Quality of life and management of living resources

have to be taken into account in the process. The experts examine proposals individually, then meet as a panel to agree a ranking. At this stage, they may recommend that certain proposals should be combined into larger projects or linked together as clusters (see section I.3.3). Following the evaluation, and according to the interest of Community, the Commission will establish a list of proposals in order of priority. This list will take into account the budget available (which has been set out in the call for proposals) plus, if necessary, a percentage of the call budget to allow for withdrawal of proposals and/or savings to be made during contract finalisation. Late or ineligible proposals, those of inadequate quality or for which there is not adequate budget will be subject to a “non-retained” decision by the Commission. This information, with the main reason for non-retention, will be communicated to the proposers concerned. III.4. Proposal selection The co-ordinators of proposals, which have been retained, will be notified in writing. This notification however does not ultimately commit the Commission to fund the project concerned. A brief report on the evaluation prepared by the Commission will be sent to the proposers via the proposal co-ordinator. Further administrative and financial information will be required to assess the viability of the proposed project. Hence, participants will have to demonstrate that they have all the necessary resources needed for carrying out the project. The Commission will check these, and may seek to safeguard its interest by asking for a bank guarantee or by other measures. The Commission may also propose modifications to the original proposal based on the result of the evaluation, or in terms of grouping or combination with others. On successful conclusion of these negotiations, the Commission will then offer contracts for the commencement of work, based on a timetable determined by the needs of the Specific Programme concerned. Any proposal, which is finally not taken up, due to a lack of available funding for example, will be subject to a “non-retained” decision by the Commission. This information, with the main reason for non-retention, will be communicated to the proposers concerned. III.5. The contract Contracts are issued to proposals successful in the procedure of selection. III.5.1. The various types of contracts Research contracts from the Commission fall into five main groups. They each have their own detailed conditions, appropriate to the types of action and the activities to which they refer. (see boxes 6, 7 and 8). III.5.2. The subject of the contract The main obligation of the participants is to carry out the project to completion in a pre-arranged period, and to make use of or disseminate its results. In return, the Commission undertakes to contribute financially to the realisation of the project, normally by reimbursing a certain percentage of the project costs. III.5.3. Rights and obligations of participants These may vary according to the nature of the action or the category of participant: · For Research and Technological Development (R&D) projects, Demonstration projects and Combined projects, a participant who has a wide-ranging role in the project throughout its lifetime is normally a principal contractor. A participant whose role is largely in support of one or several of these principal contractors is termed an assistant contractor. Principal contractors are distinguished from assistant contractors in two main ways: - all the principal contractors are collectively responsible to the Commission for the execution of the project and shall use reasonable endeavours to obtain the expected results; - principal contractors have rights of access to the results of the project and any pre-existing know how. Assistant contractors have limited rights. (see Box 8) · For support for access to research infrastructure, the host infrastructure is a principal contractor, who is responsible for the implementation of the action. · For SME co-operative research projects, SMEs benefiting from the project are principal contractors. Organisations performing the research, named RTD performers, are subcontractors and, as such, are not considered to be "participants". · For Exploratory awards, SMEs are principal contractors. For both SME Co-operative research projects and SME Exploratory awards, principal contractors share responsibility and have the same access to intellectual property rights. It should be noted that RTD performers, although they are not considered to be "participants", can have access to the know-how necessary to perform the research, and, in specific cases, to the knowledge resulting from the projects (see Box 8). · Concerted Actions, Research Training Networks and Thematic Networks distinguish between the principal contractor(s) who lead the action, and the members who are associated with them. Principal contractor(s) sign a membership contract with their members, with the prior agreement of the Commission and in conformity to their own Commission contract, and share with them joint and several responsibility, in relation to the carrying out of the project.. This distinction does not affect intellectual property rights. · For Accompanying Measures, the participants role shall vary according to the nature of the action (see Box 6). Principal contractors share joint and several responsibility. In Accompanying Measures specific to technology take-up members can participate. · For Fellowships, the Commissions contract is normally offered to the host institution, which then signs an agreement with the Fellow, conforming to the terms of the Commissions contract. Exceptionally, in the case of bursaries for Community Researchers (INCO 2), the Commission contract may be with the individual personally. In general, intellectual property rights shall be addressed in the agreement signed with the individual and according to the national legislation of the host institution. Participants in an action may conclude between themselves any agreements necessary to the completion of the work, provided these do not infringe on their obligations as stated in the contract they sign with the Commission. III.5.4. The co-ordination of the project Within a consortium, participants shall designate one of the principal contractors to carry out the co-ordination function. The co-ordinator is the liaison between the participants and the Commission, responsible for collecting, integrating and submitting project deliverables, and for distributing the funds received from the Commission. The costs incurred by the co-ordinator in the fulfilment of his responsibilities can be claimed as direct or indirect costs (see boxes 6 and 7). It should be noted that the successful management of the project is a joint commitment of all the participants. They may however agree amongst themselves to confer upon the co-ordinator additional