Why Is Consortium Agreement Important

The grant agreement is a contract between the consortium (all its partners) and the European Commission, while the consortium agreement is an internal agreement between the consortium partners – it regulates all issues that are not covered by the grant agreement but are important for the internal functioning of the consortium (e.B. the organisation of work, b. structure, management of intellectual property, accountability, conflict resolution, future use and dissemination of results, etc.). In principle, the agreement may contain any agreement that the partners wish to conclude, provided that they do not conflict with the grant agreement and the Horizon 2020 participation rules. DESCA (Development of a Simplified Consortium Agreement) is the most popular of several Horizon 2020 consortium agreement templates. It is the result of a cooperation project supported by the European Commission. If you are the proud owner of a funded project and need more information, do not hesitate to contact us. So what should be done to meet the needs of consortium members at an early stage, without having to spend resources and time before there is more clarity on funding? Note: Costs associated with preparing a consortium agreement are not eligible because the consortium agreement must be signed prior to signing the grant agreement. However, costs related to the updating of the consortium agreement shall be eligible if they are incurred during the duration of the action. There is a clear motivation to start drafting the agreement as soon as possible. This can be during the tender phase, where operational relationships between partners are formed and tasks are assigned.

It is good practice to ensure that the project is well planned prior to submission, including all legal aspects. This practice can help avoid unwanted conflicts between partners. That being said, there is one important point to keep in mind: preparing a Horizon 2020 consortium agreement requires a significant investment of time, resources and funds for legal advice. If the project is not funded by the European Commission, such an allocation of money and time will essentially (and unfortunately) be wasted. Since the consortium agreement is indeed a commercial agreement, we strongly recommend the services of legal counsel with expertise in drafting such agreements. Further regulation of IP issues is not mandatory, but is strongly recommended for consortium partners. The following IP issues may be considered in the consortium agreement: Although it is not mandatory, we recommend that you refer to desca`s structure and guidelines when creating a consortium agreement. As mentioned above, it is advisable to hire an experienced legal advisor when preparing this agreement…

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