Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Eligibility of applicants

The branch office in the eligible area has been established this year. Can the organisation participate?

The organisational unit has to prove operation of at least one year, this has to be given by the time of the submission of the application (in this Call for Proposals the 15h of September 2010 the latest), meaning that in case of an application submitted to the JTS e.g. on the 1st of September 2010, the branch office has to be at least operating from the 31st of August 2009.
How can organisations participate in projects if their headquarters is not located in the eligible programme area?
The most common situation for Project Partners is that their headquarters is registered and operating in the eligible area of the cross-border programme (see the counties listed in Chapter 3.1.1.3 of the Guidelines for Applicants). If this is not the case, several situations are possible. If the organisation has a branch office or other organisational unit in the eligible programme area, it can participate as Project Partner. There are two cases that can be distinguished (the branch is a legal person on its own, or the branch has no legal personality), for details please refer to Chapter 3.1.1.3 of the Guidelines. If the organisation does not have a branch office or other organisational unit in the eligible programme area and its headquarters is also operating outside of the geographical boundaries of the programme, it can participate in cross-border projects as Associated Partner, without receiving funding from the project. Please note that in all the above cases the organisation has to be non-profit as this basic eligibility criterion is to be respected throughout the whole programme. Based on the above, organisations that are for-profit in nature cannot be Lead Beneficiaries, Project Partners (cross-border, domestic or from adjacent region) or Associated Partners. They can only be involved in project implementation as providers of external services and as such have to be selected according to the rules set out in the PraG.
How can apply a local unit of a regional organisation if it has no legal entity but operating in the eligible area and the headquarter is not registered in the eligible area?
If the local unit (e.g University campus) operating in the eligible area has no legal entity, the headquarter has to apply - as Lead Beneficiary or Project Partner - for the funding. However, as indicated in the Guidelines for Applicants chapter 3.1.1.3 there are other requirements to be met by the organisation. It has to be proved that the local unit or branch office has been operational in the eligible area for at least one year counted from the submission of the project proposal. Further on the leader of the branch office has to be authorised by the head of the regional/national organisation to implement the project activities in the eligible area with the involvement of its own local staff. Do not forget, that the head of the regional/national organisation (headquarter) has to enclose a certificate to the project proposal to ensure the fulfilment of the requirements mentioned above (see in table 4.2.1.1 about the list of documents to be submitted).
In case the national/regional organisation's headquarters is not located in the eligible programme area and the local branch office is not a legal entity, what does the certification referred to in Point 4 of the list of documents to be submitted (Chapter 4.2.1.1 of the Guidelines) have to contain?

In the above described cases the legally authorised representative of the (national/regional) organisation has to write and sign an authorisation in which he or she declares that the head of the local branch office is, in case the project is selected for funding, as representative of the organisation towards the programme implementing structures, authorised to perform the necessary activities in connection to the implementation of the project.
Can organisations in Hungary with the statues of 'non-profit kft' and 'non-profit zrt' be project participants?
Partly due to the compulsory transition of organisations with 'kht' status into other non-profit legal persons by the 30th of June 2009, organisations that are 'non-profit kft' or 'non-profit zrt' can be eligible for funding under the Call for Proposals if they satisfy all eligibility criteria, especially the criterion of non-profit operation. In their case, they will belong under category 3 of Chapter 3.1.1.1 of the Guidelines (non-profit organisations governed by private law).
How long has an organisation to be operating in order to be an eligible project participant?
As specified in the chapter 3.1.1.2 (Operational background of the Guidelines for Applicants for the Second call for Proposals: "Project Partners / Lead Beneficiaries have to prove an operation of at least one year, counted back from the day of the submission of the project proposal. Cases of legal succession can be accepted when proving the necessary operational background, provided that the predecessor- and the successor organisation together
can cover at least one year of continuous operation."
Is a public benefit organisation eligible?
In accordance with Hungarian Act IV of 2006 on business associations, every public benefit organisation (közhasznú társaság, kht.) in Hungary has to transform into a non-profit business entity by the 30th of June 2009. From these new forms, the following can be eligible in the CfP of the Programme: non-profit Ltd. (non-profit korlátolt felelősségű társaság) and non-profit Plc. (non-profit zárt részvénytársaság).
Is there any special requirement for educational institutions concerning accreditation?
No this Call has no special accreditation requirements.
Is there any restriction for external experts concerning the geographical eligibility, do external experts have to come from the programme eligible area?
The geographical origin of external expertise is not limited to the eligible programme area. Thus, the geographical eligibility criterion valid for potential Project Partners is not to be applied to external experts and they can come from outside the counties of the cross-border area. However, please be aware of the rules in the PraG concerning nationality and origin of natural and legal persons (Chapter 2.3.1 of the PraG). Based on the cited Chapter, experts engaged by tenders may be of any nationality.
Trade unions are listed in the indicative list for potential project applicants within action 2.2.1 and 2.2.2 but not in the action 2.1.2. Is it possible that they also be eligible organisations within the Action 2.1.2 (cross border labour market mobility promotion services), although they are not specifically listed on the list?
As stated in the GfA the lists of potential project applicants are only indicative, i.e. are not exhaustive. Each organisation that satisfies the eligibility rules elaborated under chapter 3 of GfA can apply for any of the actions from the CfP. Please note that any organisation applying should also take care to satisfy the conditions concerning professional and financial background listed under point 3.1.1.4 of the Guidelines. All the above mentioned is to be supported by relevant documentation listed in table 4.2.1.1 of the Guidelines.
When should come into force the authorisation of the head of the branch office given by the legally authorised representative of the head office of the LB/PP organisation (in case the branch office is in the eligible area but has no legal entity)?
The authorisation can come into force only after the signature of the Subsidy Contract, and only in terms of implementation of the relevant project part. All documents submitted within the Application pack have to be signed by the legal representative of the organisation, and the subsidy contract will be signed by him as well. Since all important acts like changes of the subsidy contract and other official documents like progress reports, supportive documents have to be signed by the legal representative, the authorised head of the branch office can make operative decisions and sign documents in connection with the implementation (e.g. procurement related documents like request for three offers, invoices, service contracts etc.). However this authorisation is number 4. in the list of documents to be submitted (see Guidelines for Applicants chapter 4.2.1.1), therefore it has to be attached to the Application pack.
Where I can find detailed information related to the establishing documents of the Project Partners and of the Lead Beneficiary as well as the extract from register?
In the Guidelines for Applicants for the Second Call for Proposals you can find in the APPENDIX 2 – Types of establishing documents- under the point A- types of the establishing documents for the organisations in Hungary,and under the point B- types of the establishing documents for the organisations in Croatia- including the name of the registeriung authoriy as well as the name of the extract.
What to consider non-profit? How to interpret the term ‘non-profit organisation’ ?
The crucial in defining the non-profit status is legal form, existence of result, disposal on result and ownership of the organisation in question.

In Croatia main source for defining the non-profit status is: Popis tijela javne vlasti za 2010. godinu (NN 19/2010) – see GfA Appendix 1., annual list of the bodies of public governance in the Republic of Croatia. Still the organisations listed there can be eligible for participating in Programme, if they are non-profit.

In Hungary to be considered as non-profit company in the Programme:

• Public- Owned by the state or operation in public interest regulated by a specific law (owner is public foundation / organisation);
• Non-market- Not offering the ‘products’ on the market but serving public interest;
• Annual result- Only financing ‘production’ in public interest (no right on disposal).

As examples the following categories are deemed to be non-profit from the point of view of the Programme:
• Public programme service providers in media (in HU: közszolgálati musorszolgáltatók);
• Organisations providing public services in the field of tourism (for later tourism actions of the Programme), economy or infrastructure development.