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 for the call for proposals for operating grants is estimated at EUR 2 000 000 (around 4,3 % of the operating budget). Out of this amount EUR 800 000 is reserved for new operating grants specifically mentioned in sections 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4 where ‘operating grant’ is indicated as the financing mechanism. EUR 1 200 000 is reserved for the renewal of operating grants awarded under the Work Plan 2009. A call for proposals will be published in the Official Journal in the last quarter of 2009 (indicative date).

Financial support for activities may be awarded to European organisations which fulfil the criteria presented in Annex V.

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 %. The criteria for exceptional utility are defined 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. As a general rule, this exemption will apply to applicant organisations not receiving any of their funding from the private sector^f1 or other conflicting interest for their functioning (core funding). For all other renewed operating grants, a decrease of 5 percentage points as compared to the Community co-financing percentage agreed in the grant agreement following the call for proposals 2009 will be applied.