in the projects financed within the Interreg VI-A Romania-Hungary Programme. To be eligible, Szeged University should fall under one of the 3 categories therein mentioned. Please consider that, if the University falls under category of Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) governed by specific national legislation in each partner state, established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character, it is eligible (as long as the specific national legislation is respected).
However, the eligibility of each applicant will be assessed during the administrative and eligibility phase, against the relevant establishing documents as well.
29. What will be the procedure for reporting and controlling the output and result indicators?
The procedure for reporting and verifying the output and result indicators will be detailed in the Project Implementation Manual. Generally, the output indicators achieved during a certain reporting period will be reported to the MA within each Partner / Project Progress Report. The reporting shall be well documented, from verifiable and reliable sources. The project’s contribution to the result indicators will be measured and verified at Programme level.
When setting the indicators for your project, please refer to Annex A. Guidelines on Indicators, part of the Applicant’s Guide package, as the choice of appropriate indicators and the project contribution to the Programme results are important for the project and its selection by the Monitoring Committee. Noticeable result-oriented projects and with high impact on the Programme Area (PA) shall be selected.
30.I understood that the activities within the project cannot result in profit, but that they can generate revenues. What will be the procedure, how will records be kept for these realized revenues (will there be a model or guide)?
31.When does the project implementation period begin in the case of a winning application?
32. In the case of services related to the organization and implementation of events or meetings (including rent, catering or interpretation), the costs of services cannot contain any costs related to project staff (catering, accommodation and transport as well), because these costs are covered by travel and accommodation flat rate? How is settlement done? The project participants will obviously also be present at the event, how will the costs be broken down, e.g. meals, room rentl for project participants and external experts?
33.The official statement of the relevant decision-making body regarding the support of the project and the availability of the own contribution for the planned investment, during the implementation of the project. - Is it also relevant for soft projects where there is no investment?
34.Commitment (e.g. letter, strategy, legislation) of the relevant authority/body (e.g. local/county council) on the need for the investment covered by the technical plans/feasibility study to be financed from the Programme, in the case of projects involving exclusively the elaboration of technical plans/feasibility study - In our case, there is no technical investment and no technical planning, s the Commitment necessary for submission? What exactly is the definition of a feasibility study?
35.In the new Programme, what percentage is granted as an advance?
36.Work package: how many activities can a WP contain? How many outputs can there be in one activity (min. and max.)? The indicators in the indicator table in Chapter 1 of Annex A must be met, so do we understand correctly that no other indicators can be defined independently?
37. Applications are submitted online via Jems system. When submitting, is it necessary to print the generated complete application form and sign it and post it or is it only submitted online?
38.In the case of a successful application, what is the schedule for the payment of support? In which document can I find a detailed description of this?
39. For the project partner CJRAE Satu Mare (County Centre for Educational Resources and Assistance - public institution, established by OMEDC no. 5.418 of 2005, repealed by OMECTS no. 5.555 of 2011) is it necessary to submit an establishing document? In the Applicant's Guide, in the list of mandatory documents, under point 2, which refers to copies of the establishing documents, it is stated: Exception: public bodies/authorities/do NOT need to submit this document!
40.For NGOs/public institutions, is it necessary to fill in "sector of activity at NACE group level" as they do not carry out economic activities?
41. If the investments to be carried out by the project partners do not require a construction permit, but only other types of approvals from the Romanian and Hungarian competent institutions, what is the deadline for submitting the project? 27 September or 27 December 2023? In this context is the project considered Hard or Soft?
Projects envisaging investment in infrastructure not requiring a building permit, are considered SOFT projects and the deadline for submission is September 27, 2023.
Any other related authorizations/approvals from competent authorities, other than building permit, can be obtained even during implementation of the soft projects, estimated to start in June 2024. 42.To which deadline shall be submitted a project envisaging investment in infrastructure requiring other types of permit(s) (e.g. needed for solar panels, which generally takes 1-2 months to be issued by the competent authorities)? Is the competent authority's permit equivalent with the building permit?
Projects envisaging investment in infrastructure not requiring a building permit, are considered SOFT projects and the deadline for submission is September 27, 2023.
Any other related authorizations/approvals from competent authorities, other than building permit, can be obtained even during implementation of the soft projects, estimated to start in June 2024. 43.In case the proposal is submitted by 27.09., shall the competent authority's permit be available on submission or on contracting? OR Is it enough to have a certification/official document justifying that the authorisation process has already started on submission?
Projects envisaging investment in infrastructure not requiring a building permit, are considered SOFT projects and the deadline for submission is September 27, 2023.
Any other related authorizations/approvals from competent authorities, other than building permit, can be obtained even during implementation of the soft projects, estimated to start in June 2024. 44.We have a question about the submission deadline in connection with the 1st call for proposals of the Interreg RO-HU 2021-2027 Programme. The University of Szeged plans to apply for the renovation of one of the buildings of the Paediatric Clinic and Child Health Center. In addition to the classic building permit, the following protection requirements also apply to the given building: • national territorial protection of the building: due to its monumental plot, area of monumental importance, monumental environment, or • local territorial protection of the building: it is located in a historically built area If during the renovation works we do not expand the current cubature of the building and do not build a covered, open ambulance parking lot in front of it, i.e. they do NOT contain infrastructure elements subject to a building permit, the deadline for submitting applications is 27.09.2023. At the same time, the abovementioned notification obligation also applies to other renovation elements when the activity is not subject to a building permit, e.g. window replacement on the building. The process of window replacement is as follows: Round 1: the Heritage Protection determines whether it has competence, if yes, a HERITAGE NOTIFICATION (based on the Heritage Protection Act) is required; Round 2: if not, the activity falls within the competence of the city's Chief Architect and in this case a TOWNSCAPE NOTIFICATION (based on the Townscape Protection Act) is required; Our question is, what is the deadline for submitting applications for these notification obligations? Q: For which stage of the application should the Heritage Protection or Townscape/other permits be available?
Projects envisaging investment in infrastructure not requiring a building permit, are considered SOFT projects and the deadline for submission is September 27, 2023.
Any other related authorizations/approvals from competent authorities, other than building permit, can be obtained even during implementation of the soft projects, estimated to start in June 2024. 45.Does Szegedi Vízmű Zrt. fulfil the eligibility criteria (lead applicant or applicant) under the Call?
46.Is project management cost part of the accounting if the 100% owned non-profit Ltd. of the municipality becomes the provider of project management tasks within the framework of in-house procurement?
47. Is it sufficient to have tender level plan documentation to submit the application, or is it necessary to present the licensed plan in order to submit the application?
48.When does the Beneficiary have to submit the technical documentation, the construction plan and the final building permit to the Managing Authority?
Documents certifying the exemption of the construction from building permit Építési engedélyezési tervek és építési engedély (amennyiben már rendelkezésre áll) VAGY Építési engedély nélkül végezhető építési tevékenységet igazoló dokumentum are to be submitted upon contracting. 49.Are the Applicant's Guide, Application Form and its Annexes (or any documents related to the call) available in Hungarian?
However, there is a presentation of the 1st Open Call main feature drafted in Hungarian language, delivered in the context of the InfoDays Sessions organised in July 2023, that you might find useful. It can be downloaded at the following link https://interreg-rohu.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/1st-Call-for-Proposals_Info_Days_HU_2023_final-version.pdf. 50.The applicant is a non-profit Ltd. owned by the municipality for 9 years. The applicant operates in a building owned by the municipality and carries out its non-profit activities for public benefit there. In addition to its public benefit activities, the applicant carries out complementary business activities, from the income of which it covers its operating expenses. It is important that this is to the extent that it corresponds to non-profit status. It is also important that this additional business activity is of an ad hoc nature, the applicant rents out the main halls of the building for occasional events. The net rental income is used to cover the operating costs of the applicant institution, so that the non-profit nature of the institution for public benefit is not compromised either legally or economically (the income from business activities remains below 60% of the total company revenue). Within the framework of a free utilization contract concluded with the municipality, the applicant institution carries out public benefit activities in all premises of the building. Similarly, the soft activities planned in the project are planned to be implemented using all premises. Within the framework of the planned project, in addition to soft activities, infrastructural development is also required, and the renovation of the building would affect all premises, i.e. rooms that are rented out on an ad hoc basis for short periods, so these premises can be used to perform tasks independent of the applicant's activity, not only for public benefit. Do we think correctly that since the legal status of the applicant (municipal-owned non-profit public benefit) complies with the call for proposals, the applicant's activity complies with Hungarian legislation, so the building where it operates can be completely renovated within the framework of the application? So, it is not excluded that it occasionally rents out its premises, since it covers its operating costs from this income, and this does not endanger its non-profit status.
c) a substantial change affecting its nature, objectives or implementation conditions which would result in undermining its original objective. 51.The project would take place at a location that requires modification of the Settlement Plan. The municipality intends to approve the amendment of the Settlement Plan at the beginning of next year. When should the Settlement Plan be completed if we intend to submit the application in the second phase (considering that the PP and the LP would like to implement investments requiring a building permit)?
52.The University would like to submit the application either as a lead partner or partner and they would like to have it confirmed that they are eligible. If yes, should all the planned activities be implemented in Szarvas or can some of them, for instance the testing/analysis of water quality, be implemented in Gödöllő? Is it considered to be an eligible cost?
Exceptions are also possible – in the case of public entities not having their legal seat in the eligible area, but having legal competencies for implementing operations in the Programme Area. The AG identifies three situations:
1) In case the public entity's headquarter is registered outside the eligible Programme Area and its branch office is not a legal entity, the respective public entity may apply and, in case of contracting, it shall be the beneficiary. In this special case, the public entity shall also meet the following criteria:
- The regional/local branch office needs to prove its existence and the relation with the headquarter.
- The legal representative of the main entity shall nominate the person responsible for acting in the scope of the project implementation.
2) In case the public entities headquarter is registered outside the eligible Programme Area without a branch office in the eligible area, the respective public entity may apply.
3) If the public entities headquarter is registered outside the Programme Area but legally coordinates the branch office in the eligible area, the respective public entity may apply, with the condition that the foreseen investments will be made in the Programme Area. 53.I kindly ask you to confirm or deny that the University of Szeged, Hungary, is an eligible partner for a project to be submitted under the first call INTERREG VI ROMANIA-HUNGARY PROGRAMME.
Based on the information available at Programme level, Hungarian universities are among the eligible applicants. A confirmation in this respect has been received from the European Commission, as well. 54.The applicants must demonstrate that they have not received financing support from public funds in the past 5 years before submitting the applications under this Call for proposals for the same operation / project in terms of objectives, activities, and results. (criterion 13 - administrative and eligibility grid); Q: For what type of projects there was no public financing support?
55.All applicants involved in the project must prove their professional, operational/administrative capacity to manage their share of activities in the field of action they are applying for and must have direct responsibility for the preparation and management of the proposed actions, professionally and financially, not acting as intermediaries (criterion 3.d- administrative and eligibility grid). What are the supporting documents to prove the fulfillment of such conditions?
56. During the project period can the amounts allocated be reorganised? I am thinking of the case where a contracted person can no longer participate and the event has to be rescheduled with different amounts? ( Obviously the total project amount does not change).
57.The Hungarian side during the project submits documents with expenses to Romanian authorities (i.e. everything together and translated), or to the Hungarian authorities?
58.From page 18 of the Applicant's Handbook, the categories of eligible costs are listed, one of which is the staff cost, which is defined as a flat rate as 20% of the direct cost. According to the definition, direct cost includes the following: "external expertise and services, equipment and infrastructure and works" (top of page 19, explanation after **). The example presented on the information day, on page 22 of the published pdf, also confirms that 20% can be deducted for personal expenses. Please give us guidance on how to plan these costs regarding to a soft project, where the professional tasks are mostly carried out by our own employees, or by experts hired/employed for this project and typically employment contracts and commission contracts arise, so the personnel costs (staff costs) are much more than other types of costs. In addition, there is no major asset purchase, only the purchase of services would be possible, but such a large proportion distorts the project.
As an exception, people-to-people projects submitted under ISO 1_Priority 3_Specific Objective 6.3 may use the simplified off-the-shelf option provided by Art 56 of EU Regulation No. 1060/2021, as follows:
1. A flat rate of up to 40 % of eligible direct staff costs may be used in order to cover the remaining eligible costs of an operation.
2. For operations supported by the ERDF, salaries and allowances paid to participants shall be considered additional eligible costs not included in the flat rate (e.g. allowances paid to the trainees can be declared in addition to the direct staff costs and the flat rate).
3. The flat rate referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be applied to staff costs, which will be reimbursed as real costs, according to the relevant legislation (full-time, fixed or flexible part-time and hourly based employment contracts). The flat rate shall not be applied to staff costs calculated on the basis of a flat rate as referred to in Article 39, para. 3., letter (c) of Interreg Regulation.
This means that the project staff costs will be reimbursed as real costs, and all other costs included in the budget might be up to 40% of the eligible staff costs. Also, the costs representing salaries and allowances paid to participants in project activities can be added apart from staff costs and the amount resulting from flat rate. 59.In the framework of a people-to-people project, if the project includes construction subject to a building permit, is the deadline for submission still 27.12.2023?
60.Do the real personnel costs include, in addition to the wage costs, employee and employer contributions?
Staff costs shall be limited to the following:
(a) salary payments related to the activities which the entity would not carry out if the operation concerned was not
undertaken, provided for in an employment document, either in the form of an employment or work contract or an
appointment decision, or by law, and relating to responsibilities specified in the job description of the staff member
concerned;
(b) any other costs directly linked to salary payments incurred and paid by the employer, such as employment taxes and
social security including pensions as covered by Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 of the European Parliament and of the
Council (20), on condition that they are:
(i) provided for in an employment document or by law;
(ii) in accordance with the legislation referred to in the employment document and with standard practices in the
country or the organisation where the individual staff member is actually working, or both; and
(iii) not recoverable by the employer.
With regard to point (a) of the first subparagraph, payments to natural persons working for the Interreg partner under a
contract other than an employment or work contract may be assimilated to salary payments and such a contract shall be
considered to be an employment document 61. Is it possible to rent the sport facility following project completion?
62.We would like to carry out some repair and sanitation works in an objective where our proposed project will be carried out. Specifically, we want to replace the tiles/façade and sanitary installations in a pool, sanitise some toilets and changing rooms and paint the facades. The proposed works do not require building permit. Is a FS/DAIW necessary or a works estimate is sufficient to justify the expenditure?
63.A project idea for the programming period 2021-2027 aims at encouraging cycling between two cities (one RO&one HU) through: painting a cycling track on the existing asphalt road, creation of a bicycle parking/rest and service point on the Hungarian and Romanian sides, creation of a petting zoo, organising programmes and events, involving the experts of a National Park Ojective: To stimulate nature conservation & Promote activities aimed at preserving green infrastructures Priority: P1 Cooperation for a greener and more resilient border region // S.O: 2.7 Biodiversity Total amount of support: min. 250.000-max. 2.000.000 euro Q: 1) Did we classify our project idea under the right specific objective? 2) whether our project idea is eligible/in line with the call for proposals? 3) have we correctly interpreted the funding allocation within the relevant priority? 4) is it possible to carry out the planned programmes and the construction works too under one priority? 5) as the bicycle lane is to be painted on the road linking the two municipalities, which serves as a temporary border crossing, is it necessary to contact any authorities for support?
According to Interreg Programme document, all types of actions will include soft measures (e.g. programmes and events) capable of boosting cooperation and joint strategic thinking with high cross-border added value. Investments in infrastructure (e.g construction works) and equipment are eligible and will be considered as the means to the obtainment of better cooperation, not as a purpose of the project itself. As regards the bicycle lane to be painted on the road linking the two municipalities participating in the project, the relevant/competent authorities (such as Border Police) shall be contacted for information regarding necessary permits (please also consider point 6. of GA section 2.2.1.2 Eligibility of actions (projects) regarding physical cross border infrastructure). 64.A project idea for the programming period 2021-2027 aims at improving of the social care system (daycare and residential/boarding care) on both sides through purchase of equipment; property renovations (social care buildings), construction of a "House of Crafts" where 12 traditional craftsmanship types, typical for the area would be presented (activity subject to building permit); the creation of a showroom/museum; organisation of events and programmes in social institutions and municipalities Priority: P2 Cooperation for a more social and cohesive border region // S.O 4.6 Culture and tourism Total amount of support: min. 250.000-max. 2.000.000 euro Please give your views and guidance on 1) Did we classify our project idea under the right specific objective? 2) whether our project idea is eligible within the call for proposals? 3) have we correctly interpreted the funding envelope within the relevant priority? 4) is it possible to carry out the planned programmes and the construction works too within one priority? 5) what are the formal and content requirements for the feasibility study required for Romanian applicants? We could not find any related information in the guidelines or in the annexes. 6) what are the requirements for the project/financial management organisation and for the project /financial manager positions?
The ERDF eligible budget for a project submitted/selected under S.O 4.6 ranges between 250,000 - 2 mil euro (see the AG relevant Tabel under Chapter 2. RULES OF THE CALL FOR PROPOSALS, Section 2.1 Description of the Call).To such amounts, the related co-financing contributions and partners own contributions are added (see AG section 1.4 Financial Allocation for the Call for Proposals - Sources of funding). According to Interreg Programme document all types of actions will include soft measures capable of boosting cooperation and joint strategic thinking with high cross-border added value. Investments in infrastructure and equipment are eligible and will be considered as the means to the obtainment of better cooperation, not as a purpose of the project itself. According to AG section 2.2.1.2 Eligibility of actions (projects), point 4, letter b. - the applicants must provide information regarding the foreseen investment through the following documents (criterion 3.i - administrative and eligibility grid), RO applicants, Feasibility study / DAIW (if applicable, according to national legislation). Consequently, the formal and content requirements for the feasibility study are provided for in the national legislation.
According to AG section 2.2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants, letter e.: All applicants involved in the project must prove their professional, operational/administrative capacity to manage their share of activities in the field of action they are applying for and must have direct responsibility for the preparation and management of the proposed actions, professionally and financially, not acting as intermediaries (criterion 3.d- administrative and eligibility grid). as mentioned in Annex H to the AG, the general project management includes all the activities necessary to coordinate the work of the partnership, to monitor it, to verify expenditure, to report it to the programme and oversee the general implementation of the project. Based on lessons learnt, the Programme requires to include the procurement expert position in the project management team or the related ToR, whenever relevant. The project/financial management related costs can be budgeted either under staff cost category (up to 20% of direct costs), in which case indicative job descriptions / CVs for all positions included in the proposed management team shall be attached to the application form, OR under external expertise and services, when the related ToR shall be submitted, or under both types of cost categories, provided that overlaps of tasks are avoided. 65.As part of the project proposal, a building is planned to be renovated, which does not require any building permit. A renovation plan, including a detailed budget as well, was designed in June 2021, however the prices have been significantly changed/increased since then. Is it allowed to submit the former budget officially completed with amounts multiplied by general inflation rates currently applied to construction industry? Or a totally new, updated plan for the detailed budget is required to be submitted with the application?
In case an updated budget with current prices for the renovation plan cannot be compiled in due time, the applicant may submit the former budget officially completed with amounts multiplied by general inflation rates currently applied to construction industry, if this method fits the current costs of construction works and materials. 66. In the case of a project containing only soft activities, is it necessary to prepare and submit a feasibility study together with the application package?
67.Considering that all the premises to be renovated are also used for the implementation of the soft project activities, are we correct in understanding that, the renovation of all the premises of the building is eligible in the project?
c) a substantial change affecting its nature, objectives or implementation conditions which would result in undermining its original objective.
Moreover, in case economic activities (such as renting) are envisaged by the project, the incidence of State Aid might be also relevant (see section 1.5 in the Applicant's Guide).
However, please note that this is not an official assessment and the provided answers are for clarification purposes only. 68. In the applications where we DO NOT need “infrastructure and works” budget allocation, do we have to open the "INVESTMENT" section in an WP for the other type of costs? For example we have costs estimated only for office equipment acquisition and external expertise & services (let's say events organisation subcontracted services). If this will be the case, in the BUDGET section we will not correlate the estimated costs with WP via an Investment description, corect?
69.Is it necessary that a LLC grants the surface right for an piece of land/building/item of infrastructure to an NGO in order the planned investment to become eligible in the ROHU Programme?
a. The applicants must prove (from the date of submitting the application ideally, but at the contracting the latest) they have the legal right to perform the project activities in the specific location, through the following documents which must be provided by the applicant(s):
- the title deed justifying the ownership of the real estate (criterion 3.g - administrative and eligibility grid);
- or, if the land and/or building and/or /item of infrastructure is not owned by the applicant: the legal act (e.g. government decision, law, government ordinance, decision of local counties, etc.) or other relevant document (e.g. a contract with the owner of the real estate) proving that the owner of the real estate granted the rights of use and the rights of disposal or the rights of administration to the applicant organization for at least the duration until 5 years after the estimated month of the financial closure of the project, and that the owner has given its written agreement stating that the applicant may perform the infrastructure actions on/ in the relevant land/ building/ item of infrastructure;
- declaration from the land and/or building/ item of infrastructure owner/ concessioner/administrator that the land and/or building/ item of infrastructure is: free of any encumbrances; not the object of a pending litigation; not the object of a claim according to the relevant national legislation.
b. The applicants must provide information regarding the foreseen investment through the following documents:
- RO applicants: Feasibility study / DAIW (if applicable, according to national legislation);
- HU applicants: Construction technical plans (engineering plans, descriptions), Detailed cost estimation of works, Photo documentation; 70.Referring to the APPLICANT'S GUIDE FOR THE 1st OPEN CALL FOR PROPOSALS INTERREG VI-A ROMANIA-HUNGARY PROGRAMME document the 2.2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants states: "Note! An applicant may be selected in a maximum of 5 projects (leader/partner)". Q: The maximum of 5 projects that can be implemented by 1 institution only applies to projects implemented within the Open Call, or whether the total of 5 projects includes OSI projects that may be awarded at a later stage?
71.In the case of a lead partner that is a private NGO, what are the public procurement rules that they must follow in implementing the project when contracting services/supply of goods?
72.Is it possible to receive an advance from state co-financing for a Romanian project partner, as it was in the previous programming cycle?
73. Is it possible to purchase real estate under the call?
74.Under Priority 1 SO.2.2 - Renewable energy, can municipality buildings be equipped with solar panels and heat pumps?
75.Can both types of simplified cost options be applied in the priority People to people? Staff costs to be defined as flat rates and the cost of equipment and infrastructure defined based on real costs.
76.What is the maximum amount that can be allocated to travel to an event? ex: per diem
77.Which events should be implemented after the first year of funding?
c) a substantial change affecting its nature, objectives or implementation conditions which would result in undermining its original objective.
During the sustainability period, for the output indicator RCO81- Participations in joint actions across borders the Programme will count the number of participations in joint actions across borders after the completion of the project, organised by all or some of the former partners within the project, as a continuation of cooperation (see annex A to the Applicant's Guide -RCR85), while for the output indicator RCO87 - Organisations cooperating across borders, the Programme will count the organisations that have established a formal agreement to continue cooperation, either during the implementation of the project or within one year after the project completion. The sustained cooperation does not have to cover the same topic as addressed by the completed project (see annex A to the Applicant's Guide -RCR84). 78.Can a non-profit ltd. registered in Hungary whose main field of activity is other community, social activity apply for the 1st Open Call of INTERREG VI-A ROMANIA-HUNGARY PROGRAMME? The organization was therefore established by Hungarian law according to which it is a non-profit-oriented economic company with the main purpose of satisfying social common needs. However, according to Hungarian law it does not have a status of public utility.
1. Public authorities, meaning legal entities established and governed by public law, assigned with special competencies, and performing tasks in public interest;
2. Bodies governed by public law, meaning organisations established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character, having legal personality, and which are either financed, for the most part, by the state, regional or local authorities or by other bodies governed by public law; or subject to management supervision by those bodies; or have an administrative, managerial, or supervisory board, with at least half of the members appointed by the state, regional or local authorities or by other bodies governed by public law (with exceptional status by law, the state-owned companies having portfolio of public interest are eligible);
3. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) governed by specific national legislation in each partner state, established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character. 79.Regarding the regional eligibility for Interreg RO-HU calls, we would like to know if, in the case of a non-governmental organisation based in Cluj-Napoca, the existence of a working point in the eligible counties of the Programme can be proved by the working point being registered with ANAF (National Agency of Fiscal Administration) on the basis of a resolution of the General Assembly, or the working point must necessarily be included in the statute of the association? It is not mandatory for ANAF to include the registration of the point in the statutes, but we would like to have clarity on how the RO-HU Programme deals with this issue.
In case the entity’s headquarter is registered outside the eligible programme area, but there is a regional/local branch office with a legal entity in the programme area, then the regional/local branch shall apply for financing and in case of contracting, it shall be the beneficiary. The regional / local branch office needs to prove its existence and the relation with the headquarter.
Also, as specified in section 3.2 List of mandatory Annexes to the Application Form, the applicants must submit copy of the establishing documents: Articles of Association, Statutes, Deed of foundation, establishing resolution law or equivalent documents according to the national legislation, etc. Additionally, establishing documents will be provided for the related branch / field office, etc., that will prove its existence and the relation with the headquarter.
Consequently, the working point/field office should be included in the association's establishing documents. 80.Is Arad Water Company an eligible applicant under the call, taking into account the eligibility criteria mentioned in the Applicant's Guide, in particularthe requirement to be non-profit
81.The association of the settlements is the result of the joint work of the Nyíregyháza County Municipality and the Szatmárném City Council. Q: Is it possible to submit a proposal only by the ETC? There will be one applicant in this case. It is true that the ETC has Romanian and Hungarian members, but in the same framework. Is it necessary to find another partner to join the partnership?
Furthermore, as provided in paragraph 7 of the same article, a sole partner shall be registered in a Member State participating in the Interreg programme.
There is no need for additional partners, however, the eligible applicants are mentioned in the Applicant's Guide under section 2.2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants. 82.We have a partner from Hungary, an association, which has its registered office outside the eligible area. The association has a registered working point in Szeged, but this working point has no legal personality. In this case, can this association be considered eligible to be an applicant?
In terms of geographical location, the Applicants must have their seats or a regional/local branch registered in the eligible programme area, i.e.: Satu Mare, Bihor, Arad and Timis counties in Romania, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Hajdú-Bihar, Békés and Csongrád-Csanád counties in Hungary.
In case the entity’s headquarter is registered outside the eligible programme area, but there is a regional/local branch office with a legal entity in the eligible programme area, then the regional/local branch shall apply for financing and in case of contracting, it shall be the beneficiary. The regional / local branch office needs to prove its existence and the relation with the headquarter.
Therefore, in order to be eligible, the regional/local branch office should be a legal entity. 83.Referring to our previous telephone conversation, I would like to point out that I wrongly mentioned the legal status of the Hungarian University of Agricultural and Life Sciences, as the university is a legal entity established by the state and maintained by a trust foundation. The implementing regulation (Government Decree no. 241/2023) stipulates that "in the case if a national partner is a trust foundation established by the State or a legal entity maintained by such a foundation", the partner is not required to provide own resources because it is entitled to full national co-financing. This category has been included in the text of the implementing regulation specifically for universities undergoing a model change. On this basis, we cannot request a formal position from the State on this funding. I would ask for your confirmation and further clarification in this regard.
84.When can we expect the publication of the Partnership Agreement, which currently appears in the Applicant Guidebook as "to be provided"?
85.In order to organize an event, it is necessary to purchase raw materials such as foodstuff. Please specify if these expenses are eligible and within which budget line we can include them.
In this specific case, if the costs for purchasing raw materials for organizing the event are not included in a contract for organizing it, then the costs may be included in the Equipment budgetary line, being assimilated to the category of other specific equipment needed for operations. 86.Can a non-profit ltd. registered in Hungary whose main field of activity is other community, social activity apply for the 1st Open Call of INTERREG VI-A ROMANIA-HUNGARY PROGRAMME? The organization was therefore established by Hungarian law according to which it is a non-profit-oriented economic company with the main purpose of satisfying social common needs. However, according to Hungarian law it does not have a status of public utility.
In the aforementioned chapter are mentioned the organisations eligible to apply for the EU contribution allocated to the Programme, among which are included: Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) governed by specific national legislation in each partner state, established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character. Therefore, the organization should meet the eligibility rules in order to be eligible. 87.We would like to inquire about the Romanian-Hungarian Interreg application. We would like to apply for climate change and/or biodiversity. The headquarters of our company, WOODTECH Zrt. is located in Sopron, but our forest areas are located in Békés County, near Gyomaendrőd. Can we participate in the application if the company's headquarters is not in the county concerned, but the project implementation would be in Békés County? Our further question is: what is the optimal number of partners? For a successful application, is it needed to have companies, local governments and governmental bodies as well?”
In the aforementioned chapter, are listed the organisations eligible to apply for the EU contribution allocated to the Programme. Your organization should meet the eligibility rules in order to be eligible.
Furthermore, in terms of geographical location, the Applicants must have their seats, or a regional/local branch registered in the eligible programme area, i.e.: Satu Mare, Bihor, Arad and Timis counties in Romania, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Hajdú-Bihar, Békés and Csongrád-Csanád counties in Hungary.
In case the entity’s headquarter is registered outside the eligible programme area, but there is a regional/local branch office with a legal entity in the eligible programme area, then the regional/local branch shall apply for financing and in case of contracting, it shall be the beneficiary. The regional/local branch office needs to prove its existence and the relation with the headquarter.
Exceptions regarding geographical location are only possible in case of public institutions.
Considering the type of organisation, being for-profit making, and its geographical location, the applicant might not be eligible. 88.We are a technological high school in Lugoj and we found a partner (technological high school) in Szeged. We would like to know if we, as high schools, are eligible to submit a project on renewable energy component, including educational activities with students?
In general, the following organisations are eligible to apply for the EU contribution allocated to the Programme:
1. Public authorities, meaning legal entities established and governed by public law, assigned with special competencies, and performing tasks in public interest;
2. Bodies governed by public law, meaning organisations established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character, having legal personality, and which are either financed, for the most part, by the state, regional or local authorities or by other bodies governed by public law; or subject to management supervision by those bodies; or have an administrative, managerial, or supervisory board, with at least half of the members appointed by the state, regional or local authorities or by other bodies governed by public law (with exceptional status by law, the state-owned companies having portfolio of public interest are eligible);
3. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) governed by specific national legislation in each partner state, established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character.
Consequently, in case the highschools mentioned fall under one of the above categories, they are eligible for funding. 89.If an organization has more than one legal representative, how do we enter them into the system? The system has the option to enter only one person.
90.Regarding communication, within each WP there is separate communication section. Do we have to include a separate communication activity in the WP and the related deliverables, or should we create a dedicated communication WP, including all communication activities? What is the correct way to include communication-related activities and deliverables?
Moreover, under section C.7.3 the applicant should provide a summary of the communication approach across the project, including who is responsible for communication coordination and how the communication function is used to transfer project results. The main purpose of this section is to give a strong signal to applicants that they need to use communication as a key tool in their project and to emphasize that communication is the responsibility of all partners and needs to be done in a coordinated and consistent manner. 91.Following the GEO 57/2007 amendement our organisation is no longer the administrator of the Tur River protected areas, the National Agency for Protected Natural Areas will be the administrator . Is our organisation eligible as a partner in a project, which aims to implement activities in that protected natural area? Please note that the National Agency for Protected Natural Areas agrees to be a partner in the project and intends to participate in the implementation of the project as an associated organisation.
Considering the above, in order to perform activities in protected natural areas, you have to observe GEO 57/2007 provisions.
As regards the National Agency for Protected Natural Areas involvement as associated organisation, please be aware that the Agency will have NO budget and the activities are to be linked to one of the project partners. The need for Agency's involvement has to be properly justified. Also, please be aware that no subcontracting between project partners or associated organisations is allowed. 92.Within the project we want to carry out reconstruction activities ecological reconstruction of amphibian breeding habitats in the protected area. These activities involve deepening small ponds, by excavating the soil and filling the pond basin. Activity does not require building permission or regulatory acts from environmental protection. Please inform me if is it necessary to submit ownership documents, consent of the owners/users of the land? Also, please inform me if a feasibility study is required or any other studies?
As your project includes works components/activities, you have to submit ownership documents and, in case the land and / or building / item of infrastructure is in concession/administration, etc., you have to prove that the duration of the concession/administration of the land and/or building / item of infrastructure is based on a long term contract /enactment (i.e. from the submission of the application and covering the implementation period and min. 5 years after the estimated month for the financial closure of the project) and that the owner of the real estate has given his written agreement (no standard format) that the applicant is free to perform the investment and stating that the land and / or building / item of infrastructure is free of any encumbrances, not the object of a pending litigation, not the object of a claim according to the relevant national legislation. If not already available upon submission, and if justified, the documents will be accepted by contracting at the latest.
If the foreseen investment does not require a building permit (according to your explanation), NO feasibility study is requested. Other studies/supporting documents would be those requested by the relevant national legislation for this type of intervention works. 93.Is a Hungarian foundation eligible as a partner in the project if it was established in spring 2023 and therefore has less than 1 year of activity?
The eligibility criteria, including those related to applicant's eligibility, are mentioned under sections 2.2.1.1, 2.2.1.2 and 2.2.1.3 of the AG. 94.Can participants (children) in cross-border sport competitions and trips organised together by the project partners be counted under indicators RC081 and RCR85? If yes, what are the conditions that these events have to fulfil in order to be different from what is considered to fall into the category of events referred to in the sentence "Participation in public events (such as those related to communication activities) should not be counted in RCO81" in Annex A.
Consequently, participants (children) in cross-border sport competitions and trips organised together by the project partners can be counted under said indicators.
Participation in public events (such as those related to communication activities) refers to, for example, the participants in the project opening/closing conference. 95. In the context of the 1st Call for projects under the Interreg VI-A Romania Hungary Programme, Satu Mare County Intercommunity Development Association wishes to submit a project for the installation of photovoltaic panels on 32 educational buildings in Satu Mare County, buildings that are owned by Association's members (TAUs in Satu Mare County). Please clarify whether and what ownership documents should be attached upon project submission, as we are talking strictly about the installation of photovoltaic panels (equipment) and the buildings are not owned by the Association but by its members?
96. The National Ambulance Service has the following question in relation to Specific Objective 2.1 (within Priority 2, Specific Objective no. 1 = RSO 4.5) - Ensuring equal access to health care and fostering resilience of health systems, including primary care, and promoting the transition from institutional to family- and community-based care. For this application, what is a simple notification for an investment to reduce energy use? Does it require a permit or not? In Hungary, both the single, official notification and the notification for a building permit are subject to a time limit.
According to Applicant’s Guide, section 2.2.1.2 Eligibility of actions (projects), HARD projects, including people-to-people, are those envisaging infrastructure component requiring a building permit. December deadline applies ONLY to HARD projects.
Projects envisaging investment in infrastructure not requiring a building permit, are considered SOFT projects and the deadline for submission is September 27, 2023.
Any other related authorizations/approvals from competent authorities, other than building permit, can be obtained even during implementation of the soft projects, estimated to start in June 2024. 97. Is it necessary to coordinate media relations for the project communication with a communication specialist or is it sufficient to do it through the university press office? If a dedicated person is to be assigned to this task, should the communication specialist be an "internal" person, e.g. a member of the university press office, or should a contract be concluded with a person outside the partner organisation? If an in-house professional is to assist with media relations, should he/she be paid a separate allowance or is this left to the partner?
98. Should a dedicated financial expert be assigned to the application and, if so, should it be a member of the relevant department within the organisation? Should he/she be granted a special allowance? The same question applies to procurement.
Based on lessons learnt, the Programme requires to include the procurement expert position in the project management team or the related ToR, whenever relevant. 99. Is a religious organization eligible for funding in the framework of the Programme?
Consequently, religious organisations fulfilling the above criteria are eligible. 100. RCO88 / RCR84: Organisations cooperating across the borders / Organisations cooperating post-project: What type of supporting documents are required? Joint Declaration on cooperation /maintaing the cooperation?
The Organisations cooperating across the borders counts the organisations cooperating formally in supported projects. The supporting document for these indicators will be considered the Partnership Agreement. 101. RCO116: Jointly developed solutions: Is it considered to be a jointly developed solution, if the partners elaborate a training scheme on teaching girls to basic gynealogical knowledge? It will be applied in the project and it would be transferable to other healthcare partners after the project. What type of supporting documents are required? Elaborated training scheme?
According to documents above, in case of SO4.5, indicator RCO116 is linked to RCR73 - Annual users of new or modernised healthcare facilities. Therefore, the jointly developed solution should imply investments in new or modernised healthcare facilities.
The supporting documents would consist of a joint agreement/protocol/strategy/plan. 102.RCR73: Annual users of new or modernised health care facilities: What type of activities result modernised healt care facilities? Obviously, it means a reconstructed or newly built medical department, that receives patients. But, does it include e.g. a newly founded lifestyle counselling office or an already existing lifestlye counselling office which gains new services in the project? When we should aggregate and report annual number of users, if the different activities start in different times? For example reconstruction will be ended in the last month of the project (March 2026), so the first operational year of the building will be ended after the final report, but the lifestyle counseling started in July 2024 so the first (reported) year will be finished within the project implementation period? What type of supporting documents are required? Attendance sheets in the case of counseling; Anonymous patient visit database of the modernised department?
RCR73 counts the number of patients served by the new or modernised health care facility during the year after the completion of the intervention. One individual can be counted more than once if using facilities multiple times. The indicator baseline refers to the registered patients served at least once by the health care facility during the year before the start of the intervention, and it can be zero for new facilities.
Healthcare facilities include hospitals, clinics, outpatient care centres, specialized care centres etc.
The supporting documents will be the data base of the healthcare facility. 103. RCO81 / RCR85: Participation in joint actions across borders / Participation in joint actions post-project: How can we prove that an event is jointly organised? Should the costs always shared between partners or should the participants always come from both side of the borders? In the case of healthcare services, it is faced with difficulties to provide state-financed care to foreign people, so this indicator works with only staff members.
According to the description of RCO81, a joint action is considered as the action organised with the involvement of organizations from both sides of the border (i.e. exchange activities or exchange visits organized with partners across borders). This can be shown through the description of the action, where the involvement of each partner should be emphasized. The involvement of partners from both sides of the border does not necessarily imply the common financing of the action. The action shall involve participants from both sides of the border (either in terms of attendants, or internal/external experts from both sides).
Participations (i.e. number of persons attending a joint action across borders - e.g. citizens, volunteers, students, pupils, public officials, etc.) are counted for each joint action organised on the basis of attendance lists or other relevant means of quantification.
Participations in public events (such as those related to communication activities) should not be counted in RCO81.
When reporting on RCO81, the participations in internal project meetings of the partners should not be counted. 104. RCR79: Joint strategies and action plans taken up by organisations: How can we prove that the implementation of the joint strategy has been started? Can it be started within the project implementation period? What are the formal requirements of this strategy?
At the time of reporting this indicator, the implementation of the joint strategy or action plan do not need to be completed, however it shall be effectively started (i.e. planning of activities, first event, etc.)
The organisations involved in take-up may or may not be direct participants in the supported project. It is not necessary that all actions identified in a joint strategy/action plan are taken-up for such a strategy/action plan to be counted under this indicator.
The formal requirements for a strategy are those provided by the specific guidelines, the Programme does not require any supplementary elements. 105. Can we expect the Project Implementation Manual of the new programming period to be published before the submission deadline of soft projects?
106. Questions regarding the work-package description in Jems: 1. Should be described only ONE objective allocated to a WP? 2. What about the objectives not described? 3. Should it be allocated one single objective per working package?
2. The WP section in Jems (C.4) requires information on project specific objective(s), foreseen investments (where the case), planned activities and outputs that will be delivered through the project.
3. One project specific objective should be allocated to a WP and the related communication objective to achieve such specific objective, if any. Please be reminded that, according to Interact HIT (Harmonized Implementation Tools), every project must have at least one communication objective but the applicant will decide in which work packages they are needed. 107. In guide is clearly stated the treshold regarding to public procurement process in Hungary which is 10 000 EUR excluding VAT. We would like to ask the treshold for Romania?
Section 2.2.1.3 Eligibility of costs/expenditure of the Applicant's Guide provides specific rules for the eligibility of expenditures where no public procurement procedure is required, in the case of HU applicants, while for the RO applicants, there are no additional rules in the Applicant's Guide, except for those provided for in the relevant national legislation.
According to law 98/2016, at this moment the thresholds for direct procurement are:
270.120 lei without VAT - for services and goods
900.400 lei without VAT - for works 108. Shall screenshots be attached with the price offers when submitting the project application or only after winning the project?
Note! The project budget should be developed based on real/market prices supported by relevant documents (print-screens, price offers, market research, DAIW/Feasibility study, etc.).
There is no requirement regarding the submission of price offers/other supporting documents with the application, however, clarifications might be requested during the quality assessment when the extent to which the costs included in the budget are realistic, will be analysed. Therefore, it is up to the applicant to submit supporting documents, including justification of the market prices, as such documents can support the reasonableness of the budget requested. 109. The Annexes that must be filled in and attached to the application shall be elaborated by each partner using their header separately, or only by the leade partner?
110. In which concerns our under processing projects for cross-border local and county public authorities ( soft projects) for this call ( 27.09.2023, deadline), our partners ( applicants) are not beneficiaries / entitled of de minimis scheme, neither of GBER scheme. The question is: should they submit Annex 3 and Annex 4 or only Annex 2, as supporting documents for the AF?
The project partner(s) whose activities fall under State aid incidence will submit the GBER (see Annex 4) / de minimis Declaration (see Annex 3 about any other ‘de minimis’ aid received from aid grantors in Romania in that year and the previous two fiscal years).
Consequently, if after filling in Annex 2 to the AG and the dedicated State Aid section in Jems, it comes out that the activities envisaged by the partner do not fall under State Aid incidence, the partner(s) should submit only Annex 2. 111. Considering the provisions of the Applicant's Guide regarding VAT, respectively to the co-financing rates of the EU and the national state budget, we hereby ask you to clarify whether the VAT related to the eligible expenses financed from the respective EU budget the national state budget can be recovered from the Project. Arad Water Company SA is a regional operator, organized as a joint-stock company, with an exclusive shareholding structure of TAUs, which provides public utility services (water supply and waste water collection and purification) based on concession contracts. Thus, the Arad Water Company can recover the VAT, according to the national VAT legislation, only for its part of the contribution/co-financing within the Project, while the VAT related to the eligible expenses financed from the EU budget and the State budget cannot be recovered than through the Project, because the goods financed from non-refundable funds must be handed over free of charge to the TAUs, being returnable goods. Therefore, this VAT cannot be recovered by the operator through deduction.
(c) value added tax (‘VAT’), except:
(i) for operations the total cost of which is below EUR 5 000 000 (including VAT);
Thus, the applicant may decide to include the recoverable VAT in the project budget, in order to be reimbursed by the Programm.
For any specific cases, provided by the applicable national legislation, we advise you to procure fiscal expertize (costs would be eligible, conditioned by project selection for financing). 112. Please clarify whether the percentages of co-financing and settlement upon reimbursement, for economic operators, are made percentageally, i.e. respecting the percentages of: -80% FDER -18% State Budget -2% own contribution of the beneficiary (Arad Water Company SA)
On project level, the Union co-financing rate is maximum 80% of the total eligible expenditure. The remaining amount (generally 20%) shall be financed from national sources (state contribution and/or own contribution of Applicants), which may differ in case of Romania and Hungary.
In case of RO partners, the rate of national state budget co-financing is maximum 18% of the total eligible budget, other than Central Public Authorities that are financed through the Romanian state budget.
Each Beneficiary must bring an own contribution to the project, which shall be of minimum 2% in case of Romanian Beneficiaries, other than Central Public Authorities for which the contribution is fully ensured by the Romanian state budget.
Please note that in case of State Aid incidence, the above-mentioned percentages may differ. 113. Are price offers required in the application phase? How many?
Note! The project budget should be developed based on real/market prices supported by relevant documents (print-screens, price offers, market research, DAIW/Feasibility study, etc.).
There is no requirement regarding the submission of price offers with the application, however clarifications might be requested during the quality assessment, when the extent to which the costs included in the budget are realistic, will be analysed. Therefore, it is up to the applicant to submit supporting documents, including justification of the market prices, as such documents can support the reasonableness of the budget requested.
The procurement-related requirements for HU applicants included in the Applicant's Guide refer to the eligibility of expenditures (the action of spending funds), a matter of project implementation, to be verified by HU FLC only for partners that will be selected for financing.
Thus, the three offers requirement is NOT relevant for the application phase! 114. On page 21 of the Applicant's guide it is mentioned that "The Annexes and supporting documents will be uploaded into the JEMS system (scanned/electronically signed/PDF format, as the case may be)." Does it mean that ONLY electronically signed documents can be uploded OR traditionally signed and scanned documents can be uploaded as well?
115. In Annex A Guidelines on indicators for the indicator RCR73 - Annual users of new or modernised health care facilities (ERDF) the following definition is provided: Number of patients served by the new or modernised health care facility during the year after the completion of the intervention. Does this mean that this indicator refers only to patients served after the end of the implementation period? Or to patients served after the modernization of the healthcare facility, but during the project implementation period?
RCR 73 is a 'Result indicator' i.e. an indicator to measure the effects of the interventions (projects) supported, with particular reference to the direct addressees, population targeted or users of infrastructure - Regulation 1060/2021 (CPR), Article 2. 116. We will plan to buy equipments. Is this necessary to submit priceoffers to all equipment?
Note! The project budget should be developed based on real/market prices supported by relevant documents (print-screens, price offers, market research, DAIW/Feasibility study, etc.).
There is no requirement regarding the submission of price offers with the application, however, clarifications might be requested during the quality assessment, when the extent to which the costs included in the budget are realistic, will be analysed. Therefore, it is up to the applicant to submit supporting documents, including justification of the market prices, as such documents can support the reasonableness of the budget requested. 117. If in an investment project we have hard purchases of both partners (grouped together for WP and project logic) and considering the questions of the ownership section, it is recommended to fill in the data of one of the two partners (although, obviously, each partner will remain the owner of the purchased item) at the expense of the other or it is preferable not to fill in those subsections (if they are actually intended for investment projects, in which case we do not).
In case of projects NOT foreseeing investments in infrastructure, it is not necessarry/compulsory to open an Investment section in Jems. 118. Regarding the eligibility of expenditure, we have a question related to obtaining the land. In the Applicant's Guide it is specified that the purchase of land in accordance with point (b) of Article 64(1) of Regulation 2021/1060 it is eligible. Please specify if costs for obtaining the land through expropriation are eligible.
The expropriation also consists of a property transfer and therefore could be assimilated to the purchase of land. 119. I would like to request information on the verification of the flat-rate financing of staff costs. According to the Call for Proposals, the use of the flat rate is not verified by the FLC, it can be freely used by the project partners, of course for project-related activities. However, we have also heard that other control bodies (e.g. State Audit Office, EUTAF) may check these. Our question is: what exactly does this mean, how should the costs be justified and documented in order to comply with these possible audits, and what can these bodies audit/verify in this matter?
120. Is it acceptable in the partnership for one partner to have a larger budget than the leader? Can the Lead partner only be from Romania? Or can it also be from Hungary?
The project budget should ideally be balanced between partners. For example, in case the partnership is formed of only two partners, one partner should account at least 30% of the budget share.
Regarding the Lead Partner, the Applicant's Guide specifies in chapter 3.1 Process overview:
As there are two or more partners cooperating in a project, one of them shall be designated as the Lead. The Lead Applicant/Partner shall be established in one of the two Member States to the programme.
The tasks of the Lead Applicant/Partner are provided in article 26 of the REGULATION (EU) No 1059/2021.
Therefore, there is no restriction regarding the country of provenience of the Lead applicant/partner, Romania or Hungary. 121. According to section C4 Investment in JeMS it is required to describe the followings under ‘Investment documentation’: ’For investments in infrastructure with an expected lifespan of at least five years, please indicate whether an assessment of expected impacts of climate change has been carried out. Should it be necessary, you must be ready to submit this documentation to the relevant programme body/ies.’ According to Annex B (GfA) the supporting documents include a so-called ‘environmental impact assessment’, if relevant, which must be submitted on contracting. However, Annex E proposes measures on the methods/approaches of handling environmental impacts, which are basically specified for priorities and SO 4.6 is not specifically included among them. We would like to receive written feedback on what exact documents (besides construction technical plans and photo documentation) are required to be submitted in case of a SO 4.6 proposal on submission in case the investment is intended to last more than 5 years.
The adverse effects on the environment can be prevented and mitigated by considering the environmental assessment at all projects preparation and implementation stages, such as:
[...]
Incorporating, for investments in infrastructure with an expected lifespan of at least five years, relevant information on how the potential impacts of climate change were taken into consideration (climate proofing in the sense of climate adaptation & resilience), according to the relevant provisions from the Commission Notice "Technical guidance on the climate proofing of infrastructure in the period 2021-2027" (2021/C 373/01-https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=OJ:C:2021:373:FULL&from=EN).
This requirement applies to all Specific Objectives under ROHU VI-A. Consequently, you should include in the C4 Investment section in Jems, information on the project's approach towards potential impacts of climate change, taking into account the provisions of the Commission Notice. No supporting documents, besides those already mentioned in the AG (including its Annex B) are requested upon submission. However, during the assessment process, clarifications/completions on this aspect might be requested. Please note that relevant national legislation might already incorporate the provisions of the Commission Notice, therefore during the authorization process of construction works all legal requirements shall be met anyway. 122. We have a partner who wants to submit a project proposal under the ROHU HARD programme. But they are not sure if they will be eligible. The partner is the Szeged Waterworks Zrt. In this company the main decision-making body is the General Assembly, where the Szeged Municipality has a majority. Veolia Víz Zrt. is in the majority in the Board of Directors, while in the Supervisory Board the Szeged Municipality is again in the majority. We cannot say for sure whether the company can apply under these conditions. The developments will be carried out on municipal-owned sites. The Szeged Waterworks Zrt. has an operating contract with both the Municipality of Algyő and the Municipality of Szeged and the developments will be transferred to the Municipality. We would be very glad, if you give us a direction, whether the Szeged Waterwork Zrt. could be a partner or not with the above mentioned condition.
In order to be financed under the Call, the submitted proposals shall meet the eligibility criteria set in the Applicant's Guide, related to the potential applicants, actions (activities/operations) and costs. These criteria shall apply for the entire Programme duration. In case Szeged Waterworks Zrt. fulfills the criteria listed under section 2.2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants, (for ex. if it is a body governed by public law, meaning organisations established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character, having legal personality, and which are either financed, for the most part, by the state, regional or local authorities or by other bodies governed by public law; or subject to management supervision by those bodies; or have an administrative, managerial, or supervisory board, with at least half of the members appointed by the state, regional or local authorities or by other bodies governed by public law (with exceptional status by law, the state-owned companies having portfolio of public interest), then the applicant would be eligible. 123. If the partnership is composed of 3 partners, is it necessary to apply the budget-sharing rule that one of the partners must contribute at least 30% of the budget? Or in this case, what conditions and proportions should be applied to have a balanced budget?
There is only one reference in the Applicant's Guide regarding the split of the project budget between partners, namely at chapter 2.2.1.3 Eligibility of costs/expenditure: The project budget should ideally be balanced between partners. For example, in case the partnership is formed of only two partners, one partner should account at least 30% of the budget share.
However, please note that the project budget should be balanced between the potential partners and proportionate to the proposed work plan, project outputs and project's contribution to programme indicators aimed for. 124. Concerning the documents required to be submitted with the Application Form, if the beneficiary has already obtained the building permit, is it necessary to upload both the Feasibility Study and the technical project that served as the basis for acquiring the building permit, or is the technical project alone sufficient?
Technical Plans and Building/Construction permit (if already obtained) are mandatory upon contracting, but they should be anyway submitted with the application, proving thus the project maturity (see criterion B.2 in the Quality Assessment Grid (Annex D.1). Grid also verifies the existance of the Feasibility study / DAIW 125. Our intention is to submit a project as the lead, involving a partner from Romania and two from Hungary. The Romanian partner is involved in several projects submitted to the Program. Assuming our project is selected for funding and considering that our partner from Romania has more than five projects selected for financing, what impact would it have on our project if the partner decides to withdraw from our project?
The selection of projects proposed for financing is the attribute of the Monitoring Committee and is described in the Applicant's Guide, section 4.2 Selection of applications. In case there will be partners in more than 5 projects scored above 65 points and fitting into the available allocation, they will be asked, through a clarification letter, to indicate which are the most important 5 projects to be further implemented. Failing to indicate the 5 project proposals will result in Programme deciding upon the 5 projects to be selected for financing, based on the highest scores obtained, in descending order. The decision on the 5 projects to be further implemented should be taken following through analysis within projects' partnerships. The withdrawal of the sole Romanian partner from the project partnership will lead to project ineligibility, as the requirement to have at least one Project Applicant on each side of the border is no longer fulfilled. 126. Is it complusory that the FS be submitted together with the approvals provided for in the urban planning certificate? Such approvals can not be obtained, due to technical and procedural reasons of various state institutions. Please indicate references in the Applicant's Guide or Q&A if permits/approvals provided for in the urban planning certificate have to be attached to the SF upon submission. I did not find references to permits/approvals, consequently we can consider that they are not required at submission, I only found requirements regarding the FS upon submission, and to the PT and the Building Permit upon contracting. Referring to Annexes D1 and D2, the existence of the FS is sufficient and the existence of the UC permits is not assessed.
127. In connection with the 1st Open Call for Proposals of the INTERREG VI-A Romania-Hungary Programme, we would like to get clarification on the following issues: According to the Guide in case of an activity subject to a building permit for applicants from Hungary, the following is required to be attached to the planning documentation: "For HU applicants: - Construction technical plans (engineering plans, descriptions) - Construction plans (engineering plans, descriptions) - Construction plan and technical description to be submitted for the building permit in PDF format AND in an engineering software-compatible format (protected version). If the planned works activity does not require a building permit: technical description and diagrammatical plan and the general plan of each building site – one copy per plan."- Based on the above description, please clarify what level of planning documentation is required, as we cannot clearly identify it: - technical documentation at the permit level which has not yet been submitted for permit or - technical documentation already submitted for authorisation, supported by a document confirming the submission for authorisation or - a planning document with a building permit. In addition, a question has been raised as to whether it is necessary to attach planning documentation prepared by specialist designers (mechanical, electrical), as these are part of the construction design documentation and are not part of the permit level technical documentation. For investments not subject to authorisation: Question 1: What document is required to justify the activity not subject to a building permit (designer's declaration, certificate from the authorities)? Question 2: the call for tenders requires the attachment of a sketch plan, however, according to national practice, related technical plans are not prepared at this design stage. Is it sufficient to have only a sketch plan drawn up by an architect or is it necessary to attach the related specific technical plans (mechanical, electrical)?
According to Annex B to the Applicant’s Guide, if the planned works activity does not require a building permit, the HU applicants shall submit technical description and diagrammatical plan and the general plan of each building site affected by the investment envisaged in the project, in engineering software (i.e. general and detailed sketches drafted by a competent professional/body). The level of details should properly justify the related budget. Also, a detailed cost estimation (Tételes költségbecslés) /price quotation by type of work issued by a designer indicating unit prices and the costs of materials and works / Detailed price quotation issued by an actor of the market, indicating unit prices and the costs of materials and works has to be attached to the Application Form on submission, in the original language, with EN summary. The price quotation should match the budgeted costs under budget line ‘Works’.
If the planned activity requires a bulding permit, the construction plan and technical description to be submitted for the building permit shall be included to the application as supporting documents in PDF format AND in an engineering software compatible format (protected version).
NOTE! Construction plans should be available also in printed version at the premises of the relevant Beneficiary. 128. "I would like to ask you, will a second turn of the call for proposals be published covering the remaining budget of the Programme? Because the Hungarian National Ambulance Service would like to insulate and energetically renovate the building of its branch office in Debrecen, and build renewable energy sources, in order to preserve the green infrastructure, and reduce harmful emissions. Can we count on the announcement of new tender opportunities, a 2nd open call in Interreg VI-A Romania-Hungary Programme? If yes, when will it going to be launched?"
129. "The Annex B - Supporting documents for projects containing construction components/activities to the "" APPLICANT’S GUIDE FOR THE 1st OPEN CALL FOR PROPOSALS INTERREG VI-A ROMANIA-HUNGARY PROGRAMME"" contains the information that in the case of construction, works, a Detailed cost estimation of works shall be submitted when submitting the application. We consulted with the architects and co-designers we invited, and the question arose that, according to the designers' point of view, a Detailed cost estimation of works is usually planned only with the plans for the starting of the construction (in Hungarian: ""kiviteli terv"") , not for the Construction technical plans (""építési engedélyezési dokumentáció"") in the Hungarian market practice. But for the submission of the project, Annex B requires only Construction technical plans (""építési engedélyezési dokumentáció"") We would like to ask what the Detailed cost estimation of works means exactly, what is the minimum information it should contain? What should it look like? If there is a publicly available template/sample for preparing such document, please kindly share it with us.
The minimum information requested is also indicated in Annex B, i.e.: Detailed cost estimation (Tételes költségbecslés) /price quotation by type of work issued by a designer indicating unit prices and the costs of materials and works / Detailed price quotation issued by an actor of the market, indicating unit prices and the costs of materials and works.
There is no template provided by the Programme for such document(s). 130. According to point d) ix. within 2.2.1.3 chapter of Applicant’s Guide, the following costs are eligible: „legal consultancy and notarial services, technical and financial expertise, other consultancy, and accountancy services” Does it mean that tender writing/project development consultancy implemented by an external expert can be eligible? If it is possible, then partners could launch a common request for proposals?
Therefore, the external expertise for project preparation/writing is eligible and can be included in the project budget at the corresponding budgetary line. The writing of projects is usually included in the Lead Applicant's budget, as this is a common activity for the whole partnership, but it can be included in any of the partner's budget, provided double financing is avoided. 131. Both partner associations are cultural associations, and among the activities that we are planning within our project is the creation of a big mural painting in the public space in Arad. In the last years, in Arad through Citizenit, we've been doing big murals in public spaces, that we inaugurated with a series of multidisciplinary events, that have all been very well received by the local community. Considering there is no national legislation regarding murals, we've been in touch and consulted the representatives of the local authorities, and each and every time they required us to obtain a Construction Permit (Autorizație de construire de la Primărie) for each and every mural painting that we created. Thus, we've came to the conclusion that a new mural painting could actually represent the "infrastructure" element of our common project. Given all these facts, we wanted to confirm with you that in the Application stage, it's sufficient if we submit only the Document regarding the ownership of the building (CF-ul imobilului unde vom realiza lucrarea de artă murală) & the Agreement between us and the owners (Acordul între asociația noastră și asociația de proprietari a imobilului unde vom realiza lucrarea). In Annex B, it is mentioned also a Feasibility study, but actually we've never comissioned a feasibily study before for the mural paintings, and I am not sure it is possible to do so. Could you please kindly confirm that the two documents that I highlighted above are sufficient in the Application stage?
1. Title deeds / Documents providing information regarding the ownership rights or rights of use of real estates affected by the works - Copy of the valid relevant documents, such as title deed,the contract, concerning the quality of ownership and any other rights of the Applicants. In case an appropriation procedure is needed, the document of launching the procedure shall be attached. In case the land and / orbuilding / item of infrastructure is in concession/administration, etc., it must be proved that the duration of the concession/administration of the land and/or building / item of infrastructure is based on a long term contract/enactment (i.e. from the submission of the application and covering the implementation period and min. 5 years after the estimated month for the financial closure of the project) and that the owner of the real estate has given his written agreement (no standard format) that the applicant is free to perform the investment and stating that the land and / or building / item of infrastructure is free of any encumbrances, not the object of a pending litigation, not the object of a claim according to the
relevant national legislation.
2. For RO applicants: Feasibility study / DAIW (according to national legislation) - The study should be drawn up according to the national regulations regulating the content and formal requirements. In case a study is required its content must cover all the works element(s) of the planned project concerned and it has to contain a cost-benefit analysis.
Note! During the quality assessment feasibility related clarification(s) may be requested by the assessors. In your specific case, you should submit the documentation usually elaborated for obtaining the building permit. 132. If we intend to purchase the land where the development and part of the project implementation will take place with support, what supporting documents are required at the time of application?
However, please note that the purchase of land is limited to an amount of 10% of the total eligible expenditure for the operation, for derelict sites and for those formerly in industrial use which comprise buildings, that limit shall be increased to 15 %.
However, any related documents might be submitted to prove the maturity of the project. 133. Whether permit-required or non-permit technical documentation is prepared (Annex B Applicant’s Guide), the ownership relationship of the partner cannot be confirmed in the application phase since the sale can only be realized from supportive funds following a positive decision and the conclusion of TSZ. In this case, is the current owner's declaration of intent to sell acceptable?
134. How do we substantiate the relevant line of the cost plan, which includes the amount allocated for property acquisition?
135. If the resource utilization falls under public procurement, how can we ensure that the development takes place at the location ensuring the successful implementation and maintenance of the project's intended purpose?
The legislation in force related to public procurement should be followed. 136. What should be the expected start date of the projects? We are applying with a hard project.
137. The Hungarian Development Promotion Office (headquarter in Budapest; https://mfoi.org/) intends to submit a proposal for the HARD component as partner in the topic of built and cultural heritage protection, which – among others – aims to upgrade/renovate the Jewish cemeteries being part of the culture. The Lead Applicant will be the Kabbala Traditional Association of Csongrád, the partners from RO side are made up of the Jewish Community of Lugos and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Timisoara. The Hungarian Development Promotion Office is owned 100% by the state, established by the Government of Hungary in 2020 with the aim of contributing to the increase of Hungarian participation in direct EU-funded programmes as well as promoting actors from Hungary and Eastern Europe in submitting applications. The Office has legal competence covering the entire country and is a non-profit organisation. Therefore they would like to have it confirmed that based on Section 2.2.1.1. Eligibility of applicants of the Applicants’ Guide the Office being as a public entity does not need to open a branch office in the Programme area (e.g. in Szeged) according to the list of exceptions, namely ‘2) „In case the public entities headquarter is registered outside the eligible programme area without a branch office in the eligible area, the respective public entity may apply”.
138. Is it mandatory to have a public procurement specialist in the project management team in case of a project submitted under Priority Axis 1, S.O 2.4. ?
Consequently, the request to have a public procurement specialist it is not mandatory, but it will be scored in the quality assessment phase, if relevant. 139. Is it eligible the construction of the hall building on a property mortgaged by a previous bank loan transaction, there being no other claim or enforcement right on this property?
Consequently, the land and / or building / item of infrastructure where the hall is going to be built shall be free of any encumbrances (i.e. not mortgaged).
*Please note that this is not an official assessment, the provided answers are for clarification purposes only.
