2008 CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR PROJECTS PROGRAMME OF COMMUNITY ACTION IN THE FIELD OF HEALTH ( ) (Text with EEA relevance)

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1 2008 CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR PROJECTS PROGRAMME OF COMMUNITY ACTION IN THE FIELD OF HEALTH ( ) (Text with EEA relevance) I. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THIS CALL On 23 October 2007, the European Parliament and the Council adopted a Decision establishing a second programme of Community action in the field of health ( ) 1. This programme entered into force on 1 January The programme replaces the previous Programme of Community action in the field of public health ( ) which laid down the foundations for a comprehensive and coherent approach to public health at EU level contributing to promote a high level of health and wellbeing throughout the Community. The second Health Programme is intended to complement, support and add value to the policies of the Member States and contribute to increased solidarity and prosperity in the European Union. The Programme's objectives are - to improve citizens' health security; - to promote health, including the reduction of health inequalities and - to generate and disseminate health information and knowledge. The 2008 Work Plan sets out details of the financing mechanisms and of the priority areas for action in implementing the programme. This document (Commission Decision 2008/170/EC) is published in the Official Journal of the European Union no L 56 / 2008, pp 36 and is available under The present call relates to the financing mechanism "call for proposals for projects". Interested parties active in the field of public health and risk assessment are invited to submit an application, through this call for proposals for projects, in accordance with the procedures set out in the Annex I Paragraph 2.1 and Annex II of the above Commission Decision, in order to implement the priority actions defined in the programme decision. The areas for funding, the selection and award criteria, the procedures for application and approval, and the indicative amount are described hereafter. In addition to the 27 Member States of the European Union, the call is also open to participation of third countries, in particular countries to which the European Neighbourhood Policy applies, countries that are applying for, are candidates for, or are acceding to, membership of the European Union, and the western Balkan countries included in the stabilisation and association process, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the 1 Decision No 1350/2007/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 establishing a second programme of Community action in the field of health ( ), OJ L 301,

2 respective bilateral or multilateral agreements establishing the general principles for their participation in Community programme. The call is also open to participation of the EFTA- EEA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) in accordance with the conditions established in the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Organisations from any of these countries can submit an application for a project as the main partner or as an associated partner. The proposals selected will qualify for Community financial assistance (grants for an action) on the basis of the shared cost principle. II. AREAS FOR FUNDING Chapter 3 of the 2008 Work Plan sets out details of the priority areas for action in implementing the programme. Applicant's attention is drawn to the fact that the awarding authority will only accept proposals for projects which fall within the scope of the above mentioned work plan and the priorities specified in that document. Furthermore, preference will be given to the proposals covering the following priority areas: Priority Action Improve citizen's health security Protect citizens against health threats 3,2,1 Reference in WP 2008 Implementation of health Security Committee (HSC) priority list Setting up mechanisms for preventing and responding to health threats through preparedness Diffusion to EU member States of key actions identified within the Global Health Security Initiative Develop prevention against existing or emerging health threats Scientific modelling activities between Member States on measures for emerging diseases; including not only epidemiological aspects but also elements such as atmospheric dispersion; modelling activities on chemical hazards to health ; establishing data requirements for modelling and the implementation of a mechanism to improve access to data required for modelling Support and analysis in developing vaccination policy of Member States Support for projects with the aim to facilitate the development of risk management and policy initiatives based on scientific assessment provided by ECDC. This concerns in particular seasonal influenza, childhood vaccination and human papilloma virus (HPV) Adaptation to climate change, and the consequences on human health 3,2,1,6 Development and co-ordination of early warning and surveillance systems in specific areas (e.g. cold spells, health effects of flooding, airborne allergens, ultraviolet radiation and vector borne and other human and animal infectious diseases) Improve citizens' safety Safety of blood, tissues, cells, organs Evaluation of post transplant results on organ transplantation: Promote common definitions of terms and methodology to evaluate the results of transplantation. Promote register or network of registers to followup on organ recipients, monitor their health and evaluate results Risk Assessment Thematic Networks Promotion of the establishment of thematic networks of scientific excellence between EU, national and international Risk Assessment (RA) and scientific advisory bodies for exchange and collaboration on critical issues like nanotechnology, antimicrobial resistance, EMF, as well as on RA methodological aspects (e.g. benchmark approach, non-threshold carcinogenic substances, risk/benefit assessment etc.). Ref. in Programme

3 Training of Risk Assessors Promotion of Risk Assessors training initiatives in order to ensure availability of highly qualified assessors to perform consistent and good quality assessment of health risks as required for the application of EU policies and legislation. Promote health Work in rare diseases will focus on continued action to improve knowledge and facilitate access to information on these diseases. Preparation of initiatives to increase healthy life years across the life cycle and tackle health inequalities Public health capacity building Support for capacity building in the development and implementation of policies for public health and health promotion. Baseline assessment of capacity for the development, implementation and monitoring of public health policies at national and sub-national level in Europe and recommendations, guidelines and initiatives for strengthening capacity. This should be particularly in areas of high need, with the aim to reduce health inequalities Reduction of health inequalities between EU regions Create a cooperation mechanism between regions and local bodies for the effective use of structural funds for health and promote the exchange of good practices. Key actions should include an inventory of existing information and expertise, assessing potential synergies between the existing networks and key stakeholders and creating an umbrella organisation to coordinate actions Extending the results of the Euregio project financed by the 2003 Work Plan of the Public Health Programme ( ) to cover the Convergence and the Regional Competitiveness and Employment objectives of the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund, with the aim of identifying the best actions that could be disseminated to the regions Improving mental health and healthier living Mental health Development with public, professional and civil society organisations of guidelines integrating mental health promotion and mental disorder prevention into training and practice of health professionals and professionals in social services and identification of best practices for combating social exclusion of people with mental health problems Assessment of the impact of media, advertisement and role models on mental health Sexual health Sexual health stakeholder consultations on policy development HIV / AIDS Projects on HIV/AIDS prevention in young people, awareness raising among the general public and dissemination of good practices. Nutrition, overweight and obesity related health issues Implementation and exchange of good practice on comprehensive initiatives to address healthy living in young people incorporating life skills training, parental involvement and whole school/whole community actions. Development of good practice on the reformulation of manufactured foods Promoting physical activity through infrastructure, planning and better use of the physical environment: good practice at local/regional level. Addiction prevention Smoking prevention and tobacco control Specific consideration of the current situation and a future approach towards new audiovisual media services and communications and what impact they have on tobacco advertising and on promoting tobacco control. Focus should be on how to deal with the presence of tobacco in films, in the internet (including tobacco sales), in promotion campaigns and audiovisual media services in general and how to use these services for tobacco control purposes. Tobacco control in all policies (i.e. taxation, illicit trade, employment, development, research, etc.). Development of capacity building on tobacco control strategies across all policies in civil society in order to facilitate policies developments and implementations. Development of innovative strategies and best practices concerning prevention and cessation methods, with a focus on prevention in key settings such as education or workplace, or in young people and teenagers. Proposals should consider gender perspective and how to make nicotine replacement products more acceptable, accessible and effective should be explored. Alcohol strategy Prevention of harmful alcohol use among young people and as a specific focus older people, including the transition period from work to retirement - establishing good practice and formulating prevention guidelines and policies

4 Preventing drug use and drug related harm: Addressing the issue of new trends with regard to synthetic drugs' use among young people, in particular in the context of polydrug use, by developing or strengthening a system of exchange of information between Member States that could lead to the development, implementation and evaluation of good practices for demand reduction in this specific domain. Reviewing the good practices in preventing drug-related blood-borne infectious diseases, in particular hepatitis (B/C), among injecting drug users to provide adequate guidance documents for practitioners and patients from different settings and vulnerable groups having taken into account an evaluation of the health, social, and economic impacts. Improve the quality of physical environment and reduce accidents and injuries Implementation of EU Action Plan on environment and health Preventive and remedial measures in MS to reduce exposure to radon Council Recommendations on Prevention of injury and promotion of safety Maintaining (data check, reporting), promoting (training, start-up support), expanding (to thirty-two countries) and enhancing the IDB system into a sustainable part of the health statistic system. This includes completing the development of the IDB into an all injury data base with information on products and service safety and harmonizing injury data collection systems such as incidence and mortality statistics, hospital discharge registers and accidents and emergency based surveillance systems, including statistical coding systems for external causes of accidents and injuries, in view of providing a comprehensive basis for Community injury statistics and for the Community health indicators on injuries Injury prevention as a major action priority within national health promotion programmes Integrating injury prevention in curricula for vocational training of local health service providers, teachers, sport coaches, product designers and urban planners. Action on rare diseases Development and maintenance of rare diseases registers and information networks in certain areas (e.g. rare anaemias) Scientific assistance to the Task Force on Rare diseases. Health information Development of a sustainable health monitoring system with mechanisms for collection of comparable data and information, with appropriate indicators Monitoring, consistency and quality assurance of health information Network of experts for the monitoring and review of the consistence and the quality of the use of health information in the actions and structures under the Programme Decision Health indicators Assess the impact of specific diseases or risk factors on the Healthy Life Years indicator and developing appropriate estimates of the Global Burden of Disease associated with specific diseases To link mortality to census data on socioeconomic status or by analysing self-reported health by socioeconomic position. To improve knowledge on socioeconomic inequalities in such determinants as health-related behaviours, housing and working conditions, psychosocial factors and health care utilization taking into account political priorities expressed in point Surveillance networks and best practices on major and chronic diseases In line with existing or necessary networks needing further development in operating the health information system at European level, priority should be given in 2008 to cardiovascular diseases [acute myocardial infarction/acute coronary syndrome and stroke (with the possibility to distinguish between ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke)], vision impairment, hearing loss, rheumatic diseases, Autism Spectrum Disorders, learning disabilities and neurodegenerative diseases not covered by existing actions. Health surveys Analysis of health survey data for child and adolescent population (less than 15 years) not covered in the existing European Health Survey System. To contribute to the World Mental Health Survey on the basis of existing EU mental health surveys European-Wide Horizontal Integration of European and National Household Budget Survey Data (HBS) on food availability integrating the information sources from recent and ongoing EU health actions and research into the DAFNE Data Base Exchange knowledge and best practice European Best Practice in Genome-based Information and Technologies To produce the first edition of "European Best Practice Guidelines for Quality Assurance, Provision and Use of Genome-based Information and Technologies" using an interdisciplinary approach by, e.g., Public Health experts, EU lawyers, Human Geneticists and patient groups reviewing the available evidence including evidence emerging from relevant European research and health action networks

5 All projects should provide high European added value and be innovative in nature, and the duration should not normally exceed three years. Applicants should also ensure that their projects do not duplicate work already done in the previous nine public health programmes or under other Community funding programmes, and that, where appropriate, projects should build on work already undertaken at Community level. Details of previous projects funded are available through the Executive Agency for the public health programme's webpage and the Commission s DG SANCO public health web page III. SELECTION AND AWARD CRITERIA (GRANTS FOR PROJECTS) Project proposals will be evaluated by an evaluation committee set up according to article 116 of the Financial Regulation 2 and article 178 of the Implementing Rules 3, assisted by experts. Eligibility of applicants and evaluation criteria (exclusion, selection and award criteria) Applicants must meet the evaluation criteria set out in Annex II of the 2008 Work Plan Decision: General principles and selection, award and other criteria for financial contributions to the actions under the second Community Programme in the field of health ( ) in sections 2 (exclusion criteria), 3 (selection criteria) and 4 (award criteria). The awarding authority reserves the right to reject proposals that do not meet these criteria nor follow the procedures. As regards award criteria, each proposal will be assessed according to the scale of marks referred to in the table below. Proposals which do not reach a threshold of 50% of the points total will be rejected. Furthermore, a threshold is set for each of the following blocks of criteria: Policy and contextual relevance of the project: threshold is 20 points. Technical quality of the project: threshold is 15 points. Management quality of the project and budget: threshold is 15 points. In addition, for the individual criteria 'Financial Management', and 'Overall and detailed budget' the threshold is set at 3 points for each. Proposals not reaching one or more of these thresholds will be rejected

6 A Policy and contextual relevance of the project 40/100 (threshold: 20) Proposed Weighting B Technical quality of the project 30/100 (threshold: 15 Proposed Weighting C Management quality of the project and budget 30/100 (threshold: 15) Proposed Weighting 1. Project's contribution to the "second Community Programme in the field of health" and its annual work plan in terms of meeting the objectives and priorities; 2. Strategic relevance in terms of expected contributions to the existing knowledge and implications for health; 3. Added value at European level in the field of public health: Impact on target groups, long term effect and potential multiplier effects such as replicable, transferable and sustainable activities; Contribution to, complementarity, synergy and compatibility with EU relevant policies; 4. Pertinence of the geographical coverage Applicants must ensure that a geographical coverage of the project is appropriate with regard to its objectives, explaining the role of the eligible countries as partners and the relevance of the project resources or target population they represent. Proposals at national or sub-national dimension (i.e. which involve only one eligible country or a region of a country) will be rejected. 5. Adequacy of the project with social, cultural and policy context Applicants must relate the project with the situation of the countries or specific areas involved, ensuring the compatibility of the envisaged actions with culture and views of the target groups Evidence base Applicants must include the problem analysis and clearly describe the factors, the impact, the effectiveness and applicability of measures proposed; 2. Content specification Applicants must clearly describe the aims and objectives, target groups including relevant geographical factors, methods, anticipated effects and outcomes; 3. Innovative nature, technical complementarity and avoidance of duplication of other existing actions at EU level Applicants must clearly identify the progress the project intends to accomplish within the field in relation with the state of the art and ensure that there will be neither inappropriate duplication nor overlap, whether partial or total, between projects and activities already carried out at European and international level. 4. Evaluation strategy Applicants must clearly explain the kind and adequacy of methods proposed and indicators chosen. 5. Dissemination strategy Applicants must clearly illustrate the adequacy of envisaged strategy and methodology proposed to ensure transferability of results and sustainability of the dissemination Planning and organisation of the project Applicants must describe the activities to be undertaken, timetable and milestones, deliverables, nature and distribution of tasks, risk analysis. 2. Organisational capacity Applicants must describe the management structure, competency of staff, responsibilities, internal communication, decision making, monitoring and supervision; 3. Quality of partnership Applicants must describe the partnerships (1) envisaged in terms of extensiveness, roles and responsibilities, relationships among the different partners, synergy and complementarity of the various project partners and network structure. 4. Communication strategy Applicants must describe the communication strategy in terms of planning, target groups, adequacy of channels used, visibility of EU co-funding. 5. Overall and detailed budget Applicants must ensure that budget be relevant, appropriate, balanced and consistent in itself, between partners and with the specific objectives of the project. Budget should be distributed within partners at a minimum reasonable level, avoiding excessive fragmentation. 6. Financial management Applicants must describe financial circuits, responsibilities, reporting procedures and controls. (1) These may include private sector partners (threshold 3) 5 (threshold 3) - 6 -

7 IV. FINANCIAL PROVISIONS The Financial Regulation 2 lays down the rules to be applied with a view to ensuring that the procedures for protecting Community funds are complied with. This regulation and the associated implementing rules 3 constitute the reference documents for all the financial measures needed to implement the health programme. Following the evaluation, proposals recommended for funding are drawn up in a list, ranked according to the total marks awarded. Depending on budget availability, the highest ranked proposals will be awarded for co-funding. The remaining proposals recommended for co-funding will be placed on a reserve list. For projects selected for funding, the Awarding authority will determine the amount of financial assistance to be granted and the percentage of co-financing on the basis of budget availability. Projects are financed under the shared cost principle. If the amount granted by the Awarding authority is lower than the funding sought by the applicant, it is up to the latter to find supplementary financing or to cut down on the total cost of the project without diluting either the objectives or the content. Given the complementary and motivational nature of Community grants, at least 40% of the project costs must be funded by other sources. Consequently, the Community financial contribution will normally be up to 60% of the eligible costs for the projects considered. For projects considered of exceptional utility i.e., which meet the criteria mentioned in paragraph 3.1 'Issues of strategic importance' of the Work Plan 2008, a maximum Community contribution of 80% of the eligible costs could be envisaged. No more than 10% of the number of funded projects will receive Community contribution of over 60%. The Awarding authority will determine in each individual case the maximum percentage to be awarded. The duration of projects to be co-funded should normally not exceed three years. 2 3 Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities, OJ L 248, , amended by Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1995/2006 of 13 December 2006, OJ L 390, Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 of 23 December 2002 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities, OJ L 357, Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1261/2005 of 20 July 2005 amending Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities, OJ L 201, Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1248/2006 of 7 August 2006 amending Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities, OJ L 227,

8 The programme budget for the period is For the work programme 2008, the indicative amount of the operating budget is Of this amount, are reserved for the call for proposals for projects. V. PROCEDURES In submitting a proposal, applicants accept the procedures and conditions as described in this call and in the documents to which it refers. Applications that do not comply with the requirements set out will be excluded from the selection procedure. A Contents of the application A proposal is made up of a standard application form and supporting documents: 1. The application form: Proposals must be prepared using the standard form which can be downloaded from the website: The form includes fields for entering the applicants' financial data (profit and loss account, balance sheets for the past two complete financial years) and operational capacity (description of the institution's competences in the area and of the key staff involved in the project). The form also contains a declaration given by the applicant (main partner) on his/her honour that he/she is not in any of the situations listed in paragraph 2.1. of Annex II to the Decision no 2008/170/EC. This declaration includes a statement on the compliance with the requirements for submitting a proposal; a declaration given by the applicant (associated partners) on his/her honour that he/she is not in any of the situations listed in paragraph 2.1. of Annex II to the Decision no 2008/170/EC. A signed declaration is required from the main partner and from each of the associated partners. 2. Supporting documents: The organisation's status / articles of association (main partner only); The official registration certificate of the association (main partner only); The supporting documents are not required from public bodies, international public organisations created by inter-governmental agreements or from specialist agencies created by the latter

9 3. Additional documentation At any moment during the selection phase the awarding authority may request for any associated partner, the organisation's status / articles of association, the official registration certificate of the association, etc. The awarding authority may also request, from the main partner or any associated partner, an external audit report produced by an approved auditor. It may also request a letter of commitment, etc. from any external sponsor. B Formal requirements Proposals must be complete, and include: 1. The proposal form, in one original printed version and four copies; 2. The proposal, in electronic format, saved on one CD-ROM, using Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.1 (preferably 8.1.2). 3. The signed declaration of honour of the main partner and of each of the associated partners, in one copy (original or fax print-out. In the latter case, the original shall be requested at a later stage), attached to the original printed version of the proposal; 4. Supporting documents, as referred to in paragraph V.A.2 above, in one certified copy, attached to the original printed version of the proposal. C Deadline The final deadline for submission of proposals is 23 May Application file and CD-ROM Applicants may submit their proposals (paper file together with CD-Rom): 1. either by postal mail, preferably by registered mail, clearly postmarked on or before the deadline indicated above, to: European Commission CALL FOR PROPOSALS HEALTH 2008 PROJECTS Bâtiment Jean Monnet Rue Alcide de Gasperi L-2920 LUXEMBOURG; 2. or by hand delivery during the working hours of the European Commission: (8H30 17H30) to: European Commission CALL FOR PROPOSALS HEALTH 2008 PROJECTS - 9 -

10 Bâtiment Jean Monnet Rue Alcide de Gasperi L-2920 LUXEMBOURG; either by the applicant in person or by an authorised representative, and confirmed by a duly signed and dated acknowledgment of receipt on or before the deadline indicated above; 3. or by private courier service to: European Commission CALL FOR PROPOSALS HEALTH 2008 PROJECTS Bâtiment Jean Monnet Rue Alcide de Gasperi L-2920 LUXEMBOURG. i. If a dated acknowledgment of receipt is returned to the applicant by the private courier service, the date of delivery to the private courier service will act as proof of delivery. ii. In the absence of a dated acknowledgment of receipt by the private courier service, the date of delivery to the awarding authority at the address above will be proven by a signed and dated receipt. IMPORTANT NOTICE To avoid any delays in the call evaluation procedure, the awarding authority will disregard and not process proposals sent before or on the set deadline, as described in paragraphs V.C.1 and V.C.3.i above, but which have not been actually delivered by post or by private courier service to the awarding authority before 3 June 2008, even if late delivery is due to postal delays or to other reasons beyond the control of the submitter. It is understood that it is the responsibility of the submitter to ensure timely delivery of the proposal by a quality delivery service and that he will seek appropriate guarantees for the service he contracts. The awarding authority will not accept hand delivery as described in paragraphs V.C.2 and V.C.3.ii above after 23 May Submission by fax or electronic mail will not be accepted. A helpdesk at the Public Health Executive Agency will be available at: , address: PHEA-PHP-CALLS@ec.europa.eu on weekdays between and Please note that the helpdesk will be unavailable on weekends and the following public holidays: 20, 21 and 24 March, 1, 2, 9, and 12 May

11 Additional documentation Additional documentation requested as referred to in paragraph V.A.3 must be delivered by the main applicant, within the deadline specified in the request, by at: and by fax at: D General requirements 1. The proposal application form (the original and four copies), the declarations of honour, the supporting documents and the CD-ROM must be sent in one single batch. 2. The awarding authority may request at any time clarification on the contents of the application documents submitted. Any clarification or information so requested must be delivered within 5 working days by at: PHEA-PHP- CALLS@ec.europa.eu and by fax at: Additional documentation not included in the single batch submission nor requested according to paragraph V.A.3 will not be taken into consideration. 3. In all correspondence relating to this call (e.g. when requesting information, or submitting an application), reference must be clearly made to this specific call. Once the awarding authority has allocated a registration number to a proposal, indicated in the acknowledgement of receipt, the applicant must use this reference in all subsequent correspondence