Managing an EMFAF action

CINEA implements the EMFAF programme on behalf of DG MARE by means of contracts or grants.

Contracts

Information about contract implementation, reporting and payment is specified in the tender specifications and in the contract itself.

Requirements regarding web and communication activities by external contractors on behalf of the European Commission and Agencies can be found in the web guide and visual identity guide. Check out also the communication toolkit for contractors.

Grants

The European Union awards grants to organisations and, occasionally, individuals, to help them carry out projects that further its policies.

For the EMFAF programme, CINEA implements grants in two different ways: grants based on open calls for proposals, and grants directly awarded to identified beneficiaries (Identified Beneficiary Action – IBA). A special case of IBA are the voluntary contributions to international organizations.

Open calls for proposals: The European Commission advertises grant opportunities through calls for proposals (Article 180 of the Financial Regulation). Open calls for proposals are advertised via the Funding and Tender Opportunities Portal.

Identified beneficiary actions: Directly awarded grants to support activities with specific characteristics that require a particular type of body on account of its technical competence, its high degree of specialisation or its administrative powers, on condition that the activities concerned do not fall within the scope of a call for proposals (Article 195 (f) of the Financial Regulation).

Voluntary contributions to international organisations: Directly awarded grants to support the development of scientific knowledge and advice in Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (Article 195 (c) of the Financial Regulation).

Grant Agreement preparation (GAP)

Once the project proposal has been selected for funding, the first phase before the start of the project is the preparation of the grant agreement. At this stage, CINEA may request the project coordinator to adjust some technical or financial elements in the proposal.

The contractual conditions of the project are set out in a model grant agreement. This is a standard document, used for all projects, which describes the action covered, the budget and EU grant awarded, the duration of the project and the roles and responsibilities of all the actors for its implementation. The grant agreement has to be signed before the project begins.

Model grant agreement: there are two types of models, depending on whether the grant is awarded to:

a single beneficiary: mono-beneficiary model grant agreement, or
a consortium of partner organisations: multi-beneficiary model grant agreement.

Implementing the grant

The implementation of projects is closely monitored by CINEA to ensure that projects achieve their objectives, and deliver the expected results. For information on how to deal with your grants, please check the online manual.

Reporting templates for grants

CINEA provides templates & forms for the various reports, financial documents, guidance material and other reference documents on the Funding and Tender Opportunities Portal.