appeals

revised application
If you feel your application was not shown in its best light in a decision and you can provide new facts or circumstances relevant to your application, you have the option to submit a revised application. In this way, applications submitted earlier can be re-evaluated by the advisory committee − provided they are supplemented with new information. The application must be amended to such an extent that it can be considered as a new application, and at the very least be supplemented by a covering letter from the applicant. Please contact the Fund for more information about a possible revised application.

Please note: it is not possible to submit a revised application for open calls and for the Talent Development Grant Programme.

appeal
The Dutch General Administrative Law Act enables an interested party to appeal against the decision regarding the subsidy application. The General Administrative Law makes the appeals procedure compulsory as a preliminary stage before taking recourse to the administrative courts. The Fund has a permanent independent advisory committee for appeals, appointed by the Board. The appeal may be signed and sent by e-mail to bezwaren@stimuleringsfonds.nl. The objection is addressed to the Board of the Fund and contains at least:

- the name and address of the objector;
- the date;
- a description of the decision and characteristic against which the objection or appeal is directed;
- the grounds for the objection or appeal.

The appeals committee evaluates the decision made by the Fund on formal and procedural grounds. To make it quite clear: the content of the application is not re-evaluated. The appeals procedure is elaborated in the Fund's Grant Schemes. A number of elements from the procedure are discussed below. If you would like more information about the rules applicable to the appeals procedure, please contact the Fund. We will gladly help you.

letter of appeal
An interested party may lodge a letter of appeal with the Board of the Fund. This will be forwarded to the appeals committee. The appeal should be submitted to the Board of the Fund no later than six weeks after the written decision.

hearing
There is an opportunity to provide further explanation about your objection during the hearing. The Fund sets a date for the hearing in consultation with the interested party and collects the relevant information for the hearing. The interested party may add documents to the dossier up until 10 days before the hearing. The interested party is invited at least three weeks in advance. The letter of invitation states which members make up the hearing committee.

If new facts come to light during the hearing, the Fund office can indicate that the decision about the appeal will take longer. A report is made of the hearing by the secretary.

tasks of the hearing committee
The hearing committee listens to the interested party and an employee of the Fund in each other's presence. The hearing committee gives the interested party the opportunity to explain the objection further and asks questions. A hearing lasts approximately 45 minutes. The hearing is concluded by enquiring whether all aspects of the objection have been covered and if the interested party would like to add anything. The appeals committee sends the report of the hearing and the recommendation to the Board of the Fund.

decision
On the basis of the recommendation and the report of the hearing, the Board reaches a decision about the objection and makes this decision known to the interested party in writing. The maximum period of time for this process is 12 weeks after the date the letter of appeal was sent.

advisory committee for appeals:
mr. G.A.J.A. Trapman (chair)
mr. P.M. Bloemers
mr. C. Hakbijl
mr. J.J.R. Lautenbach
mr. C. van Oord-Sitaram
LL.B. A. Verstegen

secretary: Anselm van Sintfiet
deputy secretary: Sean Gilis
deputy secretary: Marieke Ladru

questions
For more information about the appeals procedure, please contact Anselm van Sintfiet, Sean Gilis or Marieke Ladru via bezwaren@stimuleringsfonds.nl.