1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. Who will negotiate?
Project officers
Legal officers
Coordinators

6. 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

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

8. 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

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

10. 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

11. 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 ( )
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

12. 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.

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

14. 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)

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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)

18. 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!

19. In practice: Costs details
Provide the costs details in NEF with the (revised) description of work
Provide the costs without decimals (e.g. EUR ,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)

20. 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

21. 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

22. More information ? Do not hesitate to contact the project officer!
Guidance documents on Cordis (
Participants portal (
General conditions of the Grant Agreement

23. Thank you
for your attention