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Call key data
Strengthen economic fairness and resilience of active labour market policies and address high unemployment
Funding Program
Horizon Europe - Cluster 2 - Destination 3: Innovative research on social and economic transformations
Call number
HORIZON-CL2-2024-TRANSFORMATIONS-01-02
deadlines
Opening
04.10.2023
Deadline
07.02.2024 17:00
Funding rate
100%
Call budget
€ 10,000,000.00
Estimated EU contribution per project
between € 2,000,000.00 and € 3,000,000.00
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
short description
Proposals should focus on the ways in which active labour market policies can be strengthened to provide economic fairness and resilience.
Call objectives
Active labour market policies are widely used by European countries to improve the functioning of their labour markets by addressing skill mismatches, labour market segmentation, and by promoting the integration in the labour market of those facing difficulties in accessing it. Policies aimed at skill development could be effective in periods of low economic activity at the macroeconomic level, given that the opportunity cost of training programmes is lower in times of recession. These policies could facilitate the reallocation of labour, prepare the ground for a fair economic recovery, and facilitate transitions towards the green and digital sectors.
However, there have been studies post the 2007 recession arguing that training programmes have so far had only a modest effect in generating post-programme employment. Furthermore, researchers found that responses of adult learning and training to the business cycle are different for employed and not employed workers, with the participation of the latter group diminishing in times of economic downturn due to credit constraints preventing them from investing in education.
In light of such studies, more research is needed to survey the different types of active labour market policies enacted by the Member States, especially in the area of skills development during economic downturns, and their effects on people facing economic challenges, e.g. people at risk of poverty or workers whose job is at risk of automation or at risk of transformation due to transition to a decarbonised economy. Proposals should focus on the ways in which active labour market policies can be strengthened to provide economic fairness and resilience.
Research activities may focus on the response of public authorities to the COVID-19 crisis and estimate their effectiveness including displacement and substitution effects. Alternatively, research could also focus on the participation of persons coming from a vulnerable socio-economic background or from regions with a high degree of unemployment (e.g. people at risk of poverty, people coming from rural communities) to active labour market policies with an aim to mapping barriers and policy responses to increase their participation. Research could also focus on the impact of active labour market policies while incorporating a gender dimension. Another research avenue could be analysing the role of active labour market policies within broader exercises to rethink employment and income protection with an aim of underpinning synergies that enhance their effect, e.g. the interplay between active labour market policies and housing allowances in the housing first approach.
Where relevant, activities should build upon existing research, draw lessons from recent policy interventions in a contextual and transdisciplinary manner and propose adjustment measures, or test them through social innovation experiments. Clustering and cooperation with other selected projects under this call and other relevant projects are strongly encouraged.
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Expected results
Projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- Improved understanding of macro effects of labour market policies on general equilibrium including displacement and substitution effects;
- Improved skills strategies and skill development, also at sectoral level, during periods of economic downturn benefitting from lower opportunity costs;
- Improving policy design to increase labour market participation and employment in a context of high unemployment and high number of job vacancies, notably in low and high skilled jobs.
Eligibility Criteria
Regions / countries for funding
Moldova (Moldova), Armenia (Հայաստան), Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan), Belarus (Беларусь), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина), Faeroes (Føroyar / Færøerne), Georgia (საქართველო), Iceland (Ísland), Israel (ישראל / إِسْرَائِيل), Kosovo (Kosova/Kosovë / Косово), Montenegro (Црна Гора), Morocco (المغرب), New Zealand (Aotearoa), North Macedonia (Северна Македонија), Norway (Norge), Serbia (Srbija/Сpбија), Tunisia (تونس /Tūnis), Türkiye, Ukraine (Україна), United Kingdom
eligible entities
Education and training institution, International organization, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
Mandatory partnership
Yes
Project Partnership
To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
- the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions
- the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States
- third countries associated to Horizon Europe - see list of particpating countries
Only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:
- at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and
- at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.
Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from non-associated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call topic.
A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
Specific cases:
- Affiliated entities — Affiliated entities (i.e. entities with a legal or capital link to a beneficiary which participate in the action with similar rights and obligations to the beneficiaries, but which do not sign the grant agreement and therefore do not become beneficiaries themselves) are allowed, if they are eligible for participation and funding.
- Associated partners — Associated partners (i.e. entities which participate in the action without signing the grant agreement, and without the right to charge costs or claim contributions) are allowed, subject to any conditions regarding associated partners set out in the specific call conditions.
- Entities without legal personality — Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees to protect the EU’s financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons.
- EU bodies — Legal entities created under EU law including decentralised agencies may be part of the consortium, unless provided for otherwise in their basic act.
- Joint Research Centre (‘JRC’)— Where provided for in the specific call conditions, applicants may include in their proposals the possible contribution of the JRC but the JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal. Applicants will indicate the contribution that the JRC could bring to the project based on the scope of the topic text. After the evaluation process, the JRC and the consortium selected for funding may come to an agreement on the specific terms of the participation of the JRC. If an agreement is found, the JRC may accede to the grant agreement as beneficiary requesting zero funding or participate as an associated partner, and would accede to the consortium as a member.
- Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members (e.g. European research infrastructure consortia (ERICs)) may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’. However, if the action is in practice implemented by the individual members, those members should also participate (either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities, otherwise their costs will NOT be eligible.
Additional information
Topics
Relevance for EU Macro-Region
EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region
UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)
Additional Information
All proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funders & Tenders Portal electronic submission system (accessible via the topic page in the Search Funding & Tenders section). Paper submissions are NOT possible.
Proposals must be complete and contain all parts and mandatory annexes and supporting documents, e.g. plan for the exploitation and dissemination of the results including communication activities, etc.
The application form will have two parts:
- Part A (to be filled in directly online) contains administrative information about the applicant organisations (future coordinator and beneficiaries and affiliated entities), the summarised budget for the proposal and call-specific questions;
- Part B (to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system) contains the technical description of the project.
Annexes and supporting documents will be directly available in the submission system and must be uploaded as PDF files (or other formats allowed by the system).
The limit for a full application (Part B) is 45 pages.
Call documents
HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 2, Destination 3HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 2, Destination 3(463kB)
Contact
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