Eligibility of applicants

• be legal persons or an entity without legal personality under the applicable national law, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and assume financial liability, and
• be non profit making, and
• be specific types of organisations such as: non-governmental organisations, public sector operators, local authorities, international (inter-governmental) organisations as defined by Article 43 of the Implementing Rules to the EC Financial Regulation, and
• be nationals of a Member State of the European Union or other eligible countries as stipulated in the basic act. This obligation does not apply to international organisations. Such nationality being determined on the basis of the organisation's statutes which should demonstrate that it has been established by an instrument governed by the national law of the country concerned, and
• be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with their partners, not acting as an intermediary, and
• other possible eligibility criteria if appropriate.

Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations listed here (see section 2.3.3 of the Practical Guide to contract procedures for EC external actions):

a) they are bankrupt or being wound up, are having their affairs administered by the courts, have entered into an arrangement with creditors, have suspended business activities, are the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or are in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations;

b) they have been convicted of an offence concerning their professional conduct by a judgment which has the force of res judicata (i.e. against which no appeal is possible);

c) they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the Contracting Authority can justify;

d) they have not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country in which they are established or with those of the country of the Contracting Authority or those of the country where the contract is to be performed;

e) they have been the subject of a judgement which has the force of res judicata for fraud corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation or any other illegal activity detrimental to the Communities' financial interests;

f) they are currently subject to an administrative penalty referred to in Article 96(1) of the Financial Regulation (BUDGET)/ Article 99 of the Financial Regulation (10th EDF).
The cases applicable and referred to in point (e) are the following:

• cases of fraud as referred to in Article 1 of the Convention on the protection of the European Communities' financial interests drawn up by the Council Act of 26 July 1995;
• cases of corruption as referred to in Article 3 of the Convention on the fight against corruption involving officials of the European Communities or officials of Member States of the European Union, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 May 1997;
• cases of participation in a criminal organisation, as defined in Article 2(1) of Joint Action 98/733/JHA of the Council;
• cases of money laundering as defined in Article 1 of Council Directive 91/308/EEC.

Sources and useful links

• PRAG 2010
• Guidelines for applicants