EURES Cross-border partnerships

ExpectedOutcome :

The overall objectives of the call topic are to facilitate workers' intra-EU labour mobility, to boost employment opportunities as well as to support the implementation of the EURES Regulation.

The ultimate goal of the call is to facilitate the job matching, placement and recruitment process on a fair basis

Scope :

This topic shall support cross-border partnerships in implementing the objectives of the EURES Regulation, improving the functioning, cohesion and integration of the cross-border labour markets and promoting voluntary and fair geographical and occupational mobility in such regions.

The cross-border partnership must be established based on actual needs in terms of mobility flows and economic activity. In particular, it should address skills mismatches in the border region.

While cross-border partnerships are free under the EURES Regulation to define a number of specific tasks [as indicated in Article 27(2)], cross border partnerships co-financed by this call have to provide a minimum number of services.

Cross-border partnerships under this topic must support all these activities:

1. To provide recruitment assistance through the staff of the organisations participating in the partnership to frontier jobseekers and employers, such as:
   • Recruiting workers and attracting employers, for instance organizing recruitment events.
   • Identifying suitable job vacancies or CVs.
   • Helping to draft CV's, job applications, and job vacancies.
   • Matching CVs and vacancies.
2. To provide guidance and information, relevant for the area covered by the partnership, on:
   • living and working conditions, including general information on social security, taxation, labour law and administrative procedures regarding employment.
   • apprenticeships, traineeships and access to vocational education and training.
3. To advertise the information and services provided in line with the EURES communications strategy.
4. To monitor placement outcomes and customer satisfaction.
5. To contribute to the pool of job vacancies and CVs in the EURES portal, in cooperation with the NCO.

In addition, cross-border partnerships under this topic must support at least one of the following activities:

1. To provide post-recruitment information and assistance.
2. To gather and analyse evidence on cross-border mobility covering the current state of play and potential future developments.
3. To develop and implement a catalogue of specific actions for raising the offer of cross-border apprenticeships and traineeships in the participating regions and to provide information, guidance and assistance to candidates interested in applying for such offers across the border.
4. To contribute to the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights with specific actions addressing at least one of the principles under the chapter “fair working conditions”.
5. On a voluntary basis and as stand-alone activity or as cross-cutting issue, cross-border partnerships can develop activities and measures supporting the process of the green and digital transitions and the transformation of European industrial ecosystems, in particular job conversion and modification as well as job creation and skills development in their regions within the framework of the transition to a decarbonised/green economy as detailed in the “European Green Deal” and the EU’s Digital Strategy.

1. Eligible countries: as described in the Call document.

2. Eligibility and admissibility conditions: as described in the Call document.

Applications must be submitted before the call deadline and electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System. Paper submissions are NOT possible.

Applications (including annexes and supporting documents) must be submitted using the forms provided inside the Submission System.

Applications must be complete and contain:

• Application Form (Part A)

• Application Form (Part B)

• Annexes and supporting documents (to be uploaded as PDF files).

At proposal submission, the lead applicant will have to confirm that it has the mandate to act for all applicants; that the information in the application is correct and complete and that the participants comply with the conditions for receiving EU funding (especially eligibility, financial and operational capacity, exclusion, etc). Before signing the grant, each beneficiaries and affiliated entities will have to confirm this again by signing a declaration of honour (DoH).

Applications must be readable, accessible and printable, not exceeding [70] pages.

3. Evaluation

The award criteria for this call are as follows:

• Relevance:

 Depth of coverage of compulsory activities that can be funded

 Number and depth of coverage of optional activities that can be funded.  Clarity and consistency of project, tasks supporting the activities, objectives and planning.  Complementarity with other initiatives by the same organization(s).  Complementarity with other existing similar initiatives.

• Quality:

Project design and implementation (max. 20 points):

 Extent to which the methodology is adequate to implement the project.  Adequacy and completeness of the procedures for monitoring and reporting of the action.  Feasibility of the project within the proposed time frame.  Cost/effectiveness of the proposal and adequacy of the proposed allocation of resources. Project team and cooperation arrangements (max. 20 points):  Adequacy and consistency of the project team and (where applicable) consortium. Complementarity of the members’ expertise.  Adequacy and completeness of the procedures for coordination and risk-management. Impact (max. 20 points):  Adequacy of the indicators to measure the achievement of the activities that can be funded.  Justification of the targets for the indicators.  Degree to which the likely level of output and impact of the project is proportional to the amount of the requested grant.  Appropriateness of the dissemination activities to ensure that beneficiaries and other European actions can profit from the action.  Sustainability of results after EU funding ends.

4. Indicative timetable for evaluation and grant agreement: as described in the Call document.

Call opening: 21 February 2023

Deadline for submission: 03 May 2023 – 17:00:00 CET (Brussels) Evaluation: May-June 2023 Information on evaluation results: 15 September 2023 GA signature: October 2023/January 2024

5. Proposal templates, guidance and model grant agreements (MGA):

Standard proposal template af_esf-socpl_en.pdf (europa.eu) Call document https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/esf/wp-call/2023/call-fiche_esf-2023-eures-cbc_en.pdf Guide for applicants : om_en.pdf (europa.eu) Mono/Multi-beneficiary Model Grant Agreementgeneral-mga_esf-socpl_en.pdf (europa.eu)