On 25 October, the European Commission published the 2018 Call for Proposals and the corresponding Programme Guide for Erasmus+ covering all actions, including the sport chapter. Organisations and institutions seeking funding in the framework of this call must comply with the conditions for participation and funding expressed in this Guide. The document provides detailed information on aims, eligibility and award criteria of the different kinds of projects and is therefore the main background document for all applicants.
After the positive changes to the sports programme in the last two years (introduction of small collaborative partnerships in 2016, introduction of simplified grants in 2017), this year’s call does not include bigger Programme changes.
The Call for Proposals does however include a clause regarding UK applicants, which the European Commission now routinely has to include in all its funding Programmes. It states that applicants must comply with the eligibility criteria of the respective call during the whole project period, pointing out that an UK exit of the EU without a follow-up agreement covering Erasmus+ would undermine an applicant’s eligibility. However, this risk should only be valid for UK applicants, not for all other project partners, especially considering the more lenient rules that the Commission announced in July regarding the involvement of non-programme countries (see Monthly report for July).
All application and funding rules including the amounts for the different unit costs for the sport actions can be found on pages 226 ff. of the Erasmus+ programme guide.
Regarding the collaborative partnerships (minimum of 5 partners from 5 countries, maximum funding of 400.000 EUR), the budget allocation looks as follows:
- approximately 25% to projects supporting the participation in sport and physical activity (priorities 1 and 2);
- approximately 25% to projects supporting the education in and through sport, with special focus on skills development, as well as implementation of the EU Guidelines on Dual Careers of Athletes and projects supporting voluntary activity in sport (priorities 3 and 4);
- approximately 20% to projects supporting the integrity of sport such as anti-doping, fight against match-fixing and good governance in sport (priorities 5, 6 and 7);
- approximately 30% to projects aiming at combating violence, racism, discrimination and intolerance in sport, projects aiming at encouraging social inclusion and equal opportunities in sport (priorities 8 and 9).
The small collaborative partnerships (minimum of 3 partners from 3 countries, maximum funding of 60.000 EUR) should aim to:
Encourage social inclusion and equal opportunities in sport;
- Promote European traditional sports and games;
- Support the mobility of volunteers, coaches, managers and staff of non-profit sport organisations;
- Protect athletes, especially the youngest, from health and safety hazards by improving training and competition conditions;
- Promote education in and through sport with special focus on skills development.
The Not-For-Profit Sport Events are to support the same objectives as in the last call:
- Volunteering in sport;
- Social inclusion through sport;
- Gender equality in sport;
- Health-Enhancing Physical Activity;
- Implementation of the European Week of Sport.
In 2018, the deadline for applications will be 5 April 2018, 12.00 (noon), Brussels time.
FURTHER INFORMATION