Research and Innovation Participant Portal Concept for electronic-only grant management in Horizon 2020 Peter HÄRTWICH peter.haertwich@ec.europa.eu eFP7 Communication Office RTD M2

EU Financial Regulation Preamble (33) This Regulation should foster the objective of e-Government, and in particular the use of electronic data in the exchange of information between the institutions and third parties. (49) Progress towards electronic exchange of information and electronic submission of documents, which constitute a major simplification measure, should be accompanied by clear conditions for the acceptance of the systems to be used, so as to establish a legally sound environment. CHAPTER 7 IT systems and e-Government Article 93 Electronic management of operations 1. Where revenue and expenditure operations are managed by means of computer systems, documents may be signed by a computerised or electronic procedure.

Horizon 2020 Rules for Participation Article 18 Secure electronic system The Commission or the relevant funding body may establish a secure electronic system for exchanges with the participants. A document submitted by means of this system, including grant agreements, shall be deemed to be the original of that document where the user identification and password of the participant's representative have been used. Such identification shall constitute the signature of the document concerned.

Concept for paperless grant management in Horizon 2020 System with qualified electronic signatures (legal equivalent to paper signature) is not feasible Instead: Exchanges in a secured electronic system Identity and access management using ECAS; Digital seal for all transactions (content and metadata) Chain of trust to secure identity of persons Full electronic document registration, storage and access in the Participant Portal

Three main requirements Identity of the signatory Integrity of the signed document Non-repudiation

Identity of signatories: "Chain of trust" One person in the central administration of each organisation to be appointed by the Legal Representative in a formal process using blue ink signature = Legal Entity Appointed Representative (LEAR) Appointment letter to comprise supporting documents on identity of the legal representative and the LEAR LEAR mandate (among other issues): assign persons authorised to sign the different types of documents; supervise assignment of other roles in the Participant Portal IAM for their organisation

Integrity of document: digital seal Digitally sealed PDF document containing: Full content of the transmitted document Set of metadata: certified time stamp, ECAS credentials of the actors in the transaction… Digital seal is an advanced electronic signature, using public-private key mechanism Insures integrity of information: any attempt to change leads to break of the signature Is stored in the project archive for access at any time by all actors in the project

Non-repudiation Identity and access management using ECAS and the chain of trust Digital signature issued by a third party, containing metadata of the transaction (credentials of users, third party certified time stamp) Transparency (digital project archive) for all parties involved Terms of use for the secured electronic exchange system to be confirmed by all users (in particular on keeping ECAS credentials secretly)

  1 2 3 4 5 COMMISSION COORDINATOR BENEFICIARIES Grant Agreement Accession Forms Grant Agreement Accession Forms 1 When the grant preparation is finished, it is digitally sealed by the Commission, insuring the integrity of its contents. EC SEAL  Notification to Coordinator Grant Agreement EC SEAL Accession Forms 2 The Legal Signatory of the coordinating entity signs the grant electronically. Grant Agreement EC SEAL COO Accession Forms COO 3 The Commission signs the grant electronically.  Notification to Beneficiaries EC Grant Agreement EC SEAL COO Accession Forms EC 4 Each beneficiary, through their Legal Signatories, must then sign electronically the "Accession forms" part. BEN1 BEN2 BEN3 BEN4 Grant Agreement EC SEAL COO Accession Forms BEN1 BEN2 BEN3 BEN4 EC 5 The Grant Agreement is then finalised.

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