On 21 October, the European Commission published the 2017 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.

During the first years of funding, the EOC EU Office has continuously pointed out shortcomings in the implementation of the sport programme of Erasmus+ preventing grassroots sport organisations from benefiting from funding. After the positive signal through the introduction of small collaborative partnerships in 2016, the EOC EU Office is happy to announce that further simplifications have been included for 2017. These should make both the application and implementation of projects easier through the wide application of unit costs.

This will simplify the drafting and implementation of the budgets for small and large collaborative partnerships, as applicants will choose different budget points from a pre-set “menu of grant items” according to the activities they plan. For that they can choose from four categories of budget items:

1. Project management and implementation (unit cost covering project management, basic learning/teaching/training materials, tools, local project activities, information, promotion and dissemination);
2. Transnational project meetings (unit cost covering participation in meetings between project partners);
3. Intellectual outputs (unit cost covering intellectual outputs and tangible deliverables of the project);
4. Multiplier events (unit costs covering costs linked to national and transnational conferences, seminars, events, sharing and disseminating the intellectual outputs realised by the project).

All application and funding rules including the amounts for the different unit costs can be found on pages 226 to 244 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 25% 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 25% to projects aiming at combatting 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 2017, the deadline for applications is put earlier than over the last years – the call ends at 6 April 2017, 12.00 (noon), Brussels time.

The table below provides an overview of the actions, their budgets and specific criteria. The EOC EU Office will provide further information on the changes in the Erasmus+ sport chapter together with an analysis of the of the results of this year’s call in its upcoming publications.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Erasmus+ Call for Proposals 2017

Erasmus+ Programme guide 2017