Publication of Calls for expressions of interest - DG REGIO

Objective of the call:

Under this call, DG REGIO seeks expressions of interest from national and regional authorities to test a diagnostic framework developed by the World Bank that supports Member States to design and implement sustainability transitions. The methodology termed “Sustainability Transition Assessment Framework” offers a tool to Member States to assess and contribute to the improvement of their capacity to support sustainability transitions, to enhance the effectiveness of cohesion policy funding during the 2021-2027 period and to identify capacity gaps in the design and implementation of sustainability policies and investments. The analysis conducted through the Sustainability Transition Assessment Framework will permit the identification and prioritization of a selected number of areas and related recommended actions, which have the largest possibility to generate positive change in Member States.

Key benefits for a participating Member State:

• Comprehensive state-of-the-art assessment of government capacity in up to 11 sectors and six cross-cutting areas.
• Obtain a holistic improvement plan for strengthening the government’s capacity.
• Targeted institutional and technical advice delivered during piloting by a team of experts.
• Institutional and technical advice on leveraging the assessment results.
• An excellent starting point for continuous tracking and evaluating improvements in government capacity.
• Results will be based on findings 'owned' by government stakeholders, thus increasing the likelihood they can lead to actions and actual change.

The pilot action will contribute to the finalization of the Sustainability Transition Assessment Framework. The piloting will allow to test the practicability of the framework, identify areas for further improvement, and highlight areas of the framework that work well.

Who can apply under this call?

The Call for expression of interest targets all public authorities involved in the programming and/or management of the 2021-2027 programmes co-financed by the ERDF and/or the Cohesion Fund (e.g. ministries, regional authorities, coordinating bodies, managing authorities, intermediate bodies).

Deadline for submission of expression of interest:

8 July 2022

How to apply?

The filled application form has to be submitted electronically to the following email address: REGIO-G1-HEAD-OF-UNIT@ec.europa.eu.

Documentation

• Call for expression of interest
• Application form
• Sustainability Transition Assessment Framework technical report (draft)
• Sustainability Transition Assessment Framework guidelines (draft)

Deadline for submission 04-01-2027

• Call notice (call notice - CEI-AMI Experts 2022-2027)
• Annex I : Standard Application form
• Annex II: Declaration of honour
• Annex III: Contract Template

Objective of the call

Under this call, DG REGIO seeks to strengthen citizen participation through collaboration between public authorities and civil society organizations. OECD experts will provide support to pilot projects in order to:
a)      Test and assess the application of innovative citizen participation approaches for managing and implementing EU funds for cohesion policies.
b)      Identify conditions, actions and resources necessary to build strong and long-lasting partnerships to promote citizen participation in cohesion policy.
c)      Collect good practices of citizen participation in cohesion policy to be shared among and beyond project partners.
d)      Promote peer learning and support community of practitioners

Who can apply under this call?
The Call for expression of interest is open to public authorities responsible for managing or implementing ERDF, CF or JTF either as managing authorities, intermediate bodies or beneficiaries (hereafter public authorities) jointly with civil society organisations (CSOs). A CSO is a non-profit organisation (private or public). Natural persons are not eligible.
A webinar to present the call in details and to reply to your questions was organised by DG REGIO and OECD on 24 March 2022. Have a look at the presentation and watch the video recording.

• Monday April 11 2pm-3pm
• Tuesday April 12 11am-12pm

Deadline for submission of expression of interest:
The deadline for applications is 30.04.2022

How to apply?
The expressions of interest should be submitted to REGIO-E1-ADMINISTRATIVE-CAPACITY@ec.europa.eu

Documentation:
Call for expression of interest
Application form
Information webinar and FAQ

Objective of the call

Under this Call, DG REGIO seeks expressions of interest from external experts able to assess applications participating in the 2022 edition of the New European Bauhaus Prize competition, from the angle of three fields based on the main values of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) :

1. Sustainability (understood as environmental sustainability);
2. Aesthetics (design, arts, architecture, etc.);
3. Inclusiveness (equal opportunities, public participation, citizen engagement, co-design, universal design, accessibility, affordability).

Additionally, among those who express interest in the call, the Commission will select members of the jury assessing the finalists applications and recommending the winners to the Commission’s Evaluation Committee. The role of a jury member may not be linked with the role of the expert assessing individual applications.

Who can apply under this call?

The call is open to persons with educational and/or professional background in at least one of the fields mentioned above, but at the contracting stage priority will be given to those who have relevant education and/or experience in all three fields indicated above.

Deadline for submission of expression of interest:

31 March 2022

How to apply?

The expressions of interest should be submitted via EU Survey under the link https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/NEBexperts2022.
The expression of interest must include all documents mentioned in the first section of point 4 of the call (see below). All annexes are also available under the above-mentioned link. Only the fully filled in and submitted (not draft) application form is valid.

Documentation:

• Call for expressions of interest
• Official Journal
• Contract template
• Declaration on honour
• Legal Entity Form
• Financial Identification Form

In partnership we trust! Join our European Community of Practice on Partnership 2021-2027!

In order to spread exchanges of good practice and experience on the European Code of Conduct, European Commission is looking for partners who wish to actively engage and share their experience in partnership under the EU-funded programmes.

Objective of the call

Under this Call, DG REGIO seeks expressions of interest from various partners mentioned in Article 8 of the CPR 2021-2027:

• (a) regional, local, urban and other public authorities;
• (b) economic and social partners;
• (c) relevant bodies representing civil society, such as environmental partners, non-governmental organisations, and bodies responsible for promoting social inclusion, fundamental rights, rights of persons with disabilities, gender equality and non-discrimination;
• (d) research organisations and universities.

What is European Community of Practice on Partnership (ECoPP)?

The shared management DGs agreed to continue in 2021-2027 the concept of the European Community of Practice on Partnership (ECoPP) and to turn it into a genuine forum for practitioners at all levels of funds’ implementation to exchange good practices. Members shall be Member States' authorities in charge of the management of EU funds (cohesion policy coordinating bodies, managing authorities of various shared management funds, including cross-border programmes),  as well as public entities and organisations referred to in Article 8 of the Common Provisions Regulation  (Regulation (EU) 2021/1060)

Objectives of the ECoPP:

The community’s tasks shall be to:

• (a) Facilitate exchange of experience with regard to partnership;
• (b) Stimulate capacity building;
• (c) Disseminate relevant outcomes, in particular good practice and innovative approaches;
• (d) Review the application and functioning of the European Code of Conduct and prepare proposals for its possible update.

Who can apply under this call?

Regional, local , urban and other public entities; economic and social partners; relevant bodies representing civil society, such as environmental partners, non-governmental organisations, and bodies responsible for promoting social inclusion, fundamental rights, rights of persons with disabilities, gender equality and non-discrimination; research organisations and universities.
Applications can be submitted by the above authorities and other public entities under the conditions defined in the Call.

Deadline for submission of expression of interest:

31 December 2021

How to apply?

The expression of interest and any question related to the Call should be submitted electronically to the following email address: EC-ECOPP@ec.europa.eu

Documentation

• Call
• Application Form

Objective of the call

Under this Call, DG REGIO seeks expressions of interest from various stakeholders from the EU territories most affected by the transition to a sustainable and climate-neutral economy, willing to be member of one of the Just Transition Platform (JTP) working groups.

What is JTP?

The JTP has been set up by the European Commission in 2020 to assist EU Member States and regions to unlock the support available through the Just Transition Mechanism (JTM). It provides comprehensive technical and advisory support for stakeholders from the territories that are heavily dependent on fossil fuels and carbon-intensive industries and face specific social, economic, and environmental challenges related to the transition process.

Objectives of the JTP working groups

Three of the JTP working groups have a thematic focus on a carbon-intensive sector (steel, cement, chemicals) with the objective of exchanging and developing practical solutions to ensure that the decarbonisation of the respective industry happens in a fair way, leaving no one behind. The fourth working group on horizontal stakeholder strategy will be of cross-cutting nature and will focus on the identification and assessment of approaches and good practices to engage all stakeholder groups.
The aim of each working group is to act as a forum for exchanging and tackling various challenges that are common to stakeholders involved in the transition process. They will develop the strategic approach of engaging and involving different stakeholder groups at the level of the implementation of the Just Transition Fund. The common objectives are problem-solving, advocacy and stakeholder inclusion to achieve the wider goals of the JTP, which will be implemented though a multi-level and multi-stakeholder governance approach with a view of developing a common just transition vision. However, these working groups will not have the status of Commission expert groups.

Who can apply under this call?

Members of the Working Groups shall be Member States' authorities, organisations at Union level, including those representing regional authorities and cities, and other public entities (social partners, civil society, NGOs, industrial and economic actors and academia). Member States' authorities and other public entities shall nominate their representatives and shall be responsible for ensuring that their representatives provide a high level of expertise in the field of just transition in the specific sector (cement, steel, chemicals or horizontal stakeholder strategy).
An expression of interest can be submitted by Member States' authorities and other public entities under the conditions defined in the Call.

Deadline for submission of expression of interest:

8 October 2021

How to apply?

The expression of interest and any question related to the Call should be submitted electronically to the following email address: REGIO-JUST-TRANSITION@ec.europa.eu

Documentation

Call for expression of interest

Application form

Privacy statement

Terms of reference per working group:

• Steel
• Cement
• Chemicals
• Horizontal stakeholder strategy

Objective of the call

This call concerns the selection of an Entrusted Entity for the indirect management of the European Urban Initiative (EUI). With a budget of EUR 400 million from the European Regional and Development Fund (ERDF) over the period 2021-2027, the initiative aims at providing coherent support to EU cities and assisting them in evidence-based strategy and policy making on sustainable urban development with a strong link to EU policies and Cohesion policy, in particular.

The assistance of the EUI will be two-fold:

1. support of innovative actions, and
2. support of capacity and knowledge building, territorial impact assessments, policy development and communication.

The EUI will also support the Urban Agenda for the EU, and upon request from Member States, it may support the intergovernmental cooperation on urban matters. Maximum synergy and complementarity will be sought in the implementation of the initiative by the Commission and the selected Entrusted Entity with the future European Territorial Cooperation programme URBACT IV.

Who can apply under this call?

The entrustment of indirect management tasks requires the designated entity having proper financial and operational capacities, and in the specific case of the EUI, a demonstrated track record in managing resources from the ERDF in several countries.

An expression of interest can be submitted by Managing authorities of interregional and/or transnational ERDF programmes of the 2014-2020 period under the conditions defined in the Call.

Deadline for submission of expression of interest:
5 July 2021

How to apply?

The expression of interest and any question related to the Call should be submitted electronically to the following email address: REGIO-URBAN-TERRITORIAL@ec.europa.eu

Call for expression of interest

Annex A: EUI explanatory memo

Application form

Annex C: Contribution agreement template

Annex D: Pillar assessment information

Objective of the call

Under this Call, DG REGIO seeks expressions of interest from transnational partnerships of regional authorities, including ecosystems of regional stakeholders (universities, research centres, clusters, SMEs, etc.) willing to pilot interregional innovation partnerships. The objective is to incentivise business investment projects accelerating commercialisation and scale-up of inter-regional innovation.

Based on current Commission priorities, four new areas are proposed for cooperation in the framework of the interregional innovation partnerships (one partnership per topic):

• COVID-19: mobilising regional capacities to accelerate innovation and rapid deployment of new technologies and solutions to address the COVID-19 pandemic; development of the medical value chain (e.g. medical products, devices to tackle COVID-19).
• Circular Economy in Health: circular business models for medical products and services (e.g. remanufacturing and refurbishing of medical devices and equipment, circular economy in the context of health safety, management of medical waste).
• Sustainable and Digital Tourism: innovative solutions for the recovery and the development of tourism (including climate neutral and cultural tourism) through new technologies, service concepts and business models. Partnerships covering both the private sector (including start-ups), the public sector and public-private partnerships (e.g. responsible, innovative and smart tourism across different value chains, applying circular business models and resource efficiency, use and management of natural resources, use of public spaces, services and infrastructures, uptake of new technologies, data collection, management and sharing).
• Hydrogen technologies in carbon-intensive regions: innovative solutions based on hydrogen technology, which (a) respond to the specific challenges of carbon-intensive regions; and/or (b) capitalise on the specific strengths of carbon-intensive regions in the creation of a European value chain for FCH (e.g. through the conversion of existing coal mines, smelters or production facilities, particularly as regards raw materials).

Who can apply under this call?

An Expression of Interest can be submitted by a partnership made up of statutory regional authorities and their regional innovation ecosystems. Partnerships should be composed of regional authorities from at least four different EU countries and represent to the extent possible the whole value chain involving representatives of the “quadruple helix”: research, business, public administration and end-users from different countries.

Deadline for submission of expression of interest:
14 September 2020

How to apply?

The expression of interest should be submitted electronically to the following email address: REGIO-SMART-GROWTH@ec.europa.eu

Call for expression of interest

Application form

Privacy

Frequently asked questions

Objective of the call

Under this Call, the Commission’ DG REGIO seeks expressions of interest from managing authorities (MAs) and intermediate bodies (IBs) of Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Cohesion Fund (CF) programmes wishing to take advantage of expertise support to explore a closer cooperation with citizens and/or civil society organisations in implementation of cohesion policy.

Work will be carried out in the framework of a pilot action. MAs/IBs participating will receive support on how to best engage citizens in strategic decisions for the implementation of national/regional operational programmes and/or specific policy objectives, e.g. with regard to monitoring of investments and assessing impact or results of cohesion policy investments in their territory.

DG REGIO will cooperate with and use the expertise of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for implementing the pilot. The OECD will provide expert assistance and mentoring to the participating MAs/IBs.

The experiences from the pilot project will be disseminated and will feed into reflections on how to strengthen citizen engagement in the management/implementation of cohesion policy.

The key outputs of the pilot will be recommendations on how to improve existing practices and/or on the introduction of new initiatives to be taken by the selected MAs/IBs to strengthen citizen engagement in the implementation of cohesion policy and an action plan on how to roll them out. The action plan will be developed in cooperation with the MA/IB.

Who can apply under this call?

The expression of interest shall be submitted by managing authorities for national or regional operational programmes co-financed by the ERDF and/or the Cohesion Fund. The relevant national coordinating authorities (depending on the particular national context) should also be informed about the application.

Deadline for submission of expression of interest:
Thursday 30 April 2020

How to apply?

Application form .

Call for expression of interest (corrigendum 18/03: Deadline for submission)

Contact: REGIO-E1-ADMINISTRATIVE-CAPACITY@ec.europa.eu

Frequently asked questions

Deadline extended to Tuesday 16 April 2019

The Commission is launching a pilot action to support the replication in 3-5 Member States of “Open Cohesion School”, a project promoting the engagement of students in monitoring EU cohesion policy investments via the use of public open data. The action aims at fostering the culture of active citizenship and raising awareness of Cohesion Policy among schools’ students.

The European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds aim to tackle economic, social and territorial disparities across the EU. Strengthening the transparency of information about the funds’ opportunities and achievements, including through the use of open data, is an important priority set by the EU regulations. At the same time, an enhanced citizens engagement is conducive to better understanding of the policy and how it impacts on the everyday life of citizens.

The Italian project “OpenCohesion School” (“A Scuola di OpenCoesione”) contributes to this goal by involving secondary schools. The project consists in a Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) and a contest promoting the engagement of students in monitoring the effectiveness of EU cohesion policy investments via the use of public open data.

Objective of the call

Under this Call, the Commission’s DG REGIO seeks expression of interest from EU funds central bodies or Managing Authorities wishing to replicate the “Open Cohesion School“ format. Through this pilot project, the Commission will provide the following support:

• a) Hands-on help to the set-up of the activities, ad hoc tools and expertise – i.e. toolkit, on-the-spot training, mentoring
• b) Making available for free on-line the content of the learning module in the national languages.
• c) Offering support and cooperation throughout the first school year.

The project should start at the beginning of the school year. In the first phase, the selected classes attend a series of online trainings focusing on Cohesion Policy, active citizenship, open data analysis. Towards the end of this phase, students identify and monitor the implementation of EU-funded projects, including by visiting them and talking to their promoters.

In the second part, students produce a creative communication product (such as videos, comics, blog articles, radio programmes,…) on their research findings and submit the product to a national competition For a pilot phase, approximately 5-7 classes for each Member State are expected to participate. The selected authorities will implement the project in 2019-2020 school year. Their experience, lessons learnt and recommendations will be shared also with all other potentially interested Member States who are willing to implement a similar initiative.

Who can apply under this call?

NEW!The present call is extended to all public authorities involved in the management of the operational programmes (i.e. coordinating bodies, managing authorities, intermediate bodies, joint secretariats).

The expression of interest shall be submitted by central coordination bodies for EU funds and Managing Authorities for national or regional operational programmes co-financed by the ERDF and/or the Cohesion Fund. The applicants should meet a number of specific prerequisites listed in the call for expression of interest.

Deadline for applications:

Tuesday 16 April 2019

How to apply?

Central coordination bodies or managing authorities expressing their interest to participate in the pilot should complete the application form .

Call for expression of interest (corrigendum 14/03: additional eligible bodies)

Contact: regio-external-communication@ec.europa.eu

Call Notice

Standard Application form

Please fill in Tab1 for personal details + Tab 2 for list of fields, themes and qualificationsPlease send in Excel format NOT IN PDF format

Declaration of honour

Contract template

Deadline for submission of applications: 04/01/2022