Grant Agreement for Horizon Europe

In the Grant Agreement (GA), the implementation of the research project is contractually regulated between the European Commission and the project partners.

The European Commission has introduced a model grant agreement that is used for all European funding programs. This so-called Corporate Model Grant Agreement aims to further harmonize the EU programs, standardize them to a large extend and interpret rules uniformly so that synergies between the programs are made possible. 

Each Grant Agreement is divided into a Core Part and various annexes, of which Annex 5 contains the specific rules of the respective funding program (e.g. Horizon Europe).
The core part consists of the data sheet and the articles.
The data sheet contains the most important basic data about the project:

1. General information (project duration)
2. Composition of the consortium
3. Amount of funding (maximum amount of the grant as well as cost types and amounts)
4. Timetable for reports and payments, deadlines, e.g. audits, etc. (information on need for a CFS (cost audit at the end of the project) and applicable threshold value)
5. Jurisdiction, retention periods, and spec. rules (confidentiality; audits, etc.)
6. Other specifics

The articles of the core part are divided into the following six chapters:

•    Chapter 1 - General
•    Chapter 2 - Action
•    Chapter 3 - Grant (forms of grant, maximum amount, funding rate, reimbursement)
•    Chapter 4 - Grant implementation (consortium, rules for carrying out the action, grant administration)
•    Chapter 5 - Consequences of non-compliance (rejections and grant reduction, suspension and termination, damages and administrative sanctions, force majeure)
•    Chapter 6 - Final Provisions

The core contract is supplemented by five annexes:

•   Annex 1 - Description of the action
•   Annex 2 - Estimated budget for the action
•   Annex 3 - Accession forms, if applicable
•   Annex 4 - Model for the financial statements
•   Annex 5 - Specific rules (e.g. for Horizon Europe)

Annex 5 regulates the specific rules for Hoizont Europe:

•    Security
•    Ethics
•    Values
•    IPR (Intellectual Property Rights)
•    Communication, dissemination, open science, etc.
•    Specific regulations on: Recruitment, working conditions, access to research infrastructures, PCP / PPI procurement, co-funded partnerships, specifics of ERC, EIT, MSCA, EIC

The Model Grant Agreement for Horizon Europe can be found here.
The Annotated Model Grant Agreement for Horizon Europe with detailed references and examples to all articles and annexes is  published here.