Sustainable Surface Transport - Call 2010 Info Day – 31/05/2010 Rail Road Water Sustainable Surface Transport - Call 2010 Dominique RAMAEKERS-JØRGENSEN European Commission DG RTD – H2 Surface Transport

Negotiation What is the purpose of the negotiation? Who will negotiate? What is the basis for the negotiation? The technical negotiation The financial negotiation In practice … Reasons for delay Consortium agreement

Where do we stand? Call Preparation of proposal Evaluation Procedures Signature of GA Preparation of GA Call Evaluation Procedures ISC, Programme Committee Negotiation Programme Committee, budget Grant Agreement 30/08/2009 14/01/2010 15/02/2010 23/04/2010 Mid June 2010 29/10/2010 1-2 months

What is the purpose of the negotiation? Agree on the scientific/technical details of the project (Work plan, list of deliverables, milestones, timing, dissemination level, etc) Agree on budgetary matters (Total budget, budget breakdown, activity type, etc.) Finalise legal aspects (consortium, special clauses, start date, financial viability, etc.) Prepare the Grant Agreement

Who will negotiate? Project officers Legal officers Coordinators

Project officers William BIRD Peter CRAWLEY Joost DE BOCK Grzegorz DOMANSKI Alexandra GURAU Michal KLIMA Patrycja KULESZA Maurizio MAGGIORE Dominique RAMAEKERS-JØRGENSEN Ludger ROGGE Head of Unit ff: Frédéric SGARBI

Legal officers Petr CERVENY Charles DE CHEFDEBIEN Evelyne GRANATA-LUBAC Ulrich SCHMID Cristina TATU-CARAVAN Cristina FERNANDEZ ESTRADA

Coordinators Lead the negotiation Represent the consortium Only one applicant can be the coordinator One single person will represent the coordinator This person is responsible for all the contacts with the Commission This person attends all the meetings

What is the basis for the negotiation? Negotiation mandate Rules for participation Annex II of the Grant Agreement – General conditions Guidance documents

Negotiation mandate Timetable for the negotiation Request for changes of the technical content (based on ESR) Duration of the project Maximum EC financial contribution Date and time of the negotiation meeting Name of the project officer and administrative officer

Rules for participation Regulation (EC) No 1906/2006 laying down the rules for the participation of undertakings, research centres and universities in actions under the Seventh Framework Programme and for the dissemination of research results (2007-2013) Definitions (legal entity, participants, SME, public body, third country, associated country, etc...) Minimum condition for participation General conditions for inclusion in the grant agreements Provisions concerning access right and dissemination Consortia (consortium agreement, coordinator,etc.) Community financial contribution (eligibility for funding, eligible costs, funding limits, etc.) Dissemination and use, and access rights

FP7 Grant Agreement – Annex II Part A – Implementation of the project General principles (coordinator, consortium) Reporting and payments Implementation Part B – Financial provisions General financial provisions (eligible costs, funding limits, Community financial contributions, etc) Guarantee funds and recoveries Controls and sanctions Part C – Intellectual property rights, use and dissemination Part D – Final provisions Competitive calls Amendments, termination of GA, liability, etc.

CORDIS: FIND A DOCUMENT Guidance documents CORDIS: FIND A DOCUMENT Tip: check Cordis regularly for updates

Technical negotiations Objective: To agree on the final content of Annex I Description of work adapted to meet recommendations and comply with the General Conditions of the Grant Agreement Work described in sufficient details and proportionate to resources Identification of the work to be carried out by each beneficiary List of deliverables (content, timing, needed resources, dissemination level), milestones (+ assessment criteria) Indicative time schedule for reviews to be established (mainly for large projects)

Financial and legal negotiations Objective: To agree on budgetary and legal matters Total costs and budget breakdown to be agreed upon Start date and duration of the project Timing of the reporting periods Amount of pre-financing Special clauses Identification of sub-contractors and third parties Financial capacity of coordinator and of any other participant with EC contribution > EUR 500.000

In practice: Supporting IT tool NEF is used for: Preparation of the Description of Work GPFs (Grant Agreement preparation forms) Advantages: Easy and transparent follow-up of negotiations Description of work according to format Integration with EC project management IT tools Deliverables defined for further uploading

In practice: Description of work (1) 1st step: Convert your proposal into Annex I using NEF Please: DO NOT implement the recommendations yet, DO NOT introduce changes Part A: Budget breakdown (GPF A3.2) Project summary (GPF A1) List of beneficiaries Workplan tables (WT1 – WT8): list of WPs, list of deliverables, WP description, list of milestones, tentative schedule for reviews, project efforts (PM) per WP and per beneficiary, project efforts and costs. Part B: B1: Concepts and objectives, progress beyond the state of the art, S/T methodology and work plan B2: Implementation (management structure, beneficiaries, consortium as a whole, resources to be commited) B3: Impact B4: Ethical issues (if applicable) B5: Gender aspects (optional)

In practice: Description of work (2) 2nd step: Revise the 1st draft according to the recommendations in the negotiation mandate and the comments of the project officer during the negotiation meeting or by bilateral contacts. Please pay attention to the following: Type of activity: RTD, DEM, OTHER, MGT and COOR (only applicable to coordination actions), SUPP (only applicable to support actions) Number of deliverables (and timing) Milestones Tip: Do not define the periodic reports and final report as deliverables One work package = one -and only one - type of activity!

In practice: Costs details Provide the costs details in NEF with the (revised) description of work Provide the costs without decimals (e.g. EUR 500.000,00) Check the cost models, activity type Tip: Check carefully the management costs – These shall NOT include the technical coordination costs (Ref: General conditions, Guide to Financial issues)

Reasons for delay Slow or unclear response from consortium Changes in the description of work not properly identified or justified Discussions over the budget Reduction of budget coordination/management costs “Unnecessary” changes in budget breakdown Insufficient cost justification, in particular for “other major costs” Sub-contracting Beneficiaries not validated Documents (e.g. signed GPFs, ) not submitted

Consortium agreement Tip: Inform the project officer as soon as Prerequisite for the signature of the Grant Agreement Model of consortium agreement to be found on Cordis Agreement itself not checked by the Commission’s services Tip: Inform the project officer as soon as the consortium agreement has been signed by all beneficiaries

More information ? Do not hesitate to contact the project officer! Guidance documents on Cordis (http://cordis.europa.eu) Participants portal (http://ec.europa.eu.research/participants/portal) General conditions of the Grant Agreement

Thank you for your attention