Some financial and legal implications of H2020

Mon, 23 Sep 2013 09:56:58 +0200

... have been published recently (sources: Finance helpdesk, Euresearch). The following changes are expected:

Changes to the Grant agreement:· A single document with all provisions (no more Core +Annex II)· No more specific Annex III or special clauses. All provisions will be integrated in the grant agreement· On-line explanations for each part of the grant ("annotated GA")

Changes in Implementation:· Electronic signature of Grant Agreement, amendments and Financial Statements,· Communication between the Commission and beneficiaries through the Participant Portal.

Changes in Certification:· Certificates on Financial Statements - only if total amount of the grant of the beneficiary is ≥ 325 k€ at the time of the payment of the balance (FP7: 375 k€),· Certificates on the Methodology - as an option when using unit costs for direct personnel costs.

Changes in Personnel Costs:· Clarification of special cases such as in-house consultants,· Define the standard formula for the calculation of the hourly rates,· Time Recording requirements will be defined,· Specific provisions for personnel costs, list of types of costs which may be considered "direct" (including explanations), etc.

Other Changes:· Definition of what is a direct cost for an H2020 project,· Non-Deductible VAT shall (mostly) be Eligible,· Possibly introducing the ability to use average exchange rates for cost reporting,· Financial viability checks only on Coordinators.