FAQ

- The next call for proposals for the Estonia – Latvia Programme is tentatively planned to open in autumn 2010, with the project submission deadline in January 2011. The call will be thematic (i.e., open only for specified directions of support). Precise information about the further project submission and available directions of support will be announced in late summer – please follow the information on our website, and visit the section For Applicants for all details.
- The Programme welcomes applications from public and private, as well as non-governmental sector institutions that are legally registered in the Programme area. (In duly justified cases the Monitoring Committee may approve projects with Estonian or Latvian partners from outside the Programme area, in case their participation is necessary for the successful implementation of the project.) Each project must have at least one partner in Latvia and one in Estonia.
  
  There are different rules for co-financing and some limitations for the total amount of funding for different types of partners. Please visit the section Who can apply, as well as see the Programme Manual, sections 4.4. and 8.8.
- Public-equivalent bodies are organizations that meet the following requirements:
  
  a) Are established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character (this definition does not exclude bodies partly having an industrial or commercial character);
  
  b) Have a legal personality;
  
  c) Fulfil one of the three following conditions:
  
      - Are either financed, for the most part, by the State, regional or local authorities, or other bodies governed by public law;
  
      - Are subject to management supervision by those bodies; or
  
      - Have administrative, managerial or supervisory board, more than half of whose members are appointed by the State, regional or local authorities or by other bodies governed by public law.
- In very well-justified cases, the project partners can be from outside the Programme area, as long as the project activities are taking place and benefitting the Programme area. Please consult with JTS before application.
- Each project should involve both Estonian and Latvian partners from the Programme area, which means the minimum is 2. The number of partners really depends on the project and its scope. It is most important that you involve those who are really relevant for your project.
- Lead partner is the partner who coordinates the project – submits the application on behalf of all partners and, if the project is approved, signs the subsidy contract and continues to coordinate the further implementation (submission of reports etc.).
- Co-financing rate of a project does not depend on a legal status of the lead partner, but each partner. Project budget is composed of partners’ budgets and each of the partners can receive a certain share of the budget depending on its type. If the lead partner is a public institution, the Programme financing for its project activities can be up to 85% in the support Priorities 1 and 3, and 80% in the Priority 2, whereas the private partner can get up to 50% of its eligible expenditure (in both support priorities where private companies are eligible, i.e. 1 and 2).
- If the lead partner is an NGO, the requested total Programme funding for the project cannot exceed 300 000 EUR.
- Any investment must be very strongly linked to the cross-border cooperation and planned for the use of both Estonian and Latvian side. The Programme cannot support investments of local nature (for example, renovation of one building in Latvia and a similar building in Estonia). Please be aware that the cross-border nature of all requested investments has to be strongly justified. For larger investments (over 50 000 euro), applicants have to submit a special "justification of investments" together with the project application form.
  
  Please also note that investments cannot exceed 1/3 of each partner’s budget under Priority 3.
- Yes.
- One way to search for potential partners is sharing your project idea with others, including the potential partners, by filling the project idea form and approving its publishing on the web page. We strongly recommend you to make use of this option.
  
  Please also visit the section "Assistance" to find contacts of the relevant intermediary institutions and authorities on the county level, which can be helpful in finding your potential partners.
  
  Before the coming calls for proposals, the Programme organizes thematic partner search events. Please follow regularly the information on our website and sign up for receiving our news for more information.
- Yes, the Joint Technical Secretariat of the Programme provides consultations to the applicants. You are welcome to contact the programme consultants or the information manager to make an appointment either at the JTS office in Tartu or at the Information Point in Riga. We ask you to submit the project idea form prior to the consultation, so that we can give you a better advice.
- The project has to be submitted under one particular priority and one particular direction of support. We suggest that you study carefully the description and Programme indicators under each of the priorities (available in the Programme Manual) to decide which one suits your project best. You can also look at the financing section to see what funding is left under which priority.
- Yes, translation costs are among the eligible expenses. However, you only get them reimbursed if your project gets approved. For more information about the eligible project preparation costs, please study the Programme Manual (5.3.8.)
- Under Priority 3 - no.
  
  Under priorities 1 and 2 - yes, but only if construction is related to cross-border objects and strongly justified within the cooperatioon context. Please note that one project can include either the development of the technical project or the actual construction, but not both. We strongly recommend you to consult the JTS about your project ideas and discuss all the investment and construction plans before preparing the project.
- Please contact JTS.
- The implementation can start on the following day after the project has been approved at the Monitoring Committee meeting, however, the subsidy contract is only signed after the final approval of the project (i.e. when all the conditions are fulfilled).
- The Programme requires the project implementers to submit the progress reports (see Manual, section 9). We also ask you to update JTS about important project events and activities. You might expect site visits from the First-level Control and JTS during the project implementation.
- Please see the Publicity Guidelines with detailed information. Please make sure that you follow these requirements in order to avoid the risk of losing your funding.
- The finding is transferred to the lead partner after the reviewing the first report (and the lead partner is responsible for distributing it further between the project partners). There are no advance payments in this Programme, so the applicants have to be ready to invest their own resources and later get reimbursed for their eligible expenses after each reporting period. Reporting periods are with a duration of 3 or 6 months (decision has to be taken by the project after being approved), and processing of the partner reports and a joint progress report takes approximately 4 month (depending on the complexity and additional clarifications needed from the partners).
  
  So the first payment to the project can be expected around 7 months after project start in case of 3 month reporting periods and in 10 months in case of 6 month reporting periods.
- The lead partner is allowed to reallocate funding between the budget lines and/ or work packages in well justified cases. Please see the Programme Manual section 8.6. for more information.
- No. It is therefore important to plan the budget carefully in advance.
- Please be aware that your budgeted costs are eligible according to both Programme Manual and the national reporting guidelines, which are slightly different in Estonia and Latvia. In case of differences between the Programme Manual and national reporting guidelines, the stricter rule applies. Please see the section Guiding documents.
  
  Please also make sure that you follow all the requirements and procedures for procurement and other expenses. In case of doubts, please consult the First-level Control in advance.
- The risks to have the expenses considered as ineligible mainly come from inappropriate financial management, lack of fulfilling all the requirements and procedures for the procurement, ignorance of the eligibility rules (both in the Programme Manual and national reporting guidelines), adequate bookkeeping, or insufficient fulfilment of the publicity requirements (see Publicity Guidelines). Please follow these rules carefully and consult about all the unclear issues in advance.
- Yes, please see the Programme Manual, section 7.2