Human rights are protected by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. These include freedom from discrimination, protection of personal data, and access to justice. Every citizen is entitled to these rights equally.
The EU is based on the rule of law. Everything it does is founded on treaties voluntarily and democratically agreed by its member states. Law and justice are upheld by an independent judiciary, with the European Court of Justice as the final authority — its judgments are binding on all member states.
Equality ensures that all citizens are treated the same before the law. It includes gender equality and equal opportunities in every area of life. This principle has guided European integration since the Treaty of Rome.
The EU is built on representative democracy. Citizens have the right to vote and stand in elections for the European Parliament, whether in their country of origin or residence. Political participation is a cornerstone of European citizenship.
Freedom means the right to move, live, and work across the Union. It also safeguards personal liberties such as privacy, belief, assembly, and expression. These freedoms are guaranteed by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Human dignity is the foundation of European society. It is inviolable and must always be respected and protected. All fundamental rights stem from this principle.
Yes. A state institution can be an associate and, as an associate, cannot receive any financial compensation for its participation.
For example, a school can provide a hall, a classroom or its yard for project activities free of charge. The project funds cannot be used to pay the institution.
Guidelines for Applicants: Glossary (“Associate”) and section 2.1.1 (Associates).
Yes. The rules that apply to applicants – being a civil society organisation from the Kočani region – do not apply to associates. Associates can come from anywhere in the country, and business companies are eligible associates.
The application should explain clearly why each associate is involved in the project. Associates cannot receive any financial benefit from the project activities.
Guidelines for Applicants: Glossary (“Associate”) and section 2.1.1 (Associates).
Yes. The Guidelines do not prescribe how applicants identify needs. Section 3.2 of the Application Form lists community consultations as one possible source of evidence, alongside data, local research and the applicant’s own direct experience. The applicant covers any costs of preparing the application.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 2.3 (Non-retroactivity of contracting); Annex A – Application Form, section 3.2.
A project can take place in all four municipalities of the Kočani region, or in only one, two or three of them. The applicant decides, depending on the needs and the planned activities. All activities must take place within the Kočani region: Kočani, Češinovo-Obleševo, Zrnovci and Vinica.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 2.2 (Location).
No supporting document is needed. Associates are described in the Application Form. Only the Application Form and the Budget are evaluated, and no annexes other than the required supporting documents should be sent.
Guidelines for Applicants: Glossary (“Associate”), section 2.1.1 (Associates), section 3 and section 3.1 (Required supporting documents); Annex A – Application Form, section 1.4.
No names are required at the application phase. If the people aren’t known yet, describe in the Application Form the role of each position and the qualifications and experience needed. If they are already known, for example members of the organisation, you can name them and describe their experience.
No call is needed for the Project coordinator and assistant. Your organisation engages them directly under a contract once the In-kind Support Contract is signed. Experts, trainers and coaches/mentors are selected through a separate procedure, which is explained to selected organisations.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 2.3 (Action team compensation; Non-retroactivity of contracting) and section 4.2 (sub-criterion 1.1).
The “total turnover in the last closed financial year” covers only the revenue earned in 2025, meaning the total revenue in your 2025 income and expenditure statement. Surplus carried over from previous years is not included. It is not revenue for the year. It is money the organisation brought forward from earlier years.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 2.1.
The declaration must be signed by the legal representative of the applicant organisation. Two options are accepted:
Guidelines for Applicants: sections 3.1 (Required supporting documents) and 4.1 (Administrative compliance and eligibility check).
No. The workplan in the Application Form (section 4.9) uses months of implementation, not calendar months. Columns 1 to 10 stand for the ten months of the Action, from Month 1 to Month 10. Applicants should mark the months in which each activity takes place and should not give calendar dates. The Action begins when the In-kind Support Contract is signed, and the start date may differ slightly between Beneficiaries.
The Application Form (Annex A) and the Budget (Annex B) must be completed in English, as stated in the announcement of the Call. Applications completed in another language do not pass the administrative compliance check and will not be taken into consideration. The supporting documents listed in section 3.1 of the Guidelines for Applicants, such as the registration certificate and the financial accounts, may be submitted in the language in which they were issued.
Section 6.1 of the Guidelines (Do No Harm) requires parental or guardian consent for participants under 18. That rule applies to the supported Actions, meaning activities carried out during implementation. The Call does not set specific rules for activities an applicant carries out on its own before applying. The applicant is responsible for making sure any such consultation complies with national data protection legislation and with the school’s own rules. The Helpdesk cannot assess whether school approval is sufficient in a particular case.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 6.1 (Do No Harm).
The Declaration by the Applicant is not a separate document. It is part of the Application Form (Annex A), at the end of the form.
It is signed and stamped by the legal representative of the organisation. It can be signed by hand, stamped and scanned, or signed with a qualified electronic signature.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 3 (How to apply) and section 4.1 (Administrative compliance and eligibility check); Annex A – Application Form, Declaration by the Applicant.
No separate proof of income is needed. The condition of an annual turnover below EUR 50,000 refers to the last closed financial year, which is 2025. An organisation registered in March 2026 does not yet have a closed financial year. A copy of the registration certificate, together with the statute, must be submitted.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 2.1 and section 3.1 (Required supporting documents).
The supporting documents, including the financial accounts or the statement that there was no financial activity, and the documents from the Central Register, are submitted in Macedonian. No translation is needed.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 3.1 (Required supporting documents).
No it is not a problem. Organisations with no financial activity in the last closed financial year (2025) are eligible. Instead of financial accounts, the application should include a statement that there was no financial activity in that year.
Guidelines for Applicants: sections 2.1 (Eligibility of applicants), 3.1 (Required supporting documents) and 4.2 (sub-criterion 1.1).
No. Apart from the supporting documents listed in section 3.1, no other annexes should be sent. The aggregated results can be described in section 3.2 of the Application Form, within the word limit. The questionnaire and results stay in the applicant’s own records.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 3 (How to apply) and section 3.1 (Required supporting documents); Annex A – Application Form, section 3.2.
The address that is valid is the one currently registered with the Central Register, as shown in the registration document (current status, тековна состојба) submitted with the application.
Guidelines for Applicants: sections 2.1 (Eligibility of applicants) and 3.1 (Required supporting documents).
Links should be placed in footnotes in the relevant section of the Application Form, for example section 3.2, where you describe the problem or need. The text itself should briefly explain what the evidence shows and why it matters for your project.
Evidence can include data, local research, community consultations, or the organisation’s own direct experience.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 4.2 (sub-criterion 2.3).
It covers the financial accounts for 1 January to 31 December 2025, which organisations submitted in 2026. Revenue from the current year (2026) is not taken into account.
Applicants should submit a copy of these latest available financial accounts with the application. Organisations with no financial activity in 2025, including newly established or reactivated organisations, are also eligible. Instead of the financial accounts, they should submit a statement that there was no financial activity.
Where the 2025 financial accounts include donations received for emergency humanitarian response or disaster relief, those amounts do not count towards the EUR 50,000 threshold. This applies only if a donation agreement or award letter confirming the purpose of the funds is submitted with the application.
Guidelines for Applicants: sections 2.1 (eligibility of applicants, including the footnote on annual turnover), 3.1 (required supporting documents) and 4.1
The Call supports actions for and with young people in the Kočani region, and activities should be designed to respond to their specific needs. Other local stakeholders, such as municipalities, schools and employers, can take part in the Action as associates.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 1.1 (Background), section 1.2 (Objectives of the programme and priority issues), section 2.1.1 (Associates) and section 2.2 (Types of activity).
There is no fixed number of projects. The Call has a total budget of EUR 300,000, and each project may request between EUR 10,000 and EUR 15,000. The number of projects supported will depend on the amounts requested and approved.
Guidelines for Applicants: sections 1.3 and 4.3.
Each application is assessed individually on its own merits, against the published criteria, based on the information provided in the application form. Similarity of ideas do not represent ground of rejection. The criteria are:
Guidelines for Applicants: sections 4.2 (Quality assessment) and 4.3 (Ranking, award decision and notification).
The Call has a total budget of EUR 300,000, but this does not mean that the full amount must be awarded. All applications will be assessed against the published criteria. Only applications that meet the minimum scores: 60 out of 100 points, including at least 15 out of 25 points for relevance can be considered for support. If the value of the applications recommended for support is below EUR 300,000, the remaining funds will not be awarded under this Call. The Contracting Authority has the right not to award all available funds.
Guidelines for Applicants: sections 1.3 and 4.3
Implementation of each Action starts after the In-kind Support Contract has been signed. Under the indicative timetable, applications will be evaluated in December 2026 and all applicants will be notified of the award decision in December 2026 or January 2027. In-kind Support Contracts are expected to be signed in January 2027, with implementation starting thereafter. The exact start date of each Action will be specified in its In-kind Support Contract.
Yes, you can mention it in the Application Form, but do not attach the agreement, as only the Application Form and the Budget are evaluated. The company can be listed in the Application Form as an associate, an organisation that plays a real role in the project but doed not receive in-kind support for its own costs, except for travel and subsistence costs directly linked to activities of the Action. Associates must be described in Annex A – Application Form.
Prizes funded under this Call must be non-monetary. The company may provide cash prizes itself, outside the Action budget, if their source is clearly stated.
Guidelines for Applicants: Glossary (“Associate”), section 2.3 (Non-eligible costs and related footnote) and section 4.2 (sub-criterion 4.2).
Yes, schools can be associates. An associate is an organisation or individual that plays a real role in the project but does not receive in-kind support for their own costs, except for travel and subsistence costs directly linked to activities of the Action. Associates must be described in Annex A – Application Form. A school can, for example, help reach young people, provide a space or take part in activities. Teachers can take part in project activities, but they cannot receive a fee from the project. Under the Guidelines, compensation of staff of public administration are not an eligible cost, and teachers employed in public schools are considered to be covered by this rule.
Guidelines for Applicants: Glossary (“Associate”), section 2.1.1 (Associates),section 2.3 (Non-eligible costs) and section 4.2 (sub-criterion 4.2).
Activities can be held at weekends when this makes it easier for young people to take part, for example for students who attend school during the week. Activities cannot be held on public holidays.
The timing of activities should be shown in the workplan and explained in the Application Form.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 4.2 (sub-criterion 3.4).
No. Travel for the general running of the project cannot be covered. Examples are trips to meetings, to collect offers from suppliers, or for administrative tasks. Local travel covers only trips directly linked to a project activity. The coordinator’s travel to an activity, such as a workshop in Zrnovci, can be included in the Budget for that activity. The coordinator’s work on managing the project is covered by the Action team compensation.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 2.3 (Coverage of costs; Action team compensation).
Yes, provided that prototyping is a learning activity of the Action. Materials for prototypes may be covered where the prototype is built within activities such as a design-thinking or innovation lab, a hackathon or a business innovation challenge, and serves to test and present the idea. Such activities are listed among the indicative activities under Priority 1 (innovation labs) and Priority 2 (light incubation, youth start-up pitching events and business innovation challenges). The materials are consumables specifically dedicated to the Action. They must be entered under Annex B, line 3.2, and must be necessary, proportionate and justified.
(Ex. Business innovation challenge in crafts: young people develop a product idea, for example a bag made from recycled materials, and sew one or two prototypes to present at the pitching event. Covered: fabric, thread and recycled materials.
Digital product prototype: a team creates a mock-up of a mobile app for local tourism. Covered: licences for prototyping software for the duration of the activity (Annex B, line 3.3).
The in-kind support will not cover product development for a young person’s own business. This includes producing a first batch, a saleable product, packaging or a mould for production. Such costs are considered start-up capital or costs of an individual business, which are not eligible. The support may also not generate a profit for participants.
The support cannot be given to participants or teams as individual allowances or material packages to develop prototypes of their own, outside the activities of the Action.The purchase of equipment is not eligible. Equipment needed for prototyping may be rented (Annex B, line 3.1),
Guidelines for Applicants: sections 2.2 (Priorities 1 and 2,, indicative activities) and 2.3 (non-eligible costs; no-profit rule); Annex B, notes to lines 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3.
Fees are budgeted gross. All fees in the Budget are gross amounts, including personal income tax and any contributions. This covers the coordinator and assistant (Action team compensation), as well as experts and trainers.
Goods and services are budgeted without VAT. The project is exempt from VAT for the support provided under this Call. Suppliers issue their invoices without VAT, in the name of the project, and the project pays them directly. Selected organisations don’t need to register for VAT exemption or pay VAT themselves.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 1.3 (Form of the support) and section 2.3 (Action team compensation; Non-eligible costs).
Transport can be budgeted only where it is directly linked to a project activity. For example, participants travelling to a workshop in Zrnovci, or a trainer travelling to a training in Vinica. Travel for the general running of the project, such as the coordinator’s trips to meetings or to collect offers, cannot be covered.
Transport costs go under line 2.1 (Local travel) of the Budget. Each activity that needs transport can have its own line. As a rule, transport is organised through a service provider, such as bus or van hire. Where this is not possible, public transport or a private car may be used.The Justification sheet should explain the route, the approximate distance and the number of people travelling.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 2.3 (Coverage of costs; Volunteer expenses) and Annex B – Budget.
Savings from procurement cannot be used to add a new activity that was not included in the approved Action and Budget. The approved budget is the maximum amount available and cannot be increased.
If the actual costs of approved activities differ from the amounts planned, funds may be reallocated between those activities, subject to prior agreement with the Contracting Authority and within the approved total budget. The reallocation must be agreed before it is made.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 2.3 (Coverage of costs; general principles).
Volunteers from other parts of the country can also take part. Their food and transport costs for an activity are covered in the same way as those of the other participants in that activity. Volunteers do not receive any other payment.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 2.3 (Volunteer expenses); Annex B – Budget, Description of Eligible Costs, line 2.3.
Experts, trainers and coaches/mentors go under heading 4 (Other costs and services), line 4.1 of the Budget. They are not part of the Action team compensation (line 1.1) and do not count towards its 20% ceiling. They are contracted and paid directly by the Contracting Authority.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 2.3 (Action team compensation); Annex B – Budget, Description of Eligible Costs, lines 1.1 and 4.1.
In the Justification sheet of the Budget (Annex B). The Budget sheet shows only the cost of each item: unit, number of units and unit price. The Justification sheet explains each line:
For materials, this means listing what is needed and for whom. For example: notebooks, pens and flipchart paper for 20 participants in a two-day training.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 2.3 (Eligible direct costs) and section 4.2 (criterion 5 – Budget and cost-effectiveness); Annex B – Budget, Justification sheet.
Yes. The person authorised to sign on behalf of the organisation can also be the Project coordinator or assistant.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 2.3 (Action team compensation; Non-eligible costs) and section 2.4 (Ethics and values).
No. The Project coordinator and assistant don’t need to be employed by the organisation. They can be members, or external people. Each must have a contract with the organisation, for example a service contract (договор на дело). The contract states the role, the period of engagement and the fee.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 1.3 (Note) and section 2.3 (Action team compensation; Non-eligible costs).
Full-time engagement is not required. The organisation decides the level of engagement of the coordinator and assistant, based on the planned activities. The monthly fee should match that level. For example, a coordinator can be engaged part-time, or less, for all ten months.
The level of engagement should be stated in the Budget and explained in the Justification sheet. During the implementation of the action, the Project coordinator and Assistant must submit timesheets, recording the time actually worked.
A person working on several projects at the same time cannot be engaged for more than 100% of their time in total.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 2.3 (Action team compensation) and section 4.2 (criterion 5 – Budget and cost-effectiveness).
Your annual accounts will show only the Action Team Compensation as income, because that is the only money transferred to your account. All other costs are paid by the project directly to suppliers and service providers.
The full value of the project is set out in the In-kind Support Contract signed between your organisation and the project. The contract states the total amount of support, the activities and the duration. It can serve as proof of the project when you describe your experience and capacity in future applications. The support can be described as in-kind support received under the EU Civil Resilience Mechanism, with the total value and duration.
Guidelines for Applicants: Glossary (“In-kind support”, “In-kind Support Contract”) and section 1.3 (Note).
If needed, the selected organisations will be provided with contract examples for the engagement of the Project Coordinator and the Project Assistant. Beneficiaries are also welcome to use their own contract templates for these positions.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 7.3 (Capacity building for Beneficiaries) and section 8 (Annexes).
Yes. Public universities are treated as public administration/public sector, as their staff are paid from the state budget. University professors can be involved only as associates and cannot be engaged as paid experts. They can give lectures, but they cannot be paid for them.
Guidelines for Applicants: Glossary (“Associate”), section 2.1.1 (Associates) and section 2.3 (Non-eligible costs).
Family members are not automatically excluded, but the selection must be competitive, based on criteria set in advance, and free of any conflict of interest.
The organisation carries out the selection. The procedure is then approved by the EU CRM team before the expert is contracted.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 2.4 (Ethics and values – Absence of conflict of interest) and section 7.3 (Capacity-Building Support).
Private universities are private institutions and are not part of the public sector. Therefore, their staff can take part in the competitive procedure for the selection of an expert.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 2.3 (Non-eligible costs).
No. Compensation of public administration staff or other public sector employees is not an eligible cost, and university professors employed at public universities are covered by this rule. They can take part in the Action as associates.
Guidelines for Applicants: Glossary (“Associate”), section 2.1.1 (Associates) and section 2.3 (Non-eligible costs).
All service providers needed for the activities, including trainers, coaches/mentors, experts, business consultants and consulting firms, are engaged through a competitive selection procedure. The procedure is based on PRAG (Practical Guide to Contract Procedures for EU External Actions) adapted to in-kind support. Your organisation carries out the selection, following the procedure on which you will be trained, and the EU CRM team approves it.Organisations cannot engage experts directly, without this procedure.
At the application stage, you don’t need to name specific experts or firms. It is enough to describe in the Application Form the profile, qualifications and experience required for each expert or service. The costs in the Budget (Annex B) should be realistic and based on market prices. Compensation ofstaff of public administration are not an eligible cost.
No selection or procurement can take place before the In-kind Support Contract is signed. The procedure itself will be set out in the implementation guidelines, including how offers are collected, who carries out the selection and how it is approved. It will also be explained in the mandatory procurement training for all selected organisations.
Guidelines for Applicants: Glossary (“PRAG”, “Service provider / supplier”), section 2.3 (Non-retroactivity of contracting; Non-eligible costs), section 4.2 (criteria 1.1 and 5) and section 7.3 (Capacity building for Beneficiaries).
This would be subcontracting, and subcontractors are not foreseen in this Call. The applicant, as the organisation that signs the contract for the implementation of the activities, publishes its own call for experts and selects them through a competitive procedure.
However, an organisation or a company can be selected as a service provider when the activity requires a specialised training or a specialised online programme that is delivered as a complete service. In that case, the service provider is selected through a competitive procedure for service providers, and the payment is made to the organisation or company for the service(s) delivered.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 2.1.1 (Associates) and section 7.3 (Capacity-Building Support); Annex B – Budget, Description of Eligible Costs, line 4.1.
Yes. Where only one supplier is available in the area where an activity takes place, a single offer may be accepted. The organisation must provide a short written explanation confirming that it requested an offer and that no other supplier operating in that area could provide the service. The explanation forms part of the procurement documentation.
The procedure for these cases is explained in detail during the mandatory procurement training for selected organisations.
Guidelines for Applicants: sections 1.3 and 7.3.
A project can engage a maximum of one thematic expert. There is no maximum number of trainers and coaches/mentors. Their number must be necessary for the planned activities and justified in the Budget.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 2.3 (Eligible direct costs; general principles) and section 4.2 (criterion 5 – Budget); Annex B – Budget, Description of Eligible Costs, line 4.1.
Selected organisations will receive support in developing the templates for the selection of experts during the mandatory procurement training.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 7.3 (Capacity-Building Support).
Yes, organisations must follow the project’s procurement procedures, even if they have their own internal rules. The procedures are based on the EU rules for EU-funded projects (PRAG), adapted to in-kind support. Suppliers and service providers are selected through a competitive process, and there are no value thresholds below which this does not apply.
All selected organisations will complete a mandatory procurement training before implementation begins. The training explains each step of the procedure, including the time needed.
No procurement may start before the In-kind Support Contract is signed.
Guidelines for Applicants: sections 1.3, 2.3 and 7.3.
Experts can be any qualified persons who are not employed in public administration or any other public sector. They are selected through a competitive procedure. Teachers employed in public schools cannot receive a fee from the project. They can be engaged as associates.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 2.3 (Non-eligible costs).
The Guidelines do not set a minimum experience for experts. The organisation defines the qualifications and experience required for each expert, based on the activity, and the expert is selected through a competitive procedure against these criteria.
Guidelines for Applicants: section 2.3 (Eligible direct costs) and section 4.2 (criterion 5 – Budget); Annex B – Budget, Description of Eligible Costs, line 4.1.
A list of service providers will be available to selected organisations as a reference, but its use is not mandatory. Experts and service providers are selected by the organisation through a competitive procedure, which is approved by the EU CRM team.
Guidelines for Applicants: Glossary (“Service Provider”), section 2.3 (Non-retroactivity of contracting) and section 7.3 (Capacity-Building Support); Annex A – Application Form, section 4.8.
