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The specific objective of this call for proposals is to support actions submitted by Local Authorities[1] which aim at promoting an inclusive and empowered society in partner countries. Those actions must have a global, multi-country character and comprise activities aiming at improving the capacity of Local Authorities from partner countries to engage in local, national and international decision making processes.

· Actions which fall traditionally under the mandate, statutory responsibilities, competence and expertise of Local Authorities, such as territorial planning, land use, water and sanitation, waste management, urban strategic planning, public transport, risk prevention, local finance and other public social services such as primary health care, education, culture and environment or climate change). Particular attention will be paid to actions providing innovative service delivery and service delivery in difficult/out of reach environments, as well as actions aiming at fighting urban poverty, in particular through the support to exchanges of experiences of Local Authorities in managing metropolitan areas.

· Actions exploring synergies between Local Authorities and Non State Actors by building the capacity of local governments and enabling people and their community organizations to interact with their local governments, including actions aiming at developing and strengthening networks between Local Authorities and other local actors, such as local NGOs, local companies, foundations, trade unions, universities, hospitals, commercial and farmers associations, migrant, sport and youth associations, etc. Activities promoting cooperation between LA and NSA in terms of dialogue, policy making, implementation and monitoring should be encouraged.

· Actions aiming at strengthening the capacity of local authorities and local government associations at national, regional and international level to increase their role in decentralisation processes, to increase local government participation in strategies to reach MDGs, to develop a more efficient aid agenda, as well as actions aiming at increasing recognition of local authorities as partners in regional development and integration policies;

· Actions aiming at strengthening linkages, partnerships, associations and networking (North-South and South-South) between Local Authorities, particularly as regards associations or transnational networks in partner countries.

Considering that the lack of capacity of local organisations in partner countries remains a major problem, all actions must include an element of capacity building.

Actions should have a global, multi-country or regional character and must take place in at least two partner countries. Priority will be given to actions covering ‘Least Developed Countries’ (LDCs) as defined by the OECD in the DAC List of ODA Recipients as of 1 January 2009, and in particular in those LDCs which are not included in the list of targeted countries for in-country interventions[2].

All actions should be based on an initiative of local partners and should ensure their involvement during all stages of the implementation of the action. Actions proposed by LA originating from the European Union must be based on an established and effective partnership with local organisations in the partner countries where the actions are taking place. Equally, actions proposed by LA from a partner country must be carried out in close cooperation with partners established in the other country or countries where the actions are taking place.

Whenever possible, particular attention should be paid to cross-cutting issues contributing to the achievement of the global objective of poverty reduction, such as the promotion of human rights, gender equality and promotion of the role of women in local societies, rights of children and elderly people, rights of persons with disabilities, environment and climate change, as well as fight against HIV/AIDS. Whenever relevant, actions have to clearly demonstrate how these issues have been and will be taken into account in their design, implementation and monitoring. At the same time, principles such as empowerment, participation, non-discrimination of vulnerable groups and accountability must also be adequately taken into account.

In all actions, LA must remain in charge and in control of the execution of services proposed, and mechanisms must be put in place to ensure sustainability of the actions after the project has ended. Furthermore, coherence with relevant sectoral policies, fair conditions of access to most vulnerable populations, quality of services rendered, as well as implementation of control and monitoring mechanisms by users should be ensured.

The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals from the 2008 budget is EUR 12.866.000 from budget-line 21.03.02. Subject to the decision of the Budgetary Authority and subsequent European Commission Decision, a similar additional amount may be allocated to this Call for Proposals from the 2009 budget.

The European Commission reserves the right not to award all available funds. Equally, this amount could be increased should more funds become available.

§ Countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia 7 % EUR 900.000
and the Middle East and Mediterranean countries:

Where the financial envelopes indicated above cannot be used due to insufficient quality or number of proposals received, the European Commission reserves the right to reallocate the remaining funds to another geographic area or to fund other components of the thematic programme “Non-State Actors and Local Authorities in Development”.

Any grant awarded under this programme must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

- For proposals submitted by Local Authorities from a partner country, the grant may not exceed 90% of the total eligible costs of the action (see also section 2.1.4). The balance (i.e. the difference between the total cost of the action and the amount requested from the EC) must be financed from the applicant's or partners' own resources, or from sources other than the European Community budget or the European Development Fund.

- For proposals submitted by European[4] Local Authorities, the grant may not exceed 75% of the total eligible costs of the actions (see also section 2.1.4). The balance (i.e. the difference between the total cost of the action and the amount requested from the EC) must be financed from the applicant's or partners' own resources, or from sources other than the European Community budget or the European Development Fund.

These guidelines set out the rules for the submission, selection and implementation of actions financed under this call, in conformity with the provisions of the Practical Guide to contract procedures for EC external actions.

The majority of terms used in the present guidelines are explained in the Glossary to the Practical Guide to contract procedures for EC external actions.

In addition to the Glossary, the following definitions apply to the present guidelines:

Partnership the grouping of organisations i.e. the main applicant and its partners for the purpose of implementing the proposed action

Applicant the lead organisation within the partnership, responsible for submitting the application

Associate organisation that plays an active role in the action but which cannot benefit from funding under the grant

Subcontractor organisation identified and contracted by the beneficiary or its partner(s) in accordance with the appropriate procedures in order to execute specific tasks in implementing the action

Re-granting financial support that can be given to third parties by the beneficiary of the Community grant under specific conditions defined in the Article 120 of the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities and the Article 184a of the Rules for the implementation of the Financial Regulation[5]

· types of cost which may be taken into account in setting the amount of the grant (2.1.4).

· be Local Authorities (LA) or associations of Local Authorities[7] from a Member State of the European Union or from one of the partner countries in which the action will take place, constituted in accordance with the legislation in force in the country concerned. Associations of LA must have legal personality and they must have been registered for at least three years at the time of the submission of an application. and

· be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with their partners, not acting as an intermediary and

· be able to demonstrate that they have regularly carried out activities in the field of development of the kind covered by this programme. LA must have carried out such development activities at least during the last five years at the time of the submission of an application; for associations of LA, this requirement is limited to the last three years.

(2) Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations which are listed in Section 2.3.3 of the Practical Guide to contract procedures for EC external actions (available at the address indicated at the beginning of section 2).

In part A, section III of the grant application form (“Declaration by the applicant”), applicants must declare that they do not fall into any of those situations.

Given the character of this programme and its multi-actor approach, working in partnership is a prerequisite for the success of the actions.

All actions must be based on an initiative of local organisations (LA and/or NSA) in the partner countries where the actions will take place and should ensure their involvement during all stages of the implementation of the action.

For actions presented by European LA, partnership with local actors (LA and/or NSA) in each of the partner countries where the proposed action is going to take place, is obligatory. Projects must respond to an initiative from at least one of these local partners.

Actions presented by LA from a partner country must be carried out in close cooperation with partners (LA and/or NSA) established in the other partner country/ies in which the actions will take place.

Apart from the above requirements, it is understood that more than one European partner (LA and/or NSA) may participate in any given action. Equally, there may be more than one partner organisation in the individual partner countries (LA and/or NSA) in which the action will take place.

Applicants’ partners participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the grant Beneficiary.

LA or associations of LA must therefore satisfy the same eligibility criteria as applicants, with the exception that there is neither a minimum time limit with regard to the registration of associations of L A, nor a minimum limit with regard to the years of experience required. However, LA and associations of LA must have adequate experience in the field of development of the kind covered by this programme.

Furthermore, in duly justified cases and if necessary in the interest of the action, Ministries (notably Ministries of Health or Education or decentralised departments of these Ministries) may also act as local partners. However, for actions presented by European actors, local Ministries may never be the only partner for an action. Given their status, there are no other specific eligibility criteria for Ministries and no supporting documents have to be supplied (see section 2.4.)

[1] Please note that under this specific call for proposals only applications presented by Local Authorities (or associations of Local Authorities) can be taken into consideration.
A separate call for proposals for applications presented by Non-State Actors is being published simultaneously.

[2] For the partner countries eligible under this call for proposals, please refer to annex I attached to the present Guidelines for grant applicants. For ease of reference, LDCs for which no in-country interventions are foreseen are earmarked with an asterisk.
For the list of ‘Least Developed Countries’ (LDCs) please consult the OECD website at the following address: www.oecd.org/dac/stats/daclist.
The list of targeted countries where in-country interventions are foreseen can be found in the Annual Action Programme for 2008, Action Fiche I, at the address indicated under footnote 1.

[3] When submitting proposals please bear in mind the limited funds available for certain geographic areas.

[4] Please note that throughout this document the term “European” (eg. European partner, European LA or NSA) refers to “organisations from a Member State of the European Union” .

[5] http://ec.europa.eu/budget/documents/financial_regulation_en.htm

[6] Please note that additional eligibility criteria and conditions will apply for actions in the field of microfinance. There are specific requirements with regard to the applicant and the partner in the field as well as with regard to the types of action which can be funded under this programme. Please refer to annex H which regroups all additional criteria for actions in the field of microfinance.

[7] This term includes networks of associations of Local Authorities: a group of associations with a permanent representative body established as an autonomous organisation in accordance with the laws in force in the country concerned. It must comply with all the eligibility criteria laid down, and must be able to assume full contractual responsibility for the actions undertaken, based on a mandate from the members of the network. The network must have the capacity to manage an action of the scale of that which is being proposed..

[8] Non-State Actors include: non governmental organisations, organisations representing indigenous peoples, organisations representing national and/or ethnic minorities, local traders' associations and citizens' groups, cooperatives, trade unions, organisations representing economic and social interests, organisations fighting corruption and fraud and promoting good governance, civil rights organisations and organisations combating discrimination, local organisations (including networks) involved in decentralised regional cooperation and integration, consumer organisations, women's and youth organisations, teaching, cultural, research and scientific organisations, universities, churches and religious associations and communities, the media and any non governmental associations and independent foundations, including independent political foundations.

[9] Exceptionally and when duly justified, entities based in the partner country concerned which do not have legal personality under the applicable national law may be considered eligible to participate in the Action as partner organisation, provided that the representatives of these entities have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf and assume financial liability.

[10] For NSA, the nationality is determined on the basis of the organisation’s statutes which should demonstrate that it has been established by an instrument governed by the internal law of the country concerned. In this respect, any legal entity whose statutes have been established in another country cannot be considered an eligible organisation, even if it is registered locally or accompanied by a “Memorandum of Understanding”.