Division 2.4 Operating Grants

Operating grants should be financed under Budget line 17 03 06 — Community action in the field of health. The total indicative amount is estimated at EUR 2 300 000 (around 5 % of the operating budget).

Financial support for activities may be awarded to European organisations which fulfil the following criteria:

• are a non-governmental body or a specialised network, non-profit-making and independent of industry, commercial and business or other conflicting interests;

• are legally established under the law of one of the eligible countries for the Programme;

• are operating at European level and have members in at least half of the Member States, with a balanced geographical coverage, and pursues as its primary goal one or more objectives of the Programme, and

• have provided to the Commission satisfactory accounts of their membership, internal rules and sources of funding.

Preference will be given to those organisations which cover activities as specified in this work plan, points 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4.

A call for proposals will be published in the Official Journal during the first half of 2008, describing the areas for funding, the selection and award criteria and the procedures for application and approval.

The financial support shall not exceed 60 % of the expenditure involved in carrying out eligible activities. In cases of exceptional utility, the Community contribution shall not exceed 80 %. Exceptional utility may occur when activities have very significant European added value, as indicated in point 3.1.

As laid down in Article 4(2) of the Programme Decision, the renewal of financial contributions set out in paragraph 1(b) to non-governmental bodies and specialised networks may be exempted from the principle of gradual decrease.

The selection and award criteria for operating grants are detailed in Annex V.