Interreg IPA Romania-Serbia Programme (2021-2027)
First call for proposals (deadline for submission: 01.03.2023)
Q1: Is it possible for one partner to have a smaller percentage of investments than 50%?
A: As provisioned by the Applicant’s guide, Chapter 2. Rules of the call for proposals, the programme will only finance projects which dedicate at least 50% of their budget to investment activities. Considering these provisions, there can be one partner with an investment component of less than 50% of its budget as long as, at the level of the project the 50% are achieved (one or more partners have included a larger percentage to the investments).
Q2: Is it mandatory to have the PIC number to submit projects? If this is not mandatory, how can the PIC field be filled in?
A: For an easier identification of each applicant, it is strongly recommended to also use the PIC number (which can be obtained by registering within the EC Participant Register7) when filling in the Partner Identity Information in Jems. The link for applying for the PIC number is posted on the Programme website under the section dedicated for the first call for proposals (https://romania-serbia.net/implementation/applicant-guide/).
If you decide not to obtain the PIC number, the field corresponding to the PIC number, in section B.1.1, will not be filled in.
Q3: The supporting documents must be translated by an authorized translator?
A: According to the Applicant’s Guide, section 2.3.4, the following documents must be submitted together with their English translation:
– Legalized mandates of delegation from the legal representatives of partners;
– The decisions of the empowered bodies (county/local council, board of directors etc.);
– Legal documents of the applicants (English translation for the relevant provisions);
– Documents certifying the ownership status of the land and/or building;
– Feasibility studies/ Conceptual Design (Idejni projekat) / General design (Generalni projekat) or any other design document elaborated by the licenced designer (In case of Conceptual Design/ General Design or other design submitted by Serbian partners, only the General description (textual part of documentation) and Bill of Quantities have to be in English);
– Legal documents for projects with border crossing points.
The English translation does not have to be elaborated by an authorized translator.
Q4: What is the minimum number of offers that must be submitted for the goods/services to be purchased during the project implementation?
A: In order to respect the provisions of the Applicant’s Guide, Annex F, List of eligible expenditure, Art. 1, (1), a), namely compliance with the principles of sound financial management, a market research for the goods and services budgeted should be performed. However, this market analysis does not have to be attached to the application form before the deadline for submission.
All documents that have to be submitted together with the application form (uploaded in the electronic monitoring system – Jems) are listed in section “2.3.4 Required documents to be submitted with the Application form” of the Applicant’s Guide.
Q5: For intervention works to an existing building do we need to submit a feasibility study or a documentation for approval of intervention works?
A: According to the Applicant’s Guide, section 2.3.4 Documents requested to be submitted together with the application form, in the case of projects in which infrastructure works are foreseen, the feasibility studies/Conceptual Design (Idejni projekat) / General design (Generalni projekat) or any other design document elaborated by the licensed designerthat contains description of construction works and Bill of Quantities The development and approval of these documents must observe the national provisions in this matter.
Considering the above, as well as the provisions of art. 5 of HG 907/206, in the case of the Romanian partners, for the investment works on an existing construction, the approval documentation for the intervention works (DALI) must be attached to the application form.
Q6: Is there a limitation in the number of result indicators we can choose for our project?
A: With the exception of RCR 85, which cannot be selected on its own – meaning it has to be complemented by another result indicator set at the level of that specific objective-, there is no limitation in the number of result indicators one project can contribute to. However, it is mandatory to select the result indicators linked with the output indicators you have selected. Also, please keep in mind that you can define up to 20 results for your projects in connection to the result indicators selected.
Q7: Where can we find more details regarding the coverage of an output?
A: Please check Annex A – Guide for indicators (https://romania-serbia.net/implementation/applicant-guide/) for more details regarding the outputs and results, keeping in mind that all the conditions described in relation to the Programme`s output and result indicators also apply to the project`s outputs and results.
Q8: How do we measure the area of green walls?
A: The area of green walls will be measured just like for any other green infrastructure supported, meaning that it is measured the surface of the green walls supported by the project.
Q9: Is there a limitation regarding the expenditures incurred outside the programme area?
A: There is no limitation, but please be aware that investment expenditures shall be done only in the Programme area as long as they are linked with an investment defined as such in JeMS. However, any investment which is not linked with an investment defined as such in JeMS will not be taken into account for the calculation of the 50% of the total budget dedicated to investment condition. For more details, please consult the Corrigendum to the Applicant`s Guide published on the programme website.
Q10: Is it mandatory for the budgetary execution included in the Partnership Agreement to correspond to the one described in the Application Form?
A: Yes, it is, since the Partnership Agreement is tailor-made based on the data included in the Application Form.
Q11: Is there a minimum number of roles which need to be joint in the project management team, so that the project can be considered as cooperating also in staffing?
A: There is not a minimum number of roles to be jointly carried out, but please have in view that the proposed project management team should prove its ability to successfully deal with all the project implementation tasks.
Q12: Priority 2 (Social and economic development), Specific objective 1 (Improving equal access to inclusive and quality services in education, training and life-long learning through accessible infrastructure, including by fostering resilience for distance and on-line education and training):
Q12.1: Regarding the training and life-long learning part, please clarify what is the minimum number of students required to be trained annually / during the implementation of the project. At the same time, we are interested in the structure of the target group, based on nationality: the share of students of Romanian nationality, respectively the share of students of Serbian nationality.
A: The number of trainees is established according to the identified needs and the profile of your project activities. Also, the share of Romanian and Serbian learners is established according to the identified needs and the profile of your project activities.
Q12.2: Considering the 3 counties in Romania and the 6 eligible districts of Serbia, please clarify whether the pupils/students/teachers/other trained learners must be mandatory only from the counties/districts to which the partners belong or may be from the entire coverage area (eligible counties/districts).
A: According to the Applicant’s Guide, section 2.2.2 Eligibility of actions (operations), as a general rule, “the activities for which funding is requested must take place within the scope of the program, and applicants are required to demonstrate that these activities have a cross-border impact in the program area”.
Q12.3: In order to achieve PSR 02 (Annual users of the supported investments in education, training and life-long learning services), please clarify the term “user” (user=user or user=learner).
A: According to the “Guide for indicators” (Annex A to the Applicant’s Guide), this result indicator indicates “the number of pupils/students/persons benefiting from the supported investments in education, training and life-long learning services. One individual can be counted more than once if using the investments multiple times, but for different purposes, or if using different facilities (if the investment is used recurrently, one individual will be counted only once no matter how many times it uses the investment). The teachers, parents, auxiliary personnel or any other persons that may use the services with other purpose than benefitting from educational/training services are not counted.”
Q13: Is there a limitation on the number of projects that an institution can submit, both as a beneficiary and as a partner?
A: There is no limitation on the number of projects that an institution can submit, both as a project leader and as a partner, but the cooperation criteria set out in the Applicant’s Guide must be respected (development, implementation and financing of the project jointly with the other partners are mandatory, while the provision of a joint project team is optional). At the same time, each partner must ensure that it has the administrative and financial capacity to implement all submitted projects.
Q14: Can a member of a team work on 2 positions? For example, to be a driver (indirect expenses) and a researcher within the team (direct expenses)?
A: The costs related to the staff employed for the implementation of the project will be included in the budget line “Staff costs” and will be budgeted and reimbursed as the flat rate applied to direct costs, while the costs related to the administrative staff will be included in the budget line “Office and administration”, budgeted and reimbursed, also as flat rate applied to direct costs.
For the staff hired for the implementation of the project (“Staff costs”), along with the applicative form, the job descriptions for each position will have to be submitted. No supporting documents will have to be submitted for the administrative staff.
If a person has attributions both in the implementation of the project, as part of the staff employed for the implementation of the project, and as administrative staff, between his current attributions within the partner organization in the project being found administrative tasks (driver, accountant), you will have to make sure that the cumulative time norm for the 2 activities does not exceed the time norm provided by the applicable national legislation.
Q15: Can a person with activity as a PFA (authorized natural person) be included as an external expert in the project? Or should it be included as a team member, mandatory with an employment contract?
A: The costs related to the staff employed for the implementation of the project will be included in the budget line “Staff costs” and, according to Annex F, include salary payments and other costs directly related to the salary payments and paid by the employer (such as salary taxes and mandatory social contributions) according to the employment contract.
In the case of external experts necessary for carrying out various activities within the project, they will be included in the budget line “External expertise and services” and the contracting of these services will be done in compliance with the legislation on public procurement. In this case, the Authorized Natural Persons may participate as bidders in the public procurement process.
The persons employed in the project implementation team cannot also be experts hired by a service provider selected following a public procurement procedure.
Q16: Can the position of personnel manager and that of accounting manager be assumed by a single person?
A: For the staff hired for the implementation of the project (“Staff costs”), along with the applicative form, the job descriptions for each position will have to be submitted. According to Annex F to the Applicant’s Guide, personnel costs include the gross costs paid for the staff employed full-time, part-time fixed or variable-time during the implementation of the project.
If a person meets the conditions stipulated in the job descriptions for 2 positions, you will have to make sure that the cumulative time norm for the 2 activities does not exceed the time norm provided by the applicable national legislation.
Q17: Is a private high school eligible (….), as it is of public utility in the international system?
A: According to the Applicant’s Guide for the first call for proposals, in order to be eligible for funding, an applicant must meet, among others, the following criteria:
– To be a non-profit organization legally established according to the national legislation of the state on whose territory it is located,
– To be legally organized as:
§ public school or other public educational institution operating in the area of the program,
§ non-profit body (as stipulated in art. 192 of the Regulation (EU, Euratom) 1046/2018), including associations and business support organizations and NGOs registered and operating in the program area.
According to art. 60 (1) of (Romanian) Law 1/2011, “Private and confessional education is organized according to the non-profit principle in pre-university education institutions, at all levels and forms, according to the legislation in force”.
However, in order to establish eligibility, the assessment of the state aid incidence must also be taken into account. Thus, more attention should be paid to Annex 3 _State-aid self-assessment of the Applicant’s Guide, which allows you to make an initial self-assessment regarding the incidence of state aid, not allowed within the Interreg IPA Romania-Serbia Programme.
Please be aware that the eligibility of the activities and of the applicants/ the incidence of state aid are assessed by the evaluation committee/ external evaluators, based on the information and documents provided with the applicative form uploaded in the electronic management system (JEMS), before the deadline for submitting applications.
Q18: How many work packages can one project have?
A: Only one work package is allowed per project. The name of the work package could be “Implementation”.
Q19: How many investments can one project have?
A: A number of maximum 20 investments can be created for a project, under the work package.
Q20: Are all flat rates compulsory?
A: The applicable flat rates must be chosen (ticked) from each partner’s budget section and for each of them the needed percentage should be indicated. Staff and Travel & accommodation flat rates shall be chosen only if the partner has provisioned staff for the project.
Q21: Are the lump sums compulsory?
A: Yes, the Project preparation and Project closure lump sums are compulsory and must be added from the E.1 Project lump sums section.
Q22: Are all fields of the Application form necessary?
A: Yes, all fields must be filled in. If one field does not apply to one project/partner, it can be filled in with N/A. For each field left empty, the system will give an error at pre-submission check.
Q23: What to write in the Project overall objective section?
A: In this section the type(s) of actions chosen by the project MUST be clearly indicated. Also, a mandatory description of the type(s) of actions, under the specific objective in the Programme, to which the project is contributing to, must be written. Please note that the project MUST fall within the scope of at least one type of action.
Q24: How to fill in the partner’s co-financing (contribution)?
A: Romanian partners must add State budget in the Origin of partner contribution sub-sectionfrom the Co-financing section. Amounts for Origin of partner contribution sources must be calculated, as the system does not automatically calculate the amounts corresponding to 13% and 2%.
Q25: How to link one expenditure to an investment?
A: For expenditure dedicated to investments (infrastructure & works and equipment related to an investment defined in JeMS), is advisable to define all the investments first and then to fill in the budget fields. After defining all investments in the Project work plan/ Investments section, when adding an expenditure (in the Partner budget section) that is linked to one investment, that investment must be chosen from the drop-down menu.
Q26: How to submit the application form?
A: All projects have to be submitted via the electronic system (JEMS) before the deadline stated in the Applicant’s Guide. In order to submit one project, after filling in all the fields, click on the Run pre-submission check from the Check & submit section, correct all the errors (if the case) and click on Submit project application button, after the Pre-submission check returns no errors.
Q28: Where can I find more information and help on how to use the JEMS?
A: Technical details on how to use the JEMS can be found in the User’s manual at the following link: https://jems.interact-eu.net/manual/, in the section: User manual/ Application/Project details/ Application form.
Q29: What does recoverable VAT mean and how does it impact the eligibility of VAT?
A: According to the European Commission interpretation of the judgement of the General Court of 22 June 2022 in Case T-357/19 Italy v Commission (‘the Judgment’), the VAT is ineligible exclusively when recoverable by the beneficiary under national VAT legislation.
