The European Commission seeks to support environmental sustainable of small-scale inland and marine fisheries in Eastern Africa, Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean region. The objective of this call is to secure more sustainable fisheries management and contribute to marine biodiversity and climate resilience. Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between €500 thousand and €1 million. Eligibility extends to a wide variety of organisations, including non-profit, social enterprise, businesses, local governments, or international organizations.
These guidelines set out the rules for the submission, selection and implementation of the actions financed under this call, in conformity with the practical guide, which is applicable to the present call
There are three sets of eligibility criteria, relating to:
- the actors:
- The ‘lead applicant’, i.e. the entity submitting the application form (2.1.1),
- if any, its co-applicant(s) (where it is not specified otherwise the lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) are hereinafter jointly referred as ‘applicant(s)’) (2.1.1),
- and, if any, affiliated entity(ies) to the lead applicant and/or to a co-applicant(s). (2.1.2);
- the actions:
Actions for which a grant may be awarded (2.1.4);
- the costs:
- types of cost that may be taken into account in setting the amount of the grant (2.1.5).
1.1.1. Eligibility of applicants (i.e. lead applicant and co-applicant(s))
Lead applicant
(1) In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
- be a legal person and
- be a specific type of organisation such as: non-governmental organisation, public sector operator (government bodies), local authority, a Non-State Actor (NSA), a business organisation (producer organisation, MSMEs, cooperatives and social enterprises), a research institute constituted in accordance with the legislation in force in the Member States of the five Duly Mandated Regional Organisations of the EA-SA-IO region, or an international (inter-governmental) organisation as defined by Article 43 of the rules of application of the EU Financial Regulation ; and
- be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.
[1] Note that a lead applicant (i.e. a coordinator) whose pillars have been positively assessed by the European Commission and who is awarded a grant will not sign the standard grant contract published with these guidelines but a contribution agreement based on the contribution agreement template. All references in these guidelines and other documents related to this call to the standard grant contract shall in this case be understood as referring to the relevant provisions of the contribution agreement template.
[2] The five Duly Mandated Regional Organisations (DMROs) are Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa ( COMESA), East African Community (EAC) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
[3] International organisations are international public-sector organisations set up by intergovernmental agreements as well as specialised agencies set up by them; the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are also recognised as international organisations.
