Recommendations to award a grant are always subject to the condition that the checking process which precedes the signing of the contract does not reveal problems requiring changes to the budget (for instance arithmetical errors, inaccuracies or unrealistic costs and ineligible costs). The checks may give rise to requests for clarification and may lead the ACP Secretariat to impose modifications or reductions to address such mistakes or inaccuracies. The amount of the grant and the percentage of co-financing may not be increased in any case as a result of these corrections. It is therefore in the applicant's interest to provide a realistic and cost-effective budget. Expenditure relating to investment in facilities or the purchase of equipment should only account for a minor proportion of the total eligible costs, and in any case should represent no more than 15% of these. Eligible direct costs To be eligible under the Call for Proposals, costs must respect the provisions of article 14 of the General Conditions to the Standard Grant Contract. (see http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/documents/execution/grants/e3h_2gencond_en.pdf) Staff costs Staff cost shall mean any payment made to a person attached to a member of the partnership or working on a regular or recurrent basis for the project. Staff costs shall be calculated on the basis of the actual salary/fee of the employee/service provider, multiplied by the number of months/days to be spent on the project. This calculation shall include all the normal charges paid by the employer, such as social security contributions and related costs, but shall exclude any bonus, incentive and profit-sharing arrangements or running costs. Contingency reserve A contingency reserve not exceeding 5% of the direct eligible costs may be included in the budget of the action. It can only be used with the prior written authorisation of the ACP Secretariat. Participation in stakeholder meetings For stakeholder meetings organised by the ACP Secretariat, an amount of EUR 5,000 must be entered under the budget line 'Travel costs'. Eligible indirect costs (overheads) Indirect costs incurred in carrying out the action are eligible for flat-rate funding fixed at not more than 7% of the total eligible direct costs. Contributions in kind Contributions in kind, which must be listed separately in the Application Form (part B pt. 3), do not represent actual expenditure and are not eligible costs. Contributions in kind may not be treated as cofinancing by the partnership. The cost of staff assigned to the action is not a contribution in kind and may be considered as co-financing in the budget of the action when paid by the applicant or its partners. The partnership may use sitting staff and /or staff specially employed if it is necessary for the implementation of the project. The unit rates for staff involved in the action must be actual local market rates and must be explained in the budget justification in a format the applicant may freely choose. The Contracting Authority is entitled to ask for salary slips to verify the accuracy of the rates presented in the budget. Staff costs will also be verified on the occasion of the final audit. EDULINK Programme: 3rd Call for Proposals, 2008 – Guidelines for Applicants
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