What You Should Know When Building a Consortium in H2020

With €80 billion dispatched between 2014 and 2020, Horizon 2020 is a great opportunity to set-up a meaningful project for you and your lab. But as you might know, the European Commission often requires a minimum of 3 partners per project.

Building a consortium becomes mandatory for many calls.

A consortium is a group of organizations working together to secure funding and deliver services. The way you build a consortium depends on the type of funding you are applying for. And the type of funding is itself dependant on the results you want to achieve.

Setting up a consortium adds many benefits. Each organization brings its experience and resources to the project. So you will be able to diversify and deliver better results. However, all partners have a commitment to the group. Building a consortium stays associated with administrative and resources engagement.

You have to consider thoroughly the work associated with setting up a consortium before getting started. If you are considering it right now, this article might help make it real.

What you must remember about partnering

Complementarity and the sharing of know-how among the consortium partners are essential to the success of the project. The European H2020 “partnership” here is not synonymous with subcontracting. Partners co-invest to benefit from joint ownership of the results and the possible commercial exploitation. The consortium contract, or consortium agreement, is an essential element of the project and it is required when the project is submitted.

What are the eligible countries

Of course, the 28 member countries of the EU are eligible. Other countries can also be associated: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Faroe Islands, Macedonia, Iceland, Israel, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, and Turkey for example.

What is the consortium agreement

In all research and innovation projects financed under Horizon 2020 involving at least three partners, the consortium agreement is a compulsory document. The European Commission doesn’t sign it. But it requires that it is negotiated and signed the same day as the grant agreement.

The consortium agreement is signed between the members of the consortium and sets the rules of conduct for the project as well as the notions of intellectual property and exploitation of results.

When a project requires the signature of a consortium agreement, the document should explain:

• The project governance.
• The management of access to the electronic exchange system.
• The distribution of funding among participants.
• The dissemination, exploitation, and access to the results and knowledge of each partner.
• The resolution of potential internal conflicts between participants.
• Liability, indemnification, and confidentiality.

Are there examples/templates of consortium agreement available?

Three distinct consortium agreement models are available with reference to the Horizon 2020 program:

• DESCA 2020 (a public-private sector model drawn up by a steering committee ofANRT, EARTO, Eurochambres, KoWi, LERU, VTT, ZENIT, Fraunhofer and the Helmholtz Association);
• MCARD (ICT industry model developed within Digital Europe);
• EUCAR (model of the automotive industry).

All those examples/templates are available for free and you can choose which one suits best for your consortium.

What is different between a partner and a subcontractor here?

As we said earlier, a partnership under H2020 is not synonymous with subcontracting. On the one hand, a partner takes a risk by investing in the project, in order to exploit profits from positive results later on. It means, all the members of the consortium share the risks of the project because they operate on their own funds and financial assistance, and their own know-how to produce results for the project.

On the other hand, a subcontractor only provides a benefit with a financial counterpart.

Delegating the execution of certain tasks is sometimes more practical or economical. This is why the European Commission accepts the use of subcontracting.

The partners can call upon subcontractors for a technical part of their project. In fact, the grant agreement allows them to contract for the purchase of goods, works or services.

If you are interested in subcontracting in an H2020 project and what the rules are to do so you can read our other articles on the subject.

The takeaway message for all your future European projects is :

• Building a consortium becomes mandatory for many calls.
• The 28 member countries of the EU are eligible.
• The consortium agreement is a very important and compulsory document for which templates are available for free.
• This agreement is signed between the members of the consortium and sets the rules of the project.
• Partners share the risks of a project, and this sets the difference with the subcontractors that you can call upon.
• The subcontractors only provide a benefit with a financial counterpart.