Updated: 16 October 2019
The fifth call has closed. We thank all applicants for their interest. We will now begin assessment according to the timetable below. A statistical overview of the applications has been published and it is available here.
Final tips for 5th Call Applicants
(This presentation was firstly used on 9.October 2019, during our Annual Event)
What is funded?
The ERDF support rate for partners from Estonia and Latvia is 85% and for partners from Finland and Sweden is 75%. However, take into account that the overall ERDF support on project level is limited to 81%.
Timetable
A project partner can be a public authority (national, regional and local) as well as a body governed by public or private law. Only large companies are excluded from acting as partners. The detailed descriptions of partner eligibility can be found in the Programme Manual. The minimum number of partners in a project is two and they must be from two programme area countries.
General information about the application process
The application process in the 5th call is done in 1-step for both small and regular projects. This means that the applicant is expected to fill in the full application, including budget, in the eMS immediately.
Partner search
Our national Contact Points are happy to help you with finding relevant partners in other regions, and to provide you with information on the basic project requirements on the programme level. If you need partners, the partner search notice board is also a good place to look at.
Mandatory consultations
To ensure a good fit between the project application and the programme specific objectives, consultations with the Joint Secretriat are mandatory for this call. In practise this means filling in the project idea form and submitting it for comments to the Project Managers and Coordinators at the JS.
Simplified cost option for the 5th call
In the 5th call, the Central Baltic programme will introduce a new simplified cost option possibility, which is called a 40% flat rate. This possibility is defined in the EU regulation, and its purpose is to simplify checking, certifying, and paying of the eligible costs for projects part-financed by the European Union, in this case the European Regional Development Fund. When using this method, a project will provide a detailed calculation of staff costs, and the other project costs will be calculated as a 40% share of the eligible staff costs of the project. Thus, the project budget finally consists of only two types of costs: Staff costs and costs under the flat rate.
For whom?
The use of the simplified cost option is voluntary. If a project chooses to apply it, it must be applied for all project partners. The suitability of this simplified cost option for any given project depends on the activity structure of the project. Typically, it is not suitable for projects that are heavy on investments, or which have a low share of salary costs. Each project planning to utilise this simplified cost option must carefully plan the project budget to determine the suitability. The project must also discuss it with the Joint Secretariat during the mandatory consultation.
How to apply?
The Lead Applicant will fill in the project application in eMS normally and indicate whether the project is interested in using this option. As a part of the assessment process, the evaluators of the project applications will decide whether the activity structure of the project allows the use of the simplified cost option. If it does, the project has the possibility of using it if it chooses to do so. More specific information regarding the staff tasks and their connections to the project work plan, as well as about the project activities and especially their timeline will be requested.
How to report?
Reporting of project activities and achievement of project results and outputs is done as usual, but the implementation of project activities in the planned timeframe will be more closely monitored. Regarding financial reporting, a project will only report staff costs. In the First Level Control only the staff costs are checked, and a 40% share of the approved staff costs will be paid to the project as flat rate costs. The project does not report invoices or book-keeping about the costs that are under the flat rate.
Even though the truthfulness of the flat rate costs is not monitored, the project partners must comply with relevant EU and/or national rules and regulations as well as all programme rules regarding for example public procurement and information regulations and follow the principles of sound financial management. The project partners must retain all official files, documents and data about the project in a safe and orderly manner for possible audits.
Please refer to the Central Baltic Programme manual and the Guide for Filling in the Application Form for more information. They will be updated during June. You are encouraged to contact the Joint Secretariat with any remaining questions.
Getting started
Here are some tips and pointers to help you get started with your project idea
Review the Guide for Filling in the Application Form as well as the Programme Manual.
A Project Applicant Seminar took place on 11. June 2019 in Riga. The recording of the seminar are available here (Part 1, Part 2)
The fifth call has closed. We thank all applicants for their interest. We will now begin assessment according to the timetable below. A statistical overview of the applications has been published and it is available here.
Final tips for 5th Call Applicants
(This presentation was firstly used on 9.October 2019, during our Annual Event)
What is funded?
- For this call all Specific Objectives (SOs) are open for applications.
- In total, at least 12m euros are available in four priorities.
- The exact amount of available funding will be influenced by returning funds from implementing projects.
The ERDF support rate for partners from Estonia and Latvia is 85% and for partners from Finland and Sweden is 75%. However, take into account that the overall ERDF support on project level is limited to 81%.
Timetable
- One-step call, eMS open for applications 15.8.-15.10.2019, 15:00 Finnish time (EEST)
- JS assessment from October to December 2019
- Funding decisions January 2020
- Projects can start on 1st of February 2020
- Projects can continue implementation until 31 December 2022.
Get informed from our national Contact Points about...
Who can apply?A project partner can be a public authority (national, regional and local) as well as a body governed by public or private law. Only large companies are excluded from acting as partners. The detailed descriptions of partner eligibility can be found in the Programme Manual. The minimum number of partners in a project is two and they must be from two programme area countries.
General information about the application process
The application process in the 5th call is done in 1-step for both small and regular projects. This means that the applicant is expected to fill in the full application, including budget, in the eMS immediately.
Partner search
Our national Contact Points are happy to help you with finding relevant partners in other regions, and to provide you with information on the basic project requirements on the programme level. If you need partners, the partner search notice board is also a good place to look at.
Get in touch with the project team at the Joint Secretariat about...
Mandatory consultations To ensure a good fit between the project application and the programme specific objectives, consultations with the Joint Secretriat are mandatory for this call. In practise this means filling in the project idea form and submitting it for comments to the Project Managers and Coordinators at the JS.
Simplified cost option for the 5th call
In the 5th call, the Central Baltic programme will introduce a new simplified cost option possibility, which is called a 40% flat rate. This possibility is defined in the EU regulation, and its purpose is to simplify checking, certifying, and paying of the eligible costs for projects part-financed by the European Union, in this case the European Regional Development Fund. When using this method, a project will provide a detailed calculation of staff costs, and the other project costs will be calculated as a 40% share of the eligible staff costs of the project. Thus, the project budget finally consists of only two types of costs: Staff costs and costs under the flat rate.
For whom?
The use of the simplified cost option is voluntary. If a project chooses to apply it, it must be applied for all project partners. The suitability of this simplified cost option for any given project depends on the activity structure of the project. Typically, it is not suitable for projects that are heavy on investments, or which have a low share of salary costs. Each project planning to utilise this simplified cost option must carefully plan the project budget to determine the suitability. The project must also discuss it with the Joint Secretariat during the mandatory consultation.
How to apply?
The Lead Applicant will fill in the project application in eMS normally and indicate whether the project is interested in using this option. As a part of the assessment process, the evaluators of the project applications will decide whether the activity structure of the project allows the use of the simplified cost option. If it does, the project has the possibility of using it if it chooses to do so. More specific information regarding the staff tasks and their connections to the project work plan, as well as about the project activities and especially their timeline will be requested.
How to report?
Reporting of project activities and achievement of project results and outputs is done as usual, but the implementation of project activities in the planned timeframe will be more closely monitored. Regarding financial reporting, a project will only report staff costs. In the First Level Control only the staff costs are checked, and a 40% share of the approved staff costs will be paid to the project as flat rate costs. The project does not report invoices or book-keeping about the costs that are under the flat rate.
Even though the truthfulness of the flat rate costs is not monitored, the project partners must comply with relevant EU and/or national rules and regulations as well as all programme rules regarding for example public procurement and information regulations and follow the principles of sound financial management. The project partners must retain all official files, documents and data about the project in a safe and orderly manner for possible audits.
Please refer to the Central Baltic Programme manual and the Guide for Filling in the Application Form for more information. They will be updated during June. You are encouraged to contact the Joint Secretariat with any remaining questions.
Apply
Getting started Here are some tips and pointers to help you get started with your project idea
- Review our Priorities and Specific Objectives
- See what kind of projects have been funded
- Check the application phase documents (http://centralbaltic.eu/document-categories/application-phase) and from there, especially the project idea form. We will inform about the updated guidance documents on this page, once they become available.
- Start preparing your project proposal already NOW.
- The eMS will be open for applications between 15.8.-15.10.2019, 15:00 Finnish time
Review the Guide for Filling in the Application Form as well as the Programme Manual.
A Project Applicant Seminar took place on 11. June 2019 in Riga. The recording of the seminar are available here (Part 1, Part 2)