Call for proposals for action grants to provide financial contributions to ADR Bodies and RAD Qualified Entities
Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
The Single Market Programme (SMP) covers the single market, competitiveness of enterprises, including small and medium-sized enterprises, the area of plants, animals, food and feed, and European statistics. Specifically, the programme brings together aspects in order to streamline, exploit synergies and provide a better flexible, transparent, simplified and agile framework to finance activities aiming at a well-functioning sustainable internal market.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
The objective of this Call for proposals is to facilitate consumers’ access to effective and efficient alternative dispute resolution bodies.
It aims to support concrete improvements in the following areas:
- Awareness-raising on ADR and/or representative actions.
- Protection of vulnerable consumers.
- Networking of Alternative Dispute Resolution entities and/or Qualified Entities at national and EU-wide levels.
- Capacity building, expertise of staff.
- Use of transparent and innovative digital tools, efficient case handling and good governance.
Detailed Call Description
The consumer Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and consumer Representative Actions are equally important tools helping European consumers to enforce their rights towards infringing traders. The Commission objective, as announced in the 2020 New Consumer Agenda is to support the good functioning of these tools that should complement each other.
The Representative Actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers have been introduced into the EU legal order by Directive (EU) 2020/1828 adopted in November 2020. The Directive aims at efficient procedural solutions in mass harm situations where large groups of consumers are concerned by the same or similar illegal practice(s) by traders. It allows qualified entities, such as consumer organisations or public bodies, as designated by the EU Member States, pursuant to Article 4 of the above-mentioned Directive (hereinafter ‘qualified entities’), to bring legal actions on behalf of groups of consumers. The objective of the present call for proposals is to support the capacity building of the qualified entities so that they efficiently exercise the role conferred to them by the Representative Actions Directive.
Joint applications by two or several ADR entities that promote cross-border cooperation among these entities are strongly encouraged as highly relevant.
As to the proposed actions by Qualified Entities:
- joint applications by two or several Qualified Entities that promote the cross-border cooperation among Qualified Entities via EC-REACT to support the effective and coherent application of the Representative Actions Directive and;
- actions that foresee a regular exchange on their objectives, progress and results via EC-REACT with some or all Qualified Entities designated across the EU as well as actions which allow for the future re-use of their results by other already designated or future
Qualified Entities are strongly encouraged as highly relevant.
Funds for actions financed under the present call for proposals cannot be used to finance specific collective litigation (specific legal actions brought by Qualified Entities pursuant to the Representative Actions Directive). These can be however used to elaborate relevant methodologies for litigation strategies as well as solutions and tools for effective management of mass claims in the context of judicial or administrative legal actions or collective out of court settlements.
A wide range of activities are eligible provided that they can be linked to the expected results mentioned above. Such activities may include for instance (non-exhaustive list):
- Awareness raising campaigns, communication activities and translations.
- Creating and supporting of networks among ADR entities and/or Qualified Entities.
- Development/procurement of case handling tools.
- Accounting tools and services.
- Trainings for staff.
- Study visits to other ADR entities or Qualified Entities.
- Organisation of seminars to exchange best practices.
- Statistical analysis of consumers’ complaints.
- Studies or trainings (including via procurement) on identifying mass harm situations, providing relevant legal and economic analyses in the context of representative actions and quantifying consumers’ damage.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
80%
Thematic Categories
- Small-Medium Enterprises and Competitiveness
Eligibility for Participation
- Consumer Organisations
- Legal Entities
- Local Authorities
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- State-owned Enterprises
Eligibility For Participation Notes
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies)
and - be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs)
- non-EU countries: listed EEA countries and countries associated to the Single Market Programme or countries which are in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement and where the agreement enters into force before grant signature (list of participating countries) and be
- on the date of the submission of the proposal, an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) entity notified to the European Commission pursuant to Article 20(2) of Directive 2013/11/EU on consumer ADR. Applicants are advised to verify their status by consulting the public list of ADR entities registered on the European ODR platform, and to contact their national competent authorities in case they are not listed in the platform or their details are incorrect. As the ODR platform is to be discontinued as of 20 July 2025, the list of qualified ADR entities will after this date be listed on the Commission website,
Or be, - on the date of the submission of the proposal, a Qualified Entity designated by the EU Member State in advance to specific representative actions pursuant to Article 4 of Representative Actions Directive (EU)2020/1828. Applicants must present the proof of their designation as Qualified Entity by presenting a confirmation of designation issued by the competent national authority or public body pursuant to the national legislation transposing Directive (EU) 2020/1828 in the country of their designation or by indicating their presence at the EU list of Qualified Entities designated for cross-border representative actions as foreseen by Article 5(1) of Directive (EU) 2020/1828 and published on the official website by the European Commission,
Or be, - bodies established in countries associated to the Single Market Programme, covering the Consumer pillar and for which the competent national authority confirms in writing the mutatis mutandis conformity with the quality criteria set out in the ADR Directive 2013/11/EU,
Or be, - entities established in countries associated to the Single Market Programme, covering the Consumer pillar and for which the competent national authority confirms in writing the mutatis mutandis designation in compliance with Article 4 of the Representative Actions Directive (EU) 2020/1828
Or be, - exceptionally, and only in EU Member States where ad hoc designation is allowed, entities which comply with the criteria set out in the national legislation transposing Article 4, paragraph 6 of the Representative Actions Directive (EU) 2020/1828, for being designated on ad hoc basis. Applicants must present the proof of their compliance with these criteria issued by the competent national authority or public body.
- on the date of the submission of the proposal, an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) entity notified to the European Commission pursuant to Article 20(2) of Directive 2013/11/EU on consumer ADR. Applicants are advised to verify their status by consulting the public list of ADR entities registered on the European ODR platform, and to contact their national competent authorities in case they are not listed in the platform or their details are incorrect. As the ODR platform is to be discontinued as of 20 July 2025, the list of qualified ADR entities will after this date be listed on the Commission website,
Consortium composition
Proposals may be submitted by a single applicant as well as by a consortium.
In case of a multi-beneficiary grant – Consortium composition: each of the beneficiary entities within the consortium has to be eligible as per the conditions above. Entities can originate from the same or different eligible countries.
Applicants may submit more than one application. Applicants who submit multiple applications must clearly explain how each proposal differs from the other(s).
BUT: if there are several proposals for very similar projects, only one application will be accepted and evaluated; the applicants will be asked to withdraw the others (or they will be rejected).
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry
Industry and Technology Service
Address: 1421, Nicosia, Cyprus
Email: sit@meci.gov.cy
Contact Person:
Spyros Triantaphyllidis
Telephone: 22867333
Email: striantafyllides@meci.gov.cy
EU Contact Point
Non-IT related questions should be sent not later than 20 August 2025, at 17:00:00(CET) to the following email address: EISMEA-CONS-grants@ec.europa.eu