The EU is committed to fostering regional integration and cooperation in the Southern Neighbourhood, also in the framework of the Union for the Mediterranean. The EU seeks to actively promote good governance, democracy, rule of law and human rights as cross-cutting priorities and to deepen its dialogue with and support to civil society. It is expected that the knowledge generated will help policy makers in the EU and in the Southern Neighbourhood, and beyond, to devise more robust and relevant policies. It is also expected that this will allow researchers, particularly from Southern Neighbourhood countries, to explore new subjects, gain recognition for their work and develop their skills and competences through peer-to-peer learning.

The global objective of this call for proposals is to contribute to an increased awareness and evidence-based policy making of regional and national actors in relation to areas of relevance for the European Neighbourhood Policy in the Southern Mediterranean region.

The specific objectives of this call for proposals are:

• To foster evidence-based research policy dialogue and research in the priority areas of economic development, security and migration.
• Based on peer-to-peer work, to build the analytical and research skills and capacities in Southern Neighbourhood countries.
• To have a strong outreach component and wide dissemination of research results to stimulate policy debate with national policy-makers, EU institutions, and other relevant stakeholders.

The priorities of this call for proposals are:

• Economic development: Trade and investments as factors of regional integration as well as their impact on employment; trends and policies aiming at an increased integration of North Africa in the African continent; private sector development and job creation, in particular for youth; the role of digital in the new economy; role of informal/parallel sectors in the local economies and policies to lead it to formalisation; perspectives and policies aiming at enhancing new economic models in the Southern Neighbourhood region, respectful of its social foundations and the environment, also looking at issues such as inclusive finance, circular and social economy.
• Security: Modernisation of the national security sectors (also called Security Sector Reform – SSR), terrorism and other forms of violent extremism (including prevention), trans-national organised crime, cybercrime, the full cycle of crisis and disaster management (prevention, preparedness and response).
• Migration: Regular economic migration and mobility; asylum and protection; irregular migration; migrant smuggling; border management; economic impact of migration in countries of origin, transit countries and countries of destination modalities to ensure a positive role of the diaspora in the socio-economic development Each action should address at least two of the above priorities.

Eligible types of action:

• evidence-based policy dialogue and applied research;
• cooperation between research networks, universities, academia, policy makers, civil society, nongovernmental organisations and the private sector.

Eligibility

The project proposal must be presented by the lead applicant in partnership with at least four co-applicants or affiliated entities from at least three beneficiary States.

Projects must take place predominantly in the territory of the beneficiary countries, be written in English and have a duration of between 36 and 48 months.

The call is qualified as “open”, which involves presenting the concept note and the complete project proposal in a single stage. The Commission will proceed to the concept note evaluation first and only for those who will pass this first phase the complete project proposal will also be evaluated.

Project proposals must be submitted to the Commission in electronic format through the PROSPECT system.

Actions must take place in one or more of the following countries:

Neighbourhood South countries (i.e. Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia) and/or the European Union Member States.

Budget

The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 5,000,000. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

Minimum amount: EUR 1,600,000

Maximum amount: EUR 2,500,000

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: 80% of the total eligible costs of the action

The deadline for the submission of applications is 2 September 2019 at 12:00 (Brussels date and time).

Official documentation is available here