Legal Aspects in FP 7
Nicole Schröder, LL.M.
INCO-NET MIRA
- Training Seminar for Palestine Information Point in Cyprus
EU-Bureau of the BMBF
PT-DLR
Königswinterer Str. 550-554
53227 Bonn
Germany
Phone: +49 228 / 38 21-630
Fax: +49 228 / 38 21-649
eub@dlr.de
www.eubuero.de
Content
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Documents in FP 7
Participation
Grant Negotiation
Grant Agreement
Consortium Agreement
Grant Agreement –
Terminology
• “Grant” – Financial contribution from EU-budget
• “Grant Agreement” = Contract between Beneficiaries
and Commission
• “Beneficiary” = Contractor, project participant
• “Funding Schemes” = Funding Instrument
• “Certificate on Financial Statement” = Audit Certificate,
Certificate on correctness of incurred costs
Hierarchy of norms
EC contract
Documents for the
implementation of
FP 7 projects
FP 7
Regulation
(Rules for setting up FP 7 )
Rules for Participation
Frame for FP 7
Grant Agreement
(Contract for projects)
Guidelines
EC
Financial Regulation
Official Documents –
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/find-doc_en.html
Grant Agreement (binding texts)
Guidelines (non binding)
Participation
• Any legal entity (legal personality)
natural person
• At least three legal entities from three different
member states or asscociated states to FP7,
independent of each other
- Exception: European Research Council (ERC), support
actions (CSA-SA), Marie Curie grants
• Addtional requirements may be specified in the
respective work programmes
Rules for Participation, OJ L 391/1-17, 30.12.2006
Participation
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At least 3 independent legal entities from 3 different countries
Guide for
Applicants
Participation
Associated countries to FP7:
• EEA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway
• Candidate countries: Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia,
Turkey
• Israel
• Switzerland
Any other countries are called Third Countries
• Third Countries may participate provided that the
minimum conditions for participation are met
Participation
(Third Countries)
Country groups:
ICPC: International Cooperation Partner Countries
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Mediterranean partner countries (MPC)
Western Balkan Countries (WBC)
Eastern Europe and Central Asian countries (EECA)
Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific countries (ACP)
Asia
Latin America
Industrialised Countries:
USA, Kanada, Japan, Australia, South Korea, New Zealand
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http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/who_en.html#countries
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/who_en.html#countries
ICPC - International Cooperation Partner
Countries
URF- Unique Registration Facility
URF- Unique Registration Facility
URF- Unique Registration Facility
Validation
European Commission
Research Directorate-General
T5 Framework programme
logistics - URF Validation Team
SDME 11/083
B-1049 Brussels
Belgium
Mail: RTD-URFVALIDATION@ec.europa.eu
http://cordis.europa.eu/f
p7/urf-valid_en.html
LEAR - Legal entity appointed
representative
• Each legal entity must appoint one person (the so-called LEAR
– Legal Entity Appointed Representative) for being the
correspondent towards the Commission on all issues related to
the legal status of the entity
• The LEAR provides the Commission with up-to-date legal and
financial data (including supporting documents, where necessary)
and commits to maintain the information up-to-date, enabling future
use for grants and other transactions between the entity and the
Commission research (and other) programmes.
• The LEAR communicates his/her role internally in his/her
organisation and provides the PIC to other employees dealing with
proposals and grant agreements
• http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/urf-lear_en.html
ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/docs/piclist_en.pdf
• Grant Agreement Negotiations
Grant Agreement
Relation: Commission
and consortium
Partner
Coordinator
Partner
Partner
Partner
Partner

Third Parties
Negotiation and award of grant
Before Contract Negotiation:
• Verification of legal existence and legal status of participant
• Verification of financial capacity of participants
• Verification of operational capacities
• Entry into Unique Registration Facility (URF)
• Single URF code for each participant in the Framework
Programm
Negotiation and award of
grant
• Commission will use negotiation of grant agreement to define
the project as clearly as possible
• Leave enough flexibility for the implementation of the project
- For transfer of budget between partners and activities
- For necessary adjustments in project implementation
- For unforeseen research need
Negotiation Mandate
Indicates:
• clarifications and changes to be made to the
project (Based on the ESR)
• maximum EC Contribution
• duration for the project
• deadline for receipt of first draft of DoW and
GPFs
• deadline by which time negotiations should be
completed
• contact details of the responsible Project &
Legal Officer at the Commission
•Negotiation Meetings (if needed)
Two Negotiation Stages
1 – Technical Negotiations
2 – Legal and Financial Negotiations
The two are essentially linked
1 - Technical Negotiations
To agree on the final content of the DoW including:
• Addressing the comments made in the ESR
• Verifying that the project objectives are SMART
(S-Specific, M-Measurable, A-Attainable, R-Realistic,
T-Timely)
• The list of deliverables (timing, content and
dissemination level)
• The project milestones and their assessment
criteria
• An indicative time schedule for the reporting and
the project reviews.
Deliverables
Listed in a table of standard format detailing:
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WP reference number
Beneficiary responsible for WP
Estimated no. of Person/Months
Date for submission
Compulsory Deliverables
• Periodic and final reports
• A dissemination and use plan
• Report on horizontal issues (gender and science
& society related issues)
2. Legal & Financial Negotiations
• Budget for full duration
• Budget breakdown per period
• Subcontracting and other third parties
• Pre-financing
• The capacity of the Coordinator to fulfil this role
• The start date of the project
• Any special clauses required
The GPFs- The Grant Agreement Preparation
Forms
• Electronic submission for 1st negotiation round
• Must be completed by all applicants (even
those who are not requesting a financial
contribution)
• The use of the GPF editor is mandatory
• Basic information from the Proposal Submission
Forms will be uploaded to pre-fill part of the
GPFs
• Final version in paper with original signatures
Completion of Negotiations
• Once agreement is reached on all technical,
financial and legal issues a draft GA is sent to
coordinator
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GA signature
Coordinator signs two originals of the GA
The coordinator must distribute a copy of the GA
All beneficiaries must sign Form A to accede to
the GA
Grant Agreement
Relation: Commission
and consortium
Partner
Coordinator
Partner
Partner
Partner
Partner

Third Parties
Grant Agreement
• to clearly define the technical/scientific content of the project
• to establish rights and obligations of participants (including
submission of reports, termination etc.)
• to define start date, duration and budget of the project
• identify whether and what part of the EC financial contribution is
based on reimbursement of eligible costs, lump sums, flat rates
• specific provisions for certain types of actions (IPR particularly)
• grant agreement comes into force upon signature by the coordinator
and the Commission and applies to each participant that has acceded
to it
Grant Agreement
• Signature by coordinator & Commission
• Accession of beneficiaries via “Form A”
• Later accession of beneficiaries via “Form B”
• Entry into force upon signature by coordinator &
Commission
Grant Agreement
• Structure:
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Core part: GA parameters,
Annex I: Description of Work (DoW),
Annex II: General Conditions,
Annex III: Specific provisions for funding schemes
Annex IV, V & VI: Form A,B & C
Annex VII: Form D terms of reference for the
certificate of costs and Form E certificate on the
methodology (NEW)
• The conclusion of a Consortium Agreement is
mandatory (except if excluded by Call)
Grant Agreement - Structure
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Grant Agreement
Annex I
Annex II
Annex III
Core Text
Technical Content, Description of Work (DoW)
General Conditions
Specific provisions (ERAnet-Plus, Research
Infrastructures, SME actions, Civil Society
Organisations
IV (Form A) Accession of beneficiaries to the grant agreement
V (Form B)
Request for accession of a new benefiary
VI (Form C) Financial statement (specific to Funding Scheme)
VII (Form D) Certificate of Financial Statements
(Form E) Certificate on the methodology
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Annex
Annex
Annex
Annex
List of special clauses, actual Version
Grant Agreement –
Core Contract
Grant Agreement – Annex II
General Conditions
Grant Agreement
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Financial provisions
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Total EU-contribution
Payment modalities
Upper funding limits
Indirect costs
Certificates
Third parties
No financial collective responsibility
Other provisions
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Reporting
Consortium Agreement
Relation: between the
partners in the
consortium
Partner
Coordinator
Partner
Partner
Partner
Partner
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Third Parties
Consortium Agreement
• Consortium Agreement (CA) governs the structure of the
consortium and the relationship of the project participants
• Consortium Agreement may not contradict any parts of the grant
agreement with the commission or the rules for participation
• Has to be signed by all project partners – (before the project start)
• Is obligatory in the 7th Framework Programme (with few
exceptions)
• Several model grant agreements exist (e.g. DESCA)
Consortium Agreement –
Content
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Management, decision making structures, conflict resolution
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Responsibilities / roles of the partners
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Time schedule for project implementation
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Budget allocation
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Access to know how
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Liabilities
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Confidentiality
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Applicable law and arbitration
ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/docs/checklist_en.pd
f
Konsortialvertrag (KV)
Beispiel: DESCA-Konsortialvertragsmodell
General Structure
GENERAL ISSUES
GOVERNANCE
Liability
Responsibilities
Budgeting
Decision making
Consortium Bodies
Payments
FINANCE
Dissemination
Access Rights
IPR
http://www.desca-fp7.eu/
Intellectual Property Rights –
Who is the owner of the results
• IPR Definitions
• IPR Provisions
• Access Rights
Intellectual Property Rights
Important Definitions:
Background:
• Knowledge held by participants prior to their accession
to the EC grant agreement
• Background can be excluded from access in grant
agreement
Foreground:
• Knowledge generated within a project by one or several
participants
Intellectual Property
Provisions
Ownership: each participant owns the foreground it generates
Joint ownership: default joint ownership regime in absence of
specific agreement:
“any owner can grant non-exclusive licenses to third parties, subject
to prior notification and fair and reasonable compensation to the
other owner(s) with no right to sub-licence”
Transfer of ownership of foreground:
Prior notification only to the other participants who may waive their
rights to be notified regarding specific third parties
(requirement to notify Commission may be in grant agreement,
Commission may object to transfers or exclusive licenses to third
countries if contrary to ethical or competitiveness principles)
Intellectual Property
Provisions
Protection, use, dissemination, publication
• Foreground capable of industrial or commercial
application shall be protected
• Owner of foreground may transfer to another participant
if it does not wish to protect or to the Commission
• Foreground to be used and disseminated
• Notice of dissemination (including publication) to be
given to other participants (not Commission)
• Publications and patent applications must indicate the
Community financial assistance
Intellectual Property
Provisions
Access rights
• Participants generally have access to the background and
foreground of the project partners if necessary for project
implementation or use of the results
• Participants define the background they need and may
exclude it from access to other partners - not necessarily prior to
signature of EC grant agreement (positive or negative list)
• Possibility to grant exclusive licenses for knowledge generated in the
project (foreground) if other participants agree
• Special provisions for certain types of actions e.g. frontier
research, SME measures, security research
Access rights (FP7)
Access rights to background
Access rights to
foreground resulting
from the project
For carrying
out the
project
Yes, if a participant needs them for carrying out its
own work under the project
For use
(exploitation
+ further
research)
Yes, if a participant needs them for using its own
foreground
Royalty-free unless otherwise Royalty-free
agreed before acceding to
the grant agreement
Either fair and reasonable conditions or royalty
free- to be agreed
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ncp_en.html
http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.
cfm?pg=enquiries
Thank you very
much for your
attention !