Terms and Conditions of Use
Preamble
EUROBRIDGE UA MD (the „Platform”) is the electronic platform through which the processes of submitting funding applications, contracting, reporting and monitoring are carried out under the cross-border cooperation grant programme between the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine (the „Programme”).
The Programme is funded by the European Union and is jointly managed by the responsible Managing Authorities: the Regional Development Agency of Odesa Region (RDAOR), Ukraine, and the Municipal Centre for the Development of Entrepreneurship (CMDA / MCDE), Republic of Moldova (individually or together, the „Managing Authorities”).
This document sets out the terms and conditions (the „Terms”) under which users may access and use the Platform.
Please read these Terms carefully before creating an account and using the Platform. By creating an account, accessing or using the Platform, you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to comply fully with these Terms.
If you do not agree with these Terms, please do not create an account and do not use the Platform.
1. Definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms below have the following meaning:
Platform: the web application available at https://eurobridge-uamd.org and its subdomains, together with all functionalities, pages and services offered through it.
Platform Operator: the entity or entities responsible for the technical and operational administration of the Platform on behalf of the Managing Authorities, SCALELAW SOLUTIONS SRL.
User: any natural person who accesses the Platform, whether on their own behalf or on behalf of an organisation, regardless of the assigned role (Applicant, Partner, evaluator or representative of a programme body).
Applicant: the eligible organisation from the Republic of Moldova or Ukraine that creates and submits a funding application through the Platform.
Lead applicant: the Applicant that initiates the funding application, coordinates the partnership and invites partners to collaborate on the application.
Partner: the organisation from the Republic of Moldova or Ukraine that participates in a joint project alongside the Lead applicant, in line with the cross-border partnership requirement.
Evaluator: the person designated to evaluate the submitted funding applications.
Account: the individual space protected by authentication credentials through which a User accesses the Platform.
User Content: all data, texts, documents, files, annexes, budget information and any other materials uploaded, entered or transmitted by the User through the Platform.
Funding application: the application form and the budget, together with the related annexes, completed and submitted through the Platform.
2. Purpose and scope
2.1. This document governs access to and use of the Platform, as well as the rights and obligations of Users and of the Platform Operator in connection with such use.
2.2. The Platform serves exclusively the purposes of the Programme and allows, without limitation, the following operations: completing and submitting funding applications and budgets; inviting and managing partners; uploading signed grant contracts; submitting financial and narrative reports; and monitoring of project implementation by the programme bodies.
2.3. These Terms do not govern the eligibility conditions, selection criteria, funding rules or specific contractual obligations of the Programme. These are set out in the official documents of the calls for proposals (the guidelines for applicants, the grant contract and their annexes). In case of any discrepancy between this document and the official Programme documents regarding the funding rules, the official Programme documents prevail.
3. Acceptance of the Terms
3.1. Use of the Platform is conditional upon the full and unconditional acceptance of these Terms.
3.2. Ticking the acceptance box at registration and/or actual use of the Platform constitutes the User's agreement to these Terms and has the value of a signature in electronic form.
3.3. Where a User acts on behalf of an organisation, the User declares and warrants that they hold the authority necessary to bind that organisation to these Terms.
4. Eligibility and account registration
4.1. Accounts may be created by organisations and their representatives from the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine that meet the eligibility conditions set out in the documents of the calls for proposals.
4.2. Registration requires the provision of accurate, complete and current information. The User undertakes to keep this information up to date throughout the use of the Platform.
4.3. An Account is personal. Each representative of an organisation uses their own authentication credentials and does not share them with third parties.
4.4. The Platform Operator may refuse registration or request additional information where there are reasonable suspicions regarding the accuracy of the data provided or the User's eligibility.
5. Account security
5.1. The User is responsible for keeping their authentication credentials confidential and for all activities carried out through their Account.
5.2. The User shall notify the Platform Operator without delay of any unauthorised use of the Account or any other security breach of which they become aware.
5.3. The Platform Operator is not liable for damages resulting from the User's failure to comply with the security obligations set out in this article.
6. Platform functionalities and the project lifecycle
The Platform supports the lifecycle of a project, from submission to monitoring, through the following stages:
6.1. Application. The Applicant completes the application form and the budget online and uploads the requested annexes. The Platform may carry out automatic completeness checks before allowing the application to be submitted.
6.2. Contracting. For approved projects, the Applicant uploads the signed grant contracts and the related supporting documents.
6.3. Reporting. During implementation, beneficiaries submit the required financial and narrative reports through the Platform.
6.4. Monitoring. The programme bodies and the evaluators follow the status of projects and review the monitoring reports.
6.5. The Platform may provide additional functionalities, such as collaboration with partners by granting view, edit or manage rights, validation of the application before submission, and export of the application and budget in PDF format.
6.6. The Platform functionalities may be changed, supplemented or withdrawn by the Platform Operator in order to improve the service or to adapt it to the requirements of the Programme.
7. Roles and permissions
7.1. The Platform uses a system of roles and permissions. The Lead applicant may invite Partners and grant them differentiated view, edit or manage rights within the application.
7.2. A User who is granted access rights uses them exclusively for the purpose for which they were granted and within the limits of the assigned role.
7.3. Granting access rights to a Partner does not transfer the Lead applicant's responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the funding application.
7.4. Evaluators and representatives of the programme bodies access the submitted applications and supporting documents exclusively for the purpose of evaluation, contracting, monitoring and control, in compliance with confidentiality and data-protection obligations.
8. User obligations and acceptable use
The User undertakes to use the Platform in good faith and in accordance with the law. In particular, the User undertakes not to:
- provide false, misleading or fraudulent information in the funding application, in reports or in any other uploaded document;
- upload content that infringes intellectual property rights, privacy rights or other rights of third parties;
- upload files containing viruses, malicious code or any other element liable to affect the operation of the Platform or the security of data;
- attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Platform, to other Users' accounts or to the associated IT systems;
- disrupt, overload or in any way affect the integrity, security or availability of the Platform;
- use the Platform for purposes other than those of the Programme or in a manner contrary to these Terms or to applicable law.
8.1. The User is responsible for the accuracy, legality and completeness of the Content they upload, enter or transmit through the Platform.
9. User Content
9.1. The User retains ownership rights over their own Content uploaded to the Platform.
9.2. By uploading Content, the User grants the Platform Operator and the Managing Authorities the non-exclusive right to store, process, reproduce and use this Content to the extent strictly necessary for managing the funding application, the evaluation, contracting, reporting, monitoring, control and audit of the Programme, as well as for fulfilling legal obligations and those arising from the funding granted by the European Union.
9.3. User Content may be made available to evaluators, programme bodies, the Managing Authorities, the European Commission and other bodies with control and audit powers, under the conditions of the law and the Programme documents.
9.4. The Platform Operator may retain User Content for the period necessary for carrying out the Programme and for the archiving periods required by the rules applicable to European Union funding.
10. Intellectual property in the Platform
10.1. The Platform, including its source code, structure, design, interface, texts, logos, trademarks and any other elements, is protected by intellectual property rights and belongs to the Platform Operator, the Managing Authorities or their licensors.
10.2. These Terms do not confer on the User any intellectual property right in the Platform, only a limited, revocable, non-exclusive and non-transferable right to use it for the purposes of the Programme.
10.3. Copying, modifying, distributing, decompiling or otherwise exploiting the Platform or its components is prohibited without prior written agreement.
11. Confidentiality
11.1. Users who, by virtue of their role, have access to funding applications, supporting documents or other non-public information (in particular evaluators and representatives of the programme bodies) are required to keep this information confidential and to use it exclusively for the purpose of their duties.
11.2. The confidentiality obligation continues after the end of the use of the Platform or of the capacity on the basis of which access to the information was obtained.
12. Protection of personal data
12.1. The processing of personal data within the Platform is carried out in compliance with the applicable data-protection legislation, including, as the case may be, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), the legislation of the Republic of Moldova on the protection of personal data and the legislation of Ukraine in this field.
12.2. Details of the categories of data processed, the purposes and legal grounds of the processing, the recipients, the retention periods and the rights of data subjects are set out in the Platform's Privacy Policy, which supplements these Terms.
12.3. Data subjects may exercise the rights provided by the applicable legislation (including the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction and objection) by sending a request to the contact details indicated in Article 19, namely to the data protection officer.
12.4. As the Programme involves a cross-border transfer of data between the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and, as the case may be, the member states of the European Union, these transfers are carried out with the application of the appropriate safeguards provided by the applicable legislation.
13. Service availability and maintenance
13.1. The Platform Operator makes reasonable efforts to ensure the availability of the Platform, without however guaranteeing uninterrupted, error-free or permanently accessible operation.
13.2. The Platform may be temporarily unavailable for reasons of planned maintenance, updates, technical incidents or causes beyond the Platform Operator's control. Where possible, planned maintenance is announced in advance.
13.3. The User is responsible for submitting applications and reports in good time. Submitting at the last moment, before the deadlines of the calls for proposals expire, should be avoided. A short-term unavailability of the Platform does not, in itself, extend the deadlines set by the Programme, except in the cases expressly provided in the call documents.
14. Disclaimer of warranties
14.1. The Platform is provided „as is” and „as available”. To the extent permitted by law, the Platform Operator and the Managing Authorities provide no warranty, express or implied, regarding the Platform, including as to fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy or uninterrupted operation.
14.2. Acceptance of an application on the Platform, the automatic completeness checks and the generation of PDF documents have a technical purpose and do not constitute a guarantee regarding the eligibility, conformity or approval of the project, which remain subject to evaluation in accordance with the rules of the Programme.
15. Limitation of liability
15.1. To the extent permitted by the applicable legislation, the Platform Operator and the Managing Authorities are not liable for indirect or incidental damages or for losses of data, opportunities or profit arising from the use of or the inability to use the Platform.
15.2. Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability to the extent that such limitation or exclusion is prohibited by the applicable legislation.
15.3. The User is liable to the Platform Operator and to the Managing Authorities for damages caused by failing to comply with these Terms, by providing false information or by misusing the Platform.
16. Suspension and termination of access
16.1. The Platform Operator may suspend or restrict a User's access, in whole or in part, in case of breach of these Terms, of reasonable suspicions of fraud or misuse, or where this is necessary to protect the security of the Platform and the data.
16.2. Termination or suspension of access does not affect the validity of operations already carried out, nor the obligations arising from the Programme documents or the grant contract.
16.3. Certain data may be retained after the end of access, in accordance with the applicable legal, archiving, audit and control obligations.
17. Amendment of the Terms
17.1. The Platform Operator may amend these Terms, in particular to reflect changes to the Platform, the Programme or the applicable legislation.
17.2. The updated version is published on the Platform, indicating the effective date. Continued use of the Platform after the changes are published constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.
18. Applicable law and dispute resolution
18.1. Given the cross-border nature of the Programme, jointly managed by Managing Authorities from the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, these Terms are interpreted and applied in conjunction with the official Programme documents and with the legislation applicable to European Union funding.
18.2. Matters relating to the technical operation of the Platform and to the relationship between the User and the Platform Operator are governed by the law of the state where the Platform Operator has its seat, namely the law of the Republic of Moldova, without prejudice to the mandatory protective rules applicable to the User.
18.3. Matters relating to a specific funding application, to contracting, reporting or monitoring are governed by the law of the Managing Authority competent for the respective call and by the provisions of the applicable grant contract.
18.4. The parties make efforts to resolve amicably any dispute arising from the use of the Platform. In the absence of an amicable solution, the dispute is settled by the courts competent according to the applicable law.
19. Final provisions and contact
19.1. If a provision of these Terms is declared null or inapplicable, the remaining provisions remain valid and fully applicable.
19.2. The Platform Operator's failure to exercise a right provided by these Terms does not constitute a waiver of that right.
19.3. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and the official Programme documents, constitute the entire agreement between the User and the Platform Operator regarding the use of the Platform.
19.4. For questions, notices or requests regarding the Platform or these Terms, you can contact us at: info@cmda.md. Information about the Programme and the calls for proposals is available at https://eurobridge-uamd.org/info/.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.