Interreg Baltic Sea Region is launching the second call for applications for project platforms in its priorities 1-3. A project platform is a framework for cooperation of partners of projects funded by Interreg Baltic Sea Region and other funding programmes in a certain thematic field. It involves cooperation with other stakeholders in that thematic field beyond project partnerships, for example coordinators of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. The main aim of project platforms is to increase the impact of Interreg Baltic Sea Region and other EU-funded projects in the area. A project platform will be implemented as a project within the framework of Interreg Baltic Sea Region. Platform partners will have to provide their own contribution in order to receive Programme co-financing.
Project platforms reflect Interreg Baltic Sea Region’s ambition to contribute to institutional capacity building in selected thematic fields in the region. Taking stock of all the themes not yet covered by the first call, the Programme is opening this call for project platform applications in further topics as detailed below. This means that each project platform has to focus on one of these topics and contribute to one of the selected Programme results as set out in the Cooperation Programme. More than one project platform may apply and be selected within each topic described below.
- Research and innovation infrastructures
- Smart Specialisation
- Marine Litter Management
- Management of Marine Space
- Climate change adaptation and mitigation
The project platform consortia should be based on the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme’s projects, involving partners who demonstrate good knowledge of outputs of their regular projects. It should involve partners from other EU funding Programmes, e.g. Interreg South Baltic, Central Baltic, North Sea Region, Central Europe, Northern Periphery and Arctic as well as Bonus Programme. Furthermore, platform proposals should involve EUSBSR PACs/HACs as partners or associated organisations.
Platforms have to follow the same principles of composition of the partnership as regular projects. They have to involve at least three project partners from three different countries of the Programme area: a lead partner and at least two project partners. Lead partners must be located in the territory of an EU Member State in the Programme area or in Norway. At least one of the partners has to be located in the territory of an EU Member State in the Programme area. Specific requirements for platform partnerships:
- Each platform partner has to either represent a regular project of an EU funding programme (being a project partner there) or a coordinator of the Strategy.
- The lead partner and platform partners have to represent at least three EU funded projects: at least two Interreg Baltic Sea Region projects and at least
The project platform duration consists of three phases: a contracting phase, an implementation phase and a closure phase. The contracting phase lasts three months and starts the day after the MC approval. The closure phase lasts three months. The duration of the implementation phase of the project platforms may vary and can last up to 26 months (but end no later than 30 September 2021).
The Programme is designed under the territorial cooperation goal of the European Union. In practice, the Programme combines financing from the European Union provided by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) as well as the financial contribution of the Kingdom of Norway and the Russian Federation.
The available Programme ERDF co-financing for the projects applying in this call is currently 7.5 million euros. The currently available Norwegian co-financing is 0.2 million euros and the ENI/Russian co-financing 3.6 million euros. Some of the funds will be committed to the projects applying in the parallel extension stage call. In addition some of the ENI/Russian funds will be committed to additional Russian partners in the already approved projects in the Programme. The total budget for a project platform can be up to EUR 1,000,000. Platforms with smaller budgets are encouraged to apply, too.
Project partners have to provide their own contribution to receive Programme co-financing. The level of these contributions depends on the Programme co-financing rate which varies between countries and funds. Partners from Denmark, Finland, Germany, and Sweden may receive up to 75% ERDF co-financing, while partners from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland may receive up to 85% ERDF co-financing. Norwegian partners may receive up to 50% co-financing from Norwegian national funding. Russian partners may receive up to 85% Programme co-financing, combining the EU funding from the European Neighbourhood Instrument and the financial contribution of the Russian Federation. Partner organisations located outside of the Interreg Baltic Sea Region area may receive up to 75% ERDF co-financing when joining the platforms as partners. The Programme rules for eligibility of costs apply.
Further details on the requirements and the composition of the partnership can be found in the Programme Manual.
The official Programme documents are available on the Programme website: www.interreg-baltic.eu and include:
- Interreg Baltic Sea Region Cooperation Programme;
- Programme Manual; and
- Application package for project platforms.
The MA/JS offers the following assistance to applicants:
- For general advice please contact: platform@interreg-baltic.eu;
- The MA/JS offers consultations at its offices in Rostock and Riga, as well as during a platform development event and via telephone/skype. If interested, please write to: platform@interreg-baltic.eu;
- The MA/JS organises an event to facilitate the project platform development process. Information about the upcoming event is available at the Programme website: http://www.interreg-baltic.eu/events.html