No, funding will be provided only to Social Economy SMEs.

No, funding can be provided only to Social Economy SMEs. It is not offered to nonprofits, informal youth groups, foundations and other civil sector organizations. It is also not offered to public institutions.

In case of partner enterprises and linked enterprises, a more complex calculation needs to be made to determine the company’s economic situation and to determine if it is a SME. A compulsory SME definition is provided in the SEE BRIDGE Guidelines for Applicants and we advise to carefully read it, as well as the Commission Regulation No 651/2014, art. 2.18 and the related SME definition Guide.Specifically, the latter Guide will provide ample information on how to ascertain your SME status. Only SMEs complying with the Commission Regulation are eligible for this Open Call. At the contracting stage, an SME Declaration will be signed and submitted by the applicants that are selected for funding.

The social economy SME and entrepreneurs are the ones active in social economy sector, as defined in the Social Economy Action Plan (p. 5), adopted in December 2021.

In this Open Call, we do not have requirements for specific national registration for SMEs active in the social economy, as legislations and registration regimes vary based on jurisdiction of the eligible countries. We require the applicant to submit a self-declaration affirming that it qualifies as a Social Economy SME in accordance with the principles and features outlined in the Guidelines for Applicants, the Social Economy Action Plan and Regulation mentioned above. The self-declaration is done directly in the application form.

Please refer to the European Commission’s Social Economy Action Plan 2021 (p. 5) and Regulation (EU) 2021/1057 establishing the European Social Fund Plus (Article 2 (1) (13)) for further detailed information regarding the social economy aspect that eligible applicants must fulfill. For your convenience, we cite here some of the relevant texts:

1. Тhe social enterprise has been defined in Regulation (EU) No 346/2013 on European social entrepreneurship funds and Regulation (EU) 2021/1057 establishing the European Social Fund Plus as “an undertaking, regardless of its legal form [...] which:

(a) in accordance with its articles of association, statutes or with any other legal document that may result in liability under the rules of the Member State where a social enterprise is located, has the achievement of measurable, positive social impacts, which may include environmental impacts, as its primary social objective rather than the generation of profit for other purposes, and which provides services or goods that generate a social return or employs methods of production of goods or services that embody social objectives;

(b) uses its profits first and foremost to achieve its primary social objective, and has predefined procedures and rules that ensure that the distribution of profits does not undermine the primary social objective;

(c) is managed in an entrepreneurial, participatory, accountable and transparent manner, in particular by involving workers, customers and stakeholders on whom its business activities have an impact;”

2. Within the framework of the Social Economy Action Plan:

“The social economy covers entities sharing the following main common principles and features: the primacy of people as well as social and/or environmental purpose over profit, the reinvestment of most of the profits and surpluses to carry out activities in the interest of members/users (“collective interest”) or society at large (“general interest”) and democratic and/ or participatory governance.”

Furthermore, “Social enterprises operate by providing goods and services for the market in an entrepreneurial and often innovative fashion, having social and/or environmental objectives as the reason for their commercial activity. Profits are mainly reinvested with a view to achieving their societal objective. Their method of organisation and ownership also follow democratic or participatory principles or focus on social progress. Social enterprises adopt a variety of legal forms depending on the national context.”

In the event of multiple submissions by the same applicant, only the last received submission (according to the timestamp from the F6S platform) will enter the evaluation process.

Yes, you can choose which activities you want to include in your proposal based on your needs, strategies, ambitions and the available resources for implementation. However, for the activities you request in your proposal you should request no less than 4,000 euro and no more than 8,000 EUR. Also consider that the requested budget for these activities should be reasonable, necessary and justified, and should reflect value for money and current market prices. The budget proposal is subject to evaluation as per the evaluation criteria stated in the Guidelines for Applicants.

No, proposals should be submitted through the online application form. Proposals submitted by other means will not be evaluated. Please be mindful of the deadline for applications, i.e. 01 October 2024, 17:00 CET. The platform will not accept submissions after that date and hour.

No, proposals should be submitted in English. Proposals submitted in other languages will not be evaluated. Please be mindful of the requirement that your key personnel involved should be comfortable communicating in English, as this is the only language for communication with the SEE BRIDGE consortium and during the SEE BRIDGE Acceleration Programme for SE SMEs.

Yes, applicants are advised to consult the model Sub-Grant Agreement that they will sign before receiving the grant.

The implementation period is strictly limited to 6 months. The funded activities need to be implemented in full (and paid out to any external service providers) within this period.

Yes. A summary of the proposals and the applicants will be shared with the European Commission.The SEE BRIDGE project will also publish a list with the beneficiaries of the Open Call including basic information about them and the amount of funding received.

Within 14 days after the end of the implementation period of the funded activities each beneficiary must elaborate and submit a Final Technical Report to the SEE BRIDGE Coordinator. The report should include, among others, a description of the technical work carried out towards the achievement of the previously defined objectives, milestones, and KPIs, any issues with the implementation, delays, costs and plans for the post-project phase. The following specific sections will be included in the report:

• Detailed specific objectives and achieved outcomes/ results. Specific KPIs will be defined by the applicant during the contracting phase and the final report should provide information, preferably quantified, on their achievement.
• Details on the implementation of the funded activities (including photos and/or audio-visual material).
• Challenges and barriers encountered.
• Impact of the funded activities.
• Answers to surveys provided by the Open Call team.
• Promotion & dissemination activities and plans for the post-project phase.

The report (which should not exceed 6 pages, excluding photos and audio-visual material) will follow а template provided by the SEE BRIDGE Open Call program.

In addition to the narrative report, supporting documents will be requested:

• For services provided by external service providers:

• • Copies of duly signed contract(s),
  • Acceptance Protocol or another final protocol demonstrating successful implementation of the contract,

Invoices and/or receipts should be kept by the benefiriaries at least 5 (five) years after the end of the project.

• For attendance of events:

• • Documents demonstrating the actual attendance of the specified number of persons at the event, such as travel documents from the home organization to the venue, boarding passes, entrance tickets.

• For in-company training(s):

• • Signed attendance sheet(s),
  • Training materials used,
  • Photos or videos of the sessions

In case of doubt or in specific circumstances, additional documents may be requested, depending on the type of activities.

The purpose of these documents is solely to provide evidence for the technical implementation. A financial audit will not be carried out by the SEE BRIDGE Open Call program. The beneficiaries, however, are required to ensure that the costs made during the project are eligible and justifiable, as well as properly documented, including in the beneficiary’s accounting system, as per national regulations and legislation. The following requirements about costs are mandatory:

• The costs should be made in the time period of implementation of the project carried out by third parties (6 months) - costs made before the start of the implementation, or after the final day of the implementation period are not eligible.
• The costs should be directly related to the implemented activities.
• The costs should be recorded in the beneficiary's accounting system.
• Contracting and subcontracting should strictly comply with the national procurement regulations and requirements applicable to the beneficiary. It is the beneficiary’s responsibility to ensure compliance.
• All costs should be made in full compliance with other applicable national laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, Labor Code, tax legislation, social security legislation, laws intended to fight corruption, money laundering, etc.
• Specifically for contract payments and larger sums, beneficiaries are strongly advised to make payments through the banking system (bank transfer, cheque) and to avoid cash payments which are difficult to trace in the case of audit.

In case of financial audits by the national financial authorities or the EU, the beneficiaries will be asked to present all relevant financial documentation. To that end, beneficiaries are required to keep records of all supporting documents (both technical and financial) for at least 5 years after the day of approval of the final report. Cost declared during audits as ineligible or not in compliance with national regulations are subject to financial corrections.

Successful applicants might be invited to participate in an online review meeting in the last month of the implementation period to present results.

Guidance will be prepared and shared with the selected applicants with an overview of the monitoring and reporting process and of other support mechanisms of the SEE BRIDGE Acceleration Programme.