Specialized agencies of Member States

DG ECHO may also finance humanitarian actions implemented by specialised agencies of Member States. These agencies are national public bodies or bodies governed by private law with a public-service mission in the area of humanitarian aid.

Pursuant to Article 9 of Humanitarian Aid Regulation¹⁾ (hereinafter the “HAR”), humanitarian aid actions financed from the European Union's budget may, where necessary, be implemented by a Specialised Agency of a Member State (hereinafter “MS Specialised Agency”).

The HAR provides guidance on the common criteria that DG ECHO's potential partners must demonstrate in order to implement humanitarian actions. They must be entities set up in a Member State and specialised in the field of humanitarian aid, which in DG ECHO's understanding amounts to three years of proven relevant experience in the humanitarian field. Moreover these organisations must have legal personality in order to have the authority to undertake legal obligations and to sign contracts.

In addition, the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid, which was signed by the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council on 18 December 2007, has reaffirmed EU's commitment towards the fundamental humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence. Accordingly, DG ECHO shall only implements humanitarian aid with organisations that commit to respect these fundamental principles.

Although the HAR does not provide for a definition of MS Specialised Agencies, Article 54.2 of the Financial Regulation (hereinafter “FR”) foresees the possibility to implement the EU budget with “national or international public sector bodies or bodies governed by private law with a public-service mission providing adequate financial guarantees and complying with the conditions provided for in the implementing rules”.

MS Specialised Agencies should respond to the following criteria:

• A MS Specialised Agency should be an entity set up in a Member State of the EU;
• It is either a public sector body or a private law entity with a public service mission, but it cannot be a State department or a ministry.
• It must prove three years of expertise on the field of humanitarian aid
• It must commit to respect the fundamental humanitarian principles (Cf. definition point 2.2)
• It should enjoy legal personality in order to have the authority to undertake legal obligations and to sign contracts
• It should provide adequate financial guarantees, in particular as regards full recovery of amounts due to the Commission

The following criteria shall be considered by DG ECHO when assessing the eligibility of a MS Specialised Agency to implement humanitarian actions funded by the EU:

Documentation demonstrating that the applicant is either a national public sector body or a body governed by private law with a public-service mission and that it is legally recognised and/or established in accordance with the laws of a Member State.

Documentation demonstrating that the applicant's mandate explicitly relates to the objectives and general principles of humanitarian aid in accordance with Article 2 of the HAR and that the applicant has at least 3 years of experience in this field. In addition, the applicant must commit to respect the fundamental humanitarian principles. In this context,

• Humanity means that human suffering must be addressed wherever it is found with particular attention to the most vulnerable in the population. The dignity of all victims must be respected and protected
• Neutrality means that humanitarian aid must not favour any side in an armed conflict or other dispute
• Impartiality denotes that humanitarian aid must be provided solely on the basis of need, without discrimination between or within affected populations
• Respect for independence means the autonomy of humanitarian objectives from political, economic, military or other objectives, and serves to ensure that the sole purpose of humanitarian aid remains to relieve and prevent the suffering of victims of humanitarian crises

a) Legal personality
Documentation demonstrating that the applicant holds sufficient legal personality to undertake legal obligations, sign contracts, benefit from external funding and to justify its costs.

b) Procurement procedure
In case the applicant is a public sector body, no additional information shall be required (as the Member State commits to respect EU rules) and the P-control mechanism shall be applied.
In case the applicant is a private law entity, documentation detailing the procurement procedures applied by the applicant organisation shall be requested. This assessment will lead, where appropriate, to apply the “P” control mechanism if the organisation's procurement rules are equivalent to the Commission's procurement rules or the “A” control mechanism if not.

c) Financial solidity
Documentation showing that the applicant can offer financial guarantees issued by a public authority as regards full recovery of amounts due to the Commission.

An organisation which considers that it complies with the humanitarian values and eligibility criteria mentioned above may complete the application form.

The electronic and paper versions of this application form should be returned to DG ECHO at the following address:

  European Commission - DG ECHO
  Unit C/3 – Finance, Legal Affairs and Partner Support
  B-1049 Brussels
  Belgium
  e-mail: ECHO-FINANCE-LEGAL-AFFAIRS@ec.europa.eu

The application form should be accompanied by the relevant supporting documentation (see application form). Non-submission of the required supporting documents may result in rejection of the application on the basis that it is incomplete.

The application will be considered formally received when the signed application form together with all the required supporting documents are registered by DG ECHO and a registration number (ARES reference number) is communicated to the applicant. DG ECHO C3 will process the application.

The allocation of a registration number marks the initiation of the selection process throughout which DG ECHO may continue to request specific documents or information from the applicant. Within this context, DG ECHO may require additional information from the applicant or the national authorities of the applicant's Member State of establishment and carry out verification missions at the headquarter of the applicant.

Failure to adequately provide DG ECHO with the requested information or documentation requested may be considered by DG ECHO as a renunciation of the application and the assessment process will be discontinued and closed. In such case, the applicant shall be formally informed in writing by the Head of DG ECHO Finance, Legal Affairs and Partner Support Unit of the discontinuation and closure of the application process.

If the result of the assessment is successful, the Director ECHO C will formally inform the organisation in writing. As a result, the organisation will be recognised by DG ECHO as a MS Specialised Agency in line with Article 9 of the HAR. The MS Specialised Agency will formally accept the General Conditions of the Framework Partnership Agreements for Humanitarian Organisation and their application to any resulting grant agreement. For this purpose, the MS Specialised Agency will sign a letter in order to acknowledge its acceptance of these General Conditions.

More information on working with MS Specialised Agencies is available in Factsheet D1 and any questions related to the content of this Note may be addressed to ECHO C.3: ECHO-FINANCE-LEGAL-AFFAIRS@ec.europa.eu.

References and useful links:

• Fact Sheet D.1