Category: Public Calls

The call "Wish – Women's Employment Programme – Phase III" (UP.02.1.1.16) represents a continuation of funding for the employment of hard-to-reach women in jobs of support and support for the elderly and/or infirm, activities that have proven to be very successful and irreplaceable in local communities through the implementation so far. The call will finance the implementation of projects for up to 8 months, which will employ women for up to 6 months. An allocation of HRK 200 million is foreseen to finance the employment of around 4,000 women who will work in support, support and care jobs for about 24,000 end-users.

It is recognised that this call directly contributes to the multiple objectives of the ESF: employment of women belonging to the target group of unemployed women with lower and medium levels of education, who are continuously facing a number of difficulties in the labour market, and also the social inclusion of end-users – the elderly and infirm. This operation aims to integrate harder-to-employ/vulnerable groups of women into the labour market, which also implies fighting poverty and reducing unemployment, as well as preventing premature institutionalisation and improving the quality of life of the end-users of the operation, the elderly and/or infirm by supporting them in their daily lives, especially those living in hard-to-reach and less populated places.

Exceptional interest in these activities shows that local and regional self-government units and non-profit organizations have recognized the extent to which the use of EU funds can encourage and accelerate the development of individual local environments. Through their work, women contribute to the well-being of local communities, while at the same time providing end-users – the elderly and/or infirm – with an immeasurable sense of care and care.

The call is implemented under Specific Objective 9.i.1 Combating poverty and social exclusion by promoting labour market and social integration of vulnerable groups, and combating all forms of discrimination.

Fund: European Social Fund

Operational programme: Efficient Human Resources 2014 20-2020

Type of competition: Open (permanent) call for proposals (grants)

Status: open of 11.5.2022 until 31.8.2022

Competent authority: Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy

Area: employment, social inclusion

Eligible applicants: local and regional self-government units, non-profit organisations.

Eligible partners: compulsory project partners are the regional office or regional service of the Croatian Employment Service and the Centre for Social Welfare.

Other partners on the project can be a local and regional self-government unit, a non-profit organization, an institution that has a registered activity of providing services to elderly and/or disabled persons.

Total value of the Call for Proposals: 200.000.000,00 HRK

Grant amount per project proposal: minimum amount the requested grant may be 400.000,00 HRK, and maximum amount the requested grant may be 1.500.000,00 HRK.

Project co-financing: the share of funding per project is 100% eligible costs, i.e. applicants/partners are not required to provide co-financing of projects from their own resources.

General objective of the call: Provide access to employment and the labour market for women belonging to vulnerable groups with a focus on less developed areas and areas with higher unemployment.

Specific objective of the Call: Empower and enhance the work potential of harder-to-employ women and women with lower and medium education through community-based employment, which will mitigate the consequences of their unemployment and the risk of poverty, while fostering social inclusion and increasing the quality of life of end-users.

Questions and Answers:

Questions can be sent to an e-mail address esf.pozivi@mrosp.hr no later than 14 calendar days before the deadline for submission of project proposals. Be sure to include the reference number and the name of the Call under the subject line of the e-mail. All questions received, together with the answers, shall be published in the ‘Questions and answers’ section of the ESI Funds’ central website and the ESF page, i.e. under this Call, no later than 7 working days before the deadline for submission of project proposals.

The Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy is not obliged to provide clarifications on questions that have not been submitted in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time limit, as well as on questions of natural persons or legal persons who are not eligible applicants or partners to this Call.

The Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy is not obliged to provide clarifications on questions received at the time of suspension or after the Call has been closed.

More information is available at link.

Through the Croatian Agency for Small Business, Innovation and Investment (HAMAG-BICRO), micro and small enterprises of small farms in the agricultural, processing and forestry sectors have at their disposal financial instruments in the form of Micro loan for rural development i micro loan for working capital for rural development, and ESIF Limited Portfolio Guarantee

Currently, two tenders are also open for the award of grants for entrepreneurs engaged in research and development: Start-up non-repayable support i Commercialisation of innovation

The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development has published a tender "European Enterprise Promotion Award 2022“ (European Enterprise Promotion Awards – EEPA 2022).

The EEPA is an annual recognition by which the European Commission rewards the success of public authorities and public-private partnerships in fostering entrepreneurship and small businesses across the European Union.
This award was launched in order to open up new opportunities for the local and regional community through examples of best policies and practices with the aim of developing entrepreneurship, employment and retaining the population in their environment.

Since 2006 The European Enterprise Promotion Awards reward excellence in promoting small-scale entrepreneurship at national, regional and local level, with more than 3,000 projects submitted so far.
Objectives of the Award recognition of successful activities and initiatives to promote entrepreneurship, presentation and sharing of best policy examples and examples of entrepreneurship, increasing awareness of the role of entrepreneurs in European society, and encouraging and promoting potential entrepreneurs.

The 2022 EEPA Awards competition involves 27 Member States of the European Union and countries associated to the COSME programme.

Candidates can compete in their projects/initiatives in six prescribed categories of competitions:
1) Promoting an entrepreneurial spirit;
2) Investing in entrepreneurial skills;
3) Improving the business environment and supporting the digital transition;
4) Supporting the internationalisation of business;
5) Supporting a sustainable transition; and
6) Responsible and inclusive entrepreneurship.

All information related to the tender (application form, instructions, contact details) is available on the website of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development. Applications must relate to Recent projects that have been successfully completed, and lasted at least 15 months, or Existing projects still ongoing, but they are successfully implemented and their result, i.e. their impact on the development of the local or regional environment over a period of fifteen months, is measurable.

The application must be submitted in Croatian language, electronically, by 27 May 2022.

EEPA 2022 competition It takes place in two phases..

In the first phase – the national level, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, through the Project Evaluation and Selection Committee, selects, according to the prescribed EU criteria, two projects from two different categories applying to the EU level.

In the second phase – the European level, the European Commission selects the members of the European jury, which then selects them at EU level.

All candidates nominated for the 2022 EEPA by their countries will be invited to the 2022 EEPA Winners’ Award Ceremony, which will take place in November 2022 in Prague, Czech Republic, as part of the multi-day annual SME Assembly organised by the European Commission each year in the Member State holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The SME Assembly is an event dedicated to European entrepreneurship and institutions supporting its development. It brings together a wide range of participants, from Member States' authorities and institutions at local, regional, national and European level, to business, academia and the media.

The Prague Winners' Announcement Ceremony will award prizes to the winners in each of the six categories. In addition, the Grand Jury Prize will be awarded to the main winner, that is, the candidate whose project, from any of the six categories, has been rated as the most creative and stimulating for the promotion of entrepreneurship and small business in Europe.

More information on the European Enterprise Promotion Awards can be found at: link.

The application form can be downloaded at the link.

Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development published, through the National Recovery and Resilience Programme 2021-2026, a Call for Proposals for “Commercialisation of innovation’ and ‘Start-up non-repayable support“.

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‘COMMERCIALISATION OF INNOVATIONS’

Invitation ’Commercialisation of innovationInvestments will be encouraged micro, small i medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs) focused on production of advanced and innovative products and services with high added value;. This Call will stimulate the investments necessary to commercialise innovation and R&D results. Innovative projects with the highest likelihood of commercial success will be encouraged, launching business activities and manufacturing based on applied solutions. The results of the project are market-ready innovations.

Eligible applicants:

Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

Eligible actions that can be financed:

• SME innovation to commercialise new innovative products and services
• Process and business organisation innovations of SMEs to commercialise new innovative products and services
• Initial investments in tangible and intangible assets for the sole purpose of carrying out the activities referred to in points 1 and/or 2.
• Aid to SMEs for participation in project-related fairs
• Accompanying activities related to project preparation and implementation (de minimis aid)

*Activities under Nos 1 and 2 may be carried out independently, while activities under No 3 may be carried out independently. , 4 and 5 cannot be carried out on their own, but only together with the activities under Nos 1 and 2.

Grant amount that can be awarded per applicant:

• minimum amount of HRK 760.000,00
• maximum amount of 5,320,000,00 HRK.

Total amount of funds available: 380.000.000,00 HRK

Deadlines and method of submitting project proposals:

Project proposals shall be submitted exclusively eNPOO

• from 20 May 2022 from 11 a.m.
• until the available funds are exhausted for the call, and by 30 June 2023 at the latest

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“FREE SUPPORT FOR NEWLY ENTREPRENEURSHIP”

Invitation ’Start-up non-repayable support" will boost growth newly established small and medium-sized businesses (SME) which develop innovation (products and services) knowledge-based or high-tech, which are new or significantly improved compared to market developments. Projects in the pre-commercial phase for the future development and commercialization of products/services, technologies, increase of project-related production capacities and increase of investment readiness of enterprises will be supported.

Eligible applicants:

Newly established SMEs (up to 5 years old)

Eligible actions that can be financed:

• Upgrade, design, performance verification, market or technology validation
• testing, development of pilot lines
• intellectual property protection and external services aimed at developing an innovative idea (products, services or technologies);
• Training users in specific skills for start-ups (for capacity building and investment readiness).

Grant amount that can be awarded per applicant:

• minimum amount 200.000,00 HRK
• maximum amount 1.000.000,00 HRK.

Total amount of funds available: 141.000.000,00 HRK

Deadlines and method of submitting project proposals:

Project proposals are submitted exclusively through the eNPOO system

• from 1 June 2022 at 11 a.m.
• until the available funds are exhausted for the call, and by 30 June 2023 at the latest

DOCUMENTATION

‘COMMERCIALISATION OF INNOVATIONS’	“FREE SUPPORT FOR NEWLY ENTREPRENEURSHIP”
Instructions for applicants	Instructions for applicants
Form 2 Declaration by the applicant on compliance with the UP	Form 2 Declaration of compliance with the UP
Form 3 Declaration on aid used	Form 3 Declaration on de minimis aid used
Form 4 Group statement by the applicant.xlsx	Form 4 Group statement by the applicant.xlsx
Template 5 Financial data	Template 5 Financial data
Annex 1 General conditions	Template 6 Business plan
Annex 2 Draft Grant Agreement	Annex 1 General conditions
Annex 3 Grant award procedure	Annex 2 Start-up SME contract
Annex 4 Rules for NOJN	Annex 3 Grant procedure for newly established SMEs
Annex 5 Rules on financial corrections	Annex 4 Rules for NOJN
Annex 6 PMF costing methodology	Annex 5 Rules on financial corrections
Annex 7 Minimum content of down payment guarantees	Annex 6 PMF costing methodology
	Annex 7 Minimum content of the down payment guarantee