Simplify Accessibility for SMEs in FP7 Workshop: Rules on Participation for implementation of FP7 Alexander Wahler, Hanival Internet Services GmbH Austria Brussels,

Content  Simplify Accessibility for SMEs  Provide more Financial Transparency  Standardize Consortium Agreements

Simplify Accessibility for SMEs  Allocate quotas for participation of SMEs (i.e. min. 25% for IPs)  Support participation of SMEs in Joint European Technology Groups  Simplify reporting and documentation procedures for SMEs  Provide language support in the proposal submission and negotiation phase

Provide more Financial Transparency  Increase certainty and planning of expected funding  faster time-to-contracting  faster time-to-money (shorten pre-payment cycles)  Increase Flat Rate for Indirect Costs for SMEs to 40% (20% in FP6)  Retain (EC) max 1% for risks

Standardize Consortium Agreements  Define distribution of EC financial contribution by the coordinator in grant agreement of EC and not in the consortium agreement  Support SMEs in negotiation of consortium agreements (i.e. legal subcontracting costs up to € are eligible costs for the project)  Provide multilingual guidelines for consortium agreements with special focus on IPRs for SMEs

Conclusion  Simplify rules and accessibility to increase successful participation of SMEs in FP7  Increase transparency of financial contributions and reduce financial risks for SMEs  Represent IPRs of SMEs in consortium agreements