1. Amr Radwan Egypt RDIN focal point
Negotiation phase
Amr Radwan
Egypt RDIN focal point

2. Important Terminology
Your research plan is called "proposal" when it is not yet decided if it will be funded or not. It becomes "project" only after the signature of the contract. During the Negotiation phase, Part B of your proposal (the scientific part) is called "Description of Work". When the contract is signed, the Part B (scientific) is called "Annex I" to the contract or "Technical Annex".
grant (contract) forms (the GPF – Grant Preparation Form).
Consortium agreement (About 4 – 8 weeks. It is usually done in parallel with the completion of the GPF and the Description of Work)
Grant Agreement
Competitive Call

3. Important Terminology…..ESR
“Your proposal was evaluated against the criteria published for the call. The attached evaluation summary report (ESR) records the views of the expert evaluators and the scores that your proposal achieved”.
Common Examples of Poor comments
This proposal fails to advance the state of the art in X or Y, it does not take Z into account
The resources in Workpackages 4 and 6 are seriously underestimated given the complexity of the activity involved
The consortium management plan is inadequate. It does not include clear overall responsibility for the demonstration activities; it omits a problem-solving mechanism in the event of disputes between partners
Dissemination activities are not adequately discussed…
The consortium lacks a sufficient SME participation…
The proposal coordinator does not demonstrate in the proposal an adequate level of experience of work in this field
Examples of Good Comments
This proposal is good overall on this criterion. Its strengths are A, B and C. Its main weakness is D” Score 4
Success Rate: Agriculture, Fisheries and Biotechnology 14,7% (FP6: 16,4%) 838 Proposals have been submitted & evaluated, 123 have been funded

4. Who can take part at the negotiation meeting ?
From the proposal's side:
- the Coordinator of the proposal (mandatory); - colleagues, assistants of the Coordinator (not mandatory; only if the Coordinator wants to be assisted during the meeting by some of his colleagues, and the Project Officer accepts to meet them all). The Coordinator can be assisted during the negotiation meeting by some of the partners in the consortium and/or by officers in the central administration of his own institution (for instance, financial officer). From the Commission's side:
- the Project Officer in charge with the project (mandatory); - a second Project Officer (not mandatory); - a legal and / or financial officer from the Commission (not mandatory); - external experts, possibly including those involved during the evaluation phase (not mandatory).
Where the negotiation meeting takes place ? The Negotiation meeting always takes place in Brussels, at a time agreed in principle between the Project Officer and the Coordinator.
Who pays for the travel to the negotiation meeting ? The participants to the meeting (Coordinator, etc) pay the costs of their travel, accommodation, daily allowance, etc. These costs will not be reimbursed by the Commission or by the EC grant requested by the proposal.
If there are not too many changes required for your proposal, the Project Officer may agree with you, the Coordinator, not to organize a negotiation meeting at all.

5. Proposal Time Scale Proposal 3M Evaluation 6M Negotiation 3-5M
Contract
12-48M
Project Duration
~12M
Final Payment
max 5Y
Audit
The proposal evaluation lasts a day, but to due to the total number of proposals and the internal EC procedures, the final decision may take up to 6 months.

6. Time-frame, from our experience
Call deadline
Official letter with evaluation result: not indicating any ranking!
Official letter with negotiation invitation:
with password to NEF-system:
Deadline set for legal info filled out online:
Deadline set for GPF submitted online:
Deadline set for negotiation to be finished:

7. Invitation to Negotiations
Following the positive evaluation of a proposal and the decision of Commission’s maximum financial contribution, the coordinator is invited by letter to commence negotiations
The invitation is accompanied by the “independent experts” advice: Evaluation Summary Report; and (if applicable) an Ethical Review Report
Negotiation Mandate: This document is the guide for the expected changes
The name and contact details of the Commission’s Project Officer(s) which will be indicated
The letter of invitation shall also indicate the deadlines for the submission of the first draft of ANNEX 1 and for the conclusion of the negotiations
The negotiation process comprises of 2 distinct procedures
The Legal and Financial Negotiations
The Technical Negotiations !

8. Negotiation Process (1)
Step 1: Results of the Evaluation
The coordinator receives the Evaluation Summary Report containing the comments of the evaluators and a list of recommendations for negotiation
Step 2: Invitation to negotiate – Negotiation Mandate
1-2 months after the evaluation the project officer invites the coordinator for negotiations
Step 3: First round of negotiations
Based on the Negotiation Mandate the coordinator proceeds with amendments related to the technical and financial aspects of the project
Step 4: Second round of negotiations
Creation of the GPFs by the commission and the coordinator
Step 5: Contract Awarded
The Coordinator downloads the final version of the grant agreement and finalises it (signs it) along with the other beneficiaries

9. Negotiation Process (2)
1st round
2nd round
Technical Negotiations
Update of Annex 1 (DoW)
Validation of new Annex 1
Signature of Grant Agreement
Negotiation Meeting
Negotiation Meeting
Consortium Agreement
NEF
Financial & Legal Negotiations
Validation of Legal Status
Budget
The Technical Negotiations take place with the Scientific Project Officer through s and phone calls.
The Legal Negotiations take place with the Legal & Financial officer mainly using the NEF tool.
A signed consortium agreement is mandatory before the signature of the GA, unless specifically excluded by the terms of the call for proposals (e.g. INCO)

10. Legal & Financial Negotiations
Legal negotiations include the analysis and review of the legal status of the applicants and the final composition of the consortium
Financial Negotiations focus mainly on budgetary matters(Total Budget for full duration of project, Breakdown, Subcontracting, pre finance, Timing )
During this part :it was agreed on total costs, eligible costs, max contribution, methodology to calculate, budget breakdown table, prefinancing 160% of average funding period, , start data and duration, any planned competitive calls, report timing, subcontracting
Both Legal and Financial negotiations are performed by the LEAR: Every organisation appoints a so-called LEAR – Legal Entity Appointed Representative who is the correspondent towards the Commission on all issues related to the legal status of the entity, providing up-to-date legal and financial data (including supporting documents, where necessary) and commits to maintain the information up-to-date, enabling future use for grants between the entity and the Commission research (and other) programmes.

11. Legal Negotiations
The main aspects to be resolved during this session are:
Issues
Coordinator
Project Officer
Change of Coordinator/partner
Request a written approval by all the beneficiaries
Approve and validate the requested changes
Change of the Legal Status of a partner
Communicate to the LEAR the changes that need to be done
Verification and Validation by the Central Validation Team.
Coordinator assessment
Demonstrate management skills, capabilities & experience.
Approval of coordinator
Method for calculation of indirect cost
Check with partners and if wrong inform LEAR and Validation Unit
Validation
Consortium Agreement (CA)
Prepare and conclude the CA
Checking that a CA is in place
Start Date/duration, Timing of Reporting periods
Negotiate start date
Reach an agreement
Inclusion of special clauses
Agree on the inclusion of special terms (e.g. on ethical issues)
Partner Signatures
Collect signatures on A2 forms & Signature of GA (initials on every page)
Validation of A2 forms& preparation of GA

12. Grant Agreement Preparation Forms GPFs
The Grant Agreement Preparation Forms (GPFs) (similar to the proposal A2 forms) help identify the beneficiaries who will sign the Grant Agreement and to determine the eligible costs and EC contribution
The GPFs are available in electronic format through an online tool, called NEF, and should be completed by the coordinators on behalf of all applicants (this is not applicable for the Legal Status and the Organisational Status which are performed by the LEAR and the Validation Unit).

13. Grant Preparation Forms (GPF) - overview
A1 – Project summary
A2.1 – Who we are: Legal name, PIC, address, contact for legal info
A2.2 – Who we are: type of organisation
A2.3 – Authorised representatives
A2.4 – How to contact us
A2.5 – Our commitment
A2.6 – Data protection & coordination role
A3.1 – What it costs - Budget per partner
A3.2 – What it costs - Overall budget
A4 – Bank account: details of coordinating institution
A5 – Reporting periods: Budget per reporting period
Coordinator
All partners
Coordinator
All partners
Automatic
Coordinator
Coordinator

23. NEF process

24. NEF process

25. NEF process

26. Points to be taken into considerations
Time Pressure- Lack of urgency
EC may neggotiate thousand of contracts at the same time and a Project Officer (PO) may be in charge of up to thirty contracts. During this time the PO, is under considerable pressure and sets strict deadlines
One of the most important task of the coordinator is to create a sense of urgency through two different ways:
Deadline setting
Be specific and clear with well documented requests
Dissatisfied Partners
Partners may complain about the lack of communication during the negotiation phase
Every time a significant change is performed send an to all partners

27. Best practices for partners
Check the different versions of Annex I thoroughly and make sure that your share of work and budget share are correct
Submit any requested information and documentation to the coordinator within the specified time-frame and in good quality
Make sure that your role in the consortium is clear and adequate – if not, clarify with the coordinator and other partners concerned
Set up an internal budget plan covering the whole project period, possibly with the help of your finance department
Make yourself familiar with the rules of participation – ask the coordinator for help/advice, if anything is unclear

28. Final report on distribution of community financial contribution
Good to go!
Final report on distribution of
community financial contribution
GA into force
Prefinancing
Periodic report I
Periodic report II
Final report
45d P1 P2 P3
60d
105d
60d
105d
60d
105d
30d
Interim Payment
Interim Payment
Start date project
End date project
Final Payment
Project duration + 2 years:
Upon request, COM has to be informed about foreground of project
Reporting and Payments: Timeline
Project duration + 5 years:
Financial, technical audits as well as ethics audits can be arranged by the COM
Confidential information has to be kept confidential
Data for review, impact assessments and evaluations can be requested by COM
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29. I need help!
Need Help?
Coordinators and participants looking for technical help with NEF can ask the FP7 Help Desk by sending an to