Kaaskiri

Saatja: Ülle Leht <[email protected]> Saadetud: 30.09.2024 17:52 Adressaat: Neeme Rohtjärv <[email protected]>; Siim Rudissaar <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>; RAB rahapesu <[email protected]> Teema: EK avas ISFi erimeetme taotlusvooru "Innovation: Artificial Intelligence for Law Enforcement - AILE” Manused: ISF 2024 SA AILE 341 Call.pdf; ISF 2024 SA AILE 341 Annex 1 Application form.docx; ISF 2024 SA AILE 341 Annex 2 Budget form.xlsx; ISF 2024 SA AILE 341 Annex 4 Output and result indicators.pdf; Erimeetme ja erakorralise abi toetu...docx Tähelepanu! Kiri saabus väljastpoolt ametit/RM valitsemisala. Palume linke ja faile mitte avada, kui kiri on saabunud tundmatult aadressilt! Tere! Euroopa Komisjon (EK) avas Sisejulgeolekufondi (ISF) erimeetme taotlusvooru „Innovatsioon – tehisintellekt õiguskaitses“ (AILE). Eesmärk on hõlbustada õiguskaitseasutustel usaldusväärsete, eetiliste ja läbipaistvate tehisintellektitehnoloogiate ja -vahendite vastuvõtmist (st testimist, valideerimist, edasist katsetamist ja/või kasutuselevõttu) kaasaegse ja tõhusa politseitöö jaoks, et ennetada rasket ja organiseeritud kuritegevust, sealhulgas terrorismi, ja selle vastu võidelda. Toetus keskendub kohustuslike uuenduslike elementidega tehniliste, korralduslike ja/või ühiskondlike lahenduste rahastamisele, eelkõige sellele, kuidas rakendada uut ELi õigust (AI Act). Projektid peavad tuginema julgeolekualaste teadusuuringute ja innovatsiooni tulemustele, eelkõige ELi rahastatud tegevuste tulemustele, ning sisaldama vähemalt üht järgmistest tegevustest: - õiguskaitse seisukohast oluliste tehisintellektivahendite ja -süsteemide testimine, valideerimine, katsetamine ja/või kasutuselevõtt, tuginedes ELi rahastatud teadus- ja innovatsiooniprojektide tulemustele; - tehisintellekti parem mõistmine, teadmised ja tavad õiguskaitseasutustes, et edendada tehisintellekti vastutustundlikku kasutamist, mis põhineb tugevatel õiguslikel ja eetilistel kaitsemeetmetel, sh saavutada vastavus uuele tehisintellekti käsitlevale õigusaktile (AI Act); - õiguskaitseasutuste eksperditeadmiste ja suutlikkuse suurendamine, et võidelda tehisintellekti vastu, mida kasutatakse kuritegelikel eesmärkidel väärkasutamiseks, sh kuid mitte ainult, küberruumi kasutades toime pandud ja küberruumist sõltuvate kuritegude, näiteks võltsingute või internetipettuste kuritegeliku tekitamise hõlbustamine. Projekti võivad sisaldada järgmisi tegevusi (kuid ei pea nendega piirduma): • ELi rahastatavatest teadusprogrammidest tulenevate vahendite kasutuselevõtt ja katsetamine; • selliste vahendite valideerimine ja levitamine; • piiriülesed operatiivmeetmed; • piiriülene teabevahetus; • õiguskaitseasutuste koolitus ja tehisintellektialane kirjaoskus.  Taotlusvooru kogumaht on 2 mln eurot.  Projekti EL toetuse määr on kuni 90%. Kaasfinantseering tagatakse riigieelarvest, kui EK taotluse rahuldab.   Taotletav EL toetus peab jääma vahemikku 200 000 - 1 000 000 eurot.  Projekti tegevused ei tohi alata enne 1. septembrit 2024 ja peavad olema lõpetatud 31. detsembriks 2027.  Oodatud on liikmesriikide konsortsiumide projektid, kuid võib esitada ka nn riikliku projekti, kus välispartnereid ei ole. Projektil peab olema rahvusvaheline mõju. Täpsemalt vt lisatud taotlusvooru kutsest. Täidetud taotlusvormid tuleb esitada SiM välisvahendite osakonnale (VVO) enne EK taotlusvooru kutses toodud tähtaega, hiljemalt 14. jaanuariks 2025, sest tulenevalt EL määrusest saab taotluse EK-le esitada üksnes korraldusasutus, so SiM. SiM VVO peab enne taotluse esitamist EK-le hindama selle vastavust nõuetele. Samuti palume võimalikult varakult teavitada, kui plaanite taotluse esitada või osaleda partnerina teise liikmesriigi poolt esitatavas projektis. Kui teil on küsimusi taotlusvooru tingimuste kohta, saatke need aadressil [email protected]. Euroopa Komisjon teavitab taotlusvooru projektide hindamise tulemustest aprillis 2025. Kui Eestist esitatud taotlus osutub valituks, tuleb muuta Sisejulgeolekufondi rakenduskava ning rakenduskava maht suureneb projekti mahu võrra. Tervitustega Ülle Leht VVO Siseministeerium LISA 2 VARJUPAIGA-, RÄNDE- JA INTEGRATSIOONIFONDI , PIIRIHALDUSE JA VIISAPOLIITIKA RAHASTU NING SISEJULGEOLEKUFONDI ERI M EETME JA ERAKORRALISE ABI TOETUSE TAOTLEMISE LISA VORM (vastavalt Euroopa Parlamendi ja nõukogu määruse (EL) 2021/1060 , millega kehtestatakse ühissätted Euroopa Regionaalarengu Fondi, Euroopa Sotsiaalfond+, Ühtekuuluvusfondi, Õiglase Ülemineku Fondi ja Euroopa Merendus-, Kalandus- ja Vesiviljelusfondi kohta ning nende ja Varjupaiga-, Rände- ja Integratsioonifondi, Sisejulgeolekufondi ning piirihalduse ja viisapoliitika rahastu suhtes kohaldatavad finantsreeglid , artiklile 73 ) Taotleja Projekti pealkiri Erimeetme /erakorralise a bi taotlusvooru nimetus Tähelepanu! Taotlusvormi esitamisega kinnitab toetuse taotleja, et on põhjalikult tutvunud järgmiste dokumentidega : Euroopa Parlamendi ja nõukogu määrus (EL) 2021/1147, millega luuakse Varjupaiga-, Rände- ja Integratsioonifond ehk AMIF määrus (kui tegu on AMIF erimeetme või erakorralise abiga) ; Euroopa Parlamendi ja nõukogu määrus (EL) 2021/1149, millega luuakse Sisejulgeolekufond ehk ISF määrus (kui tegu on ISF erimeetme või erakorralise abiga); Euroopa Parlamendi ja nõukogu määrus (EL) 2021/1148, millega luuakse Integreeritud Piirihalduse Fondi osana piirihalduse ja viisapoliitika rahastu ehk BMVI määrus (kui tegu on BMVI erimeetme või erakorralise abiga); Perioodi 2021-2027 Euroopa Liidu ühtekuuluvus- ja siseturvalisuspoliitika fondide rakendamise seadus ; Vabariigi Valituse 12.05.2022 a määrus nr 55 „Perioodi 2021–2027 Euroopa Liidu ühtekuuluvus - ja siseturvalisuspoliitika fondide rakenduskavade vahendite andmise ja kasutamise tingimuse d“; Vabariigi Valituse 12.05.2022 a määrus nr 5 4 „Perioodi 2021–2027 ühtekuuluvus- ja siseturvalisuspoliitika fondide vahendite andmisest avalikkuse teavitamine "; muud veebiaadressil https://www.siseministeerium.ee/tegevusvaldkonnad/rahvusvaheline-koostoo/euroopa-liidu-toetused ning https://www.siseministeerium.ee/seirekomisjon asuvad perioodi 2021-2027 AMIFit / BMVId / ISF i puudutavad dokumendid. Taotlusvormi peab esitama elektrooniliselt trükitult . Käsitsi täidetud vorme ei arvestata. Esitatavas taotluses peavad kõik väljad olema täidetud . K ui osa küsitud teabest on esitamata, on Siseministeeriumi l (SiM) õigus taotlus tagasi lükata . Küsimuste tekkimisel palume ühendust võtta SiM välisvahendite osakonnaga kui fondi (AMIF /ISF/BMVI ) rakendamise korraldusasutusega . I TEAVE TAOTLEJA KOHTA Taotleja andmed Juriidiline nimi Õiguslik staatus Registrikood Taotleja organisatsiooni esindajad Juriidiline esindaja (toetuslepingu ja toetuse taotluse allkirjastamine) Nimi: Ametikoht organisatsioonis: Telefoninumber: E-posti aadress: Projekti eest vastutav isik/projektijuht Nimi: Ametikoht organisatsioonis: Telefoninumber: E-posti aadress: II PROJEKT Selgitage, kuidas p rojekt vastab fondi poliitika eesmär gile ja erieesmärgile vt AMIF/ISF /BMVI määrus e art 3 projekt i kooskõla pikaajalise arengustrateegia „Eesti 2035 “ aluspõhimõtete ja sihtidega kuidas projekt vastab „ Siseturvalisuse Arengukava 2020-2030 “ ( AMIFi puhul vajadusel ka „ Sidusa Eesti arengukava 2021-2030 “ ) eesmärkidele kuidas kaetakse tegevus- ja hoolduskulud, kui projekti tegevused hõlmavad taristuinvesteeringut või tootlikku investeeringut, et tagada nende finantskestlikkus (kui kohaldub) kuidas tagatakse EL põhiõiguste harta täitmi ne ja välista takse igasugune diskrimineerimine soo, rassi või etnilise päritolu, usutunnistuse või veendumuse, puude, vanuse või seksuaalse sättumuse põhjal. Selgitada tuleb ka puuetega inimeste juurdepääsu võimalust. Iga tegevuse puhul analüüsida, kas on võimalik aidata kaasa võrdsete võimaluste edendamisele või kuidas on välistatud diskrimineerimine . Kindlasti tule b seda teha koolituste puhul. Osadel tegevustel (nt tehnika soetamine ja paigaldamine ) võib puududa otsene mõju võrdsete võimaluste edendamisele. Seos võrdsete võimaluste tagamisega tekib l äbi eesmärgi, milleks seadmeid kasutatakse ja nende seadmete abil saadud andmete töötlemise. S eadmete soetamise ja kasutamise puhul peab taotleja kinnitama nende kasutamist kooskõlas EL põhiõiguste hartaga. Üldine põhimõte , mida peaks järgima on, et ühtegi inimest (inimeste gruppi) ei tohiks kohelda teisest halvemini tema soo, vanuse, nahavärvi, etnilise päritolu, puude, usutunnistuse või veendumuste, seksuaalse sättumuse tõttu. k uidas tagatakse tegevuste vastavus ELi keskkonnaalastele õigusaktidele ning kuidas rakendatakse "ei kahjusta oluliselt" põhimõtet Kuidas täidetakse määruse (EL) 2020/852 "ei kahjusta oluliselt" põhimõtet (st p rojekti elluviimisel tagatakse, et määruse artiklis 17 nimetatud olulist kahju ei tekitata ühelegi artiklis 9 sätestatud keskkonnaeesmärgile). kuidas on tagatud, et Euroopa Parlamendi ja nõukogu direktiivi 2011/92/EL kohaldamisalasse kuuluvate valitud tegevuste suhtes kohaldatakse keskkonnamõju hindamist või sõelumismenetlust ning et on piisavalt arvesse võetud alternatiivsete lahenduste hindamist, võttes aluseks nõuded, mis on sätestatud kõnealuses direktiivis (kui kohaldub) ; Vt ka Keskkonnamõju hindamise ja keskkonnajuhtimissüsteemi seadus kuidas on tagatud selliste taristuinvesteeringute kliimakindlus, mille eeldatav kestvus on vähemalt 5 aastat (kui kohaldub) Komisjoni teatis – Taristu kliimakindluse tagamiseks tehnilised suunised aastateks 2021-2027 C/2021/5430 IV TAOTLUSE KINNITAMINE Taotluse allkirjastamisega kinnitan, et: p rojekti viiakse ellu kooskõlas EL i põhiõigust e hartaga ; p rojekti viiakse ellu võttes arvesse ja edendades soolist võrdõiguslikkust, soolise aspekti arvestamist ning sooküsimuste lõimimist ; p rojekti viiakse ellu tagades diskrimineerimise vältimine ja ligipääsetavus ning vastavus EL i keskkonnaalastele õigusaktidele; p rojekti viiakse ellu "ei kahjusta oluliselt" põhimõtte kohaselt ; taotluses ning selle lisades esitatud andmed on õiged; tegevustega ei ole alustatud enne projektit aotluse korraldusasutusele esitamist; tagan toetuse eesmärgipärase kasutamise kooskõlas sõlmitava toetuslepingu, Eesti Vabariigi ja Euroopa Liidu õigusaktide ning juhenditega ja toetuse kasutamise nähtavuse; tagan projekti mittetulundusliku iseloomu; taotluses toodud tegevusi ja kulusid ei rahastata teistest allikatest (sh teistest EL-i fondidest või programmidest); olen teadlik, et taotluse heakskiitmisel avalikustatakse toetuse saaja ja projekti nimi, projekti eesmärk ning eraldatud avaliku sektori ja Euroopa Liidu toetuse suurus ; olen teadlik, et k äibemaks on abikõlbmatu, kui Eesti taotleja/toetuse saaja projekti planeeritud kulud ületavad 5 mln eurot ning käibemaksuseaduse järgi on käibemaks tagasi nõutav (vastavalt Euroopa Parlamendi ja nõukogu määruse (EL) 2021/1060 art 2 lg 4 p a ja art 64 lg 1 p c alapunktid i ja ii). Taotleja organisatsiooni allkirjaõigusliku isiku allkiri: Taotleja võtab endale taotlust allkirjastades kohustuse positiivse rahastamise otsuse korral projekt vastavalt seatud tingimustele ellu viia. Ees- ja perekonnanimi Ametikoht Allkiri Kuupäev Application form Information to be filled out by the Commission Fund/Instrument Specific Objective Specific Action Reference of the call ISF SO 3 Innovation: Artificial Intelligence for Law Enforcement - AILE ISF/2024/SA/ 3.4. 1 N.B. This application form is composed of a non-exhaustive list of information required by the Commission services to assess an application. Please note that : F or the assessment, additional information may be requested if needed. I n the absence of a specific indication of the aspects in the application that you consider sensitive, the information provided will not be handled , in principle, as “sensitive non-classified information” in the meaning of Article 9(5)(b) of Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2015/443 of 13 March 2015 on Security in the Commission . A ny document held by the Commission, including documents containing sensitive information, may be subject to a request for public access to documents and must be assessed pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents in light of the factual and legal circumstances that apply at the time of the adoption of the decision on access. Part. 1 - Administrative information General information Member State(s) National Specific Action ( i ndicate your Member State) Transnational Specific Action ( i ndicate the participating Member States) Title of the project proposal ( please do not include any information that you consider not suitable for release to the public ) Participants and contacts Identity of the (lead) Managing Authority Full legal name of the Managing Authority (in English) Legal representative of the Managing Authority Title/First Name/Last Name: Position: Contact details of the person(s) responsible for the specific action within the Managing Authority Title/First Name/Last Name : Position: Direct telephone + country code number: E-mail: n.b. The participating Managing Authorities from other Member States should fill in the partnership declaration form (Annex 3) Project Beneficiaries List all the project beneficiaries Lead project beneficiary: Other project beneficiaries: Exchange of information between the Managing Authority and the project beneficiaries Any project proposal selected will have to be implemented in accordance with the EU and national rules, and the national , management and control system of the Member State concerned. Has the Managing Authority exchanged information with the project beneficiaries about the conditions under the Member State’s Programme to ensure compliance with these rules? ☐ Yes ☐ No Comments (any outstanding issues or issues to be addressed after selection, if applicable): Do all partners agree on all the legal and financial obligations in implementing this project ? ☐ Yes ☐ No Comments: Part 2. Presentation of the pro ject Project description Provide a short summary of the project (max ½ page) presenting clearly and briefly what you will do, why and what you expect to be the concrete results once the project is finalised (p lease do not include any information in this short summary that you consider not suitable for release to the public ) Provide a description of the p roject including (max 3 pages) : a) the general objectives of the project ; b) the actors and Member States involved ; c) the activities carried out under the project ; d) the challenges addressed and e) the expected (quantified) results Only for a transnational project proposal Describe the arrangements agreed by the participating Member States (You are invited to explain the general rationale for the arrangements of the partnership; the envisaged division of tasks between participating entities, indicative timetable, distribution of the funding between participating entities, organisation of financial management among the participating entities, linguistic regime and reporting, monitoring, control and audit arrangements) Is the EU funding for the specific action to be allocated to: ☐ Option 1: The programme of the lead Member State in its entirety? ☐ Option 2: The programme of each partner Member State? Relevance of the p roject p roposal 1. Clarity of the project proposal and its correspondence with the objectives and scope of the call Explain how this project proposal addresses the objectives and scope of the call. Demonstrate its contribution towards the output and results indicators listed in Annex VIII of the ISF Regulation (see Annex 4) Innovation Indicate the innovative character of the proposed solution (of min. TRL 8) in comparison with available state-of-the-art tools Quality of the project p roposal 1. Design, organisation and management of the project at national and/or transnational level Describe the planned implementation methodology, the organisation of work and strategy for project management and monitoring, including the coordination mechanism between project partners 2. Indicative Timetable Indicate and justify the duration of the p ro ject and its activities (to be aligned with the budget form) 3. Information on the budget (to be aligned with the budget form) T otal eligible cost of the p ro ject proposal (and per Member State in case of transnational project p roposal ) EUR Total eligible cost of the project proposal EUR : Requested co-financing rate Requested co-financing rate %: Total EU contribution to the project proposal and 6% Technical Assistance ( and per Member State in case of transnational project proposal) Total EU contribution EUR: 6% Technical Assistance EUR: Total amount to be earmarked to Member State ’s programme (and per Member State in case of transnational project proposal) Total EUR: Statement from the Managing Authority Declaration indicating that the project proposal, including the information on the budget, has been prepared in accordance with EU and national eligibility rules and can therefore be included into the Member State's programme. If not yet the case, statement from the Managing Authority that the review process will be done after the selection 4 . Cost-effectiveness , complementarity and sustainability of the proposal Describe how the proposal was conceived in order to ensure cost-effectiveness and value for money . Demonstrate the complementarity with : the Member State’s (or participating Member States’) programme(s) ISF calls for proposals under Union Actions other EU funding i nstruments, where relevant. Demonstrate the sustainability model of the proposal 5. Risk Management Potential risks and measures to mitigate them Monitoring strategy 6 . Compliance with the EU acquis Explain how this proposal would be covered by the rules applicable to the Member State’s programme that ensure actions are in compliance with the EU acquis including the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union Articles 4 and 13(1) IS F Article 9 CPR Impact of the p roposal 1. EU Added Value Describe the concrete benefits and quantified results of the project for the European Union and the Member State(s) concerned , as well as its potential for transferability 2 . Impact o f the proposed solution Describe how the project proposal will impact the capability development and/or improvement of an existing AI - based capability/system for law enforcement 3 . Level of involvement of and cooperation with competent entities from Member States and relevant EU entities Explain to which extent this project proposal will ensure the involvement of Member States’ l aw enforcement authorities, private and public entities (e.g. research organisations, industry, etc.) and involvement of and cooperation with relevant EU entities (e.g. Europol, CEPOL). 4 . Dissemination and Communication including transferability to other Member States and contribution to European strategic autonomy Describe the disseminat ion and communication strategy , including transferability of the solution to other Member States , and its relations and/or contribution to the European strategic economy Date Signature Legal Notice: In case the proposal is successful, the EU contribution for the project under the specific action will be included in the Member State’s (the participating Member States’) ISF programme(s) by means of a programme amendment approved by the Commission and implemented in accordance with the provisions of the ISF Regulation (EU) 2021/1149 and Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 (Common Provisions Regulation). The financial and reporting obligations for any beneficiary of the specific action are the same as those that apply to the Member States’ programmes. As Managing Authority, I agree to include the successful project in the programme and ensure that the project will be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the ISF Regulation (EU) 2021/1149 and Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 (Common Provisions Regulation). Legal representative of the [lead] Managing Authority: Ref. Ares(2024)6811375 - 26/09/2024 Annex 4 Output and result indicators for Specific Action ‘Innovation: Artificial Intelligence for Law Enforcement – AILE’ - ISF/2024/SA/3.4.1 The outputs and results of the Specific Action ISF/2024/SA/3.4.1 should contribute to the following indicators and be ready to be inserted into the ISF programme into tables 1 and 2 under section 2.1.2 for Specific Objective 3 in SFC. Please find below a non-exhaustive list of relevant indicators for activities under the “Specific Action AILE”. Specific Objective 31 Output indicators O.3.1 Number of participants in training activities O.3.2 Number of exchange programmes/workshops/study targets O.3.3 Number of equipment items purchased O.3.6 Number of projects to prevent crime Result indicators R.3.12 Number of participants who take the training useful for their work R.3.13 Number of participants who report three months after completing the training that they are using the skills and competences provided during the training NB: Although reporting will only be possible for indicators addressed by the specific action under Specific Objective 3, the list is not exhaustive and can be complemented with other indicators designed at Member State level. These additional indicators should be reported on in the Annual Progress Report. 1 As set out in point (c) of Article 3(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1149: “supporting the strengthening of Member States’ capabilities in relation to preventing and combating crime, (…), as well as managing security-related incidents, risks and crises, including through increased cooperation between public authorities, relevant Union bodies, offices or agencies, civil society and private partners in different Member States”. Ref. Ares(2024)6811375 - 26/09/2024 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR MIGRATION AND HOME AFFAIRS Directorate E – HOME Affairs Funds The Director Brussels HOME.E.1/AF NOTE FOR THE ATTENTION OF THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE FOR THE HOME AFFAIRS FUNDS Ref.: HOME-Funds/2024/42 Subject: Launch of the call for expression of interest under the Specific Action “Innovation: Artificial Intelligence for Law Enforcement - AILE” under the Internal Security Fund (ISF) – Reference ISF/2024/SA/3.4.1 1. INTRODUCTION Regulation (EU) 2021/1149 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 July 2021 establishing the Internal Security Fund provides that Member States may receive funding for specific actions in addition to their initial allocations in their respective programmes. Specific actions aim to fund transnational or national projects that bring Union added value in accordance with the objectives of the Fund for which one, several or all Member States may receive an additional allocation to their programmes. They will be implemented as one of the components of the Thematic Facility in line with Art. 8 of the above-mentioned Regulation and in accordance with the relevant financing decisions and work programmes for the Fund (1). By the present note, the Commission launches a call for expression of interest for Specific Action “Innovation: Artificial Intelligence for Law Enforcement - AILE”, in line with the actions listed in the above-mentioned Commission’s financing decision and work programme. 2. GENERAL PRINCIPLES Specific actions will be implemented by one or more Member States participating in the Internal Security Fund via funding received in addition to the allocation under their ISF programmes. 1 ) Internal Security Fund (2021-2027) (europa.eu) Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111 Office: LX46 05/166 - Tel. direct line +32 229-98305 Funding for specific actions is added to the Member States’ programme allocations by means of a programme amendment. That additional funding is earmarked for the specific action concerned and shall not be used for other actions in the Member State’s programme, except in duly justified circumstances and as approved by the Commission through the amendment of the programme. Whereas the regular EU co-financing rate under the Member States’ programmes will not exceed 75% of total eligible expenditure, projects implemented under specific actions may benefit from an increased co-financing rate of up to 90% of total eligible expenditure. The specific action must be implemented by the Member States in accordance with the ISF (2) Regulation and the Common Provisions Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 (CPR) (3). This includes compliance with fundamental rights. Your attention is drawn to one provision of the CPR. As regard the value added tax (“VAT”) eligibility regime, Article 64 (1)(c) of the CPR provides that VAT is not eligible, except: (i) for operations the total cost of which is below EUR 5 000 000 (including VAT); (ii) for operations the total cost of which is at least EUR 5 000 000 (including VAT) where it is non-recoverable under national VAT legislation”. 3. CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST 3.1. Indicative Budget available The 2023-2025 ISF Thematic Facility work programme indicates that for all specific actions under the Fund EUR 16,5 million are available. The indicative amount envisaged for this call ISF/2024/SA/3.4.1 is EUR 2 million. The requested amount (i.e. the Union contribution to the Member State’s ISF programme under the Specific Action): should ideally not be lower than EUR 200.000 per application, should ideally not be higher than EUR 1.000.000 per application. Should many applications be received and successful, the final amount to be allocated to a Member State’s programme may be lowered. The Commission encourages project proposals by groups of Member States in consideration of the potential transnational impact. 2 ) Regulation (EU) 2021/1149 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 July 2021 establishing the Internal Security Fund. 3 ) Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and financial rules for those and for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy. 2 In case of a transnational project, the Commission recommends, for the sake of efficiency, the choice of Option 1 as presented in the Note HOME- Funds/2022/07(Ares(2022)1060102) of 14 February 2022 on Transnational specific actions under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy (BMVI), and the Internal Security Fund (ISF) – Arrangements between partners. Any proposal submitted by a single Member State still must demonstrate its transnational impact by its transferability, as well as dissemination activities, trainings, or others. 3.2. Background for the specific action Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a versatile technology that has already become indispensable in the toolbox of law enforcement agencies (LEAs). It can enhance existing capabilities, provide new tools and improve law enforcement (LE) performance and efficiencies in a rapidly changing and evolving criminal landscape. In doing so it supports LE to mount an effective response to organised crime and terrorism. This new technology can have many benefits for the EU’s internal security, but also poses major risks if misused. Criminals are also exploiting the benefits of innovation for malicious ends, to facilitate and upscale their criminal activities. At the same time, AI use in the internal security sector also gives rise to concerns and fears brought about by the perceived lack of transparency of AI technology, their use, and the overall impact of these technologies on fundamental rights. On 18 July 2024, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented to the European Parliament her Political Guidelines (4) for the next European Commission 2024-2029. In these guidelines, the Commission outlines a comprehensive plan to position Europe as a global leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovation. Furthermore, as stated in the EU Security Union Strategy 2020-2025 (5), Artificial Intelligence could act as a powerful tool to prevent and fight serious and organised crime, including terrorism, boosting investigative capabilities by for example, analysing large amounts of information and identifying patterns and anomalies. It can also provide concrete tools to help identify online terrorist content or discover suspicious transactions, identify the sales of illicit products and facilitate intelligence gathering. The Strategy states that realising this potential means bringing together research, innovation, and users of artificial intelligence with the right governance and technical infrastructure, actively involving the private sector, academia, and technologists. It also means ensuring the highest standards of compliance with fundamental rights while effectively contributing to a high level of internal security. The practical implementation of this approach also forms part of the EU Strategy to tackle organised crime 2021-2025 (6), where the Commission commits itself to support Member States in relation to pilot projects on artificial intelligence solutions that would help foster the uptake of innovation by the law enforcement community. 4 ) EUROPE’S CHOICE POLITICAL GUIDELINES FOR THE NEXT EUROPEAN COMMISSION 2024−2029 Ursula von der Leyen Candidate for the European Commission President 5 ) COM(2020) 605 final 6 ) COM(2021) 170 final 3 Law enforcement, industry and academia should cooperate together supported by EU funding to develop tools and solutions at EU level that respond to EU law enforcement needs, therefore also supporting the work of Europol in providing services and technical solutions to EU LEAs. This collaborative approach should ensure the sustainability of Horizon Europe and Internal Security Fund projects and support Europol in that endeavour in compliance with relevant acquis and safeguarding fundamental rights. Another key element is the comprehensive regulation on the use of artificial intelligence systems through the EU Regulation on Artificial Intelligence (AI Act) which entered into force on 1 August 2024(7). The Regulation provides guidance and legal clarity to developers and deployers of AI systems on how to “effectively mitigate the risks for health, safety and fundamental rights”. It classifies specific AI use cases according to their potential risk in four levels: unacceptable risk, high risk, limited risk, and low or minimal risk. Use cases that carry unacceptable risk are prohibited from use. In cases of ‘high-risk’, developers and deployers (users) must abide by detailed obligations that ensure the proper use of the AI systems and which mitigate the risk that the system may generate. Such systems must be trained using robust and broad datasets to enhance efficacy, avoid bias and decrease false-positive results. The AI Act is also applicable in the domain of law enforcement. EU-funded research projects have been investigating the use of AI for law enforcement with promising results, whilst studying challenges that need to be tackled from legal, ethical and societal perspectives, such as for example ensuring that AI systems safeguard fundamental rights and are built on the principles of accountability and trustworthiness. Barriers and challenges often hinder the uptake of innovation in the civil security sector and its deployment to LEAs. Examples of these challenges include: • The lack of funding, and development paths dedicated to foster the uptake of innovative technologies and methods, e.g. by funding last mile developments, • A limited understanding of how public procurement can be used as a catalyst for innovation uptake or, • The limited visibility and traceability of successful research outcome. EU funding is necessary for this specific action given the mentioned challenges for uptake of innovation, new knowledge, technologies, methodologies and assimilation of ethical and legal principles in the field of using Artificial Intelligence for law enforcement purposes and to support the strengthening of Member States’ capabilities in relation to preventing and combating serious and organised crime, including terrorism. Furthermore, there is a strong EU added value in promoting European innovations (8), as they lead to the reinforcement of existing and the development of new law enforcement capabilities. These instruments can also support, on the one hand, technology suppliers in the industrialisation and commercialisation of innovative products, as well as business 7 ) Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence and amending Regulations (EC) No 300/2008, (EU) No 167/2013, (EU) No 168/2013, (EU) 2018/858, (EU) 2018/1139 and (EU) 2019/2144 and Directives 2014/90/EU, (EU) 2016/797 and (EU) 2020/1828 (Artificial Intelligence Act). 8 ) COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhancing security through research and innovation, Brussels, 15.12.2021 SWD(2021) 422 final. 4 creation and scale-up, and on the other hand, LEAs in further testing or validating, and deploying innovative solutions. Synergies between Union-funded research and innovation (R&I) and the Internal Security Fund can maximise the impact of funding to LEAs by building on successful research results, providing support to testing, validating or deploying new methods and technologies stemming from R&I actions underpinned by the principles of ethics, transparency and trustworthiness, and safeguarding of fundamental rights. 3.3. Scope and purpose of the specific action The objective of this specific action is to provide financial support to Member States to facilitate the adoption (i.e. testing, validating, further piloting and/or deploying) of trustworthy, ethical and transparent AI technologies and tools by LEAs for modern and efficient policing to prevent and combat serious and organised crime, including terrorism. The support will focus on co-funding technical, organisational and/or societal9 solutions with compulsory innovative elements, in particular on how to implement the new EU law (AI Act). Project proposals must build on outcomes of security research and innovation, especially taking up results of EU-funded activities (10), in order to ensure some of the following: • Testing, validating, piloting and/or deploying AI tools and systems relevant to law enforcement, building on the outcomes of EU funded research and innovation projects (some examples listed further below); • Improved understanding, knowledge and practices in AI across LEAs to promote the responsible use of AI based on robust legal and ethical safeguards (11), including achieving compliance with the new AI Act; • Enhanced expertise and capacity of Law Enforcement Agencies to counteract AI exploited for criminal misuse, including but not limited to facilitating cyber- enabled and cyber-dependent crimes, e.g. the criminal generation of deepfakes or online fraud. The specific action can include but should not be limited to activities such as : • uptake and testing of tools stemming from EU funded research programmes, • validation and dissemination of such tools, • cross-border operational actions, • mechanisms to exchange information across borders, • training and AI literacy for LEAs. 9) In this context, to ensure societal needs and acceptance. 10 ) https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/internal-security/innovation-and-security-research_en 11 ) Proposals are encouraged to consult The CC4AI tool (a web-based tool to support internal security practitioners to assess compliance of their AI systems with the requirements of the AI Act), as well as the 12 AP4AI Principles (framework for AI in the law enforcement and justice sector to fundamentally assess and enforce legitimate and acceptable usage of AI by the internal security community). 5 In all instances, this should involve training in AI literacy as well as guidance for LEAs. As a result, selected projects should achieve one or more of the following objectives: • Improve the security of EU citizens by providing LEAs with cutting edge AI tools tailored to their operational needs, • Facilitate the fast and effective uptake and adoption of AI solutions for law enforcement purposes, especially from Union-funded security research and innovation programmes, • Increase the safe and responsible use of AI technologies by LEAs i.e. by promoting mechanisms for societal, legal, and ethical implementation, • Increase European open strategic autonomy by deploying solutions developed in European research projects. Proposers should focus on a particular technology’s/technologies’ uptake (further testing, validating, piloting and/or deploying). Addressing developments regarding innovative societal and organisational solutions and methods for trustworthy AI in law enforcement, including new knowledge, additional recommendations and/or guidelines, is not mandatory but welcome. Proposed actions must build on results of previous research and innovation projects. Examples of such initiatives include, but are not limited to, the following EU funded projects: • STARLIGHT is reinforcing the investigative and cybersecurity operations of EU LEAs with AI-based tools that are transparent and resilient as well as explainable. The technical developments in the STARLIGHT project take into consideration the outcomes of popAI and ALIGNER listed below. These two projects provided the principles needed to enhance collaborative efforts whilst safeguarding fundamental rights: o popAI worked on a set of recommendations for the ethical use of AI for LEAs and provided a practical ethics toolbox. o ALIGNER brings together European actors to jointly identify how to enhance security while protecting fundamental rights. • TRACE explored the rise and spread of cyber-enabled crimes and illicit financial flows. • AIDA focused on cybercrime and terrorism by approaching specific issues related to (LEAs) using pioneering machine learning and artificial intelligence methods. • TENSOR will provide police authorities and forensic institutes a platform they can use to make it easier to extract, share and store biometric evidence in cross-border environments. • GRACE applied proven techniques in machine learning to the referral and analysis elaboration while appropriately managing the technical, ethical, and legal challenges unique to fighting child sexual exploitation. • TENACITy develops a Travel Intelligence Governance Framework that facilitates data management and access to support LE to manage intelligence in investigations of terrorism and serious and organised criminality. • VIGILANT is developing a platform looking at advanced disinformation identification and analysis tools and technologies. 6  • APPRAISE is an integrated threat intelligence solution for protecting the augmented cities environment. It performs a continuous monitoring of online sources and physical sensors to identify potential threats and improve strategies for protection of soft targets (such as shopping malls and stadiums). • FERMI will provide a set of tools for detecting and monitoring the spread of disinformation and fake news and identifying its sources, as well as tailor-made training material for LEAs, EU citizens and other relevant stakeholders. Currently, new challenges posed by the immense quantity of data but at the same time by very limited availability and scarcity of high-quality data to train artificial intelligence- based tools in the context of law enforcement, constitute a significant hurdle for innovation in the field of internal security. Therefore, proposals are encouraged to further explore ways to facilitate LEAs’ access to high-quality data, and when doing so are expected to create synergies with: • LAGO will create a trusted EU research data ecosystem to facilitate data-oriented research collaboration between LEAs, security practitioners, relevant EU agencies, researchers, and policymakers. • TESSERA (12) aims to conduct the preparatory work for the creation of high- quality large-scale trusted and shareable datasets based on identified operational use cases, thus supporting the European Security Data Space for Innovation. Further information on Union-funded research and innovation in internal security technologies and methods can be found on: • the EU Funding & Tenders Portal (for past, current and forthcoming topics and calls) (13), • the Common Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) (for ongoing and past projects) (14), • the Horizon Dashboard (for aggregated search by country, partner, topic)(15), • through the Community for European Research and Innovation for Security (CERIS)(16), and • from the National Contact points (NCPs) for EU security research in each Member State, • from DG HOME’s Innovation and Security Research Unit(17). Purchase of products and services that are commercially available, unless being a very minor and complementary part of the integration effort in an innovative solution, are not supported by this action. Purchase of off-the-shelf technology is possible under other strands of the ISF or other EU funding instruments, e.g. ISF Member States’ Programmes and ERDF (European Regional Development Fund). 12 ) Towards thE dataSetS for the European secuRity dAta space for innovation, ISF-2022-TF1-AG-DATA 13 ) Funding & tenders (europa.eu) 14 ) CORDIS | European Commission (europa.eu) 15 ) Funding & tenders (europa.eu) 16 ) CERIS - Community for European Research and Innovation for Security (europa.eu) 17 ) Innovation and security research (europa.eu) 7 The specific action can include but should not be limited to activities such as: • testing, validation, and/or further piloting (including in groups of Member States) in real environment, • evaluating AI tools for operational maturity, • installation and integration in legacy systems, • deployment, • hands-on training on the use of the new solutions. Cooperation with Europol in any of these elements is encouraged, especially utilisation of the Europol`s Tools Repository, as it could leverage proposals’ quality and impact. Where relevant in the development of their proposals, Member States are also encouraged to take into consideration the Compliance Checker for AI (CC4AI). This web-based tool, curated by Europol, helps practitioners to assess compliance of AI systems and tools with the requirements and obligations of the AI Act. Article 5(5) of the ISF Regulation provides that this funding is not eligible for: (a) actions limited to the maintenance of public order at national level; (b) actions with a military or defence purpose; (c) equipment of which the primary purpose is customs control; (d) coercive equipment, including weapons, ammunition, explosives and riot batons, except for training purposes; (…). If expenditure is planned for purchase of equipment or means of transport or construction of security-related buildings or facilities and the project proposal is selected, the Member State’s ISF Managing Authority should ensure that the expenditure will be included in the calculation under the ISF Programme for the 35% threshold stipulated in Article 13(7) of the ISF Regulation. Proposals should explain the plans for future deployment and/or scale-up of the new technologies, and/or methods, should the activities funded by this specific action be successful. Further operational deployment, use and/or scale-up can be planned with support with national funding, Member States’ ISF programmes, and/or other public or private funding. Project proposals that present a credible and committed plan for further uptake will be particularly welcomed, as they will ensure impact on the capabilities of LEAs. The call for expression of interest is open for both national and transnational project proposals. However, in both instances, proposals must clearly and convincingly demonstrate the transnational impact of their efforts. In case of a transnational project proposal, the lead Member State will have to make sure that the ISF Managing Authority of each participating Member State duly signs the “Partnership Declaration Form”. In the Application form, each project beneficiary in each participating Member State should be listed and the share that each Member State will receive from the additional amount allocated, if the project proposal is successful, should be indicated. Based on this common agreement, each partner will have a role and resulting responsibilities in the implementation of the project and delivering on its objectives. The specific action proposed should not focus on activities related to research but must rather support the uptake and use of innovative solutions stemming from past 8 research. As such, new technologies addressed in the project proposals (which are not necessarily the only technologies involved but should be the main ones) should be of Technological Readiness Level (TRL) not lower than 8 at the start of the project. Providing evidence of the TRL level of selected technology(ies) would be an asset. This specific action falls specifically under (e) of Annex III of the ISF Regulation, regarding support to: (e) “actions developing innovative methods or deploying new technologies with a potential for transferability to other Member States, in particular projects aimed at testing and validating the outcome of Union-funded security research projects”; Member States can propose both projects implemented entirely at national level and projects implemented transnationally by a group of Member States. In the former case, the proposing Member States should explain the specific added value of their transnational approach. 4. PROCEDURE FOR APPLICATION 4.1. Admissibility and assessment aspects All EU Member States participating in the ISF are eligible. Participation of third countries is not eligible. The Specific Action proposed should not start before 1st September 2024 and should ideally be completed by 31st December 2027 at the latest. DG HOME will assess the proposals submitted by the Member States. To be considered admissible a proposal must: 1. be submitted within the deadline (see below) to the ISF specific actions functional mailbox [email protected], 2. consist of the official ISF/2024/SA/3.4.1 Application form attached to this Note together with its annexes, which must be readable and complete (all fields necessary for assessment are filled in), 3. be submitted by the Managing Authority on behalf of the entity in the Member State that will be responsible for the implementation of the specific action, 4. identify a project beneficiary (an entity) that will be responsible for the implementation of the specific action in the Member State (in the lead for the action), 5. in case of a transnational project: include partnership declaration forms signed by the Managing Authorities of all participating Member States (18). DG HOME will assess admissible proposals based on the following criteria (19): A. Relevance (30 points – minimum score: 15 points) 1. Clarity of the proposed solution, its correspondence with the objectives and scope of this call for expression of interest, and its contribution towards the output and results indicators listed in Annex VIII of the ISF Regulation (see Annex 4). 18 ) Please refer to the note HOME-Funds/2022/07 on the arrangements between partners to be sought when submitting proposals for transnational specific actions. 19 ) Proposals not meeting the ‘pass score’ of criterion A (15 points) will not be further assessed. Only proposals scoring at least the ‘pass scores’ defined for each criterion (A, B and C) can be proposed for funding, depending on their overall ranking and budget availability. 9  2. Innovation of the proposed solution (of min. TRL 8) in comparison with available state-of-the-art tools. B. Quality and content (30 points – minimum score: 15 points) 1. Maturity of the proposal; appropriateness of the design and planned implementation, considering the envisaged activities; methodology (including operational and financial management); organisation of work and strategy for project management and monitoring; measures undertaken or envisaged to mitigate the identified risks. 2. Cost-effectiveness, complementarity, and sustainability: the proposal should present the distribution of the financial support requested, and its appropriateness in relation to the scale and type of the planned activities (personnel, travel, training, etc.). It should also demonstrate the overall cost-effectiveness and value for money, and the complementarity with other EU funding sources (Member States’ ISF programmes, ISF calls for proposals under Union Actions, EUROPOL EMPACT grant schemes, etc.). Finally, the sustainability model should be explained, including a credible plan for future deployment(s) and/or scale-up after this action lifetime. C. Impact (40 points – minimum score: 20 points) 1. EU Added Value: the concrete benefits and quantified results of the project for the European Union and the Member State(s) concerned, as well as its potential for transferability should be demonstrated. 2. Impact of the proposed solution on capability development and/or improvement of an existing AI-based capability/system for law enforcement. 3. Involvement of and cooperation with competent entities from Member States (LEAs, private and public entities – e.g. research organisations, industry) and relevant EU entities (e.g. Europol, CEPOL) whenever appropriate, and explanations on how this will be achieved. 4. Dissemination and communication strategy, including transferability of the solution to other Member States, and its relation and/or contribution to European strategic autonomy. Member States must ensure respect for the horizontal principles described in Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, including respect for fundamental rights and compliance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, as well as Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Directive (EU) 2016/680 (20). Moreover, Member States must also ensure that the envisaged actions are not affected by a reasoned opinion delivered by the Commission in respect of infringement proceedings under Article 258 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) that put in doubt the legality and regularity of expenditure or the performance of the actions (Article 8(5) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1149). 20 ) Directive (EU) 2016/680 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by competent authorities for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Council Framework Decision 2008/977/JHA. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and the free movement of such data. 10  4.2. Application procedure Deadline for the application: Member States are invited to submit their proposals by 14 February 2025 at the latest, using the official ISF/2024/SA/3.4.1 Application form attached to this Note, together with its annexes. Proposals can be submitted in any official EU language (project abstract/summary should however always be in English). For reasons of efficiency, it is strongly advised to use English for the entire proposal. In line with the Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001[1], any document held by the Commission, including documents containing sensitive information, may be subject to a request for public access. Therefore, if relevant, the Managing Authorities should submit each application in a separate email. Likewise, clarifications (where needed/required) per application should be sent in separate emails. To ensure equal and fair treatment of the proposals and allow the Commission to allocate at the same date all the available funding, DG HOME will assess all proposals simultaneously. Therefore, proposals submitted after the deadline will not be admissible. The Members of the Committee for the Home Affairs Funds will be informed at the latest 10 working days before the deadline for the submission of the proposals in case the deadline for the submission of proposals is extended. E-mail address for the application: The proposals should be submitted to the ISF specific actions functional mailbox [email protected]. Member States may submit additional documentation if necessary. No modification to the application is allowed once the deadline for submission has elapsed. However, if there is a need to clarify certain aspects or to correct clerical mistakes, the Commission may contact the applicant/ lead Member State during the evaluation process. A reply should be provided by the Member State within 3 working days from the request date. Any requests for clarification by the Member States on this call for expression of interest may be sent by 24 January 2025 at the latest, to the ISF specific actions functional mailbox [email protected]. Requests for clarifications should be sent only by the Managing Authority. The Managing Authority has an important role to play in explaining to potential beneficiaries the applicable rules and specificities of the ISF programme and the Specific Actions scheme, as well as helping them to prepare their applications. The Managing Authority should be their sole contact point and has the responsibility to review and reply to any questions received from applicants. It may, however, address these questions to the Commission services if further clarification is needed. As projects under specific actions are managed at national level, according to national rules, specific questions on eligibility of costs should be addressed first to the Managing Authority. To respect the equal treatment and transparency, the replies to the written requests for clarification received will be sent to all Member States, via HOME-AFFAIRS-FUNDS- [email protected] 11  DG HOME will inform Member States of the outcome of the assessment of the proposals in April 2025. 5. AMENDMENT OF THE ISF PROGRAMMES AND ELIGIBILITY OF EXPENDITURE After having been informed of the outcome of the call for expression of interest, each successful Member State should submit to the Commission a request to amend its ISF programme via SFC. The amended programme should include a short description of the specific action, adjust the output and result indicators, and include the costs and codes linked to this specific action (respectively in the description and under tables 1, 2 and 3 of Specific Objective 3, and table 6 of the programme). When amending an ISF programme of a Member States, two situations may arise regarding the eligibility of expenditure (21): 1. For Member States that have included all the types of interventions listed in Annex VI table 2 of the ISF Regulation that are relevant for the Specific Action “Innovation: Artificial Intelligence for Law Enforcement - AILE” ISF/2024/SA/3.4.1 in table 2.1.3 of Specific Objective 3 in their initially approved ISF programme: expenditure for the Specific Action will be eligible as of 1st September 2024. 2. For Member States that have not included all the types of interventions listed in Annex VI table 2 of the ISF Regulation that are relevant for the Specific Action “Innovation: Artificial Intelligence for Law Enforcement - AILE” ISF/2024/SA/3.4.1 in table 2.1.3 of Specific Objective 3 in their initially approved ISF programme: expenditure for the Specific Action will be eligible from the date of submission by the Member State of its request for amendment of the ISF programme that will add the respective types of interventions in the programme. Yours faithfully, Silvia MICHELINI Encl.: Annexes 1-4 21 ) Art. 63(7) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060. 12 Electronically signed on 26/09/2024 10:10 (UTC+02) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121