Key documents
Theses documents and more are available on Cordis
Changes of the identity and access management on the Participant Portal
The new identity and access management on the Participant Portal is planned to be available with the new release in the second week of February (6-12th). The exact date of the changes will be communicated on the Portal a few days before the actual changes would happen. View a summary of the main changes.
Research Clearing Committee (RCC)
In the context of the simplification initiatives for EU research and innovation funding, the Research Clearing Committee (RCC) was set up to ensure the uniform interpretation of the research rules among the different Commission services. RCC may be consulted on any legal, financial and management matter for which there is no common position among the European Commission's implementing services empowered to take final decisions on matters related to the implementation of the whole project cycle, as well as on all management matters related to FPs projects.
The RCC Secretariat would like to let you know that as of 2 January 2012, the FP7 participants may contact the Committee and bring their requests to its attention. More precisely, any participant in the Research Framework Programmes facing a situation where there appears to be different interpretations/implementations of the FP7 Research Framework Programmes rules or procedures between the Commission services is encouraged to communicate this situation and contact the RCC Secretariat.
To this end, the 12th Entry "Research Clearing Committee: Non-coherent application of FP7 rules and procedures" is now available and can be selected from the dropdown list of subjects in the Research Enquiry Service available on Europa Research Website. Also, a Frequently Asked Questions document will be uploaded shortly on the Europa website and on the Participant portal which will contain more information on the procedure to be followed.
Commission Green Paper on a Common Strategic Framework for EU research and innovation funding
The Commission has on 9 February adopted a Green Paper 'From Challenges to Opportunities: Towards a Common Strategic Framework for EU research and innovation funding' (COM(2011)48). This Green Paper launches a public consultation on the key issues to be taken into account for future EU research and innovation funding programmes. The outcome of the consultation will subsequently feed into the preparation of the Commission's formal proposals for these programmes, which are due to be adopted before the end of 2011. View the consultation website and documents. Submissions can be made until 20 May 2011.
Explanatory note regarding personnel cost
Read the explanatory note on the measures concerning the average personnel costs
and flat rate financing of SME owners and other natural persons not
receiving a salary.
Publication of updates of FP7 Consortium Agreement Checklist and FP7 IPR Guidelines
An update of the Checklist for a Consortium Agreement for FP7 projects (the first update) and the Guide to Intellectual Property Rules for FP7 projects (the third update) has been published on Cordis.
Elements of simplification into the recovery process
Simplification of the recovery process in the framework of the implementation of the
audit strategy under the Framework Programmes (EC, Euratom) for research
Commission decision of 15.6.2009 establishing a flat rate of indirect costs
In accordance with Article 32(5) of the FP7 Rules for Participation, the Commission has adopted on 15 June 2009 the Decision on the revision of the FP7 transitional indirect cost flat rate of 60%.
The Commission has decided to maintain the flat rate for indirect costs at 60% for the purposes of grants awarded to non-profit public bodies, secondary and higher education establishments, research organisations and small and medium enterprises under calls closing after 31 December 2009, as referred to in Article 32(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1906/2006 and Article 31(5) of Regulation (Euratom) No 1908/2006.
Please note that this information is available on Cordis.
In Annex II of the model grant agreement (Article II.15.2 c)), footnote 7 is deleted in accordance with the above-mentioned decision. The updated version of Annex II will be published as soon as possible on Cordis.
Summary report
Summary Report of the Forum of conference Research Connection 2009 - Full costing and FP7
Submit financial statements online using FORCE
A new web based application called FORCE is working and allows coordinators to access, complete and
submit forms C. For FP6 projects, it is still possible to submit Forms C through an
excel sheet but it is highly recommended to use FORCE also for FP6. For
FP7 projects, it is mandatory to use the web based application FORCE to
submit 'Form C'. FORCE is now accessible via the web based application
called 'SESAM', at the following address:
http://webgate.ec.europa.eu/sesam. To access FORCE, coordinators have to
create an account in SESAM and indicate the link to their project.
Unique Registration Facility (URF) for organisations participating in FP7
The European Commission's new Unique Registration Facility (URF) for organisations participating in FP7 is now available. Organisations will receive a unique Participant Identification Code (PIC) that can be used in proposal submission and grant negotiation, avoiding having to provide their legal and financial data again.
Please ensure that these efforts are coordinated across your organisation and as applicable a single Legal Entity Appointed Representative (LEAR) is appointed for the organisation.
Note that FAQs are also available.
The website also provides a facility for searching for organisations and their Participant Identification Codes (PICs). Queries are possible by legal name, city, country or VAT number (at least a three character string of either a legal name or a VAT number has to be inserted).
Presentation
EU FP7 legal and financial aspects
By Jacqueline Barnett,
SAFP7 Legal and Financial Assistant National Contact Point
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