Viale Boston, 25 - 00144 Roma tel.: 06 59931

home          contatti         mappa

 

LAW no. 212 OF FEBRUARY 26, 1992
(informative sheet updated to January 2005)

IMPORTANT NOTICE: SINCE FUNDS UNDER LAW 212/92
WERE NOT APPROVED, NO CALL FOR PROPOSALS IS  PLANNED FOR 2005

1

What is Law 212 ?

It is an instrument for financing bilateral and plurilateral programmes which promote co-operation between Italy and the Countries selected, each year, by the Interministerial Committee for Economic Policies (CIPE). It supports the transition towards market economy and integration into Europe of the target Countries.

2

Beneficiaries

  • public and private institutions and bodies, in particular technical assistance agencies and vocational training institutions;
  • trade associations, their federations and related services agencies;
  • consortia, co-operatives, companies, in particular SMEs.

3

Target Countries

Upon proposal of the Minister for Foreign Affairs together with the Minister for Production Activities, CIPE annually decides which countries will benefit from the funds appropriated by Law 212.

4

Activities eligible for funding

Projects shall not exceed a 24-month duration. They will cover the following types of activities:
  • vocational, executive and cadres training;
  • technical assistance;
  • feasibility studies and projects in the sectors of transport, telecommunications, supply, social economy, energy, tourism, environmental and sanitary rehabilitation as well as in industrial and agricultural reorganisation and in the field of artworks restoration and urban rehabilitation;
  • pilot projects aimed at promoting technology transfer agreements between the partners;
  • feasibility studies (business plan and drafting of corporate documents) for the establishment of joint ventures as well as for the restructuring of joint enterprises participated by an Italian company.
  • 5

    Amount of funding

  • Granted fund: 50% of eligible costs up to a ceiling of Eur 413,165.52;
  • other grants may be obtained from public and private (Italian or foreign) entities participating in the initiative. (Public bodies may contribute up to 80% of total costs).
  • 6

    How to apply for grants

    On the basis of  the regulation (see 12), all applications shall be submitted on stamped paper to the competent Office (see square 10) usually by April 30 of each year.

    1) The application shall include: a declaration in substitution of an affidavit. The declaration shall abide by articles 46 and 47 of the President of the Republic’s Decree no. 445/2000 and shall bear registration in the Chamber of Commerce (if needed). SMEs shall also declare to possess the requirements demanded by current EU regulations;

    2) The application shall enclose:

    a) the technical sheet, (both in paper and software form), completed in all its parts and containing the elements needed for the initiative to be assessed;

    b) the participation form duly signed by all the partners of the project and by possible sponsors;

    c) the articles of association and by-Laws, where existing;

    d) any other document proving the fulfilment of the requirements needed to award the priority coefficients

    7

    Conditions for eligibility

    1. Participation of a partner from one of the target Countries (local promoter);

    2. presentation of a scheme for covering the estimated costs and of all the requirements needed to assess the proposal;

    3. declaration of interest issued by the competent Governmental Authorities of the Country where the project is to be carried out (please contact the local Italian Embassy for information). The declaration of interest shall be transmitted to the Ministry of Production Activities within 30 days from the communication of eligibility.

    8

    Procedure

    Applications will be examined by the Selection Office which is in charge of verifying the formal regularity of applications and attached documents as well as of evaluating the contents of proposals. Projects that received a score of less than 42 points out of 60 for their quality standards will not be included in the final ranking. Funds will be granted until exhaustion to all valid projects according to their final ranking. The decrees concerning the disbursement of grants are issued by Dec. 31 of the reference year.

    For an even distribution among the recipient Countries of the funds provided for by the Law, the Regulation prescribes a screening of the submissions if:

    - initiatives considered similar or concentrated on a single specific sector proceed from the same Country;

    - a considerable number of projects originate from the same Country on the grounds that the ceiling of financing allotted to each single State cannot exceed 20% of available funds.

    9

    Selection Criteria

    To draw up the classification, this department shall comply with a series of priorities that assign to each project addable coefficients (see article 7 of the regulation). The priorities are as follows:
  • financial participation of the recipient Country amounting to over 10% of the cost;
  • financial participation of Italian public entities (national, regional and local);
  • interventions in priority Countries;
  • complementarity with other initiatives financed by international institutions in which Italy takes part;
  • complementarity with initiatives supported by Law no. 100 of April 24, 1990 and article 2 of Law no. 19 of January 2, 1991 and article 7 of Law 49/87;
  • type of operators (non-profit making entities, SMEs, consortia or others);
  • type of action (i.e. technical assistance to government departments and organisations);
  • quality of project (in relation to the score of the initiative if higher than 42 points out of 60).
  • 10

    Managing Office Ministry of Production Activities
    Department for Internationalisation
    Viale America 341 - 00144 ROME
    Tel. no. 06/59931
    Directorate General for Trade Promotion - tel. no. 06/59932562
      Manager Mrs. Bianca Maria BONANNI
    Director of Division IV
    Tel. no. 06/59932683
      Collaborators Ms. Tiziana VECCHIO (co-ordinator) - tel. no. 06/59932468

    Mrs. Eva CASTORO - tel. no. 06/59932573

    Mr. Antonio IANUARIO - tel. no. 06/59932131

    Mr. Mario RAU - tel. no. 06/59932560

    Mr. Medio VANNUCCI - tel. no. 06/59932577

    11

    Information to interested parties

    (Technical Secretariat)

    All operators interested in applying for the grants provided for by Law 212/92 should be informed that no call for proposals is planned for 2005.

    For specific requests, please send a written communication by fax or e-mail to the following:

    fax no. 06/59932635 or promo4bis@sviluppoeconomico.gov.it

    12

    Main applicable regulations and Laws

  • Law no. 212 of February 26, 1992 published in the Official Journal of the Italian Republic no. 55 of March 6, 1992
  • Legislative Decree no. 143 of March 31, 1998 (art. 22) published in the Official Journal of the Italian Republic no. 109 of May 15, 1998;
  • Decree no. 171 of April 19, 2001 (published in the Official Journal of the Italian Republic, General Series, n. 110 of 14.5.2001) containing the Regulation concerning criteria and procedures for the concession of grants to co-operation projects involving the countries listed in article 1 (1) of Law no. 212 of 26 February 1992;
  • Circular no. 603072 of March 28, 2002
    (published in the ordinary supplement to the Official Journal of the Italian Republic no. 92 of April 19, 2002), containing the forms provided for by the Regulation;
  • Regulation 171/2001 as amended by Ministerial Decree no. 176 of 13.05.2003 - Consolidated text (published in the Official Journal of the Italian Republic no. 162 of 15.07.2003);
  • Ministerial Decree of 13 June 2003 (Official Journal of the Italian Republic no. 142 of 21.06.2003);
  • Circular no. 596605 of 16 June 2003 (Supplement to the Official Journal of the Italian Republic no. 162 of 15.07.2003).
  • 13 Useful links in this website
  • List and addresses of the Italian Embassies in the target countries, including information on the Governmental Authorities responsible for issuing the declaration of interest in the project implementation (subject to possible amendments) (N.B.);
  • List and addresses of ICE offices in the target countries;
  • List of the projects financed by the former Ministry of Foreign Trade (in the fiscal years 1996 - 1998 - 1999 - 2000 - 2001 - 2002);
  • List of the projects financed in the fiscal years 2003  and 2004
  • List of the main international bodies in charge of financing similar initiatives
  • List of the average man/day or man/month costs of consultants/experts, corporate managers, skilled workers and other local staff in the beneficiary countries (list subject to integrations – Source: ICE)
  • (N.B.) The list is in PDF (Acrobat) format. To view the document, download the Acroread programme available for free at the following website: http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html