The European Union (EU) is seeking applications for its Support to Civil Society Organizations in Montenegro, Civil Society Facility-2020 programme that supports civil society financially and technically, proved to be a powerful means to strengthen participatory democracies in the Western Balkans.

The global objective of this call for proposals is to strengthen participatory democracies and the EU integration process in Montenegro by empowering civil society to actively take part in decision making and by stimulating an enabling legal and financial environment for civil society.

Objectives & Priorities

• The specific objective(s) of this call for proposals are:
  • To build the capacity of CSOs to be professional, effective and accountable independent actors.
  • To contribute to the establishment of an enabling financial environment supportive of institutional sustainability of CSOs.
• The priorities of this call for proposals are:
  • Strengthen the capacities of civil society, promoting the role of competent, transparent, effective and accountable actors in providing social services and promoting innovative approaches to the most disadvantageous including youth and people with disabilities.

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 800,000.
• Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
  • minimum amount: EUR 100,000
  • maximum amount: EUR 200,000
• Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum percentages of total eligible costs of the action:
  • Minimum percentage:  50 % of the total eligible costs of the action.
  • Maximum percentage: 95 % of the total eligible costs of the action

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead applicant:
• In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
  • be a legal person
  • be non-profit-making
  • be a Civil Society Organization
  • be established in a Member State of the European Union or in Montenegro or other eligible countries as stipulated in the basic act/CIR,
  • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary
  • be registered at least 24 months prior to the deadline for submission of project proposals
• Co-applicant(s):
  • Co-applicants are obligatory (minimum 1) and if the applicant is a national of an eligible country other than Montenegro, they must have at least one Montenegrin co-applicant and the local capacity development must be strengthened through some proposed activities.
  • Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant.
  • Co-applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
  • If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicant(s) (if any) will become beneficiary(ies) in the action (together with the coordinator).
• Affiliated entity(ies):
  • The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with affiliated entity(ies).
  • Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to co-applicant(s):
  • Only entities having a structural link with the applicants (i.e. the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular a legal or capital link.
  • This structural link encompasses mainly two notions:
  • Control, as defined in Directive 2013/34/EU on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:
    • Entities affiliated to an applicant may hence be:
    • Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the applicant (granddaughter companies or second-tier subsidiaries) and the same applies to further tiers of control;
    • Entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;
    • Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the applicant (sister companies).
  • Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as a e.g. network, federation, association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate or the applicant participates in the same entity (e.g. network, federation, association,…) as the proposed affiliated entities.

For more information, visit EU Call for Proposals.