Process of Calls for Proposals

Composition and Publication of Calls for Proposal

The Call for Proposals publication is a fundamental and essential element, safeguarding the legality and normalcy of the Operations that are co-funded by Structural Funds. Improper publication of calls for submission of proposals may cause financial adjustments according to article 39 paragraph 3 of Regulation 1260/99 of the EC; that is reduce or annul the involvement of the Structural Funds with O.P. "Education".

The call plan, prepared by Units B and based on a standardized call composed by Unit A, contains the analysis of the proposal content, the specific Operation evaluation criteria and the methodology related to the evaluation of proposals prepared by candidate Final Beneficiaries as is described in detail in the next section. During the formulation stage of each call plan, Units B take into account views from all pertaining Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs departments as to the adequacy and the relevance of the plan compared to Ministry policy.

The call plan is forwarded to Unit A where the compatibility of Operations are compared with the content of the Programme Complement and the established criteria.

The call is then signed by the Secretary in charge of EU and CSF matters and is relayed to the prospective Final Beneficiaries according to their features, as:

written notice, usually in instances of a Unique Final Beneficiary or Final Beneficiaries already assigned in the Programme Complement.
call for expression of interest through the press or other media in those instances when written notice to all possible Final Beneficiaries already designated by the Programme complement is not possible

For actions regarding technical aid where the O.P. "Education" Managing Authority is the Final Beneficiary, no call is published.

Call for Proposals’ Content

Call content is characterized by clarity and contains at least the following:

Reference to the national and community institutional and legal framework, according to which the call is published (e.g. Regulation 2860/2000, Decision of the Commission of the EC (2000) 3405/28-11-2000 for the approval of CSF for Greece, Commission Decision on the approval of the corresponding O.P. etc.).
Reference to the potential Final Beneficiaries (legal status).
The available budget according to the call, indicating its allocation to each Operation category if this is required.
Reference to O.P. "Education" specific Measure, Action, Operation Category and their objectives in whose framework the specific call is being published.
The Operation’s funding process. That is, reference to national contribution versus the participation of the Structural Fund that co-funds, the percentage of co-funding and the identification of their mission with standardized messages as defined as per structural fund in paragraph 3.2.1.1 of Commission Dir. 1159/2000.
Content of call (eligible Activities)
Reference to eligible expenses.
Duration of Operations implementation.
The required standardized forms and supplementary reports that must be submitted by the approved Final Beneficiaries.
The call submission end-date (if one exists)
The O.P. "Education" Managing Authority’s contact details (address, telephone, fax, e-mail) where proposals are submitted, and its staff, so that the provision of specific information and clarification is facilitated.
The Operation selection criteria, as they have been approved for the specific Measure by the Monitoring Committee.
The Operations’ evaluation and approval for funding process.
Final Beneficiaries’ basic obligations.

Calls for expression of interest can be conducted by the Managing Authority with alternative approaches as shown below :

One call for the Measure’s whole programming period without submission time constraints.

In this instance, the call for expression of interest the Managing Authority conducts will occur once for the whole programming period and the Final Beneficiaries have the ability to submit their proposals with no time constraint (i.e. no submission end-date).
Evaluation of proposals will occur on a first in – first served basis and the acceptance of operations will occur until the Measure’s budget runs out.

One call for the Measure’s whole programming period with submission time constraints.

This instance involves those Measures with pre-determined Final Beneficiaries and a limited number of operations. The call for expression of interest conducted by the Managing Authority will occur once for the whole programming period.
Final Beneficiaries have the opportunity to submit their proposals during the time constraint clearly stated in the call.

Periodic calls with no time constraint.

The calls will be repeated periodically during the programming period, with the respective budget that will be provided stated each time.
Final Beneficiaries can submit proposals without a time constraint; the evaluation of proposals will be conducted taking into account their submission priority and operation acceptance will occur until the available budget is used.

Periodic calls with time constraints.

Calls published by the Managing Authority are periodic and indicate the available budget.
Final Beneficiaries can submit proposals within the specific time frame which is established by the Managing Authority.