Capacity Building in the Field of Climate Change in Turkey Grant Scheme (CCGS)

Capacity Building in the Field of Climate Change in Turkey Grant Scheme (CCGS)

Call for Proposals CFCU/TR2013/0327.05.01-02

(EuropeAid/138406/ID/ACT/TR)

issued by the CFCU on 21September2016 with deadline of 14November 2016

Clarifications

Note 1: Most of the questions that have been received concerning this call for proposals (call) can be answered by carefully reading the guidelines for grant applicants (guidelines).

Note 2:Please note that in the interest of equal treatment of applicants, the Contracting Authority does not give prior opinion on the eligibility of a lead applicant, a co-applicant, an affiliated entity, an action or specific activities (Please see Section 2.2.4 of the guidelines).

Please further note that the replies given to the questions on the eligibility of the applicants and their affiliated entities are provided solely for the question asked without consideration of whether the other eligibility criteria stated in the guidelines (Sections 2.1.1 and 2.1.2) are fulfilled or not.

General Issues

1.Could you explain the term “co-applicant”? What are the roles and responsibilities of the co-applicant?

A co-applicant participates in designing and implementing the action, and the costs the co-applicant incurs are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant. The co-applicant authorises the lead applicant to submit on their behalf the application and to sign the standard grant contract with the Contracting Authority (Central Finance and Contracts Unit), as well as, to be represented by the lead applicant in all matters concerning the grant contract.

The co-applicant accepts to prepare the concept note and full application form and its annexes together with the lead applicant.

2.Could you explain the term “affiliated entities”?

Only entities having a structural link with the applicants (i.e. the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular a legal or capital link may be considered as affiliated entities.

This structural link encompasses mainly two notions:

(i) Control, as defined in Directive 2013/34/EU on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:

Entities affiliated to a beneficiary may hence be:

-Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the applicant (granddaughter companies or second-tier subsidiaries) and the same applies to further tiers of control;

-Entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;

-Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the applicant (sister companies).

(ii) Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as a e.g. network, federation, association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate or the applicant participates in the same entity (e.g. network, federation, association) as the proposed affiliated entities.

Affiliated entity(ies) must satisfy the same eligibility criteria as the lead applicant and the co-applicant(s). They must sign the affiliated entity(ies)’s statement.

Please see Section 2.1.2 of the guidelines.

3.It is stated that the grant application form Part A - concept note should not exceed 5 pages. However, there are some explanations under each question. Should these sections also be included when calculating 5-page limit?

As stated in the instructions for drafting the concept note, when filling in the concept note, all the explanations (except the questions itself) should be deleted by the applicants. Only the questions and the replies provided by the applicants will be considered when checking the page limit. Please see grant application form Part A, Section-1.

4.Who will assess the project proposals?

Applications will be examined and evaluated by an evaluation committee with the possible assistance of external assessors.

The evaluation is under the responsibility of the CFCU, as the Contracting Authority, and will be carried out in line with the steps explained and the evaluation grids given in the guidelines under “Section 2.3 Evaluation and Selection of Applications”.

5.What is the composition of the evaluation committee for the subject Grant Scheme?

Like the rules for the submission, selection and implementation of the actions financed under this call, appointment and composition of the evaluation committee shall be in conformity with the Practical Guide(available at: that is also referenced in the guidelines. Considering confidentiality of the evaluation stage no other information related to the evaluation committee (formed in line with Section 2.8.1 of the Practical Guide) can be revealed.

6.When and where the info-days will be organized?

Announcement about the location, date and venue of the info-day organised for the call launched under the Programme was published at the CFCU website( 10.10.2016 and at the website of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization ( on 18.10.2016. Please also be informed that the info-day was organised on 20.10.2016.

7.Can institutions from the private sector attend the info-days?

There was no limitation for participation to the info-day. On the other hand, only institutions stated in Section 2.1.1 of the guidelines are eligible applicants for this call.

8.Can we get external support/hire a consultancy firm for the preparation of our proposal? Can the project be prepared by the co-applicant?

The decision of using external assistance for the preparation of the proposal is up to the Applicant.

However, please note that the “Declaration by the Lead Applicant” that is to be signed by the Applicant (see Part A section 3and Part B section 8 of the grant application form) and Section 2.1.1 of the guidelines clearly state that the Applicant is directly responsible for the preparation, management and implementation of the Action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), if any, and is not acting as an intermediary. In addition, costs incurred prior to the signature of the contract (including such consultancy costs) are ineligible costs, and thus cannot be included in the project budget.

Eligibility of Applicants (i.e. lead applicants, co-applicants) and their Affiliated Entities

(Section 2.1.1. and 2.1.2 of the Guidelines)

9.Who can apply to this call?

As stated in Section 2.1.1 of the guidelines, in order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:

For Lot 1:

be a legal person, and
be established in a Member State of the European Union or Turkey or an eligible country according to the IPA 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, and
be an NGO (including those established as not-for-profit companies/charitable organizations in the EU Member States or other eligible countries except Turkey) working in the field of environment and climate change,or
be a local government, or
be a municipality, or
be a university or its research institution/centre.

For Lot 2:

be a legal person, and
be established in a Member State of the European Union or Turkey or an eligible country according to the IPA 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, and
be a metropolitan municipality in Turkey, or
be a municipality in Member State of the European Union or other eligible countries according to the IPA Regulation (except Turkey).

Metropolitan municipalities (please see footnote 9 and Important Note-1in the guidelines) may only apply for Lot 2.

Please also see footnotes 2, 3,4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 in the guidelines.

10.Can an entity apply to this call without any co-applicants or associates?

For Lot 1: The lead applicant may act individually or with co-applicant(s). However,

-if the lead applicant is an NGO, it must have at least one local government or one municipality (as defined in section 2.1.1 (1)) as a co-applicant, and

-if the lead applicant is a local government or a municipality, it must have at least one NGO (as defined in section 2.1.1 (1)) as a co-applicant.

For Lot 2: The lead applicant may act individually or with co-applicant(s). However, if the lead applicant is a municipality in Member State of the European Union or other eligible countries according to the IPA Regulation (except Turkey), it must at least have a metropolitan municipality in Turkey (as defined in section 2.1.1 (1)) as a co-applicant.

For both lots, the lead applicants are not required to apply with an associate (Please see Section 2.1.3 of the guidelines).

11.We are a Turkish entity. Can we apply without any foreign co-applicant?

Yes. Please also see Reply-9 and 10.

12.For Lot 2, can only metropolitan municipalitiesbe co-applicants? Can other institutions be co-applicants?

For both lots, all entities defined as eligible for the lead applicants can also participate as co-applicants. Please also see Reply-9 and 10.

As stated in Section 2.1.1 of the guidelines,for Lot 2,the following are, also eligible as a co-applicant:

be an NGO (including those established as not-for-profit companies/charitable organizations in the EU Member States or other eligible countries except Turkey) working in the field of environment and climate change,
local governments,
municipalities,
universities or their research institutions/centres.

13.Can an entity be a co-applicant/affiliated entity in more than one project that will be submitted under this call?

As stated in Section 2.1.4 of the guidelines under heading “Number of applications and grants per applicants/affiliated entities”; a co-applicant/affiliated entity may be a co-applicant or affiliated entity in more than one application per lot. However, it should be noted that a co-applicant/affiliated entity may not be awarded more than one grant per lot.

14.We are an NGO working in (X) sector. Is our NGO eligible?

As stated in Section 2.2.4 of the guidelines, “to ensure equal treatment of applicants, the Contracting Authority cannot give a prior opinion on the eligibility of lead applicants, co-applicant(s), affiliated entity(ies), an action or specific activities”. Please also see Reply-9 and 10.

15.Can development agencies in Turkey apply as a lead applicant or co-applicant?

No, development agencies in Turkey cannot apply as a lead applicant or a co-applicant, as they are public bodies and do not fall into the “local government” definition provided in footnote 6 of the guidelines. However, they can participate in the projects as “associates” as long as they play a real role in the action and bring added value for reaching the project objectives.

16.Can exporters’ unions/chambers/commodity exchanges/trade unions apply as a lead applicant or co-applicant?

For Lot 1:All NGOs fulfilling the eligibility criteria stated in Section 2.1.1 of the guidelines can apply as a lead applicant or co-applicant.

For Lot 2:All NGOs fulfilling the eligibility criteria stated in Section 2.1.1 of the guidelines can apply as a co-applicant.

For both lots, the institutions in question should check footnote 4 in the guidelines to assess whether they fall into the NGO definition and they can prove it with necessary documentation when required.

17.Can an NGO from Turkey, as a lead applicant, apply with a municipality, as co-applicant,from an EUMember State or other eligible countries according to the IPA Regulation (except Turkey)?

For Lot 1: Yes.

For Lot 2:No, as NGOs are not eligible as lead applicant for Lot 2.

Please also see Reply-9, 10, 11, 12, 15 and 30.

18.Can branches of NGOs apply as a lead applicant or co-applicant?

All applicants (lead applicant, co-applicant(s)) and affiliated entity(ies) must have a legal entity as indicated in Section 2.1.1 of the guidelines.

Please note that as stated in Section 2.4 of the guidelines, branches of the organisations-even with a legal entity-must submit a confirmation letter from the headquarters demonstrating that the branch is registered in the target region, is an independent entity with its own set of accounts and that they will be responsible from the implementation of the project, in case they are provisionally selected or placed in the reserve list.

On the other hand, as indicated in Section 2.1.1 of the guidelines, headquarters of an association/foundation and its branch(es) cannot apply together in the same project as an lead applicant and co-applicant(s).

19.Can universities apply as a lead applicant or co-applicant?

For Lot 1: Universities can apply as a lead applicant or co-applicant.

For Lot 2: Universities may be co-applicants.

If a lead applicant or co-applicant is linked to a university (such as faculties, vocational schools, institutes or research centres etc.), the university itself will be regarded as a leadapplicant or co-applicant. Therefore, regardless of the involvement of different units of the university to a project, a university can only be awarded maximum two grants both as a co-applicant or one as a leadapplicant and one as a co-applicant (please see footnotes 7 and 8 in the guidelines).

20.Can cooperatives apply as a lead applicant or co-applicant?

For Lot 1:As long as they fall into the NGO definition (please see footnote 4 in the guidelines), cooperatives can apply as a lead applicant or a co-applicant.

For Lot 2: As long as they fall into the NGO definition (please see footnote 4 in the guidelines), cooperatives can apply as a co-applicant.

Not-for-profit cooperatives should demonstrate that their operations are strictly not-profit making. They must provide together with their supporting documents their statute in which a provision prohibits distribution of the profit to the shareholders during the verification of eligibility check stage. As an alternative, the cooperatives should demonstrate, through an audit report covering the last three years that its profit has not been distributed to the shareholders during the last three years. In addition, the Board of Directors should declare that profit will not be distributed to the shareholders in coming 5 years.

21.Can research and training centres affiliated to a Ministry apply as a lead applicant or co-applicant?

For Lot 1:No, only the research centres/institutions linked to a university can applyas a lead applicant or a co-applicant.

For Lot 2:No, only the research centres/institutions linked to a university can applyas a co-applicant.

Please see Section 2.1.1 footnote 7 and 8 of the guidelines. However, they can participate in the projects as “associates” as long as they play a real role in the action and bring added value for reaching the project objectives.Please also see Reply-19.

22.Can private enterprisesapply as a lead applicant or co-applicant?

No.Please see Section 2.1.1 of the guidelines. However, they can participate in the projects as “associates” as long as they play a real role in the action and bring added value for reaching the project objectives.

23.Can municipalities other than metropolitan municipalities apply for the Lot 2 as a lead applicant or co-applicant?

As stated in Section 2.1.1 of the guidelines, only metropolitan municipalities in Turkey or municipalities in EU Member States or other eligible countries according to the IPA Regulation (except Turkey) can be lead applicants for Lot 2.On the other hand, all municipalities (regardless of being metropolitan municipality) can be co-applicants for Lot 2.Please also see Reply-10 and 12.

24.Can a central district municipalityaffiliated to a Metropolitan Municipalitybe a lead applicant?

For Lot 1: Yes.

For Lot 2: No.However they can be co-applicants.

Please also see Reply-9, 10 and 23.

25.Can a co-applicant be a co-applicant in more than one project?

Yes, as stated in Section 2.1.4 a co-applicant/affiliated entity may be a co-applicant or affiliated entity in more than one application per lot under this call. However, a co-applicant/affiliated entity may not be awarded more than one grant per lot under this call for proposals. Please see Important Note-5in the guidelines.

26.Could you please explain the expression mentioned in the Section 2.1.1 “be an NGO (including those established as not-for-profit companies/charitable organizations in the EU Member States or other eligible countries except Turkey) working in the field of environment and climate change”? Can a Turkish NGO apply as a lead applicant or co-applicant?

The clarifications mentioned in this sentence applicable for the NGOs from EU Member States or other eligible countries except Turkey.

Regarding Turkish NGOs:

For Lot 1: A Turkish NGO can apply as a lead applicant or co-applicant.

For Lot 2:A Turkish NGO can apply as a co-applicant.

27.Which institutions are meant with the expression “local government”?

As stated in the footnote 6 of the guidelines,“local governments” in Turkey refer to provincial special administration, village, governorate and district governorate.

For other eligible countries, entities with similar structures/roles/establishment procedures etc. will be regarded as local government. Such entities should assess whether they can be considered aslocal government and they can prove it with necessary documentation when required.

Eligibility of Actions

(Section 2.1.4 of the Guidelines)

28.We have implemented a (X) project. Is this experience acceptable for you? How will the proficiency of the institution be determined?

If the concept note is pre-selected, financial and operational capacity of the applicants will be evaluated during the full application form evaluation. During the assessment, information about the previous experience of the applicants (lead applicant and co-applicant(s)) and the affiliated entities (if any) written in the relevant sections of the full application form is considered according to the questions in the Evaluation Grid provided in the Section 2.3 of the guidelines.

In this manner, all experience considered as appropriate should be reflected in the relevant sections of the full application form. However, please note that as this is a restricted call, only the concept notes will be submitted at this stage.

It is important to note that in this section of the Evaluation Grid, while the operational capacities of all the involved parties (lead applicant, co-applicant, and affiliated entity) are considered; only the lead applicant’s finance sources are taken into account for the financial capacity.

29.We would like to submit a (X) project under (Y) priority area. Is this project eligible?