EU Accession NGO Grants   The call has expired, this page is for reference purposes only! See the Home Page for other calls.

Summary: This component of the REAP aims to develop the involvement of NGOs in the ten CEE countries in environment and accession issues by giving grants for their projects. In each of the countries a local-language granting scheme will be carried out over a 12-month period. The calls for projects will be open and competitive. The REC has many years of experience in this field, having awarded over EUR 3 million to around 3,000 NGOs in the last eight years.   Objectives The programme objective is to support the full involvement of NGOs in EU Accession issues. This will be done through a competitive granting programme, at the national level, which will encourage democracy development, help civil society to improve public awareness about enlargement and environment, and improve transparency in the enlargement process by establishing co-operation between governmental organizations and non-governmental organizations and implementation of EU environmental policy. Also, the programme will enable: NGOs to participate effectively in the environmental decision-making process related to EU accession; NGOs to cooperate with local authorities and the central government on environmental issues, in particular those related to EU accession; the planning and implementation of NGO projects that focus on the environmental aspects of EU Accession; CEE NGOs to voice their environmental concerns with regard to EU accession; and NGOs to raise public awareness of the environmental aspects of EU accession, and to foster a wider discussion within the applicant countries.   Justification Environmental NGOs and interest groups fulfill an important task in raising the awareness of the general public on environmental matters, enhancing dialogue and in encouraging policy formulation; all of which are crucial to the process of EU accession. NGOs  forward information on benefits and cost to local authorities, and as important pressure groups at the local, national and regional levels. The NGO needs in each of the ten CEE Countries are different, as they represent different country characteristics and economic developmental stages. In fact, each of the accession countries (Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Estonia, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Romania, Slovenia, Lithuania and Latvia) has well-developed NGOs that have dealt for years with accession issues, and have proven their ability to play quite an important role in the accession process. The REC decided to invite those NGOs to the National Grant programme, which involves a two-stage application procedure to promote inter-sector cooperation, which involves other stakeholders in cooperating with NGOs during project implementation.   Description NGOP grant funding for EU accession-related projects would be supported through a national scale grants programme. The REC's national scale grants programme supports projects of broad national importantce that are able to bring together NGOs and other REC constituents. NGOs from Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Estonia and Slovenia will be eligible for this granting programme. Specific eligibility criteria will focus on supporting NGOs for: working on implementation of the Aarhus Convention; awareness raising about the enlargement process and EU environmental policy; cooperation with governmental authorities (i.e. common projects); Observing the environmental accession process in the country. identifying instances of non-compliance; and implementing EU environmental legislation (including the 6th EAP). This programme is designed to complement and follow up the activities funded by the EU (1998-99) under the EU Enlargement Project Grants run by the NGOs in the above-mentioned countries. Based on the need for greater awareness of the local and national ramifications of EU Accession and the EAP, the following set-up is planned: Grants up to EUR 10,000 National scale grants are directed at NGOs with some experience in running projects dealing with issues of nation-wide importance, include inter- and inter-sector cooperation, thereby enabling the NGO movement as a whole to participate in environmental decision-making on a national level. NGOs applying for national scale grants should be developed and experienced enough to be familiar with both the environmental and management sides of operation. They should be equipped with basic infrastructural items and capabilities: office, phones, fax, e-mail, and paid staff, etc. The Application for National Grants is a two-stage procedure, including a "concept paper" stage and a "full proposal" stage. Concept papers will be evaluated by the REC Country Office Director and/or Representatives. Projects will be chosen based on the following considerations: The issue is nationwide in scope, and the project will have nationwide impact. Cooperative partners from different levels of society are involved. The concept paper shows that cooperation by two or more NGOs or NGOs with other stakeholders is the best way to address and solve the problem. Problems, goals, and the methods to achieve goals are briefly and clearly described. All partners will share in the duties, actions, and responsibilities. One NGO takes a leadership role.   Country Offices will choose a number of NGOs to prepare full project proposals based on their concept papers. Project proposals are accepted in local languages, and decisions are made on the basis of evaluations performed by independent local advisory boards. Advisory boards will be augmented by experts on the subjects of EU accession and EAP to ensure that top-quality projects will be supported. The programme is administered by REC country offices, which are guided by a detailed "Policy and Procedures Manual."   Expected results Grant funding for EU accession-related projects of NGOs at the national level will hopefully achieve the following: increased cooperation between NGOs on the national level, and stronger representation of NGO interests and opinions toward decision-makers; increased dialogue between NGOs, local  authorities and national governments on the EU accession process; greater discussion of the EU accession issue at the national level, and among larger numbers of stakeholders; well-prepared and implemented NGO projects that facilitate the accession process; increased public awareness of issues surrounding EU accession; increases in paid, professional NGO staff; and greater development of NGO infrastructure in CEE countries.

Call for Tender Awarded grants (PDF file) Contents of this page: Summary Objectives Justification Description Expected results