Application Process

The Northern Periphery Programme has two main assessment procedures, as well as offering a pre-assessment service on all project applications (as long as they are submitted 10 days before the deadline). The following provides a brief overview of the main assessment procedures:

Micro & Preparatory Project Assessments

Assessments and decisions on micro and preparatory projects are made by the Joint Programme Secretariat (JPS) and therefore entail a shorter decision period. Following receipt of a micro or preparatory project application, the JPS checks the application against eligibility and suitability criteria. During this stage the JPS may contact the Lead Partner of the project if further information is required or any documents are missing.

The JPS also sends a copy of the application to the Regional Contact Points for feedback and comments – who may distribute the application in their network for further comments. This information is then received by the JPS and helps gauge demand for such a project, as well as assisting with the identification of suitable partners for the project development phase.

The assessment procedure for a micro or preparatory project should take no longer than 1 month from submission of the application until a final decision has been made.
When a decision has been made, the JPS will send a letter to the responsible person at the Lead Partner Organisation, detailing the decision. If a positive decision has been made, extra documentation specifying the grant and any conditions that may apply will also be sent.

The JPS and Regional Contact Points can be contacted for advice and assistance at any stage in this process.

Main Project Decisions

Final decisions on main project applications are made by the Steering Committee of the Northern Periphery Programme, following an assessment procedure that lasts approximately 7 weeks.

Upon submission of an application to the Secretariat, the Lead Partner will be sent a notification of the arrival of the application. The application will be registered and checked for admissibility and eligibility by the Joint Programme Secretariat, who can reject the application if it fails some of the crucial criteria for the programme i.e. only two partners are involved, or most of the partners are outwith the programme area.

Following this initial assessment, the Secretariat will distribute the eligible applications to the Regional Advisory Groups, who will assess the suitability and priority of all eligible project applications using the agreed selection criteria. Recommendations on whether or not the requests for funding should be supported are made based on the “4-box-scoring method” where the applications will be recommended for; 1) accepted without conditions, 2) accepted with conditions, 3) resubmission and 4) rejected.

On the basis of the recommendations of the Regional Advisory Groups, the Joint Programme Secretariat will prepare proposals for decision to the Programme Monitoring Committee, acting as a Steering Committee. Funding decisions will be made at the Programme Monitoring Committee meetings. After the Monitoring Committee meetings, the Lead applicant/partner will be informed about the decision. When an application is approved, the Managing Authority will draw up the Grant Offer Letter. If the Monitoring Committee rejects the project, a refusal letter will be sent to the Lead Partner.

Throughout this process communication is made with the Lead Partner and not the individual partners. However, you are welcome to contact the Joint Programme Secretariat and the Regional Contact Points if you have any queries regarding this process.

Details of decision and end dates can be found in the Events Calendar section of the NPP website.

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