Pitfalls

Pitfalls during the application period for a subsidy:

• Application not ready on time, due to agreements on cooperation and signature of the consortium agreement taking more time than expected.
• Application not ready on time, due to the required original signatures not being collected on time.
• Application not received on time due to courier problems. Always check before the closing date whether the application has been received. In case of logistical problems, you may always still submit pro forma (but still by 17:00 hours on the closing date).
• Make mistakes on the COCA test, esp. for smaller organisations. The COCA test is not a formality, but a threshold criterion.
• Demonstrability of own contribution. The ability of the organisation to finance its own contribution must be demonstrated based on annual reports, hard promises of other sponsors, etc. The amount of the own contribution must be in a reasonable proportion to the own capital and/or the annual income of the organisation.
• Contribution to the local economy of the project country and local embedding. Not only must an organisation from the project country be involved as a participant in the project, you must also demonstrate how the local economy benefits from the project (e.g. by creating jobs) and that there is actual demand for and involvement with the project in the project country. 
• Too little attention to knowledge or capacity building and knowledge dissemination in the application. Even for testing crops or setting up a processing plant, the knowledge acquired must be secured and disseminated.
• Too little attention to the entire chain. Parts of the biomass chain are eligible for subsidy, but only if the feasibility of the entire chain can be demonstrated. Therefore, potential investors must be involved in order to demonstrate that a feasibility study or business plan will eventually be carried out. The market for a particular crop must be researched, even if the project will only be testing production methods.