Those who are familiar with the proposal and negotiation submission forms know that in the past, participants had to provide to the Commission their legal and financial information every time they submit a proposal or negotiate a contract.

To eliminate these redundant requests for information, now in FP7 organisations are invited to register only once in the Unique Registration Facility or URF.

After registration, every organisation receives a Participant Identification Code (or PIC) which they will be able to use in all proposals submissions and negotiations.

The Participant Identification Code (PIC) is a 9 digits unique identifier for every validated legal entity. Participants will not have to submit their legal and financial information (and supporting documents) each time they submit a proposal or negotiate a grant agreement, but just their PIC.

As of 28 April 2008, the Unique Registration Facility (URF) is available via a Web interface.

This interface allows online registration of new organisations. For organisations that are already registered and have a PIC online access for viewing your data and requesting updates will be possible.

To get this access, your organisation has to nominate one person (usually from your central administration) the so-called Legal Entity Appointed Representative (LEAR).

Guidance and forms for appointing LEARs are available here.