EUROPEAN COMMISSION INTERCONNECT CRIMINAL DOCUMENTS PLAN

EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL JUSTICE, FREEDOM AND SECURITY Directorate D : Internal security and criminal justice Unit D3 : Criminal justice Programme Criminal Justice 2007 Call for proposals 2008 Interconnection of Criminal Records (Action grants) Date: Version: Authors: 17 April 2008 1.11 Amelie Leclercq Ivo Thiemrodt Commission européenne, B-1049 Bruxelles, B-1049 Brussel – Belgique, Telephone: (32-2) 299 11 11. 1. OBJECTIVES OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROGRAMME (2007-2013) The aims of the Criminal Justice programme, adopted by Council Decision No 2007/126/JHA on 12 February 20071, include promoting judicial cooperation based on mutual recognition and mutual confidence, promoting the compatibility in rules applicable in the Member States as may be necessary to improve judicial cooperation and to improve the exchange of information. It supports in particular the creation and implementation of specific projects like the interconnection of national criminal record systems within the EU, which is the subject of this call for proposals. The amount available for action grants to be awarded under this call for proposals will be € 12 Mio. 2. PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES AND TARGET GROUPS The exchange of information extracted from national criminal records in the EU shall be facilitated in particular through the use of a computerised system. Co-funding will be available for improvements to national criminal records systems so that they can successfully exchange information electronically with criminal records systems of other Member States. The specific objectives are the following: – Appropriate modernisation and computerisation of national criminal records systems where necessary: this involves notably preparatory/feasibility studies, project development, purchase of computer software and possibly hardware. – Dedicated training of personnel working for national criminal record authorities, e.g. training on the functioning of their national systems, as well as specific training for those in charge of dealing with other criminal record systems/foreign authorities (e.g. training about the specificities of other Member States' criminal record systems). – Projects aimed at improving the identification of convicted persons registered in national criminal records: e.g. links between criminal records systems and other registers (ongoing proceedings register; police; national identification register, etc); inclusion of biometric information/fingerprints in national criminal record systems. – Projects aimed at facilitating the exchange of information extracted from criminal records between Member States' national authorities for purposes other than criminal proceedings. – Projects aimed at interconnecting with other national criminal records systems. These may include studies, preparatory meetings, translation of documents, technical and legal support to improve mutual understanding of criminal records information and technical exchanges. All applying projects will have to demonstrate how they will contribute to facilitating future interconnection between national criminal records systems within the EU and have to show that the planned measures are technically coherent. 3. CONDITIONS AND MODALITIES In line with the Financial Regulation and the basic act, the following conditions and modalities will apply. 1 OJ L 058, 24.02.2007, p.13. Page 2 / 7 3.1. Financial provisions (1) The maximum rate of co-financing by the Commission is 70% of the total eligible costs of the project. (2) Eligible expenditure must be incurred within three years of the starting date of the project. (3) As a general rule, the co-funding is provided in two instalments: a pre-financing payment of 60% of the Commission's contribution on signature of the grant agreement, and the balance on receipt and approval by the Commission of the final report and final financial statement. 3.2. Eligibility To be eligible, grant applications must meet the following eligibility criteria: (1) They must be submitted by national authorities designated under Article 1 of Council Decision 2005/876/JHA of 21 November 2005 on the exchange of information extracted from the criminal record. (2) Projects must at least relate to one of the specific objectives defined in Section 2 above. (3) National projects are eligible as starter and/or complementary measures, or if they contribute to developing methods and/or technologies with a potential for transferability to the transnational interconnection of criminal records, or develop such methods and technologies with a view to transferring them to other Member States and/or to acceding and/or candidate countries. Transnational projects must involve at least two designated authorities. (4) Project proposals seeking EU co-funding of less than € 50.000 will not be eligible to receive a grant. There is no maximum limit, but the amount of co-financing requested and its proportionality to the expected results will be assessed as one of the award criteria. (5) Projects cannot be already completed and should be scheduled to start not before the signature of the grant agreement. An earlier start of the project may take place only when the applicant demonstrates the need. In such cases, expenditure eligible for financing may not have been incurred prior to the date of submission of the grant application. (6) Projects cannot last more than three years. (7) Applications must be submitted on the application form made available by the Commission in electronic format. No other form will be accepted. All sections of the form must be completed and it must be accompanied by all documents and materials listed in Section 4. (8) Applicants must respect the deadline for applications, given in section 4.3. Page 3 / 7 3.3. Exclusion Candidates shall be excluded from participating in this call for proposals if they are in one or more of the situations listed in Articles 93 or 94 of the Financial Regulation (FR)2. 3.4. Selection criteria In accordance with Article 116(1) of the Financial Regulation and Article 176 of the Implementing Rules (IR)3, proposals for projects shall be evaluated on the basis of the following selection criterion: The applicant's and its partner's operational and professional competencies and qualifications required to complete the proposed action. In case of government or law enforcement organisations, evidence that the project falls within their statutory area of responsibility may be submitted to establish their operational and technical competence. Only proposals which meet the above selection criteria will be examined further. 3.5. Award criteria Proposals that are eligible and meet the selection criterion will be assessed by the evaluation committee and will be ranked on the basis of the following award criteria: (1) Proportionality and appropriateness of the project in light of the current state of development of the national criminal records systems. (25 points) (2) Quality of the proposed action regarding its conception, organisation, presentation, methodology, expertise, expected results. In particular, the ability of the project to reach the desired objectives will be assessed. (30 points) (3) All projects will have to demonstrate their European dimension and how they will facilitate the future interconnection with other EU national criminal records, in particular with regard to the politically agreed Council Framework Decision 2008/XX/JHA on the organisation and content of the exchange of information extracted from criminal records between Member States. However, projects aiming only at improving the current functioning of national criminal records systems are accepted on the condition that they are necessary for such future interconnection. (25 points) (4) Value for money. Amount requested for financial support and its appropriateness as to expected results. (20 points) To enable the evaluation committee's decision making all facts should be presented in detail and clearly. Technical descriptions should demonstrate how the national enhancements meet the prerequisites to interconnect the EU Member States' criminal records registers. 2 COUNCIL REGULATION N°1995/2006 of 13 December 2006 amending Regulation N°1605/2002 on the Financial regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (OJ L 390 of 30 December 2006) (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:390:0001:0026:EN:PDF). COMMISSION REGULATION No 478/2007 of 23 April 2007 (OJ L 111 of 28 April 2007) (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2007:111:0013:0045:EN:PDF). Page 4 / 7 3 4. PRACTICAL INFORMATION ABOUT SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION Applications must be submitted with the application form available on the Commission's website (http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/funding/jpen/funding_jpen_en.htm). The applicant must fill in the fields indicated and send back the document electronically on a diskette, a CD-ROM or a USB-Stick and physically in paper. Applications submitted with an altered or previous application form, as well as forms completed by hand, will be disqualified. 4.1. Documents to be submitted The following documents must be submitted: – the application form; – the estimated budget, – the partnership declarations, – the financial identification form, – the legal entities form, – an organisation chart and a description of the tasks of the staff, – an explanatory note on officials, and – a copy of the VAT registration document if applicable. For further details and to ensure the completeness of the application see the check list prefixed to the application form. All details and descriptions to budgetary items can be delivered as annexes to the financial forms. Applicants are free to provide any other documentation which they consider appropriate to support their application. General guidelines for applicants (for action grants), concerning the preparation of the proposal, are available in http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/funding/jpen/funding_jpen_en.htm under "Documents for Applicants". 4.2. Interpretation of the application form Concerning the points 1.1.6, 1.7.4 or 1.7.5 please note that an indication is dispensable when the applicant's organisation does not have a VAT number, shareholders or subsidiaries. Furthermore please keep in mind that the points 2.2.3 and 2.2.4 may not be applicable for your project. These questions are basically intended to cover conferences or training measures. To answer point 2.2.7 you should know that your project doesn't need to be innovative or inventive in a technical sense. But its results must contribute to facilitating future interconnection between national criminal records systems within the EU and the project has not been already financed within this Programme or under other EU programmes. 4.3. Deadline for submitting applications Applications must be submitted in a sealed envelope by registered mail, by courier service, or by hand-delivery to the address indicated below: By post or by courier service, to: European Commission Directorate-General Justice, Freedom, Security Unit D4 Financial support Programme "Criminal Justice – Interconnection of Criminal Records" Page 5 / 7 Office LX-46 2/106 B-1049 Brussels By hand delivery, to: European Commission Directorate-General Justice, Freedom, Security Unit D4 Financial support Programme "Criminal Justice – Interconnection of Criminal Records" Office LX-46 2/106 Mail department Avenue du Bourget 1 1140 Brussels (Evere) Applications must be either: – by registered mail or by courier service, posted or dispatched not later than 15 June 2008 (as evidenced by the postmark or by the date of the deposit slip); – received by hand-delivery (in person or by an agent) not later than 15 June 2008 at 15.00 (Brussels time), in which case a receipt must be obtained as proof of submission, signed and dated by the official who took delivery. Any application received after the deadline or at the wrong address will be automatically rejected. Following the opening of proposals, the Commission will send an acknowledgement of receipt to all applicants, indicating whether or not the application was received prior to the deadline and informing them of the reference number of their application. 4.4. Further information Questions may be sent by e-mail or by fax to the address or number listed below, indicating clearly the reference of the Call for proposals, Criminal Records: e-mail address: telefax number: JLS-Criminal-Record@ec.europa.eu +32 2 299.82.15 (Secretariat Unit D3) The Commission shall reply according to the code of good administrative conduct within 15 working days from the receipt of the question. The questions received and answers given will be published on the CIRCA Criminal Records Interest Group (http://circa.europa.eu/Public/irc/jai/Home/main?index). In addition, the European Commission has the task of promoting equality between women and men and must aim in all its activities to eliminate gender inequalities (Articles 2 and 3 of the EC Treaty). In this context, women are particularly encouraged either to submit individual project proposals under framework partnerships or to be involved in their submission. As regards studies or research projects, the Commission would also like to draw your attention to the importance of a systematic breakdown by sex of all statistics used and of an analysis of the potentially different impact of policies on men and women, even if they appear at first sight to be gender neutral. Page 6 / 7 4.5. Examination of applications Following the opening of proposals, the Commission will send an acknowledgement of receipt to all applicants, indicating whether or not the application has respected the deadline and informing them of the reference number of their application. The Commission may contact applicants to request additional information at any time prior to taking its decision. Failure to respond to such requests by the deadline set may lead to disqualification of the application. Applicants must take the necessary steps to ensure that they can be contacted rapidly up to the end of the selection process. Where the Commission contacts an applicant, this does not in any way constitute or reflect a pre-selection of the proposal on the part of the Commission. The Commission expects to offer grants to successful applicants as soon as possible and preferably at least by end of December 2008. 4.6. Ex-post publicity All grants awarded to in the course of a financial year must be published on the Internet site of the Community institutions during the first half of the year following the closure of the budget year in respect of which they were awarded. The information may also be published by any other appropriate medium, including the Official Journal of the European Union. The following will be published with the agreement of the beneficiary: (1) the name and address of the beneficiaries (2) the subject of the grant (3) the amount awarded and rate of funding of the costs of the project The European Commission may waive the above obligations if publication of the information could threaten the safety of the beneficiaries or harm their business interests. Beneficiaries of grants must clearly display acknowledgement of the support received from the EU. 5. DATA PROTECTION The grant applications will be processed by computer. All personal data (such as names, addresses, CVs, etc.) will be processed in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data. The replies to the questions in this form are necessary in order to assess the grant application, and they will be processed solely for that purpose by the department responsible for the Community grant programme concerned. On request, applicants may be sent personal data and correct or complete them. For any question relating to these data, please contact the Commission department to which the form must be returned. Applicants may lodge a complaint against the processing of their personal data with the European Data Protection Supervisor at any time. If, at any stage of the administrative treatment of grant applications, the persons or entities concerned consider that they have been affected by an instance of maladministration, they may, irrespective of any other means of redress, make a complaint to the European Ombudsman in accordance with Article 195(1) of the EC Treaty and as provided by the Parliament Decision of 9 March 1994 on the regulations and general conditions governing the performance of the Ombudsman's duties published in Official Journal of the European Communities L 113 of 4 May 1994. Page 7 / 7