RO- APPLICANT

CULTURE GUIDE

Restoration and EEA GRANTS

revitalization of 2014 – 2021
monuments
Bucharest, 2019
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 EEA GRANTS 2014 - 2021

RO-CULTURA

APPLICANT GUIDE
Call Restoration and revitalization of monuments

Submission of projects: 05.06.2019 – 07.10.2019, 23:59

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 Table of Contents
Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................. 3
1. General information on EEA Grants .......................................................................................... 5
2. General information on RO-CULTURE Programme ............................................................... 5
3. Institutional and legal framework ............................................................................................... 5
3.1 Institutional framework......................................................................................................... 5
3.2 Legal framework ................................................................................................................... 5
4. Objectives and horizontal principles .......................................................................................... 7
4.1 Objectives of the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 ............................................... 7
4.2 Objectives of the RO-CULTURE Programme.................................................................. 7
4.3 Objectives of this call for projects ...................................................................................... 7
5. Definitions ...................................................................................................................................... 8
6. Financial allocation..................................................................................................................... 12
6.1 Total financial allocation .................................................................................................... 12
6.2 Financial allocation on projects ........................................................................................ 12
7. Eligibility ....................................................................................................................................... 13
7.1 Applicant’s eligibility ........................................................................................................... 13
7.2 Eligibility of project partners .............................................................................................. 16
7.2.1 Eligible project partners ............................................................................................. 16
7.2.2 Project partner(s) selection ....................................................................................... 19
7.2.3 Partnership Agreement.............................................................................................. 20
7.3 Eligibility of the project/activities ...................................................................................... 20
7.3.1 Tipyes of eligible projects .......................................................................................... 20
7.3.2 Location of project/activities...................................................................................... 22
7.3.3 Tipyes of eligible activities ........................................................................................ 22
7.3.4 Non eligible projects/activities .................................................................................. 24
7.3.5 Project duration........................................................................................................... 24
7.4 Eligibility of expenditures................................................................................................... 24
7.4.1 General principles on the eligibility of expenditures .............................................. 24
7.4.2 Procurement ................................................................................................................ 25
7.4.3 Eligible expenditures .................................................................................................. 25
7.4.4 Non eligible expenditures .......................................................................................... 29
7.5 Project budget ..................................................................................................................... 30
8. Use of the Euro exchange rate ................................................................................................ 30

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9. State aid ....................................................................................................................................... 30
10. Project preparation and submission .................................................................................... 31
10.1 Procedure for submitting the project application file ..................................................... 32
10.2 Specific requirements for electronic signature of documents ...................................... 32
10.3 The content of the project application file ....................................................................... 33
10.4 Deadline for project submission ....................................................................................... 38
11. Evaluation and selection ....................................................................................................... 39
11.1 Administrative compliance and eligibility check ............................................................. 39
11.2 Technical and financial evaluation of projects ............................................................... 41
11.3 Selection procedure by the Selection Committee ......................................................... 43
11.4 Pre-contracting ................................................................................................................... 43
11.5 Complaints........................................................................................................................... 46
11.6 Contracting .......................................................................................................................... 47
11.7 Estimated duration for project evaluation and selection............................................... 48
12. Cross-cutting issues............................................................................................................... 48
13. Project sustainability .............................................................................................................. 48
14. Payments provisions .............................................................................................................. 48
15. Project implementation .......................................................................................................... 49
16. Reporting ................................................................................................................................. 50
17. Project monitoring .................................................................................................................. 51
18. State aid reporting and monitoring ...................................................................................... 51
19. State aid recovery .................................................................................................................. 52
20. Irregularities............................................................................................................................. 54
21. Information and communication ........................................................................................... 54
22. Processing of personal data ................................................................................................. 55
23. Additional information ............................................................................................................ 56
24. Annexes ................................................................................................................................... 57

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 This document is a guideline for submitting a project for receiving a grant
under the RO-CULTURE Programme - Call Restoration and revitalization of
monuments.

1. General information on EEA Grants

The RO-CULTURE Programme is an integral part of the European Economic Area
(EEA) Financial Mechanism 2014-2021.
The rules and principles governing the implementation of the EEA Grants are set out
in the Regulation on the Implementation of the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021
and its annexes.
More information on the legal framework of the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021
can be found at www.eeagrants.org and www.eeagrants.ro.

2. General information on RO-CULTURE Programme

The RO-CULTURE Programme is implemented in Romania by the Ministry of Culture
and National Identity, as Programme Operator, in partnership with the Norwegian
Directorate for Cultural Heritage and Arts Council Norway, as Programme Partners
from the donor states.
The Programme was approved through the Programme Agreement concluded
between the EEA Financial Mechanism Committee and the Ministry of European
Funds, as National Focal Point, on 05.06.2018.
The Programme will focus on the role that culture and cultural heritage plays in local
and regional development, with emphasis on employment, cultural entrepreneurship
and public development.
The budget of the Programme is 29,015,294 Euro, out of which 24,663,000 Euro is
external non-reimbursable financing and 4,352,294 Euro comes from the state budget
(national co-financing). In addition, an amount of 250,000 Euro are allocated to the
Programme from the fund for bilateral relations.

3. Institutional and legal framework

3.1 Institutional framework
The institutional framework of the RO-CULTURE Programme is in line with the
provisions of the Regulation on the Implementation of the EEA Financial Mechanism
2014-2021 and GEO no. 34/2017.

3.2 Legal framework

This call for proposals is governed, inter alia, by the following legislation and
regulations, as subsequently amended and supplemented:
 Protocol 38c to the EEA Agreement on the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-
2021 (hereinafter referred to as the ”EEAFM”);
 Regulation on the Implementation of the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021
(hereinafter referred to as the ”Regulation”), approved by the EEA Financial
Mechanism Committee in accordance with art. 10.5 of the Protocol 38c to EEA
Agreement on 8 September 2016;

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  The Memorandum of Understanding between Iceland, the Principality of
Liechtenstein, the Kingdom of Norway (hereinafter referred to as the ”donor
states”) and the Government of Romania regarding the implementation of the
EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021, published in the Official Journal of
Romania no. 838 of 21.10.2016 through the Order of the Minister of European
Funds no. 2102 of 19.10.2016;
 Guidelines approved by the EEA Financial Mechanism Commitee in
accordance with the provisions of art. 1.5 paragraph (1) letter d) of the
Regulation;
 The Programme Agreement, concluded on 05.06.2018 between the EEA
Financial Mechanism Committee (hereinafter referred to as ”CMF”) and the
National Focal Point (hereinafter referred to as the ”NFP”) for the
implementation of the ”RO-CULTURE” Programme;
 The Programme Implementation Agreement, concluded on 05.06.2018
between the NFP and the Ministry of Culture and National Identity (hereinafter
MCIN), as Programme Operator;
 Governement Emergency Ordinance (GEO) no. 34/2017 regarding the financial
management of the non-reimbursable external funds related to the EEA
Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism
2014-2021, approved by Law no. 206/2017 and the Methodological Norms for
the application of its provisions, approved through the Order of the Minister of
Public Finance and of the Minister of Regional Development, Public
Administration and European Funds no. 2840/31.10.2017;
 Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain
categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles
107 and 108 of the Treaty ( 1 ), modified through Commission Regulation (EU)
No. 1.084/2017;
 Government Emergency Ordinance no. 77 of 3 December 2014 on national
procedures in the field of state aid, as well as for amending and suplementing
the Competition Law no. 21/1996;
 Order of the Minister of Culture and National Identity no. 2324/26.05.2017 on
the designation of the PMU as Programme Operator for the PA14 ”Cultural
entrepreneurship, cultural heritage and cultural exchange” implemented
through the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021, hereinafter referred to as
”RO-CULTURE Programme;
 Order of the Minister of Culture and National Identity no. 2238/08.04.2019
regarding the lump sums and standard scales of unit costs for travel and
accomodation within the projects financed under RO-CULTURE Programme,
published in the Official Gazette no. 315/23.04.2019;
 Order of the Minister of Culture and National Identity no. 252728.05.2019 on
the approval of the State aid scheme regarding the restoration and revitalization
of monuments under the RO-CULTURE Programme, published in the Official
Gazette no. 449/05.06.2019, respectively in the Official Gazette no.449
bis/05.06.2019.
The above-mentioned legal framework is not exhaustive and will be supplemented with
the provisions of European and national legislation, including, but not limited to
environmental, public procurement and state aid rules, cultural heritage, construction
works and quality in constructions.
Also, for the elaboration and implementation of projects financed under the RO-
CULTURA programme, applicants will consult, by way of guidance, the

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recommendations contained in the "European quality Principles for EU-funded archis
with potential Impact upon cultural heritage ", document drawn up by the International
Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), available at the following link:
https://institute.eib.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/European_Quality_Principles_2019_EN.pdf

4. Objectives and horizontal principles

4.1 Objectives of the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021
The RO-CULTURE Programme will contribute to the achievement of the EEA Financial
Mechanism 2014-2021 objectives, namely:
 reducing economic and social disparities in the European Economic Area;
 strengthening bilateral relations between donor states and Romania.

4.2 Objectives of the RO-CULTURE Programme

The overall objective of the RO-CULTURE Programme is to strengthen economic
and social development through cultural cooperation, cultural entrepreneurship and
cultural heritage management.

4.3 Objectives of this call for projects

The need to restore and preserve the built heritage for future generations is connected
to the potential of cultural heritage to generate sustainable economic and social
development. This call for projects aims to address the need of restoring cultural
heritage in an innovative way, by promoting new participatory governance models for
the field of cultural heritage and an integrated approach of this heritage. Emphasis will
be laid not only on restoring the buildings of cultural value, but especially on
capitalizing them in order to develop and sustain employment, to involve people in the
diversity of culture and to attract new forms of sustainable tourism.
This call for projects will contribute exclusively to the achievement of the following
outcomes and outputs::

Number Programme results Indicator

Outcome 1 Cultural heritage 25% increase of the annual
management enhanced number of visitors to supported
cultural heritage sites and/or
cultural activities
70 jobs created1
Output 1.1 Monuments restored and 7 monuments restored and
revitalised revitalized
7 development plans related to
built heritage implemented
35 professional staff trained on the
job 2

1Jobs created refer to new positions generated by the project, paid from the approved budget, regardless of their
duration. The project may support jobs for individuals who are already employed in the entity at the time the project
was submitted and who will be involved in project implementation.
During project implementation, the indicator will be monitored dissagregated by gender, age, Roma.
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Staff trained on the job refers to aquiring competences/ abilities and/or improving existing ones of the project team
members, through formal or non-formal education, such as job shadowing, mentoring, etc. Vocational training is

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 Number Programme results Indicator
Bilateral Enhanced collaboration
outcome between Beneficiary and
Donor States entities
involved in the Programme
Bilateral International cultural 7 projects involving cooperation
output 1 cooperation in the field of with a donor project partner in the
cultural heritage supported field of cultural heritage

At least 30% of the total value of the grants awarded as a result of this call for projects
will be awarded to projects involving at least one partner from the Donor States.

In order to develop successful projects, it is recommended to consult the

Programme Agreement available at: http://www.eeagrants.ro/acorduri-de-
program/-/asset_publisher/Fi9hiYbIo7aS/document/id/630170.

5. Definitions
Under this call for projects, the following definitions should be considered:
 partnership agreement - a document signed between the project promoter
and the project partner/-s, including provisions on the roles and responsibilities
of the parties, the rights and obligations of the parties for the implementation of
the project, including the provisions mentioned in GEO no. 77/2014, a detailed
budget, provisions on payments, the management of the economic benefits
obtained though project implementation, including obligations regarding the
recovery of state aid, as appropriate;
 activity – the activity for which the state aid is granted;
 economic activity - supply of goods and services on a market;
 state aid - any advantage fulfilling all the criteria set out in Article 107 (1) of the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;
 state aid misused - aid used by the beneficiary without complying with detailed
conditions for granting presented in the State Aid Scheme;
 cultural entrepreneurship - means of enhancing the economic and social
valences of cultural activities and their impact
 call for proposals - a competitive method of submitting, evaluating and
selecting projects that contribute to the objectives of the RO-CULTURE
Programme and that comply with the provisions of the Applicant’s Guide and
the State aid scheme;
 advance payment - the first payment installment granted to the promoter by
the Programme Operator, within the limit set in the project contract, in order to
cover the estimated justifiable expenses of the project up to the first pre-
financing payment;
 advantage – any economic benefit which the undertaking would not have been
able to obtain under normal market conditions, that is, in the absence of State
intervention. Whenever the financial situation of an enterprise is improved as a

also included. Beneficiaries must have at least Level 3 education according to the European Qualifications
Framework (secondary education).
During project implementation, the indicator will be monitored dissagregated by gender, Roma.

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 result of State intervention under conditions that are different from normal
market conditions, there is an advantage;
 State aid beneficiary - project promoter and project partner in Romania,
undertaking receiving non-reimbursable financial support under the State Aid
Scheme;
 eligible expenditure - expenditure incurred by project promoters and their
partners, as appropriate, for projects selected under this call for projects,
provided in art. 53 of the General Block Exemption Regulation, which may be
financed according to the rules on eligibility of expenditure set out in the
Regulation, the Applicant's Guide, State aid scheme and the project contract
 indirect costs (overheads) – the costs of the cultural institution or heritage site
related to continuous or periodic activities that occur which can not be identified
by the applicant as directly attributable to the project;
 co-financing/ own contribution - the total amount corresponding to the
eligible expenditures provided by the project promoters and project partners, if
the case, for the project implementation, according to the project contract;
 conflict of interest - a conflict of interest is when the objective and impartial
exercise of the functions of any person in the grant agreement (a civil servant
or not, a member of the board of directors, a beneficiary, as well as its
representatives or founders) is compromised for reasons involving family,
sentimental life, political or national affinities, economic interests or any other
common interest with another legal person or not involved in the contract;
 cultural and creative sectors - all sectors whose activities are based on
cultural values and / or artistic expressions and other creative expressions,
whether or not these activities are oriented towards the market and regardless
of the type of structure they carry out and how they are financed of that
structure. These activities include the development, creation, production,
dissemination and preservation of goods and services that constitute /
incorporate cultural, artistic or other creative expressions, as well as related
functions such as education or management / management. The cultural and
creative sectors include, inter alia, architecture, archives, libraries and
museums, artistic arts, audiovisual (including cinema, television, video and
multimedia games), tangible and intangible cultural heritage, design, festivals,
editing, radio and visual arts;
 EEA Financial Mechanism Committee (CMF) – the Committee established
by the Standing Committee of the EFTA States to manage the EEA Financial
Mechanism 2014-2021;
 infrastructure („hard measure”) – execution of intervention works to existing
constructions for which it is manadatory to obtain a building permit according to
the law;
 project contract - an agreement between the Programme Operator and the
project promoter (state aid beneficiary) regulating the implementation of a
particular project through which state aid is granted in the form of non-
reimbursable financial support
 date of granting state aid - the date when the legal right to receive the aid is
conferred on the beneficiary, in this case, the date of signing the financing
contract between the beneficiary and the provider;

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 project application file - all documents related to a project submitted under
this call for projects, containing the application form, manadatory documents
and other supporting documents;
 double funding – funding the costs that have already been covered/
reimbursed from the EEA Financial Mechanism or other public funds/ external
grants or funding the same activities from several sources;
 evaluation - a systematic, objective and independent assessment of the
design, implementation and/or results achieved in Programmes and projects
with the aim of determining the relevance, coherence and consistency
effectiveness, efficiency, impacts and sustainability of the financial contribution;
 applicant’s guide - document containing the information necessary for the
applicant to prepare and implement the project;
 cultural infrastructure – historical monuments (buildings) listed in the updated
Historical Monuments List, where cultural activities are taking place;
 innovation - implementing a new or significantly improved product (goods or
services) or a process, a new marketing method or a new organizational method
in business practices, in the organization of the workplace or in an external
relationship. Innovation can be at the enterprise level, at the sector level, at
national or international level. Innovation also involves the use of already
developed/ available solutions/ technologies/ products on the market and their
adjustment to one’s needs;
 public institution - a generic term including the Parliament, the Presidential
Administration, the ministries, the other specialized bodies of the public
administration, other public authorities, the autonomous public institutions and
the institutions subordinated to them, regardless of the way they are financed,
as defined in art. 2 par. (1) point 30 of Law no. 500/2002 on public finances and
art. 2 par. (1) point 39 of the Law no. 273/2006 on local public finances;
a. undertaking – any entity engaged in an economic activity, irrespective of its
legal status and the way it is funded;
b. undertaking in difficulty – an undertaking in respect of which at least one of
the following circumstances occurs:
1) In the case of a limited liability company (other than an SME that has
been in existence for less than three years or, for the purposes of
eligibility for risk finance aid, an SME within 7 years from its first
commercial sale that qualifies for risk finance investments following due
diligence by the selected financial intermediary), where more than half of
its subscribed share capital has disappeared as a result of accumulated
losses. This is the case when deduction of accumulated losses from
reserves (and all other elements generally considered as part of the own
funds of the company) leads to a negative cumulative amount that
exceeds half of the subscribed share capital. For the purposes of this
provision, ‘limited liability company’ refers in particular to the types of
company mentioned in Annex I of Directive 2013/34/EU (37) and ‘share
capital’ includes, where relevant, any share premium.
2) In the case of a company where at least some members have unlimited
liability for the debt of the company (other than an SME that has been in
existence for less than three years or, for the purposes of eligibility for
risk finance aid, an SME within 7 years from its first commercial sale that
qualifies for risk finance investments following due diligence by the
selected financial intermediary), where more than half of its capital as

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 shown in the company accounts has disappeared as a result of
accumulated losses. For the purposes of this provision, ‘a company
where at least some members have unlimited liability for the debt of the
company’ refers in particular to the types of company mentioned in
Annex II of Directive 2013/34/EU, respectively a collective enterprise,
limited partnership enterprise.
3) Where the undertaking is subject to collective insolvency proceedings or
fulfils the criteria under its domestic law for being placed in collective
insolvency proceedings at the request of its creditors.
4) Where the undertaking has received rescue aid and has not yet
reimbursed the loan or terminated the guarantee, or has received
restructuring aid and is still subject to a restructuring plan.
5) In the case of an enterprise other than an SME, including non-
governmental organizations, public institutions and administrative-
territorial units carrying out economic activity, separately reflected in
separate accounts, when within the past 2 years, the debt / equity ratio
of the enterprise is greater than 7.5 and the interest rate capability
calculated based on EBITDA is below 1.0;
 monitoring - observation of Programme and project implementation to ensure
that agreed procedures are followed, to verify progess towards agreed
outcomes and outputs and to identify potential problems in a timely manner so
as to allow for corrective action;
 monument – real estate, construction and land located on the Romanian
territory, significant for the national or universal history, culture and civilization.
The status of historical monument is conferred by listing these immovable
assets according to the procedure provided by the special legislation;
 non-governmental organisation - a non-profit voluntary organisation
established as a legal entity in the country of origin, having a non-commercial
purpose, independent of local, regional and central government, public entities,
political parties and commercial organisations. Religious institutions and
political parties are not considered NGOs eligible under the Programme;
 project partner - a legal entity actively involved in, and effectively contributing
to the implementation of a project. It shares with the Project promoter a common
cultural, economic or social goal which is to be realised through the
implementation of that project;
 pre-financing - payment installment granted to the promoter by the Programme
Operator on the basis of the financial estimates of the eligible expenses for the
interim reporting periods;
 project - an economically indivisible series of works fulfilling a precise technical
function and with clearly identifiable aims related to the Programme under which
it falls.
 project contract: an agreement between the Programme Operator and the
state aid beneficiary regulating the implementation of a particular project,
through which the state aid is granted in the form of non-reimbursable
financial support;
 project in partnership with Donor States - project implemented in close
cooperation with a project partner whose main location is in one of the donor
states;

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  project promoter – state aid beneficiary, a legal entity having the responsibility
for initiating, preparing and implementing a project, who has signed the grant
contract for receiving the grant;
 applicant - public or private legal entity, established in Romania, which
complies with the eligibility criteria of RO-CULTURE Programme and submits a
project application file under a call for projects.
 project grant - the amount awarded under the project contract, consisting of
the amount financed through the EEA Financial Mechanism and the national
co-financing;
 Programme partner – entity from a Donor State designated by the CMF that
provides advice on the preparation and/or implementation of a Programme,
and/or participating in the implementation of a programme.
For the RO-CULTURA Programme, the partners are the Norwegian Directorate
for Cultural Heritage and Arts Council Norway;
 State aid provider – the Ministry of Culture and National Identity through the
Project Management Unit for the RO-CULTURE Programme;
 Donor States - Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

6. Financial allocation
6.1 Total financial allocation
The total amount allocated to this call for projects is 16.000.000 Euro, consisting of:
 13.600.000 Euro (85%) – contribution of the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-
2021;
 2.400.000 Euro (15%) – national co-financing.

6.2 Financial allocation on projects

This call for projects is subject to European and national rules on state aid. The state
aid will be awarded as a nonreimbursable financial support.

Minimum size of Maximum size Maximum grant rate

project grant of project grant

200.000 Euro 2.000.000 Euro 80% of the total eligible expenditure of the
project

For projects implemented in partnership, the applicants must receive at least 60% of
the total eligible project budget.

Co-financing/ own contribution can only be provided in cash.

By way of exception, for projects where the project promoter is an NGO, co-
financing can be provided by both the NGO and/or the NGO partner as
voluntary work (contribution in kind). In this case, the in kind contribution can
constitute up to 50% of the total eligible own contribution provided by the
applicant together with the partners. *
* The calculation basis of the unit prices for voluntary work will consider official data
on the national minimum and average salary, in force upon the launch of the call for
projects, and will remain unchanged during project implementation.

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Depending on the type of work, two different price levels will be used:
o For administrative/unskilled work, the gross minimum wage per economy will
be considered. For instance, according to GD. No. 937/2018 establishing the
minimum guaranteed gross salary payment, as of January 1st 2019, the
minimum guaranteed gross salary payment is set at 2,080 lei per month for a
full working schedule-167.333 working hours on average per month,
representing 12.43 lei/hour.
o For complex/qualified work, the gross average wage per economy will be
considered. For instance, according to Law no. 47/2019 on the national social
insurance budget for the year 2019 the average gross salary used for
substantiating the national social insurance budget for 2019 is 5,163 lei per
month for a full-time working schedule of 167.333 hours per month,
representing 30.85 lei/hour.
In order to justify the hourly cost of voluntary work, the voluntary contract will be
accompanied by an appendix in which the cost / time for the voluntary work will be
calculated relative to the project budget. The voluntary contract will be presented
during project implementation.

In order to check compliance with the minimum and maximum grant amount, the
applicant will consider the InforEuro exchange rate of the month when the call for
projects was launched.

The maximum amount of the non-reimbursable financial support will be

determined before signing the project contract, taking into account the
maximum intensity and cumulation established by the State aid scheme
approved by the Order of the Minister of Culture and National Identity no.
252728.05.2019, published in the Official Gazette no. 449/05.06.2019,
respectively in the Official Gazette no.449 bis/05.06.2019

7. Eligibility
7.1 Applicant’s eligibility
An eligible applicant for this call for projects shall be the entity that fulfills cumulatively
the following criteria::
a. is a legal entity established in Romania, it has legal personality;
b. falls into one of the following categories:
- public institution, as defined in section 5 of this Guide;
- administrative-territorial unit, including sectors of Bucharest, defined according
to the Law of local public administration no. 215/2001;
- a non-governmental organization, as defined in Section 5 of this Guide,
established on the basis of Law no. 21/1924 for legal persons (Associations and
Foundations) or Government Ordinance no. 26/2000 regarding associations
and foundations, with subsequent amendments and completions, which can
carry out the activities proposed by the project according to the statutory
documents;
- a company established on the basis of Law no. 31/1990 on companies,
republished, as subsequently amended and supplemented OR cooperative
society established on the basis of Law no. 1/2005 on the organization and

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 functioning of co-operation (republished), which fulfills cumulatively the
following conditions:
 is a SME (micro enterprise, small enterprise or medium-sized enterprise,
as defined in Recommendation 2003/361 / EC)
 the activity domain (CAEN class) targeted by the project is (are)
registered in the company's activity field (according to ORC certificate),
 the activity domain (CAEN class) targeted by the project is / are
authorized at the site identified as the site of project implementation
when the activity of capitalizing on the historical monument is initiated3.
All SMEs applicants shall fill in the "Statement of type and category of
enterprise”;
c. it holds one of the following types of in rem rights on the monument:
i. property rights (including the ownership of the building related
to a building right),
ii. administrative right related to public ownership,
iii. right of concession related to public ownership,
iv. right of concession on the private property of the state or of the
administrative-territorial unit.
The right on the monument must be valid from the time of submission of the project for
the whole project implementation period and for a period of at least 5 years from the
approval of the final program report by the Program Operator.
d. [in case the applicant has another real right than ownership of the monument
targeted by the project ] the applicant has the right to restore and use/ capitalize
on the historical monument, according to the project objective, throughout the
project implementation period and for a minimum of 5 years from the endorsement
of the final program report by the Program Operator;
e. [if it holds a right of ownership over the historical monument related to a building
right over the land] has the consent of the owner of the land to perform works on
the construction;
f. Is not in any of the following situations:
1. the applicant is bankrupt or is the subject of insolvency or winding-up
proceedings, is having its affairs administered by the courts, is subject to
preventive conciliation, ad hoc mandate or other arrangement with creditors,
has suspended its business activities, is the subject of proceedings
concerning those matters, or is in any analogous situation arising from a
similar procedure under European or national legislation or regulations;
2. the applicant has not fulfilled its obligations relating to the payment of social
security contributions, taxes and fees to the local or state budgets in
accordance with the legal provisions in force and does not benefit, according
to the law, from their deferment or other facilities for their payment, including,
where appropriate, any interest or penalties for late payment or fines. This
condition does not apply when the amount of the net payment obligations is
less than 1/12 of the total liabilities due to the state budget in the last 12
months or the value of the payment obligations is less than 1/6 of the total
liabilities due to the budget local in the last quarter;
3. the applicant or its legal representative has been the subject of a judgment
which has the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a

3
This criteria shall be verified by the Programme Operator during project implementation.

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 criminal organisation, money laundering, terrorist financing terrorist offences
or offences linked to terrorist activities, child exploitation or other forms of
trafficking in human beings or any other illegal activity affecting the financial
interests of the European Union or the international public donors, including
final convictions in cases relating to the obtaining and use of non-
reimbursable funds (European and/or international public donors) and the
corresponding national public funds;
4. the applicant or its legal representative has been convicted by a final
judgment (res judicata) for an offence concerning their professional conduct;
5. the applicant or its legal representative has been the subject of a judgment
or administrative decisions that are final (res judicata) in respect of grave
professional misconduct, because they have violated the laws, regulations
or ethical standards of the profession to which the applicant belongs or
because they are guilty of any abusive conduct affecting their professional
credibility when this behavior betrays a fraudulent intent or serious
negligence;
6. the applicant or its legal representative has attempted, either directly or
through interference, to obtain confidential information or to influence the
Programme Operator's evaluators during the process of evaluating
applications for funding under this call for proposals or other calls for projects
under the RO-CULTURE Programme;
7. the applicant or its legal representative provided false information to the
Programme Operator, fails to provide or is unable to provide the requested
information/ supporting documents for the selection of the project for funding;
8. the applicant or its legal representative is in any situation of conflict of
interest, defined in accordance with applicable national/ European legal
provisions, which may arise in connection with this call for proposals (a
conflict of interest may arise in particular as a result of economic interests,
political or national affinities, family or emotional ties, or any other relevant
connection or any other common interest);
9. the applicant or its legal representative informed with delay the Programme
Operator of any situation that would constitute a conflict of interest or could
give rise to a conflict of interest
10. the applicant is the subject of a decision to recover de minimis / state aid in
respect of which the claim has not been fully recovered;
11. the applicant is an undertaking in difficulty4;
g. is not a religious institution or political party, regardless of the form of organization;
h. complies with current national and European legislation on State aid / de minimis,
including cumulation as defined in the State Aid Scheme;
i. is directly responsible for project initiation, preparation, implementation and
sustainability, together with project partners (if applicable);
j. has sufficient and stable financial resources and the professional skills and
qualifications required to implement the project and ensure its sustainability;
k. is able to ensure the co-financing of the project;
l. has the resources needed to finance all ineligible costs (including related costs)
related to the project and to cover any financial corrections resulting from the
implementation of the project, if any;

4
The applicant will fill in the Statement regarding the non-fulfillment of the” undertaking in difficulty” criteria

15
m. has not benefited from or received financial support from public funds / non-
reimbursable external funds for project implementation (identity of objectives,
results, activities, etc.) or project activities;
n. undertakes to inform the state aid provider immediately if the project / activities in
the project is / are approved for financing from other public funds / non-
reimbursable external funds after its submission.
The applicant will not receive financial support if it presents information in the
financing file that does not correspond to the supporting documents submitted
in the pre-contracting and contracting stages.
7.2 Eligibility of project partners
The project can be implemented in partnership with one or more entities from Romania
and/or Donor States.

If the applicant is an administrative-territorial unit / public institution, the

partnership with a private entity such as non-governmental organization or
commercial enterprise/ cooperative enterprise (SME) registered as a legal
person in Romania, is MANDATORY in order to capitalize/ revitalize the
restored monument.

Partners must be able to carry out relevant activities within the project. The applicant
must describe in the application form the added value of the involvement of each party
in the project implementation.

The partnership cannot constitute a disguised award of a public procurement

contract, i.e. it must not restrict competition on the goods or services market by
entering into a partnership with a potential service provider and should not
affect the effective use of public funds in terms of costs involved.

Project partners from the Donor States can not gain an advantage for
themselves through the project. The partner undertakes to transfer to the
project promoter any advantages obtained as a result of project
implementation (eg. fees obtained from the sale of tickets to different events,
fees charged for participating in various activities organized by the partner,
etc.).

7.2.1 Eligible project partners

The eligible project partner is the entity that fulfills cumulatively the following criteria:
a. is a legal entity established in Romania or in one of the Donor States, it has legal
personality;
b. falls wihtin one of the following:
A. Project partners from Romania:
• non-governmental organization which:
 is an NGO as defined in section 5 of this Guide and
 is established on the basis of Law no. 21/1924 for legal persons
(Associations and Foundations) or Government Ordinance no.
26/2000 on Associations and Foundations, as subsequently amended
and supplemented and

16
  was established at least 2 years ago5 (related to the launch date of
the call for proposals) and
 its activity, according to statutory documents, is, inter alia, in the
cultural and creative sectors, as defined in the EU Regulation no.
1295/2013;
 it can carry out the envisaged activities according to its statutory
documents;
• commercial enterprise which:
 is established on the basis of Law no. 31/1990 on enterprises
(republished), as subsequently amended and supplemented;
 falls into the SME category 6 (micro-enterprise, small enterprise or
medium-sized enterprise, as defined in Recommendation 2003/361 /
EC); and
 was established at least 2 years ago 7 (related to the launch date of
the call for proposals) and
 its activity, according to its legal documents, is, inter alia, in the cultural
and creative sectors, as defined in EU Regulation no. 1295/2013 and
 the activity domain (NACE code) targeted by the project and relevant
from the perspective of the activities carried out by the partner in the
project is / are registered in the company's activity field (according to
the Trade Registry statement).
 cooperative enterprise, which:
 is established on the basis of Law no. 1/2005 on the organization and
functioning of the cooperative (republished), as subsequently
amended and supplemented and
 falls into the SME category 8 (micro, small or medium enterprise, as
defined by the EC Recommendation no.2003/361/CE) and
 was established at least 2 years ago9 (related to the launch date of
the call for proposals) and
 its activity, according to its legal documents, is, inter alia, in the cultural
and creative sectors, as defined in EU Regulation no. 1295/2013;
 the activity domain (NACE code) targeted by the project and relevant
from the perspective of the activities carried out by the partner in the
project is/ are registered in the company's activity field (according to
the Trade Registry statement).
 public cultural institution (museum, theatre, opera, operetta, philharmonic,
library, archive, cultural center, etc.);

B. Project partners from the Donor States:

• any public or private entity, commercial or non-commercial, as well as non-
governamental organisations, as defined in Section 5 of this Guide,
established as a legal entity in one of the Donor States.
c. Is not in any of the following situations:

5
This period shall be established according to art. 2551-2556 of Law no. 287/2009 on the Civil Code.
6
Each Romanian SME partner will fill in the Statement on the type and category of the enterprise
7
This period shall be established according to art. 2551-2556 of Law no. 287/2009 on the Civil Code.
8
Each Romanian SME partner will fill in the Statement on the type and category of the enterprise
9
This period shall be established according to art. 2551-2556 of Law no. 287/2009 on the Civil Code.

17
1. the partner is bankrupt or is the subject of insolvency or winding-up
proceedings, is having its affairs administered by the courts, is subject to
preventive conciliation, ad hoc mandate or other arrangement with
creditors, has suspended its business activities, is the subject of
proceedings concerning those matters, or is in any analogous situation
arising from a similar procedure under European or national legislation
or regulations;
2. the partner has not fulfilled its obligations relating to the payment of social
security contributions, taxes and fees to the local or state budgets in
accordance with the legal provisions in force and does not benefit,
according to the law, from their deferment or other facilities for their
payment, including, where appropriate, any interest or penalties for late
payment or fines. This condition does not apply when the amount of the
net payment obligations is less than 1/12 of the total liabilities due to the
state budget in the last 12 months or the value of the payment obligations
is less than 1/6 of the total liabilities due to the budget local in the last
quarter;
3. the partner or its legal representative has been subject of a judgment
which has the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a
criminal organisation, money laundering, terrorist financing terrorist
offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, child exploitation or
other forms of trafficking in human beings or any other illegal activity
affecting the financial interests of the European Union or the international
public donors, including final convictions in cases relating to the
obtaining and use of non-reimbursable funds (European and/or
international public donors) and the corresponding national public funds;
4. the partner or its legal representative has been convicted by a final
judgment (res judicata) for an offence concerning their professional
conduct;
5. the partner or its legal representative has been subject of a judgment or
administrative decisions that are final (res judicata) in respect of grave
professional misconduct because they have violated the laws,
regulations or ethical standards of the profession to which the applicant
belongs or because they are guilty of any abusive conduct affecting their
professional credibility when this behavior betrays a fraudulent intent or
serious negligence;
6. the partner or its legal representative has attempted, either directly or
through interference, to obtain confidential information or to influence the
Programme Operator's evaluators during the process of evaluating
applications for funding under this call for proposals or other calls for
projects under the RO-CULTURE Programme;
7. the partner or its legal representative has provided false information to
the Programme Operator, fails to provide or is unable to provide the
requested information/ supporting documents for the selection of the
project for funding;
8. the partner or its legal representative is in any situation of conflict of
interest, defined in accordance with applicable national/ European
provisions, which may arise in connection with this call for proposals (a
conflict of interest may arise in particular as a result of economic
interests, political or national affinities, family or emotional ties, or any
other relevant connection or any other common interest);

18
 9. the partner or its legal representative informed with delay the Programme
Operator of any situation that would constitute a conflict of interest or
could give rise to a conflict of interest.
10. the project partner from Romania is the subject of a decision to recover
de minimis / state aid in respect of which the claim has not been fully
recovered;
11. the Romanian partner is an undertaking in difficulty10;
d. is not a religious institution or political party, regardless of the form of organization;
e. is actively involved and contributes to project implementation;
f. has sufficient and stable financial resources and the professional skills and
qualifications required to implement the project and ensure its sustainability);
g. is able to ensure its part from the co-financing, if applicable,
h. has the resources needed to finance all ineligible costs (including related costs)
related to the project and to cover any financial corrections resulting from the
implementation of the project, if any;
i. has not benefited from or received financial support from public funds / non-
reimbursable external funds for the implementation of the submitted project (identity of
objectives, results, activities, etc.) or of project activities;
j. has not benefited from or received financial support from public funds / non-
reimbursable external funds for project implementation (identity of objectives, results,
activities, etc.) or project activities;
k. undertakes to inform the provider immediately if the project / activities in the project
is / are approved for financing from other public funds / non-reimbursable external
funds after its submission.

An entity may apply as project partner in an unlimited number of projects within

this call.

7.2.2 Project partner(s) selection

In the selection process of private project partners from Romania and/or the Donor
States, the applicant will comply , at least, with the requirements relating to transparent
and non-discriminatory procedure provided by GEO no. 34/2017 and the Order of the
Minister of Public Finance no. 2840 / 10.31.201711, as follows:
 For private project partners from Romania shall:
 Make public the intention to establish a partnership with private entities in
order to implement a project financed under the RO-CULTURE Programme,
via national media channels or via the internet;
 State in the public notice the main activities of the project and the minimum
conditions for the partners to fulfill;

10
The Romanian partner will fill in the Statement regarding the non-fulfillment of the “undertaking in
difficulty” criteria
11
The eligibility criterion is considered to be fulfilled when selecting a partner based on other relevant legislation,
provided that the minimum requirements for the transparent and non-discriminatory procedure set out in GEO
no. 34/2017 and the Order of the Minister of Public Finance no. 2840 / 10.31.2017 are met.

19
  Prove that the selected partners are amongst the private entities that
responded to the public notice (a selection report or an equivalent
document);
 For private project partners from Donor States shall:
 Provide evidence that partners have been selected from organizations with
activities consistent with the specific objectives of the project.

Partnerships with entities from Donor States are stronly encouraged.

The Applicant bears full responsibility for compliance with all applicable legal
provisions, including, but not limited to, the legal status of property owned by
the State or the administrative-territorial units / sectors of Bucharest.

7.2.3 Partnership Agreement

If a project is implemented in partnership with one or more entities, it is mandatory to
conclude a Partnership Agreement between the project promoter (applicant) and
the partner entity (-ies) respecting the template provided by the Programme
Operator.

The Partnership Agreement must contain the following information:

a) the roles and responsibilities of the parties involved in the partnership, including
the fulfillment of the obligations stipulated in GEO no. 77/2014;
b) provisions on the financial agreements between parties, including, but not
limited to, provisions related to the expenditure allocated to the project partner
in the project budget;
c) how to manage the economic benefits obtained under the project, including the
obligations to stop and recover state aid, as appropriate;
d) rules on the exchange rate taken into account for expenditures and its
reimbursement;
e) , provisions on audits on the project partners;
f) a detailed budget;
g) provisions on conflict resolution.

The project application dossier will include a partnership letter of intent respecting
the template attached to this Guide.
The Partnership agreement will be submitted to the Programme Operator in the
contracting phase.
The partnership letter of intent and the Partnership agreement will be
concluded in English if at least one of the parties is an entity from the Donor
States.

7.3 Eligibility of the project/activities

7.3.1 Tipyes of eligible projects
In order to be funded under this call for proposals, projects must contribute to the
achievement of the EEA Financial Mechanism and RO-CULTURE Programme

20
objectives as well as to the achievement of the dedicated Programme Indicators –
output 1.1.
The relevance of the project will be assessed in the technical and financial evaluation
phase.

To be eligible, the project must lead to achieving the following minimum target
values of the indicators of the program:
Programme Results Indicator
Number
Outcome 1 Cultural heritage 25% increase of the annual number of
management visitors to supported cultural heritage
enhanced sites and/or cultural activities
6 jobs created
Output 1.1 Monuments restored 1 monument restored and revitalized
and revitalised (culturally and economically)
1 development plan related to built
heritage implemented
5 professional staff trained on the job
* Attention! Please see the explanations provided in the footnotes in section 4.3.
The baseline value of the results-associated indicators, mentioned in the
application form, must be “0”, except for the indicator “Percentage of increase
of the annual number of visitors to supported cultural heritage sites and/or
cultural activities”, whose baseline value will be established by the applicant.

Under the current State Aid Scheme, only projects containing both restoration and
valorisation of the historical monument will be financed.

Cumulative conditions for the restoration / use of the historical monument:

 At least 80% of the annual capacity of the restored historical monument
will be used, in terms of time or space, for cultural purposes.
 The historical monument may not have, in whole or in part, non-cultural
destinations / functions (eg commercial spaces, administrative spaces
in which community activities are carried out, such as educational
institutions, town halls, hospitals, etc.), except for those destinations /
activities auxiliary to cultural activities (eg cafeteria within the museum,
souvenir shop, administrative offices related to the cultural activity,
etc.).
 Auxiliary spaces for cultural activities cannot occupy, in terms of time
or space, more than 20% of the annual capacity of the historical
monument being restored.
 By the end of project completion, the monument must be fully restored
/ in good preservation stage, being fully functional and open to the
public.
 In case the monument requires only partially restoration works, the rest
of the monument being in good condition for conservation / restoration,
the beneficiary must ensure that, by the end of project completion, the
monument is fully restored / in good preservation stage, being fully
functional and open to the public.The technical documentation must
envisage only the investement objective defined by the designer and

21
 the restoration works will refer only to this objective, and the
development plan will include details for the whole monument.

7.3.2 Location of project/activities

All activities of a project must be carried out in Romania or in the Donor States.
However, if there is an adequate justification convergent to the Programme objectives,
exceptions are allowed for activities involving know-how exchange, training, study
visits, attendance at seminars/ conferences/ exhibitions or other similar events that
may take place in other beneficiary countries (referred to as in Article 6 of Protocol
38c).
7.3.3 Tipyes of eligible activities
The following categories of activities are considered eligible:
 restoration of historical monuments (individualized in the updated Historical
Monuments List and approved by the Order of the Minister of Culture and
National Identity), in which it functions or will function after the restoration has
been completed: museums, archives, libraries, artistic and cultural centres or
spaces, theatres, opera houses, concert halls, other live performance
organisations, film heritage institutions and other similar artistic and cultural
infrastructures, organisations and institutions;
 revitalization / capitalization on the restored monument, through
implementing the development plan which includes the follwoing types of
activities:
 activities aimed at promoting mobile cultural heritage;
 activities aimed at promoting intangible heritage in all its forms, including folk
customs and crafts;
 cultural and artistic educational activities, as well as promoting the
understanding of the importance of protecting and promoting the diversity of
forms of cultural expression through educational programs and raising public
awareness, including through the use of new technologies;
 writing, editing, production, distribution, digitization and publishing of musical
and literary works, including translations;
 organizing cultural events such as festivals, exhibitions and other similar
cultural activities;
 exchange of experience, know-how and good practices in the cultural and
creative sectors with donor entities;
 initiatives aimed at the mobility of artists / professionals in the cultural and
creative sectors and / or their work;
 developing or updating the skills and abilities of artists and professionals
active in the cultural and creative sectors, adapted to a changing
environment;
 developing new cultural products and services and placing them on the
market;
 promoting cultural diversity;
 Implementing innovative business models that contribute to local community
development;
• supporting local development through interdisciplinary approaches;

22
  formal and non-formal training, mentoring, job shadowing, etc. designed for
the professional development of project team members as well as vocational
training.

The above-mentioned types of activities are not limitative. Activities other than the
above may be considered eligible if the applicant provides the need to carry them out
for the purpose of project implementation, respecting the Programme’s objectives and
results.
The activities implemented will, as far as possible, take into account the improvement
of accessibility degree for the public to cultural heritage, including, but not limited to,
digitization and use of other new technologies, improving accessibility for people with
special needs (eg adaptation of infrastructure, access to Braille, exhibits that can be
reached in museums, etc.) and the promotion of cultural diversity in presentations,
programs.

In the case of projects implemented by project promoters established as

administrative-territorial unit, Bucharest sectors or public institutions, the
promoter must implement the activities related to the restoration of the
historical monument and the private partners from Romania can only be
involved in the implementation of the activities related to the valorization of
the monument.

The Program Operator, as State aid provider, will ensure that only the Project Promoter
and the Romanian project partner are beneficiaries of the advantage which fall into the
state aid rules.
Cumulative - be included in the Historical Monuments List (updated). The
requirements monument must be listed with a distinct code in the Historical
regarding the Monuments List; only monuments (entered with "m"), clearly
monument: identifyable: XX-II-m-A-XXXX, XX-II-m-B-XXXX, or XX-II-m-A-
XXXX.01; XX-II-m-B-XXXX.01, etc.
- is registered in the land register (this requirement also applies
to the land);
- to be free from any liabilities / obligations related to the
building or land, servitudes or prohibitions affecting the project
implementation;
- not be the subject of litigation concerning the right of
ownership, irrespective of the holder or the real right invoked
by the applicant for project implementation, which are being
settled in the courts of law (this requirement also applies to the
relevant land);
- not be the subject of claims under specific laws or common
law (this requirement also applies to the relevant land).

The maximum number of activities is 5.

23
The activitity Project management, monitoring and control is predefined in the
application form and it envisages the project management and implementation
measures, including internal monitoring and evaluation measures.

7.3.4 Non eligible projects/activities

Under this call for projects, are not eligible the projects/ activities that:
 does not comply with the cumulative restoration / use conditions of the historical
monument described in Section 7.3.1 of this Guide;
 seeks to obtain an advantage, as defined in the State Aid Scheme, by project
partners in the Donor States;
 are carried out in the audiovisual field – including cinema, TV, video games and
multimedia – fashion, design, publishing either in print or electronic format of
newspapers and magazines;
 are exclusively or essentially aimed at academic research, conferences and
other singular events, individual sponsorships for attending workshops,
seminars, conferences, congresses and other similar events;
 aim at obtaining individual scholarships or training;
 target / contain refinancing activities (eg use of non-reimbursable financial
support for grants or loans to other organizations or individuals / legal entities);
 have the objective of improving the situation of Roma people or provide
exclusively for activities dedicated to the Roma minority12;
 involves the implementation of an annual program of current activities (the
application must be drawn up for a specific project as a set of well-defined and
correlated activities leading to concrete results within a well-defined timeframe);
 are subject to double funding;
 not respecting the minimum target values for the Program Indicators, detailed
in Section 7.3.1 of this Guide.
Submission of an application under this call may not be aimed at ensuring co-
financing for another project.

7.3.5 Project duration

The project duration is between 12 – 48 months starting the date when the grant
contract is concluded.
All activities must be implemented no later than 30.04.2024.
The period of eligibility of expenditure covers the entire project implementation period.
7.4 Eligibility of expenditures
7.4.1 General principles on the eligibility of expenditures
Eligible expenditures of projects are those actually incurred within the project, which
meet the following criteria:
a) they are incurred between the first and final dates of eligibility of a project as
specified in the project contract;
b) they are connected with the subject of the project contract and they are
indicated in the detailed budget of the project;
c) they are proportionate and necessary for the implementation of the project;

12
Activities dedicated to the improvement of Roma situation will be supported within an exclusive call for
proposals.

24
 d) they must be used for the sole purpose of achieving the objective(s) of the
project and its expected outcome(s), in a manner consistent with the principles
of economy, efficiency and effectiveness;
e) they are identifiable and verifiable, in particular through being recorded in the
accounting records of the project promoter and/or project partner and
determined according to the applicable accounting standards of the country
where the Project promoter and/or project partner is established and according
to generally accepted accounting principles;
f) they comply with the requirements of applicable tax and social legislation.
Expenditures are considered to have been incurred when the cost has been invoiced,
paid and the subject matter delivered (in case of goods) or performed (in case of
services and works).
Exceptionally, costs in respect of which an invoice has been issued in the final month
of eligibility are also deemed to be incurred within the dates of eligibility if the costs are
paid within 30 days of the final date for eligibility.
Overheads and depreciation of equipment are considered to have been incurred
when they are recorded on the accounts of the Project promoter and/or project
partner.
Eligibility of costs incurred by partners comply with the same rules that apply to
the costs incurred by the applicant/ project promoter.
7.4.2 Procurement
Applicable national and European Union law on public procurement shall be complied
with at any level in the implementation of projects funded under the RO-CULTURE
Programme.
The national legislation applicable to project promoters and Romanian partners is
represented, inter alia, by Law no. 98/2016 on public procurement and of the Order of
the Minister of European Funds no. 1284/2016 regarding the approval of the
Competitive Procedure Applicable to Private Applicants/ Beneficiaries for the Award of
Supply Contracts, Services or Works Funded by European Funds.
Procurement carried out by foreign partners will comply with the applicable law on
public procurement in the country of origin and with 8.15 of the EEA Regulation.
7.4.3 Eligible expenditures
În cadrul prezentului apel de proiecte, următoarele categorii de cheltuieli sunt eligibile:
a) Costs related to project management, care includ:
 costs of project management staff assigned to the project, comprising actual
salaries plus social security charges and other statutory costs included in the
remuneration, provided that this corresponds to the Project promoter’s and
project partner’s usual policy on remuneration;
 travel and subsistence allowances for management staff (including volunteers);
 costs of consultancy and expertise related to project management;
 fees for experts on project management;
 costs of consumables and inventory items related to project management.
 costs with depreciation of tangible and intangible assets related to project
management;
 costs of translation and interpreting services;
 costs of audit services (project promoter);
Project management costs will not exceed 20% of the total amount of direct
eligible expenditure.

25
b) Costs related to the restoration of the monument, which include:
 expenditures for land arrangements;
 expenditures for providing the utilities necessary for the monument;
 expenditure on design and technical assistance (studies, technical design
and execution details, technical documentation necessary to obtain
approvals, agreements, authorizations, technical quality check of the
project and details of the execution, technical assistance from the designer,
site);
In the category of technical documentation necessary to obtain approvals,
agreements, authorizations can be included expenditures for: obtaining /
prolonging the validity of the urbanism certificate; obtaining / prolonging the
validity of the building / dismantling authorization; obtaining approvals and
agreements for connections and connections to public water, sewage, gas,
district heating, electricity, telephony, etc .; obtaining the environmental
agreement; obtaining the Fire Secutiry Approval; other approvals, agreements
and authorizations.
 expenses for the basic investment (construction and installations,
equipment assembly, technological and functional equipments, equipment,
technological and functional equipment requiring assembly, equipment,
technological and functional equipments that do not require assembly and
transport equipment;
 other expenses (site organization, commissions, allowances, taxes, various
and unexpected costs);
 expenditure on technological samples and tests;
 expenditure on investment insurance and basic equipment.

Miscellaneous and unforeseen expenses (part of Other

Expenses) in this chapter will not exceed a maximum of 10%
of eligible expenses, calculated according to the instructions.
Expenditures related to site organization (part of Other
Expenses) will not exceed a maximum of 3.5% of eligible
costs, calculated according to the instructions.
Expenditures on design and technical assistance shall not
exceed a maximum of 10% eligible expenditure, calculated
according to the instructions. The implementation of the as-
build / upgraded technical design at the time of the completion
of the works as well as the documentation for the operation /
maintenance of the building will be included in the budget in
the design expenditure category or in the technical assistance
expenses (for the corresponding budget lines - 2.3.2 or 2.3.5).

c) Expenses related to the revitalization of the monument, including, but not

limited to:
 staff costs necessary for the activities / actions necessary to revitalize the
monument, representing salaries and social contributions and other legal
costs, provided that they correspond to the usual policy of the project
promoter and the project partner regarding remuneration;
 travel expenses related to the necessary activities for the revitalization of
the monument;

26
  expenses with experts' fees for the necessary activities / actions to
revitalize the monument;
 travel expenses for participants in events;
 expenditure related to the acquisition of tangible and intangible assets
related to the activities / actions for revitalization of the monument;
 expenditure related to the purchase of services related to the activities /
actions for revitalization of the monument;
 expenditures on consumables and inventory items for the activities / actions
required to revitalize the monument;
 expenses with depreciation of tangible and intangible assets related to the
activities / actions necessary for the revitalization of the monument;
 insurance expenses;
 other expenses related to the revitalization of the monument.

d) Information and publicity costs arising from visual identity requirements,

including, but not limited to:
 costs of design, processing and printing of visibility materials;
 costs of website development and maintenance, according to communication
plan;
 costs for organizing promotion events;
 costs for purchasing billboards/ plaques;
 other information and publicity costs arising from visual identity requirements.

e) Staff costs related to the volunteer contracts (in-kind contribution)

including, but not limited to:
 Expenditures on volunteer contracts (in-kind contribution) for project
management;
 Expenditures on volunteer contracts (in-kind contribution) for project
implementation.

f) Costs related to formal and non-formal training, including, but not limited to:
 costs of formal and non-formal training;
 travel costs related to formal and non-formal training;
 fees for experts involved in formal and non-formal training.

g) Costs of Donor States partners, related to activities carried out by Donor

States entities according to the Partnership Agreement and respecting the type
of costs applicable to project partners.

h) Contingency, which relate to costs that could not be identified during project
preparation (e.g. legislative changes, natural disasters, etc.).
Contingency (others than those related to restoration works) represent a flat
rate of maximum 5% of the total eligible direct costs of the project reduced
by the total eligible costs of the monument restoration.
i) Overheads, related to utilities: electricity, heating, water, sanitation, sewage,
natural gas; telephone, fax, postal services, delivery and communication
networks; costs of salaries for administrative staff (janitor, guardian) or contract-
based administrative services (security, cleaning); rent.

27
 Overheads are those eligible costs that cannot be identified by the Project
promoter and/or the project partner as being directly attributed to the project but
which can be identified and justified by its accounting system as being incurred
in direct relation with the eligible direct costs attributed to the project. They may
not include any eligible direct costs.
Overheads represent a flat rate of maximum 15% of the direct eligible
costs of the Project Promoter staff involved in project implementation.

The total direct eligible costs sum up all the above-detailed categories, except for
overheads and contingency.
Travel costs will be budgeted and disbursed only as lump sums for members of the
implementation/ management team or as standard scales of unit costs for other project
participants, as established within the approved Programme Operator rules.

When tangible/ intangible assets are purchased, only the depreciation rate
corresponding to the project duration and the rate of actual use for the purposes of the
project may be considered eligible expenditure. By exception, if the asset is an
integral and necessary component for achieving the outcomes of the project, its entire
purchase price 13 may be eligible. In this situation, the Project promoter has the
obligation to:
 keep the asset in its ownership for a period of at least 5 years following the
completion of the project and continue to use it for the benefit of the overall
objectives of the project for the same period;
 keep the asset properly insured against losses such as fire, theft or other normal
insurable incidents, both during project implementation and for at least 5 years
following the completion of the project;
 set aside appropriate resources for the maintenance of the asset for at least 5
years following the completion of the project.
Only the costs of purchasing and depreciation for new assets are eligible.

RULES APPLICABLE TO PROJECT PARTNERS

For the project partners from Romania the same categories of expenditures are
eligible as for the project promoters, except overheads, expenditures related to
restoration and audit, which can be paid only by the project promoter.

For the project partners from the Donor States only the following types of
expenditures are eligible:
 costs of project staff assigned to the project, comprising actual salaries
plus social security charges and other statutory costs included in the
remuneration, provided that this corresponds to the project partner’s
usual policy on remuneration;
 travel and subsistence allowances for staff;
 fees for experts;
 costs of consumables and inventory items;

13The “entire purchase price” refers to the cost paid from the project grant and/or co-finance, by
excluding the fraction which is covered from other sources.

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  rental costs (space and assets) related to organizing events/
exhibitions/ etc.;
 costs of audit services*.
* The audit report must be drawn up according to art. 8.12.4 of the EEA Regulation,
as follows:
- a report by an independent auditor qualified to carry out statutory audits of
accounting documents, certifying that the claimed costs are incurred in accordance
with the Regulation, the national law and relevant national accounting practices;
OR
- a report issued by a competent and independent public officer recognised by the
relevant national authorities as having a budget and financial control capacity over
the entity incurring the costs and who has not been involved in the preparation of
the financial statements, certifying that the claimed costs are incurred in accordance
with the Regulation, the relevant law and national accounting practices.

Project partners cannot include other types of expenditure in the budget. If

the case, the Programme Operator will declare them ineligible!

The estimated costs will be realistic. They must be reasonable and in line with market
prices.
For all types of costs included in the budget (excluding overheads), it should be taken
into account that the justification of expenditure must be based on supporting
documents (evidence of market prospecting, offers, similar contracts or any other
supporting documents considered useful). The estimated costs must be justified in
relation to activities to be carried out and their complexity.
When drafting the budget, the percentage thresholds mentioned in the Budget
Guidelines shall not be exceeded.

The value added tax will be reflected distinctly in the budget, as follows:
 In case the Project promoter/ partner is not a VAT payer (does not recover
VAT), the non-recoverable VAT is eligible under the project.
 If the Project promoter/ partner can recover VAT, it is considered as ineligible
within the project;
 If VAT can be recovered only partially, only the part that cannot be recovered is
eligible.
In case of change of VAT non-payer status during project implementation, the Project
promoter/ partner has the obligation to notify the Programme Operator by submitting
a specific statement along with the financial report and to comply with the new method.

7.4.4 Non eligible expenditures

The following costs are not eligible:
 any expenditure incurred prior to the entry into force of the project contract for
the activities envisaged in the project;
 the cost of purchasing real estate and land not built on;
 interest on debt, debt service charges and late payment penalties;
 charges for financial transactions and other purely financial costs, except costs
of financial services imposed by the project contract;

29
  provisions for losses or potential future liabilities;
 exchange losses;
 recoverable VAT;
 costs that are covered by other sources;
 fines, penalties and costs of litigation;
 excessive or reckless expenditure;
Ineligible costs will be fully covered by the Project promoter or project partners, if the
case.
7.5 Project budget
The project budget is drafted in Lei, according to the informative template attached to
this Guide. In order to check if the allowed maximum size of project grant is respected,
the applicant shall take into account the InforEuro exchange rate from the month of
launch of the call for proposals.
The budget must cover the total eligible costs of the project, not just the project grant.
All costs will be detailed on budget lines/ in-lines, following the instructions included in
the template. When drawing up the budget, the percentage thresholds shall not be
exceeded.
When filling in the budget in the electronic system, the applicant will take into
consideration all the information provided in the budget template annexed to this
Guide, including the predefined information (unit rate, quantities, percentages etc.).
In a partnership project, no more than 40% of the total eligible project budget
shall be allocated to the project partner/-s.

8. Use of the Euro exchange rate

The total value of the project contracts concluded between the Programme Operator
(PO) and the project promoters (PPs), subject to the project grant, is expressed in Lei
and Euro, calculated at the InforEuro exchange rate valid at the date of signing the
contracts.
For projects implemented in partnership with a legal entity established in one of the
Donor States, the InforEuro exchange rate of the month in which payments are made
will be taken into account.

9. State aid

Under this call for projects, projects falling under the State aid scheme
regarding the restoration and revitalization of monuments under the RO-
CULTURE Programme, approved by the Order of the Minister of Culture and
National Identity no. 252728.05.2019, published in the Official Gazette no.
449/05.06.2019, respectively in the Official Gazette no.449 bis/05.06.2019 are
financed.

In accordance with Art. 107 par. (1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union (TFEU), as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU),
in order for a measure to be considered State aid, must cumulatively fulfill the following
conditions:

30
  the beneficiary is an enterprise (carries out economic activity);
 the measure is financed from State resources or managed by the state in any
form;
 the measure confers an advantage to the beneficiary;
 the measure is selective;
 the measure affects trade and competition between Member States - within the
European Union.
Information on the applicable State aid legislation is available at
the following link-s:

ttp://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/legislation/legislation.html
http://www.ajutordestat.ro/.

Under this call, both project promoters and project partners in Romania are
beneficiaries of state aid.
Any advantage obtained by project partners in the Donor States as a result of
the project implementation (eg taxes obtained from the sale of tickets at
different events, charges for participation in various activities organized by
the partner, etc.) must be transferred to the promoter as a beneficiary of State
aid.
The State aid beneficiary which carries out economic and non-economic
activities must keep separate accounting records for eah each type of activity.

10. Project preparation and submission

In order for the project submitted for funding under this call for proposals to be
assessed, the applicant must prepare and submit the project application file in
accordance with the requirements set out in this Guide.

An entity may submit maximum two applications as promoter

under this call for projects.

For those applicants whose projects were rejected in the administrative

compliance and eligibility verification phase can remedy the deficiencies
communicated through the Notification regarding the evaluation result and
can re-submit a revised version of the project, within the deadline for this call,
i.e. 07.10.2019, 23:59. The revised version of the application file will not be
considered as a different project.

Applicants who do not comply with the rule on the maximum number of
submitted projects, calculated at the time of expiration of the project submission
deadline, will have all project proposals submitted under this call rejected.

 The applications will be submitted exclusively in electronic format,

through the Programme's electronic management system, by
accessing the following link: httpps://emsc.ro-cultura.ro

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  The application form will be filled in online, directly in the Programme's
electronic management system.
 In the evaluation process, only the information/ documents uploaded
and validated in the Programme's electronic management system will
be taken into consideration.
 Handwritten, postal, courier, e-mail or fax applications will not be
accepted.

10.1 Procedure for submitting the project application file

In order to submit the project application dossier in the Programme's

electronic management system, a qualified electronic signature, based on a
qualified certificate, unsuspended or unrevoked at the time of electronic
signing the documents, is required.

The user account is created on the entity’s behalf, identified through the fiscal
registration number/ unique registration number.

Attention! The project budget is an integral part of the application form and
cannot be uploaded separately. The budget template along with the instructions,
attached to this Guide, has only an informative role.
It is mandatory to fill in all sections/ fields included in the template application form. If
the information requested in a section/ field of the application form is not applicable to
the project, the applicant will mention “Not applicable”.
Sections/ fields of the application form and pre-defined mandatory documents, if the
case, may be edited, filled in and saved along the process.

The applicant cannot make any changes to the project application dossier
after the validation of the project or after the deadline as set out in this Guide,
except for those sections of the application form or pre-defined binding
documents whose content has been modified by the Programme Operator due
to some corrigenda related to the Applicant’s Guide.

10.2 Specific requirements for electronic signature of documents

The qualified electronic signature must be assigned to the

legal representative of the applicant/ partner or to an assignee
to act in the name and on behalf of the applicant/ partner (if
applicable) within this call for proposals.

 The application form and the mandatory pre-defined statements/ documents of

the applicant must be filled in and electronically signed by the legal
representative of the applicant/ its assignee.
 The mandatory pre-defined statements/ documents of the partner, if any, must
be filled in and electronically signed by the legal representative of the partner/

32
 its assignee. By exception, in the case of the Donor States partners, the
documents may be hand-signed and afterwards uploaded (scanned version) in
the Programme's electronic management system, if the legal representative of
that partner doesn’t have a qualified electronic signature, the conformity with
the original being certified by the qualified electronic signature of the applicant’s
legal representative/ assignee.
 Joint mandatory pre-defined statements/ documents (concluded between the
applicant and the partner/-s) must be filled in and electronically signed by the
legal representative of the applicant/ its assignee and each partner/ its
assignee, following completing in the Program's electronic management
system and downloading. By exception, in the case of the Donor States
partners, the documents may be hand-signed by all the parties and afterwards
uploaded (scanned version) in the Programme's electronic management
system, if at least one of the legal representatives of the Donor States partners
doesn’t have a qualified electronic signature, the conformity with the original
being certified by the qualified electronic signature of the applicant’s legal
representative/ assignee.
 Documents uploaded in copy (scanned version) into the Programme's
electronic management system, other than the application form and mandatory
pre-defined statements/ documents, must be electronically signed by the legal
representative of the applicant/ its assignee or partner/ its assignee (if those
documents belong to that partner), except for the Donor State partners’
documents on which the applicant’s qualified electronic signature may be
applied, if the legal representative of that partner doesn’t have a qualified
electronic signature. The qualified electronic signature applied on a copy of a
document certifies its compliance with the original.

10.3 The content of the project application file

The project application file shall include all the forms, mandatory pre-defined
documents and supporting documents submitted by an applicant in order to
obtain a grant namely:

a) Application form, including the project budget, completed and uploaded by the
applicant in the Programme's electronic management system, as instructed in
Section 10.2 of this Guide;

b) General documents related to the applicant, uploaded in the Programme's

electronic management system following the completing, downloading and
signing electronically (as instructed in Section 10.2 of this Guide):
- The nomination/ appointment documents of the legal representative of the
applicant (eg management contract concluded between the manager of the
public cultural institution and the central or local public authority, etc.), in copy;
- Where appropriate, the power of attorney for a person other than the legal
representative (representation mandate) issued by the legal representative/
administrative body of the applicant to act on behalf of the applicant for
application submission within this call for proposals, either in original as digitally
signed document by advanced electronic signature of the applicant's legal
representative or a copy.
The power of attorney shall include at least the following:

33
  explicit statement that the legal entity and its legal representative are not
in any of the situations mentioned in section 7.1 letter f of this Guide;
 the explicit assumption that the information provided in the application is
real and correct and the requested financial support is necessary for the
project as described in the application;
 the rights and obligations given to the assignee to submit the application
and to the electronic signing of documents (e.g. the right to manage the
account of the legal entity created in the electronic management system
of the Programme, the right to sign all documents related to the
submission of the application/ answers to the clarification requests, etc.).
Any document signed by the assignee should fall within one of the rights/
obligations mentioned in the power of attorney.
- Applicant’s statement, in the original - a mandatory pre-defined document in
the Programme's electronic management system - filled in with the data of the
legal representative of the applicant/ assignee;
- Statement on the cumulation of State aid/ de minimis, in original - a pre-
defined binding document in the Program's electronic management system -
completed with the data of the legal representative of the applicant / authorized
person;
- Statement regarding the non-fulfillment of the "undertaking in difficulty"
criteria in original - a pre-defined mandatory document in the program's
electronic management system - completed with the data of the legal
representative of the applicant/ authorized person;
- Statement on the type and category of the enterprise (in the case of
applicants that are commercial or cooperative enterprise), in original - a
predefined mandatory document in the electronic management system of the
Program - filled in with the data of the legal representative of the applicant/
authorized person;
- Statutory/ constitutive/ establishment documents of the applicant (eg.
normative or administrative act on establishment/ operation of the public
institution, statute, constitutive act, etc.), accompanied by any subsequent
amendments where appropriate, in copy;
- Documents attesting the registration of the private legal entity 14
(registration, or, as the case may be, any other form of advertising prescribed
by law for the purpose of acquiring legal personality or recording of legally
established legal entities), as follows:
 in the case of the NGO, the supporting document is the registration
certificate in the special register of associations and foundations, with all
modifications made until the date of validation of the application;
 in the case of a commercial or cooperative enterprise, the
documentary proof is represented by the certifying certificate issued by
the Trade Registry Office, with all modifications made until the date of
validation of the application;

The certifying certificate must reflect that the field (s) of activity
(NACE code) concerned by the project is / are listed in the
company's object of activity.

14
Requirement applicable only to private applicants.

34
 - Document certifying the tax registration of the applicant (e.g. tax
registration certificate), in copy;
- [In the case of projects implemented in partnership with one or more private
entities]: documents proving compliance with the selection process of
private partners, in copy, respectively:
 for partners registered in Romania:
 prior public notice regarding partner selection, containing the main
project activities and the minimum conditions to be met by the
partners and
 proof of the publication of the notice in national media channels or
internet and
 the selection report/ equivalent document drawn up by the
applicant (proving that partners were selected from the private
entities that responded to the public notice);
 for partners registered in the donor states:
 proof that partners have been selected from organizations that have
areas of work consistent with the specific objectives of the project.

c) General documents for each project partner (if any) uploaded into the Programme's
electronic management system after being electronically signed (as instructed in
Section 10.2 of this Guide):
- The nomination/ appointment documents of the legal representative of the
partner (e.g. the court decision validating the mayor's mandate/ the decision of
the county council on the election of the president, extract from the special
register of associations and foundations, the management contract, the
confirmation of (registered) company details issued by the Register of
Companies, etc.), in copy;
- If applicable, the power of attorney for a person other than the legal
representative (representation mandate), issued by the legal representative/
management board, to act on behalf of the legal entity within this call for
proposals, either in original, as a document electronically signed by the
partner's legal representative, or in copy.
The power of attorney shall include at least the following:
 explicit statement that the legal entity and its legal representative are not
in any of the situations mentioned in section 7.2.1 letter c of this Guide;
 the explicit assumption that the information provided in the application is
real and correct and the requested financial support is necessary for the
project as described in the application;
 the rights and obligations given to the assignee to submit the application
and to the electronic signing of documents (e.g. the right to manage the
account of the legal entity created in the electronic management system
of the Programme, the right to sign all documents related to the
submission of the application/ answers to the clarification requests, etc.).
Any document signed by the assignee should fall within one of the
rights/ obligations mentioned in the power of attorney.
- Partner’s statement in original (or in copy, in the case of the Donor State
partners which don’t have a qualified electronic signature) – mandatory
pre-defined document in the Programme's electronic management system -
filled in with data of the legal representative of the partner/ its authorized person;

35
 - Statement on the cumulation of State aid / de minimis (for project partners
from Romania), in original – mandatory pre-defined document in the
Programme's electronic management system - filled in with data of the legal
representative of the partner/ its authorized person;
- Statement regarding the non-fulfillment of the "undertaking in difficulty"
criteria (for project partners from Romania), in original – mandatory pre-defined
document in the Programme's electronic management system - filled in with
data of the legal representative of the partner/ its authorized person;
- Statement on the type and category of the enterprise (in the case of
applicants commercial or cooperative enterprise from Romania), in the original
– mandatory pre-defined document in the Programme's electronic management
system - filled in with data of the legal representative of the partner/ its
authorized person;
- Statutory/ articles of association/ establishment documents (e.g. legal/
administrative document of establishment and operation, articles of association,
etc.), according to the applicable law in the country of origin (Romania or one
of the Donor States), accompanied by any subsequent changes, if any, in copy;
- Documents certifying the registration of a private legal entity (registration
or any other form of registration provided by law made for the purpose of
obtaining legal status or recording of legally established legal persons, as
applicable), according to the applicable law in the origin country, in copy.
Particularly:
 In case of NGOs registered in Romania, the supporting document is
the registration certificate in the special register of associations and
foundations with all amendments until the validation date of the project
application file;
 In case of commercial or cooperative enterprise registered in
Romania, the supporting document is the certificate issued by the
National Trade Register, with all amendments until the validation date
of the project application file.

The certifying certificate must reflect that the field (s) of activity
(NACE code) concerned by the project is / are listed in the
company's object of activity.
- The document certifying the tax registration according to the legislation
of the country of origin, in copy.

d) Joint documents (signed by the applicant and project partner(s), in applicable,

uploaded into the Programme’s electronic management system after being
electronically singed (as instructed in section 10.2 of this Guide):
- Partnership Letter of Intent, in Romanian (if all parties are from Romania) or
in English (if at least one partner is from the Donor States), in original (or in
copy, in case at least one of the parteners is from the Donor States and that
partner does not have a qualified electronic signature) – mandatory pre-defined
document in the Programme's electronic management system, filled in with the
Applicant's and each Partner's data;

e) Specific documents for project activities uploaded into the Programme’s electgronic
management system after being electronically signed (as instructed in section 10.2.
of this Guide):

36
- The development plan for the restored monument, in original – mandatory
pre-defined document in the Programme's electronic management system;
- The extract from the Historical Monuments List (updated) with the data of
the historical monument targeted by the project, in copy;
- A .pdf document with photos reflecting the state of conservation of the
monument before restoration, in original;
- Document „The obligation on the use of the historical monument”, in copy;
- Documents proving the right of ownership of the applicant over the
monument targeted by the project (including the right of ownership over the
construction of a superficial right, if any) or another real right of the applicant,
respectively a right of administration specific to the right of public property or
concession right having as object the historical monument in the public or
private domain of the state or of the administrative-territorial units (eg relevant
extract from the inventory of public goods, contract of concession contract sale,
donation contract, superficies contract, etc.), in copy;
- [If the applicant has a real right other than the ownership of the monument, and
the right of restoration and the right to use / exploitation of the historical
monument by the applicant according to the subject of the project are not
expressly and unequivocally mentioned in the documents on the basis of which
has acquired the real right]: administrative act or relevant legal act attesting to
the acquisition / possession by the applicant of the right of restoration AND of
the right to use / exploit / exploit the historical monument according to the object
of the project for the whole project implementation period and for a period of at
least 5 years from approval of the final report of the project by the Program
Operator, in copy;
- [If the applicant holds a right of ownership over the historical monument targeted
by the project related to a superficial right over the land]: authentic statement
of the owner of the land on the consent of the owner of the land to perform
works on the construction, inc opy;
- Conclusion of registration on the real estate and the related land in copy;
- The Land Register Extract (s) relating to the real estate and associated land,
issued no more than 30 days prior to the date of validation of the project, in
copy, certifing the following:
 ownership / main real right (allowed by these Guidelines) of the
applicant on the historical monument;
 the monument and the related land:
 are free from any tasks / obligations that impose the building or land,
ways, servitudes or prohibitions affecting the implementation of the
project (this requirement also applies to the relevant land);
 are not the subject of litigation concerning the right of ownership or
the right invoked by the applicant for the realization of the project,
which are being solved at the court;
 are not subject to claims under special laws or common law.
Provisional registration in the land register is not accepted.

- site plan approved by OCPI for the building, in copy;

- the urbanism certificate, valid at the date of submission of the project, in the
copy;

37
 - the legal opinions and agreements required in the Urbanism Certificate, valid
at the date of submission of the project, in copy;
- the technical expertise of the building, in copy;
[If the technical documentation is submitted at the DALI phase]:
- The Intervention Works Documentation (DALI) in the standard format required
by the Government Decision no. 907/2016, with clear specification of the date of
preparation of the documentation, in copy;
- DALI studies and expertise (eg field / geotechnical studies, topographic study,
historical study, archaeological diagnosis report and / or other studies required at
DALI phase), in copy;
- the opinion of the Ministry of Culture and National Identity for the technical-
economic documentation at the DALI phase, issued after the date of the DALI
documentation, in copy.
[If the technical documentation is submitted at the PTE phase]:
- The Technical Execution Project (PTE) in the standard format required by the
Government Decision no. 907/2016, with clear specification of the date of the
drafting, in copy;
- the building permit, if it has been obtained, valid at the date of submission of
the project, in copy;
- the studies necessary for the elaboration of the technical execution project,
which allow for the development, optimization, detailing of the technical solution
proposed by DALI, in copy;
- the opinion of the Ministry of Culture and National Identity for the technical-
economic documentation at the PTE phase, issued after the date of the PTE,
in copy.
[To Restore Artistic Components (paintings, stone, wood, stained glass etc.)]: the
PFU phase approval, issued after the date of the PFU documentation, in copy.
Documents issued in other language than Romanian or English shall be
accompanied by a simple translation into Romanian or English. By applying
the qualified electronic signature on the simple translation of the document,
the applicant/ partner certifies that the translation is correct and the
translation did not change the content of the original text and/ or the meaning
of certain words or phrases.

If the submitted documents do not contain sufficient information or the provided

information is unclear or contradictory, additional documents may be required in the
evaluation, selection and/ or pre-contracting stages.
10.4 Deadline for project submission
Projects may be submited until 07.10. 2019, 23:59.

The project is considered to be submitted only after its validation in the Programme’s
electronic management system.
In order to avoid overloading the Programme’s electronic management system, it is
recommended to avoid filling in the application, loading the supporting documents and
validating the project on the last day of submission. The Programme Operator is not

38
responsible for any registration/ validation errors generated by overloading the
Programme's electronic management system.

The Programme’s electronic management system will not allow projects

submission after the deadline.

11. Evaluation and selection

All projects submitted (validated) in the Programme's electronic management system
will be subject to an assessment process.

The project evaluation and selection process will be implemented in three

stages:
1. Administrative compliance and eligibility check
2. Technical and financial evaluation
3. Selection Procedure by the Selection Committee.
All persons involved in the evaluation process will strictly comply with the
principles of confidentiality, objectivity, transparency and fair competition.

Communication related to the evaluation and selection process will be made in

writing. Applicants will be informed of the outcome of each stage of the evaluation
and selection process through the Programme's electronic management system by
receiving information on the e-mail address registered at the time the account was
created. The Project promoter shall inform the partners on the development of the
evaluation and selection process.

The evaluation and selection process is confidential. Individuals involved in project

evaluation and selection (e.g. Programme Operator staff, evaluators, Selection
Committee members, observers, etc.) do not have the right to disclose information
regarding project evaluation/ selection during or after completion of the process.
.

Any attempt by an applicant or partner to influence the

evaluation and selection process (e.g. contacting an
evaluator, a member of the Selection Committee, etc.)
leads to rejection of the project and exclusion from
funding.

Identifying a double funding situation (e.g. following

consultations with other non-reimbursable or reimbursable
fund management authorities) at any stage of the evaluation
and selection process leads to the exclusion of the project
from funding under this call for proposals, the applicant being
notified accordingly.

11.1 Administrative compliance and eligibility check

All projects submitted by the deadline provided in the section 10.4 of this Guide will be
subject to administrative compliance and eligibility check.

39
Administrative compliance and eligibility check shall be performed on a continuous
basis.

The Programme Operator shall verify at this stage the compliance with the conditions
and requirements set in this Guide, in accordance with the Administrative
compliance and eligibility check grid attached to this Guide.
It is recommended that prior to validating the application, the applicant performs an
administrative compliance and eligibility check using the grid attached to this Guide. In
this situation, the grid filled in by the applicant will not be uploaded into the system.
If the documents submitted by the applicant contain unclear, incomplete or
contradictory information, clarifications or additional information may be requested.
No clarifications will be requested, the project being automatically rejected, if any of
the following documents is missing:
 The application form;
 Applicant’s statement;
 Partener’s statement (for all project partners);
 statement on type and category of enterprise (for partners that
are commercial or cooperative companies registered in
Romania);
 Statement on the cumulation of State aid / de minimis (in case of
applicants and project partners from Romania);
 Statement regarding the non-fulfillment of the "undertaking in
difficulty" criteria (in case of applicants and project partners from
Romania);
 Partnership letter of intent (if applicable);
 The development plan for the restored monument.

Uploading documents that lack relevant content in the system is equivalent to

the lack of the document.
The deadline for responding to clarification requests is 5 working days. The
applicant's response will be sent through the Programme's electronic management
system.
If the response to the clarification request is incomplete or is not submitted within the
deadline specified in the clarification request, the project will be rejected.
The applicant bears the responsibility for ensuring the technical conditions
necessary for receiving and submitting the answers to the clarification requests. In
order to meet the deadlines, the applicant will ensure it provides correct and
functional contact data in the dedicated section of the grant application and will
periodically check the e-mail box (including the "Junk" / "Spam" directory). Any
change of the contact details will be communicated to the Programme Operator in a
timely manner.
In order to be admitted, after the clarification stage (if any), the project must
receive a positive (“Yes”) answer to all questions in the Administrative
compliance and eligibility check grid, except for those questions that are not
applicable (“Not applicable”). On the contrary, the project is rejected.

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 11.2 Technical and financial evaluation of projects
After the administrative compliance and eligibility check stage, the projects that fulfill
the administrative and eligibility criteria will be assessed technically and financially by
experts contracted by the Programme Operator, according to the assessment grid
attached to this guide.
The main evaluation criteria are:
 Project relevance;
 Implementation capacity and expertise of the applicant and project partners, if
any;
 Quality and consistency of technical and economic documentation;
 Project feasability;
 Project impact and sustainability.

The criteria „project relevance”, „implementation capacity and expertise of

the applicant and project partners” and „project feasability” are eliminatory
and implies that the minimum score to be achieved for each criterion is:
 project relevance – 16 pts.;
 implementation capacity and expertise of the applicant and project
partners – 8 pts.;
 quality and consistency of technical and economic documentation – 5/6
pts.15;
 project feasability – 12 pts.
If a project obtains 0 („zero”) points for the criterion „project impact and
sustainability of the project”, it will be rejected.
Projects that do not obtain the minimum score for any of the mandatory
criteria will be rejected (excluded from funding) without further evaluating the
rest of the criteria.
In addition, the evaluators will complete the DALI Compliance Checklist and the PTE
Compliance Checklist.

The algorithm used in order to determine the final score is presented in the
assessment grid.

The project application file will be evaluated solely on the basis of the information
provided by the applicant in the application form and the attached documents and any
clarifications provided.
Evaluators may request clarifications regarding the content of the application form
(including the project budget) or attached documents if the documents do not contain
sufficient information or the information available is unclear or contradictory.

The deadline for responding to clarification requests is 5 working days. The applicant's
response will be sent through the Programme's Electronic Management System.

 If the applicant fails to respond to clarifications within the deadline

indicated in the request, the evaluators will assign the minimum score
to the criteria envisaged by the clarification request.

15
The maximum scoring depends on the type of the technical and economic documentation (DALI or PTE)

41
  Clarifications provided cannot have the effect of achieving a higher
score by improving the content of the application during the evaluation
process. Any additional information provided by the applicant, that
improves the content of the application, will not be taken into account
by the evaluators when determining the score.

For projects that obtain the minimum score both on the eliminatory criteria and
the overall score:
 Depending on the content of the project application dossier and/ or the
clarifications provided by the applicant during the technical and financial
evaluation phase, the evaluator may propose changes to the application form,
with the sole purpose of correcting formal or content-related project deficiencies
that hinder its proper implementation (e.g. unclear formulation of specific
objectives, setting up inconsistencies regarding the indicators’ targets with the
description of project activities and budget, detection of ineligible expenditure
into the project budget, correction of clerical errors etc.). Identified deficiencies
will be considered when awarding the score. They can lead to a budget
reduction.
If, following project evaluation (after clarification, if the case), the evaluator finds that:
 in relation to the project's activities and budget, there are no favourable
premises for compliance with the minimum target values of the mandatory
indicators (see section 7.3.1 of this Guide), irrespective of the values declared
by the applicant in the application form, he will propose that the project be
declared ineligible;
 some of the envisaged activities are not realistic and necessary for the
achievement of the project results, he will propose either to exclude these
activities from funding along with a corresponding budget reduction or to declare
the entire project as ineligible if the exclusion of the envisaged activities affects
the nature of the project and makes impossible the achievement of the
mandatory results;
 the envisaged activities are ineligible, he will propose either to exclude these
activities from funding along with a corresponding budget reduction or to declare
the entire project as ineligible if the exclusion of the envisaged ineligible
activities affects the nature of the project and makes impossible the
achievement of the objectives;
 the costs are not eligible, reasonable, necessary to achieve project objectives
and expected results, directly related to the implementation of project activities
or fail to meet the requirements of sound financial management based on the
principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness, the costs, he will propose
to be either reduced or eliminated from the project budget;
 the project budget contains mathematical errors or clerical errors (e.g.
inappropriate filling of the VAT column, wrong inclusion of expenditures in the
ineligible expenditure column or in the eligible expenditure categories, etc.), he
will propose to correct the errors in the pre-contracting stage.

If during the technical and financial evaluation elements that lead to the
ineligibility of the applicant or the partner, which were not identified in the
previous evaluation stage, are identified, the project will be rejected.

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Projects that score at least 70 points will be included in a ranking list that will
substantiate the Selection Committee's decision.
Projects with the same general score will be prioritized according to the score obtained
on the following criteria in the Grid, in the following order:
1. project relevance;
2. project feasability;
3. quality and consistency of technical and economic documentation;
4. implementation capacity and expertise of the applicant and project partners, if any;
5. project impact and sustainability.
The Program Operator may order on-the-spot visits prior to the conclusion of
the grant agreement, the outcome of which will be the basis for the financing
decision.
11.3 Selection procedure by the Selection Committee
The Selection Committee is set up at the Program Operator level by an odd number
of people who have relevant expertise for this call for projects.
The Selection Committee may decide to approve a project under condition. The
conditionalities may refer to project budget reduction, providing clarifications on certain
elements of the application form, consistency between project objectives, results and
indicators, etc. The conditionalities must be fulfilled either by the time the project
contract is signed or at a determined time established by the Selection Committee.
The Selection Committee may, in justified cases (for example, but not limited to, the
need to ensure an equitable geographical distribution of grants, the impossibility of
achieving Programme indicators, the identification of a case of double funding, the
existence of identical projects submitted by different applicants), change the ranking.
Based on the decision of the Selection Committee, the list of projects to be financed
and the reserve list are established.
In duly justified cases, the Programme Operator may modify the final ranking list
approved by the Selection Committee.
Grants will be awarded to the projects on the basis of the final ranking list (including
the reserve list), within the available budget for this call for projects.
Projects included in the reserve list will be eligible for funding within the limit of funds
made available if applicants who have previously been selected for funding fail to meet
the criteria / conditions / recommendations or are excluded during the pre- contracting
stage.

Inclusion of a project on the reserve list does not constitute a guarantee for
signing a grant contract at a later date.

11.4 Pre-contracting
Following the approval of the ranking and the reserve list, all applicants whose project
applications dossiers have been selected for funding by the Selection Committee will
be notified of the following::
 temporary selection of the application,

43
  recommendations or conditionalities enunciated by the evaluators/ Selection
Committee and/or the Programme Operator's requests to amend the application
form (including the project budget),
 submission of the amended application form, if applicable,
 submission of the following documents, in order to verify the fulfillment of the
eligibility criteria at the time of signing the grant agreement:
 The nomination/ appointment documents of the legal
representative of the applicant, in copy, in the case of a person
different from the one at the time of project submissions;
 Updated Applicant's Statement, in original.
If the statement is filled in/ signed by an assignee, the power of attorney
must be submitted and to contain at least the following minimum information:
 explicit statement that the legal entity and its legal representative are
not in any of the situations mentioned in section 7.1 letter f of this Guide;
 the explicit assumption that the information provided in the application
is real and correct and the requested financial support is necessary for the
project as described in the application;
 the rights and obligations given to the assignee to sign all documents
related to the pre-contracting stage and the right to sign the project contract, if
the case.
 Statement on State aid / de minimis cumulative aid for the applicant in
original;
 Statement regarding the non-fulfillment of the "undertaking in difficulty"
criteria updated, for the applicant, in original;
 Statement on enterprise type and category (in the case of commercial or
cooperative enterprise applicants) updated in original;
 The nomination/ appointment documents of the legal representative of
the partner, in copy, in case of a person different from the one at the time of
project submission;
 Updated Partner’s statement in original. By exception, in the case of the
Donor States partners, the document may be hand-signed and afterwards
uploaded (scanned version) in the Programme's electronic management
system, the conformity with the original being certified by the qualified electronic
signature of the applicant’s legal representative/ authorized person.
If the statement is filled in/ signed by an assignee, the power of attorney must be
submitted and to contain at least the following minimum information:
 explicit statement that the legal entity and its legal representative are not in
any of the situations mentioned in section 7.2.1 letter c of this Guide;
 the explicit assumption that the information provided in the application is real
and correct and the requested financial support is necessary for the project
as described in the application;
 the rights and obligations given to the assignee to sign the documents
requested at the pre-contracting and contracting stage.
 Statement on State aid / de minimis cumulative aid updated, in case of
project partners from Romania, in original;
 Statement regarding the non-fulfillment of the "undertaking in difficulty"
criteria updated, in case of project partners from Romania, in original;;

44
  Statement on enterprise type and category updated, in case of project
partners from Romania commercial or cooperative enterprise, in original;
 Certificate attesting the lack of outstanding debts to the state budget
issued by the competent publicauthority and, if applicable, the rescheduling of
debts to the consolidated budget for the applicant and each partner, in copy;
 Certificate attesting the lack of outstanding debts to the local budget,
issued by the competent public authority (e.g., in case of Romanian entities,
town hall/-s where the organization has its headquarters and subsidiaries), for
both applicant and each partner, in copy;
 VAT registration certificate (if applicable) for the applicant and each partner,
in copy;
 Financial statements (e.g. balance sheets, profit and loss account, etc.)
containing information on the number of employees, turnover or total income
for the last concluded three fiscal years, for the applicant and each partner
from Romania, independent of the type of entity, in copy;
 Decision for approving the project and its related expenses issued by the
competent entity and containing the total project value and the approval of all
project costs (ineligible expenditure, related expenditure etc.), in copy;
 Justification of costs included in the project budget;
 The urbanism certificate, in copy, if the document originally deposited is no
longer valid;
 A valid Land Book Extract (s) relating to the real estate and related land, in
copy. The extract (s) must comply with the requirements of section 10.3 is in
this Guide.
If appropriate, the Programme Operator may request other documents to prove
that the eligibility conditions are met at the time of signing the project contract.

The Programme Operator reserves the right to consult the public registers/
databases in order to verify the reality of the information provided by the
applicant/ partner in their specific statement.

The Program Operator may carry out on-the-spot visits.

If in the pre-contracting stage, the Programme Operator:

 identifies situations of violation of the general conditions for granting state aid and
rules on the cumulation of state aid  the project will not be contracted;
 identifies elements that lead to the ineligibility of the applicant or partner which
have not been identified in the previous stages  the project will not be contracted;
 identifies ineligible activities  either these activities will be excluded from funding
or the entire project will be declared ineligible if the exclusion of the proposed
ineligible activities affects the nature of the project / makes it impossible to achieve
the objectives;
 identifies, in the project budget, non eligible, non reasonable or unnecessary
expenditures to achieve the project objectives and achieve the expected outcomes
and directly related to the implementation of project activities or that do not meet
the requirements of sound financial management  Expenditure will either be
reduced or eliminated of the project budget;
 identifies project or project deficiencies that impede its implementation in good
conditions  Whether a revision of the grant application is requested, if the

45
 necessary changes do not lead to a substantive change of the project's objectives
and / or results, or the project can be excluded from financing, if the necessary
changes lead to the substantive change of the project's objectives and / or results;
 notes, following the on-site visit, that the situation on the ground does not
correspond to the description in the application or the technical-economic
documentation  the PO may decide that the project will not be contracted or may
impose conditions for contracting.

The deadline for submitting the requested documents in the pre-contracting stage is
10 working days. The applicant's response will be sent through the Programme’s
electronic management system. In duly justified cases, the Programme Operator may
extend the deadline only once.

If the applicant does not respond within the deadline or refuses to make the
requested changes to the application form, including the project budget or the
justifications of the applicant are not accepted the Programme Operator, the
project will be excluded from funding.

Any decision of the Programme Operator to reject a project, taken after the approval
of the ranking and the reserve list by the Selection Committee, will be communicated
to the respective applicant.

11.5 Complaints
The applicant who considers the results of the evaluation and selection process unfair
may formulate one single appeal per stage in writing.
Complaints shall be submitted in the dedicated section of the Programme's electronic
management system within 5 calendar days from the date the results have been
communicated. If the last day of the deadline is a non-working day, the deadline is
extended until the following working day. Complaints submitted after this deadline will
be rejected, the result of the evaluation and selection process remaining unchanged.
The complaint shall be submitted in writing and shall include:
a. identification data of the applicant (contestant),
b. unique application number and project title,
c. object of the complaint,
d. legal and factual grounds of the complaint,
e. special mandate for the authorized person, if any.
In order to be validated, the complaint must be digitally signed with qualified electronic
signature by the legal representative of the applicant/ authorized person.
Complaints submitted by other persons than the legal representative and/ or the
assignee shall be not considered. Complaints submitted by other natural persons or
legal entities, including partners, will not be reviewed and will be rejected.
Should the complaint not provide the legal and factual grounds, as well as evidence
on which it is based, it will not be subject to analysis and will therefore be rejected as
unsubstantiated.

46
The applicant filling the complaint cannot submit additional documents in support of its
case and cannot modify the content of the project application file.
Complaints will be solved by the Programme Operator within 30 calendar days from
the registration of the complaint in the Programme’s electronic management system.
The complaint may be withdrawn, in writing, until receiving the resolution. Withdrawal
makes it impossible to file a new complaint.
During the resolution of appeals, the list of projects will be updated with those projects
for which a favorable decision has been taken.
The resolution regarding the complaint is final and the applicant cannot file a
new complaint for the same evaluation stage.

11.6 Contracting
If, after the pre-contracting stage, the project meets all the requirements for receiving
a grant, the Programme Operator will request the documents for the conclusion of the
project contract.
The project contract sets out the terms and conditions for funding, as well as the roles
and responsibilities of the parties.
In the contracting stage, the applicant will submit the following documents:
 Project grant contract, 2 originals;
 Partnership Agreement concluded between the applicant and all partners, in
original;
 If the project contract is signed by a person other than the legal representative
of the applicant: the power of attorney (representation mandate) issued by the
legal representative/ management board, through which the person is
mandated to conclude the project contract in the name of and on behalf of the
legal entity, either in orginal, digitally signed with qualified electronic signature
by the legal representative of the applicant, or in copy;
 Financial identification form/ Bank notification, certified by the bank/ treasury
where the applicant opened a dedicated project account, in original;
 Other documents specified in the notification sent to the applicant to prove that
the conditions for signing the project contract are met.

The project contract sent by the Programe Operator to the project promoter
for signing is mandatory, the project promoter not being allowed to propose
modifications, except the identification data of the project promoter or clerical
errors.

The Programme Operator highly recommends that the project contract is read carefully
before signing it, as it includes all the conditions for awarding the grant. The signing of
the contract represents the commitment of the applicant to implement the project and
achieve the objectives and results set out in the application form.

If the OP finds, following the introduction of financing contracts in the RegAs

system, that the cumulative state aid / de minimis condition is not met, the
contract is terminated as of right, the Project Promoter being notified to this
effect.

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 11.7 Estimated duration for project evaluation and selection
Stage Estimated duration
Submission of project application files 4 months
Administrative compliance and eligibility check, including 2 months
complaints
Technical and financial evaluation, including complaints 3 months
Project selection by the Selection Commitee, including 1 month
complaints
Pre-contracting (including on-the-spot visits and, if the 2 months
case, complaints)
Signing of project contracts 1 month

12. Cross-cutting issues

The applicants will describe in the application form how the project contributes to and
addresses the cross-cutting issues:
 Democracy and human rights (human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality,
the rule of law and the respect for human rights, including the rights of
minorities);
 Good governance and anti-corruption;
 Sustainable development, long-term economic growth, social cohesion
and environmental protection.

13. Project sustainability

Sustainability of project results is fundamental in order to ensure long-term benefits.
Thus, project results sustainability can include follow-up activities, long-term
partnerships, continuation of exhibitions, etc.
The application form must include concrete measures for capitalizing the project
results during the sustainability period and information on how the project results will
be retrieved/ used/ replicated later by either the applicant/ partners or other entities
(transferability and replicability).
The project sustainability period is 5 years after the Program Operator approves the
final report of the project.
The project promoter has the obligation to use the tangible and intangible assets and
the historical monument restored exclusively for the purpose of the project.
The historic monument must be operational and included in the public circuit
throughout the sustainability period by implementing valorification measures.
14. Payments provisions
For projects with a duration up to 12 months (inclusive), the grant is awarded as
follows:
a) advance payment up to 70% when signing the project contract;
b) pre-financing of at least 30% at the request of the project promoter and
submission of a progress report accompanied by supporting documents;
For projects with a duration of 12 to 18 months, the funding the grant is awarded as
follows:
a) advance payment up to 50% at the signing of the project contract;

48
 b) pre-financing of at least 40% for private entities and 50% for public entities,
at the request of the project promoter and submission of a progress report
accompanied by supporting documents;
c) payment of the final balance in the amount of 10% for private law entities
after approval of the final report accompanied by supporting documents.
For projects with a duration of 18 months or more, the grant is awarded as follows:
a) advance payment up to 30% at the signing of the project contract;
b) pre-financing of at least 60% for private entities and 70% for public entities,
at the request of the project promoter and submission of a progress report
accompanied by supporting documents;
c) payment of the final balance in the amount of 10% for private law entities
after approval of the final report accompanied by supporting documents.

The amount of the advance payment will be determined according to the

recommendations of the evaluators/ Selection Committee.
Pre-financing will be paid in one or more installments. Both advance and interim
payments shall not exceed 90% of the total grant, for private law entities, and
100% of the total grant for public entities.

Payments may be suspended if there are reasons to believe that the project is not
implemented according to the provisions of the project contract.

In order to manage the grant and its own contribution (if any), the project promoter and
partners from Romania have the obligation to open dedicated bankaccounts for the
project at either the State Treasury or commercial banks, according to the provisions
of GEO no. 34/2017 and its methodological norms approved by Order no. 2840/2017.

The interim payments will be made based on an interim financial report submitted by
the project promoter and approved by the Programme Operator and will be determined
by spending minimum 60% of the previously received amounts.
Payments related to interim progress reports depend on the following verification
stages:
 verification of incurred expenditure declared by the project promoters to ensure
that these comply with the applicabile legislation and procedures;
 verification on progress towards achieving outputs and outcomes and
compliance with expenditures related to project activities;
 verification of eligibility, correctness and regularity of expenditure.

The project promoter shall ensure that reporting periods included in the
project contract are based on appropriate forecasts. The pre-financing
amounts estimated in the financial report must be based on the cash flow
related to expenses forseen to be incurred in the reporting periods.

15. Project implementation

The project promoter will ensure, along with the partners, the implementation of the
project under the conditions set out in the project contract, the application form, as well

49
as the partnership agreement and other instructions/ communications issued by the
Programme Operator.
The project promoter and partners are required to comply with the legal framework of
the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021, as well as with the European and national
legislation in all stages of the project implementation, including but not limited to
environment, public procurement and state aid legislation.
Project implementation monitoring and control are carried out by the Programme
Operator, as well as by other structures with control/ verification/ audit responsibilities.
16. Reporting
Project promoters will submit interim progress reports and a final report.
Intermin progress reports will include at least the following:
 physical progress regarding project implementation, namely:
implementation of activities, indicators achievement level, information on
procurement procedures, implementation of the communication plan,
complying with the requirements regarding the cross-cutting issues of the
Programme, modification of project implementation (if any), supporting
documents related to project progress, etc.;
 financial progress regarding project implementation, including: list of
expenditures incurred during the previous reporting period, request for pre-
financing of the estimated expenses for the next reporting period, supporting
financial documents, evaluation reports and/ or financial audit, if applicable, etc.
The final report will include the same information as interim progress reports. In
addition, this report will include information on the achievement of project objectives
and results, the approach of cross-cutting issues relevant to the project, the fulfillment
of project requirements and project sustainability.
Interim progress reports and the final report must be accompanied by documents/
proofs that justify the reality, legality and regularity of expenditure (e.g. invoices and
payment documents, reception records or other similar accounting documents, etc.),
as well as the legality and reality of reported activities and indicators/ objectives
achievement level (e.g. photos, video materials, studies, presence list, etc.).
Project promoters can contract independent audit services in order to justify the
incurred expenditures. The audit report will be submitted at project completion, along
with the last interim progress report and will justify both the project promoter’s and
Romanian partners expenditures.
Expenditures incurred by Donor States project partners will be justified through an
audit report drafted in compliance with provisions of art. 8.12.4 of the EEA Regulation.
The template of the audit report is attached to this Guide.
Failure to comply with the drafting and reporting requirements may lead to their
rejection.
Reporting periods are set within each project contract and cannot cover, usually, less
than 4 months. The reports will be submitted within the deadline established in the
project contract, regardless of the technical or financial progress registered, in
compliance with the provisions of the guidelines/ instructions issued by the Programme
Operator.

50
 If an interim financial report has not been received within 12 months from the
end of the reporting period in which expenditure has been incurred by the
project promoter/ partner/-s, the expenditure for that period shall be declared
ineligible.

17. Project monitoring

During the implementation period, the Programme Operator performs an
administrative and technical monitoring, inter alia, by analyzing progress reports
accompanied by supporting documents and on-site visits. During on-site visits, the
persons nominated by the Programme Operator will check if project implementation
complies with the provisions of the EEA Regulation, Programme Agreement and
project contract.
Also, the Programme Operator will monitor the procurement procedures, the efficiency
and effectiveness of the expenditure incurred, the level of the achievement of project
objectives, results and impact.
Project promoters and their partners (where applicable) must allow immediate and full
access to any information, documents, relevant persons and locations related to
project activities to the representatives of the Programme Operator, National Focal
Point, Audit Authority, Irregularities Authority, Certifying Authority, CMF, EFTA Board
of Auditors or any entity designated by these for the purpose of monitoring, auditing or
evaluating the project, without prejudice to any limitations resulting from applicable
national law.
In exceptional cases, if unclear issues occur in project implementation, the project
promoter may be subject to further verification.

18. State aid reporting and monitoring

Reporting and monitoring of state aid granted under this Guide are made in
accordance with European Union law and the provisions of the Regulation on state aid
monitoring procedures implemented by the Competition Council's Order no. 175,
published in the Official Journal of Romania, Part I, no. 436 dated 28.06.2007.
The Programme Operator shall keep detailed records of the aid granted under this
Guide for a period of 10 years from the date on which the last specific allocation was
granted under the Scheme. This record must contain all the information necessary to
prove the compliance with requirements imposed by the European State aid
legislation.
The Programme Operator has the obligation to permanently supervise state aid in
progress and to take the necessary measures in case of violation of the conditions
imposed by this Guide.
The Programme Operator has the obligation to submit to the Competition Council all
the data and information necessary for the monitoring of the state aid at national level
in the format and within the deadline stipulated by the State Aid Monitoring Procedures
Regulation.

51
In case of serious doubts regarding the data submitted by the Programe Operator, the
Competition Council may request additional data and information and, if necessary,
make on-spot visits.
If the state aid supplier does not have definitive data on the amount of the state aid,
he will provide appraisals.
Errors found by the state aid supplier and legal corrections, cancellations,
recalculations, recoveries, reimbursements shall be reported by 31 March of the year
following the reporting year.
In order to facilitate ex-ante verification of the eligibility of the potential beneficiaries of
the state aid measures, according to the provisions of art. 29 of the Regulation on the
State Aid Register, entered into force by the Order of the President of the Competition
Council no. 437/2016, the supplier of the state aid shall be obliged to upload this
scheme to the General Register of state aids granted in Romania (RegAs), within 5
working days from the date of its entry into force.
Contracts, payments, recovery obligations for State aids and the actual reimbursement
of such aids under this sub-measure shall be uploaded to the Registry within seven
working days of the date of signature of the grant agreement, ie from the date of the
establishment of payments, the state aid recovery or the actual reimbursement by the
state aid supplier.
The state aid provider shall submit the Scheme for information to the Competition
Council within 15 days from its approval, according to art. 17 of Government
Emergency Ordinance no. 77/2014.
Based on a written request, the state aid provider shall submit to the European
Commission via the Competition Council within 20 working days or within the time limit
set in the request, all the information that the European Commission considers
necessary for the assessment of compliance with the terms of the state aid scheme.
The use of the grant awarded under this Scheme is subject to the control of the state
aid provider as well as of the public authorities with audit and control responsibilities
in the field of non-reimbursable funds.
The state aid beneficiary shall keep for at least 10 years from the date on which the
last specific allocation was granted all the documents relating to the de stat aid
received under the scheme. This record must contain the information necessary to
demonstrate compliance with all the conditions imposed by the grant act, such as the
beneficiary's identification data, duration, eligible expenditure, amount, timing and
method of granting the aid, its origin, duration, method of calculation of the aid granted.
The state aid beneficiary shall provide the project promoter/ provider, in the format and
within the timeframe requested, with all the data and information necessary for the
fulfillment of the reporting and monitoring procedures that fall under their responsibility

19. State aid recovery

The Programme Operator may cease and recover the aid granted in accordance with
the provisions of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 77/2014, approved by Law
no. 20/2015, as subsequently amended and completed, and the Government
Emergency Ordinance no. 66/2011, approved by Law no. 142/2012, as subsequently

52
amended and completed, in accordance with the Detailed Rules issued by the
Program Operator.
State aid shall be fully recovered if:
 the conditions specific to the state aid legislation applicable are violated;
 following the conclusion of the project contract, there are inconsistencies
between the state of facts and those declared by the beneficiary in the
application, including, but not limited to, the non-fulfillment of the eligibility
conditions of the promoter, partners and project / activities;
 the ban on the transfer of the financing contract is violated;
 in any other situation where this measure is required.

The Program Operator may issue decisions on suspending or recovering the de state
aid granted.
If the other conditions set out in the Scheme are breached, the state aid shall be
recovered up to the misused amount.
In both cases, the state aid to be recovered also includes the related interest due from
the payment date of the aid up to the date of its recovery.
The applicable interest rate is the one established by Regulation (EU) no. 1589 of 13
July 2015 regarding the detailed rules for the application of art. 108 of the Treaty on
the Functioning of the European Union, published in the Official Journal of the
European Union, L series, no. 248 of September 24, 2015.
The applicable interest rate is the one in force at the date when the abusive use of
state aid/ de minimis aid was made available to the Project Promoter (date of advance
payment and/or pre-financing).
This interest will be calculated from the date of payment of the advance or pre-
financing, as the case may be, until the date of full recovery of the amount/ total
misused amount. If the interest cannot be recovered in the previous year, it will bear
interest, applying the principle of capitalization.
The project promoter shall be solely responsible to the state aid provider for the use of
the grant awarded under this Scheme. If it is necesary the full / partial recovery of the
state aid required from the Romanian State aid beneficiary, the provider recovers the
state aid from the project promoter, within the limits of the amounts to be recovered,
including the related interest, under the conditions set by the recovery rules issued by
the state provider, the financing contract and the partnership agreement. The project
promoter may recover that amount, including interest, from the State aid beneficiary.
To this end, the project promoter shall consider including in the partnership agreement
any provisions deemed necessary.
If the case, following the upload in REgas of the financing agreements signed, the
cumulative State aid / de minimis conditions are not met, the contract is discontinued
in full, and the State aid beneficiary ( project promoter and / or project partner from
Romania) will be notified to this effect.

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20. Irregularities
Any person who holds information on the existence of
irregularities in project implementation may report
irregularities by written notice in one of the following forms:
 through the Programme’s electronic management system;
 by postal/ courier services;
 by personal submission at the Progamme Operator;
 by fax, 021-2228479 or 021-2244512;
 by e-mail, at the address indicated on the Programme’s website;
 by filling in the online form available at www.ro-cultura.ro.
The alerts on irregularities will contain the mandatory minimum information provided
by GEO no. 66/2011, amended and supplemented, to identify the project and/or
location of the project promoter, otherwise they will not be analysed and verified. Alerts
on irregularities may be transmitted anonymously or signed, without them leading to
unfair or discriminatory treatment of the sender.
Confidentiality regarding the identity of the person who reported a potential case of
irregularity will be strictly ensured.

21. Information and communication

Project promoters should disseminate project information to a wider audience
at national, regional and/or local level, including relevant stakeholders.
In this sense, the Project Communication Plan (part of the application) will be
developed and implemented.
 The purpose of the plan is to highlight the role of
the EEA Grants and to ensure the transparency and
visibility of the EEA Financial Mechanism.
 The implementation of the Communication Plan
aims to raise awareness of the existence, objectives
and impact of EEA Grants as well as cooperation
with donor entities (in the case of partnership
projects).

The Communication Plan shall include at least the following:

a) the aims and target groups, at national, regional and local level;
b) the strategyand content of the information and communication measures,
including activities, communication tools and timeframe, having regard to the
added value and impact of the EEA Grants;
c) at least three major information activities on project progress, achievement and
impact, such as a seminar or a conference with stakeholders, a press
conference or press event, including a launch activity and/or a closing activity;
for projects whose grant value is less than 500,000 Euro, 2 (two) information
activities are sufficient.
d) measures for making information on the project available on web, either through
a dedicated website and the use of relevant social media. Each project promoter
must periodically publish updated information about the project in Romanian.

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 All projects receiving a grant of at least 150.00 Euro or having a Donor States
project partner shall be required to publish the information both in English and
Romanian.
Online information shall include information about the project, its progress,
achievements and results, cooperation with Donor States entities, photos,
contact information and a clear reference to the Programme and the EEA
Grants.

e) information on the administrative departments responsible for implementionj of the

information and communication measures, including a contact person;
f) an indication on how the information and communication measures will be assessed
in terms of visibility and awareness of the project and the EEA Grants, their objectives
and impact, as well as the role of the Donor States.
All information and communication measures must comply with the communication
plan, the requirements of the Communication and Design Manual, available at www.ro-
cultura.ro.
Organisers of information and communication events (conferences, seminars, fairs,
exhibitions, etc.) in connection with the implementation of projects financed through
the EEA Grants must explicitly promote the financial support granted by Iceland,
Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants.
The project promoter must, during project implementation, install a billboard at the
location/each location of the project in line with the requirements of the Communication
and Design Manual if the project fulfills the following conditions:
 the non-reimbursable financial support exceeds € 50,000;
 the project consists in the financing of an equipment, infrastruture or
construction.
The project promoter will replace the billboard with a permanent commemorative
plaque that is visible, of significant size and in line with the Communication and Design
Manual, no later than six months after completion of the project.

22. Processing of personal data

The processing of personal data will be carried out in line
with the provisions of EU Regulation no. 679 of 2016 on the
protection of individuals with regard to the processing of
personal data and on the free movement of such data and
repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection
Regulation).
The project promoter/ partner(s) will ensure that they have the explicit consent
of the members of the target groups/ end beneficiaries regarding the
processing of their personal data, including those belonging to the Roma
community, if applicable.

Processing of personal data by the Programme Operator has the purpose of fulfilling
the obligation to monitor and control the implementation of the project and project

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contract and the data can be passed by Programme Operator to other structures with
control/ verification/ audit competencies within the EAA Financial Mechanism.
The Programme Operator will keep personal data as follows:
- three years after the approval of the final report of the RO-CULTURE
Programme by the Financial Mechanism Committee, if the project has not been
funded;
- three years after approval of the final report of the RO-CULTURE Programme
by the Financial Mechanism Committee or 10 years after the final payment,
whichever is the latest, if the project has been funded.

For those documents or documentary evidences of carrying out activities involving the
processing of personal data within the meaning of EU Regulation no. 679 of 2016, the
project promoter will prove the express agreement of each affected person for data
processing.

23. Additional information

Further information on this Call for Projects can be found on the Programme's
website: www.ro-cultura.ro.

Applicants can submit questions about this call for proposals

using the following contact details:
 by e-mail, at: office@ro-cultura.ro
 by fax, at 021-2228479 or 021-2244512.

Questions can be addressed at least 15 days before the deadline for projects
submission. Answers to questions will be communicated by the Programme Operator
at least 5 days before the deadline for submitting projects.
PO recommends that applicants periodically consult the Programme's web page for
up-to-date information on this call.
Questions and answers of general interest will be published on the Programme's
website: www.ro-cultura.ro.
Programme Operator Contact Details:
Project Management Unit-Ministry of Culture and National
Identity
Address: 22, Unirii Blvd., Bucharest, Romania
E-mail: office@ro-cultura.ro
Phone / Fax: 021-2228479, 021-2244512
Website: www.ro-cultura.ro
Facebook: RO-Cultura Program
Donor Programe Partner Contact Details:
Arts Council Norway
Email: EOS-kultursamarbeid@kulturradet.no
Phone: +47 2104 5800
Website: www.kulturradet.no/eos-midlene

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 Donor Programe Partner Contact Details:
Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage
E-mail: eeagrants@ra.no
Website: www.ra.no/en/eeagrants
Contact details for Iceland
Ragnhildur Zoega
Senior Adviser
National Cultural funding, Creative Europe, EEA grants
Rannís Borgartúni 30, 105 Reykjavík
Phone: +354 515 5838
E-mail: Ragnhildur.Zoega@rannis.is
Contact details for Liechtenstein
Arno Oehri
EEA Grants coordinator in the area of culture
E-mail: arnooehri@eeagrants.li

24. Annexes

Nr. anexă Denumire anexă

1. Application form

2. Project budget (part of the application)

3. Applicant’s statement

4. Partner’s statement _RO

5. Partner’s statement _EN

6. Statement on the cumulation of State aid / de minimis

7. Statement regarding the non-fulfillment of the "undertaking in difficulty”

criteria
8. Statement on type and category of enterprise

9. Partnership letter of intent_RO

10. Partnership letter of intent _EN

11. The development plan of the monument

12. Administrative compliance and eligibility check grid

13. Technical and financial evaluation grid

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14. Pre-contracting checklist

15. Audit report template – partners from Donor States

58