Question 1

What is the purpose of this Call for new b-solutions’ cases?

Accepted Answer

With this call, we want to select legal and administrative obstacles hindering cross-border cooperation that will receive technical assistance from experts in the context of the b-solutions initiative.

Question 2

Who is eligible to apply?

Accepted Answer

Applicants can be:
Public bodies at the national, regional or local level with a national boundary limiting the territory for which they have a mandate;
Cross-border entities such as European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation (EGTCs), Euroregions, Eurodistricts, Eurocities and similar cross-border structures with legal personality, established under public or private law;
“Cross-border coordination points” established in the framework of the Regulation (EU) 2025/925 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 May 2025 on a Border Regions’ instrument for development and growth (BRIDGEforEU);
“Bodies governed by public law” according to Art. 2(1) no. 4 Directive 2014/24/EU, with mandate on a border territory, if fulfilling following criteria:
a) they are established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character;
b) they have legal personality; and
c) they are financed, for the most part, by the State, regional or local authorities, or by other bodies governed by public law; or are subject to management supervision by those authorities or bodies; or have an administrative, managerial or supervisory board, more than half of whose members are appointed by the State, regional or local authorities, or by other bodies governed by public law; and
"Public equivalent bodies", namely entities under private law which meet the conditions specified in 4) a)-c), with mandate on a border territory.
 
In addition, public bodies and cross-border structures must:
be located in an EU Member State or a neighbouring EFTA country or IPA country;
share at least one EU internal land or maritime border with another EU Member State – if located in a EU member State, share a border with another EU Member State, an EFTA country or an IPA country;
have the mandate (legal competence) to intervene in certain geographical areas in the relevant field(s) of intervention to deliver a specific public or government service.

Question 3

What does it mean for a public institution or body to have a mandate and why is having a mandate important?

Accepted Answer

A mandate means the legal competence of a public institution or body to intervene in specific geographical areas within certain fields of intervention. Having a mandate ensures that the institution or body has the legal authority to take action in designated areas and sectors. As a mandate delineates the geographical and sectoral boundaries within which an institution or body can operate, having a mandate to intervene in a specific field which is relevant to the territory and the field of the application’s subject allows for targeted and legally sound interventions, ensuring that efforts are concentrated where they are needed most.

Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that the application aligns with the applicant’s legal boundaries and responsibilities to ensure successful execution and follow up of the advice by the expert.

Importantly, the applicant must have mandate to intervene in the specific geographical area and within the field(s) of intervention of the application, but it is not expected to have mandate to execute the solution (see question “What does mandate to devise the solution mean here, and what is expected from the applicant?” under section “Selection process” for more details on the mandate requested to devise the solution).

Question 4

Can a cross-border structure which does not have a legal personality apply to the call?

Accepted Answer

Yes, cross-border structures with no legal personality can apply on behalf of at least one of the municipalities or regions composing the cross-border structure. To indicate the authority to apply on behalf of an eligible public body, the applicant representing the cross-border structure submits supporting documents such as a letter of confirmation by the eligible public body.

Question 5

Which countries are considered as EFTA countries and eligible to apply?

Accepted Answer

The EFTA Member States eligible to apply are Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

Question 6

Which countries are considered as IPA countries and eligible to apply?

Accepted Answer

IPA countries are countries under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) Cross - Border Co-operation. They are: Turkey, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, the Republic of North Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. They are all eligible to apply.

Question 7

What are the general eligibility criteria to submit an application to b-solutions?

Accepted Answer

The general eligibility criteria are:
Submit the application form electronically via the dedicated webpage before the deadline stated in the call for new b-solutions’ cases;
Ensure the application form is completely filled in, preferably in English. Applications      can otherwise be filled in all 24 official EU languages, Icelandic and Norwegian (Bokmål). If applications are received in a language other than English, these will be translated using the eTranslation Tool, an online machine translation service provided by the European Commission. If automated translation is needed, the English version from this tool will be treated as the original and the only one used for selection and awarding;
Ensure the applicant corresponds to the applicant’s profile detailed in section 3 of the call for new b-solutions’ cases.

Question 8

What does it mean that an applicant must have a boundary limiting their territory?

Accepted Answer

To be eligible, the territory on which the applicant has a legal competence to intervene must share at least one EU internal border with a EU Member State, or with an EFTA or IPA country if it is located in the EU.
If the applicant has mandate on a territory which does not share a border with a EU Member State, or an EFTA or IPA country if it is located in the EU, it is not eligible.
This is because the obstacle of the application must be related to cooperation with the neighbouring country.

Question 9

Are Overseas Countries and Territories eligible?

Accepted Answer

Outermost Regions (OMR) (see Art. 349 TFEU) are part of the EU and therefore eligible, if they meet all the eligibility criteria. Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) (see Annex II to Council Decision (EU) 2021/1764 of 5 October 2021 (OJ L 355, 7.10.2021 p. 6)) are not eligible in the framework of this call.

Question 10

Is it necessary to include co-applicants? a consortium of multiple applicants and co-applicants?

Accepted Answer

No, including co-applicants is not mandatory. Having one or more co-applicants is possible if desired, and it could be helpful to involve co-applicant(s) from the other side(s) of the border.
Co-applicants must be directly involved in the identified obstacle (e.g. a hospital if the obstacle is the access to health infrastructure).

A natural person cannot be a co-applicant.
There is no maximum limit to the number of co-applicants.

Question 11

Can I apply for more than one obstacle?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can. Any applicant or co-applicant(s) can be involved in more than one advice obstacle submission, within the same thematic area or not.

Question 12

Can I apply if I already applied in the previous calls for proposals?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can apply again, whether your previous application was successful or not. 
For successful applicants: you can apply again if your obstacle is different from the previous on(s) in the same thematic or not.  
For unsuccessful ones: you can reapply with a new case or the same obstacle if still relevant. However, if your application did not pass the eligibility check in the previous calls for proposals, please ensure it meets the selection criteria this time.

Frequently asked questions