TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE OF THE INTERREG ONLINE FORM (iOLF) SYSTEM

1. SUBJECT MATTER AND SCOPE

1.1. The iOLF system is provided for the following users:
  • project applicants and project partners (including lead applicants and lead partners)
  • first level controllers (FLC)
  • FLC approbation bodies (and validation bodies for Spain and Portugal)
  • the Interreg Europe Joint Secretariat staff
to allow them to create, prepare, revise and submit online forms (application forms and request for changes forms, partner reports and progress reports ).

1.2. These Terms and Conditions govern the relation between:
  • the GEIE GECOTTI (legal entity in which the Interreg Europe joint secretariat is included), represented by the Interreg Europe joint secretariat, hereunder referred to as “Interreg Europe JS” ; and
  • all iOLF users referred to in paragraph 1.1 , in relation to their access to and use of the iOLF system.
1.3. Requesting access to the iOLF, accessing the iOLF or using the iOLF signifies unconditional acceptance of these Terms and Conditions (in the then-current version).

2. ACCESS TO THE iOLF system

2.1. Users and organisations

Access to the iOLF is open to natural persons with a valid email address.

Access rights to information and functions in the iDB are restricted to users depending on their specific roles in relation to particular proposals or projects.

Project applicants and project partners’ organisations shall access the iOLF only via users employed by or representing them. If a user leaves the organisation or is no longer representing the organisation, the account of this person shall be closed and a new one shall be created if needed.

The access rights and roles are described in the user’s guide.

2.2. Means of access

2.2.1 Users access the iOLF with their email address and a password initially provided by the system (and then changed by the user) and encrypted into it.

Users guarantee that the information provided for registration of their account is accurate, updated and that the email address provided is a valid personal email address. It is also the responsibility of users to make sure that they receive the emails automatically sent by the iOLF system.

The Interreg Europe JS has - at any time - the right to verify the validity of the information. If this reveals any inaccuracy or invalidity, the iOLF administrator has the right to close the account or suspend, refuse or reset access.

2.2.2. The means of access (i.e. the email address and password) are strictly personal and users are responsible for safeguarding their confidentiality and security, and ensuring their appropriate use.

Users undertake to take all steps to prevent any unauthorized third party from gaining knowledge and making use of their means of access. They may not transfer or sell their means of access to any third party.

Users must notify the Interreg Europe JS immediately of the loss, theft, breach of confidentiality or any risk of misuse of the means of access.

If the Interreg Europe JS has any reason to suspect that the confidentiality or security of the means of access has been breached or that the iOLF is being misused, it may - without prior notice - suspend or refuse access.

2.2.3 The lead applicants and lead partners shall only grant access rights (read and/or write) to natural persons which are employed or represent project applicants or project partners or first level controllers in relation to the project(s) for which they are granted access rights.

FLC approbation bodies shall only grant access rights (read and/or write and/or confirm) to iOLF to natural persons which are employed by or represent the first level controllers of the project(s) for which they are granted access rights.

2.2.4 The Interreg Europe JS personnel (except the administrator) have read only access to the data submitted in the iOLF by the project applicants/partners (unless write access for the JS is explicitly requested by the lead applicant/partner in exceptional cases to modify data on their behalf). The administrator and the developers have read and write access but shall not write, modify or submit data on behalf of the project applicants/partners.

3. USING THE iOLF SYSTEM

3.1. General

3.1.1. Users shall use the iOLF in accordance with these Terms and Conditions, in a responsible manner, and exclusively for their professional purposes and without breach of the rights of third parties.

In particular, users shall respect the confidentiality of all data included in iOLF which has not been made public. In case of doubt, users should check with the person responsible for the concerned information (eg. the project applicant/partner for the partners’ section - i.e partner report and partner contact details, the first level controller for the FLC section i.e control report and control report checklist and first level control certificate, etc.) before making data available to members of the public, applicants or project partners or any other users of iOLF that do not have access to the concerned data due to restricted access rights.

3.1.2. Users are fully and unconditionally responsible for any use of the iOLF (including misuse of their means of access), and for any detrimental consequences that may arise directly or indirectly therefrom.

3.1.3. Organisations acknowledge and accept that they are responsible for the actions and omissions of users employed by or representing them.

3.1.4. The system keeps track of access to and use of the iOLF.

3.1.5. When full write access are given to project applicants/partners by the lead applicant/lead partner, forms shall however be submitted by a user employed by or representing the lead applicant/lead partner’s organisation.

3.2. Required hardware, software and services

Users acknowledge and agree that they are responsible for the choice, purchase and operation of any hardware, software or telecommunication services required to connect with and to use the iOLF.

Such hardware, software or telecommunication services must meet the minimum requirements specified in the users guide. The Interreg Europe JS is not liable for hardware, software, products and services of third parties, such as telecommunication equipment, internet connections, operating systems and internet browsers.

3.3. iOLF availability and functions

3.3.1. The Interreg Europe JS does not guarantee that the iOLF will be available without interruption or degradation of service at all times.

3.3.2. However, the Interreg Europe JS will to the best of its abilities take reasonable care to ensure the availability of the iOLF. In case of planned interruptions for maintenance purpose, the users will be warned through a message posted on the iOLF homepage.

3.3.3. The Interreg Europe JS is not liable for any damage suffered in connection with the suspension or refusal of access.

3.3.4. It is the responsibility of the lead applicant to submit their application by the deadline indicated in the call. The Interreg Europe JS cannot accept applications which fail to meet the deadline. It is advisable not to wait until the last minute before submitting the application form in the iOLF, in case of exceptional web traffic or technical failure.

3.3.5. The system contains functions to help applicants/partners completing the form. The “check” function allows to check for errors before submission. A document cannot be submitted as long as error messages appear. The Interreg Europe JS is not liable for the malfunction of this tool. It does under no circumstances guarantee that the submitted document is free of errors, correctly filled and meeting eligibility requirements.

3.4 Electronic submission

3.4.1 By clicking the “submit”, “confirm”, “send”, “certify”, “validate” or any other button used for the official transmission of information to other users or to the programme authorities, the users officially approves and / or submit the information to the concerned programme authorities. By doing so, the user name of the person clicking the button and the corresponding date are indicated next to the button.

3.4.2 In general, the date of electronic transmission as described in paragraph 3.4.1 shall be considered to be the official date of submission of the document concerned.

3.4.3 As application forms submitted in response to a call for proposals may be modified and submitted several times as long as the call is open, in this case the official date of submission of the application form is the date of the latest electronic transmission (as described in paragraph 3.4.1) before the official end date of the call.

4. Personal data protection

4.1. The personal data collected through the iOLF by the Interreg Europe JS are:
  • first name, last name and email address for users requesting access to the iOLF;
  • first name, last name and position for the lead partner signatory and the legal representative of the lead applicant/partner;
  • first name, last name, department/unit/division (if applicable), organisation address, professional phone numbers (office number and optionally mobile number) and email address, for contact person(s) of the lead applicant/partner and the project applicants/partners;
  • first name, last name, position, department, institution, organisation address, phone numbers (office number and optionally mobile number) and email address of the first level controllers ( these data are collected through the progress reports).
All requested fields are mandatory unless they are marked in the system as optional. If mandatory fields are not completed this will prevent the submission of the information included in iOLF.

4.2. The collected data are processed for the purpose of providing access to the iOLF system, assessing project application forms, awarding funds to selected projects, as well as implementing, managing, monitoring and evaluating the subsidy contracts, protecting the financial interests of the EU against irregularities and fraud (notably for the purpose of identification of risks indicators, verifications, audits and/or investigations) and for communicating on the Interreg Europe programme and its actions (projects and capitalisation platforms).

4.3. The recipients of these data are the programme authorities (which are the Interreg Europe managing authority, JS, the certifying authority, and the audit authority), the European Commission, the programme Partner States authorities represented in the programme monitoring committee and group of auditors, Interreg Europe national points of contact, the company carrying out second level audits on behalf of the audit authority and the group of auditors, the INTERACT programme authorities and any other entity to which the Interreg Europe JS may give access to iOLF or to part of the data contained in iOLF, on a strict need to know basis (for example, first level controllers, Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platforms experts, programme evaluators, auditors). These recipients may have access to the projects/partners/applicants data directly through the iOLF system or the iDB system (which is the IT monitoring system used by the programme’s authorities to manage the programme) or the data may be transferred to them by the Interreg Europe JS. These recipients shall not alter the data submitted by the projects but are otherwise entitled to process personal data to carry out their tasks in relation to the Interreg Europe Programme.

4.4. To comply with its communication obligations about the Programme set in Annex XII of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, the Interreg Europe JS or the managing authority may publish the following information concerning approved projects, in any form and by any means, including the internet:
  1. the name of the lead partner and of the project partners as well as their contact details,
  2. the project name,
  3. a summary of the project activities,
  4. the objectives of the project and the subsidy,
  5. the project start and end date,
  6. the amount and nature of the subsidy and the total project budget,
  7. the geographical location of the project implementation,
  8. progress reports including the final report
4.5. The data included in the iOLF will be kept in the iOLF system for a period of 3 full years after the closure of the Programme (expected in 2025 at the earliest), for auditing and communication purposes. They may be archived outside of the iOLF system for a longer period for statistical and historical purpose only.

Any personal data collected in the iOLF will be processed by the Interreg Europe JS in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the consolidated version of the French Law No 78-17 of 6 January 1978 related to personal data protection.

4.6. The project applicants and partners shall provide the persons whose personal data are collected and processed through the forms that they submit (and which are not themselves users of iOLF) with a copy or link to these terms and conditions.

4.7. The persons whose personal data are processed have the right to access and correct their own personal data. iOLF users can usually do so directly in iOLF. In addition, and in particular for any person who cannot modify or delete their personal data directly in iOLF, it is possible to send any queries about processing of their personal data to the Interreg Europe JS by sending an email to info@interregeurope.eu.

5. LIABILITY OF THE INTERREG EUROPE JS

5.1. The Interreg Europe JS shall not be liable for any direct or indirect damage of any kind except in the event of wilful misconduct.

5.2. The Interreg Europe JS is not liable for any damage in case of force majeure, external cause or any other events which are not under the reasonable control of the Interreg Europe JS.

6. CHANGES TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

6.1. The Interreg Europe JS may, at any time, vary, add to or delete any provision of these Terms and Conditions.

6.2. Users and their organisations acknowledge and agree that such new terms and conditions can be notified by the Interreg Europe JS via notice on the iOLF homepage. Unless otherwise stated in the notice, the new terms and conditions shall apply as from 7 days from the notice on the iOLF homepage.

6.3. Users and their organisations acknowledge and agree that any modification to the Terms and Conditions shall be deemed accepted by them as from the first time they access or use the iOLF after the date of entry into force of the new Terms and Conditions.

7. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

7.1. The intellectual property rights and know-how associated with the iOLF belong to the GEIE GECOTTI.

7.2. The GEIE GECOTTI grants users a non-transferable, limited, non-exclusive licence to use the iOLF for their own professional purposes (unless access is suspended or refused).

Users may not in any way:
  1. modify, translate or adapt the iOLF code;
  2. decompile or disassemble the iOLF code;
  3. copy the iOLF code (or parts of it);
  4. pass on, dispose of, grant as a sub-licence, lease, lend or distribute iOLF to third parties (this is without prejudice to the right to grant access rights to third parties that need to access or modify data in the iOLF);
8. APPLICABLE LAW AND DISPUTE SETTLEMENT

These Terms and Conditions are governed by French law. For any disputes arising out of or in connection with these Terms and Conditions or the access to or use of the iOLF, the administrative tribunal of Lille shall have exclusive jurisdiction, if the dispute cannot be settled amicably.