Who Can Apply

The pilot call is specifically designed for local public administrations in the EU and Digital Europe Programme (DEP) Associated countries and partners working with them (e.g., companies, civil society organisations, academia). The consortia must be capable of executing a cross-sectorial and cross-border pilot activity, and co-finance at least 50% of the pilot activity.

Consortia Eligibility Criteria

1. Eligible consortia must consist of at least two local or regional public administrations from different EU member states and/or DEP Associated countries, promoting cross-sectoral collaboration and dealing with the European Green Deal objectives.
2. The local administrations can also involve other eligible parties working with them (e.g., companies, academia, civil society organisations and others). 
3. The pilot consortium members are subject to restrictions due to security reasons. Entities must not be controlled by an ineligible country. If there is a risk for such case, entities will be offered an opportunity to provide a guarantee.
4. All entities (except entities that are validated as public bodies by the EU countries) have to fill in and submit an Ownership Control Declaration (OCD). OCD must be self-declared at proposal time, and if the pilot is awarded, the official OCD must be provided within 14 days from the notification date. If a chosen pilot consortium member is found, after assessment, to be controlled by a partner from a non-EU country, they will need to present a guarantee that will be assessed to allow or exclude participation in the pilot project. If a partner is found to be controlled by a DEP-associated country, they will also have to prepare a guarantee that will need to be assessed to allow or not allow their participation in the pilot.

Available funding and Co-Financing

Each pilot is planned to be funded with 1 to 1½ million euros by EU contribution to share amongst the consortium members of the pilot. If justified, this can also be less than 1 million euro. The funding should be balanced proportionally amongst the pilot sites, and one partner can receive a maximum of 1 million euro as grant (this also applies when applying for more than one pilot or in following open call rounds). The total EU contribution for the DS4SSCC-DEP pilots is 15.3 million euros, which is planned to be distributed to around 12 chosen pilot consortiums.

The financial criteria for applicants involves a co-funding model. Applicants are expected to bear at least 50% of the project costs, as direct co-financing. This means that for any pilot proposed, the grant will cover only up to half of the total expenses. Applicants must directly indicate the co-financing as a dedicated cost in the budget for the pilot and demonstrate their capacity to provide it through their own resources. To be eligible, co-financing cannot include in-kind resources not explicitly monetized in the pilot budget, and all activities must observe relevant regulation, including state-aid rules and risks of double funding. As normally, all costs need to be actual, incurred during the pilot period time-frame and have to be auditable.

This approach ensures shared investment and commitment from both the funding body (EU) and the applicants, aligning with the principles of partnership and joint responsibility. The model is designed to encourage meaningful participation and investment in the project, ensuring that the applicants are equally invested in the success and sustainability of their initiatives. It's crucial for applicants to clearly articulate their funding strategy and show their ability to meet these financial requirements in their application.

The piloting consortium is expected to receive 50% of the total grant at the start, upon signing of the grant agreement, and the remaining 50% will be paid out in two instalments against actual performance, evaluated during midterm and final reporting period. 

For more information about the Financial Framework, please refer to the Call for Pilots Manual at https://ds4sscc.eu/cfp-one

Submission timeline & Instructions

There will be three rounds of open calls occurring every three months:

1. 1st submission round: 1 June 2024 – 31 August 2024 (1-2 pilots selected with a maximum duration of 18 months each)
2. 2nd submission round: estimated to open in September 2024 (expected 4-6 pilots selected with a maximum duration of 18 months each)
3. 3rd submission round: estimated to open in December 2024 (expected 4 or more selected pilots* with a maximum duration of 16 months each)

*The number of selected pilots in the third round can be adjusted depending on the number of projects selected in the previous rounds and the amount of funding requested.

Full Proposal template and supporting documentation (written in English) must be submitted via email (apply@ds4sscc.eu) before the specified deadline of the Call for Pilots (according to the Call for Pilots Timeline published on the project website: https://ds4sscc.eu/cfp-one

All necessary guidelines and documentation for submission are available at https://ds4sscc.eu/cfp-one , including the Call for Pilots Manual (including Call for Pilots overview, legal, financial, technical, business and organisational and ethical framework, information about evaluation process and guidance on pilot support and monitoring once awarded).

Templates for Submission

1. Application Form
2. Budget
3. Letter of Commitment
4. Ethics and Data Protection Self-Assessment

Evaluation

Applications submitted in each submission round will undergo an evaluation period, which includes an eligibility check. Next, eligible applications will undergo expert evaluation, which will assess the content of the proposals according to the set evaluation criteria and scoring mechanisms (Relevance, Implementation, Impact). The evaluation process for each submission round is expected to take 1 month after the submission deadline. Following this, notification to all applicants will be sent out by email, including a short feedback. Successful applications will undergo further financial and legal scrutiny before the negotiation and contract signing phase commences.

Note: 

Resubmission of project applications is permitted for the following submission rounds. A reserve list is created from each application round in case the selected projects do not meet the requirements after financial and legal checks.

For more information about eligibility and evaluation criteria, please refer to the Call for Pilots Manual available at https://ds4sscc.eu/cfp-one