European Programme EaSI

Call for Proposals

The Call for Proposals VP/2014/008 “For Social Policy Innovations Supporting Reforms in Social Services” has been published by the European Commission in the framework of the EaSI Programme.

The European Programme for Employment and Social Innovation "EaSI" is a European-level financing instrument managed directly by the European Commission to support Union's objectives in terms of promoting a high level of quality and sustainable employment, guaranteeing adequate and decent social protection, combating social exclusion and poverty and improving working conditions and contribute to the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy.

The purpose of the current VP/2014/008 “For Social Policy Innovations Supporting Reforms in Social Services” call for proposals is to foster social innovations and reforms in the field of social services policy design and/or delivery to tackle the main challenges. This entails supporting innovative reforms of service delivery with evidence of improved outcomes achieved through strengthened partnerships between public, private and civil society stakeholders, including social entrepreneurs and social NGOs. The proposals should present long term perspectives on how successful innovations and reforms will be designed, tested and implemented. Innovation in social services means new practices, policies or processes to meet known and newly emerging challenges. This may involve improving the delivery, availability, coverage, accessibility, quality, affordability, effectiveness and efficiency of an existing service or creating a new service which better meets citizens' needs, and responds to the call for policy innovation.

The project should describe the specific activities envisaged as part of the social policy innovation and the expected outcomes. In particular, the project should identify and describe the different incentives, opportunities or constraints with which the targeted population will be confronted. The project should explain why these activities might help address the social need that was identified and to ensure that the targeted population will indeed be willing and able to participate. Applicants should make certain that the activities described correlate with the proposed budget. The implementation of the activities should be carefully documented to ensure transferability if the innovation is proven to be effective. The project should describe the set of outcomes on which the proposed activities are expected to have effects and explain how these outcomes will be measured. The expected outcomes should be realistic and defined in measurable terms as they will be used to monitor project progress.

The applicants have to identify the impact/outcomes evaluation method they will apply to provide evidence and to determine the expected outcomes of the proposed intervention. This method should take into account aspects like cause-effect relationship, counterfactual aspects and the potential transfer of the lessons learned. The method should identify and analyse what will change because of the intervention, i.e. the difference between an outcome with the intervention and the outcome that would have been measured in the absence of the intervention.

Only applications from legal entities established in the following countries are eligible in the framework of the current “For Social Policy Innovations Supporting Reforms in Social Services” call for proposals:

- EU Member States.

- EFTA/EEA countries, in accordance with the EEA Agreement.

- Candidate and potential candidate countries, in accordance with the general principles and the general terms and conditions laid down in the framework agreements concluded with them on their participation in Union programmes.

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of the action is estimated at 9 200 000 €. The grant requested must be 750 000 € minimum and 2 000 000 € maximum. The European Union financial aid granted will not exceed 80% of the total eligible costs of the action. The consortium members must guarantee the co-financing in cash of the remaining 20%. Contributions in kind are not accepted as co-financing.

The deadline for submitting proposals in the framework of the current “For Social Policy Innovations Supporting Reforms in Social Services” call for proposals is 28 August 2014.  

Further information on the current call for proposals is available on the European Commission’s web site at: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=629&langId=en&callId=408&furtherCalls=yes