Quality of life and management of living resources

responsibilities, provided this does not infringe on their obligations as stated in the contract they sign with the Commission. III.5.5. Subcontractors Sub-contractors are not participants in a project. Their function is only as service providers to a principal contractor, an assistant contractor or a member, who fully funds their activity. The costs are then reimbursable by the Commission according to the rules of the contract in force. Sub-contractors make no financial investment in the project, and they therefore do not benefit from any intellectual property rights arising from its achievements (see boxes 6 and 7). III.6. Project follow-up In order for the Commission to verify the execution of the contract, participants are required to submit, via the co-ordinator interim and final reports as well as reports of costs incurred. These reports will be analysed by Commission services in the light of the criteria, which led to the original selection of the proposal This will ensure the project conforms to the conditions associated with the Community financial contribution, and that the progress foreseen actually takes place. The reports are also used to assess whether and in what manner the project should continue to be supported.

In addition, and conforming to objectives stated in the Fifth Framework Programme decision concerning the use and dissemination of results, the Commission will follow-up the implementation of the results of the project. Therefore participants are in general required to produce a “Technology Implementation Plan” indicating how the knowledge gained will be used. The Commission will ensure, where necessary, the confidentiality of these data. III.7. Financial contribution of the Community The Commission undertakes a financial contribution to the work. With the exception of those cases where the Commission's contribution takes the form of a lump sum payment, the Commission reimburses eligible costs incurred by participants as the project progresses. Payment is made in instalments at regular intervals. III.7.1. Incurred eligible costs Participants are required to identify and declare their eligible costs by the submission of interim and final cost statements based on the actual costs incurred for the execution of the project. Participants must retain supporting documents, which justify these costs, for at least 5 years from the end of each payment, to permit auditing by Commission services or other institutions, e.g. the European Court of Auditors. The different categories of costs that are eligible for Commission funding differ according to type of contract (see Boxes 6 and 7). III.7.2. Calculation methods A number of different methods are used to calculate the Commission funding, depending on the type of action involved and on the participants capacity to identify his incurred costs (see boxes 6 and 7). For Research and Technological Development projects, Demonstration and Combined Research and Demonstration projects, three calculation methods are used: full cost actual overhead (FC), full cost flat rate (FF) and additional cost (AC). For Accompanying Measures, one calculation method is used for all participants. The overhead may be calculated as a flat rate of the personnel costs and in some cases no overheads may be allowed. For technology take-up measures not all cost categories may be allowable. For Concerted Actions and Thematic Networks, all participants use the additional cost model (AC), so overheads are calculated as 20% of all direct costs (except subcontracting). Use of permanent staff is allowed for all types of organisations if accurate time records are kept. III.7.3. Payment of the contribution The Community contribution is paid in Euro, in a number of regular instalments based on cost claims submitted by participants with their interim and final reports. The Commission may make advance payments at the beginning of the project, contingent on verification of the participants financial standing. In certain circumstances the Commission may request financial or other guarantees to ensure the security of any advance payment made. This is particularly necessary for those shared-cost actions where the participants themselves are expected to support part of the cost. III.8. Assistance available to proposers The EC carries out a range of activities in support of potential proposers. These vary as appropriate according to the nature of the Call and the Specific Programme concerned. Therefore, they are detailed in the Guide Part 2. For each programme there is a network of National Contact Points in Member and Associated States. The National Contact Points can be helpful to organisations from their country in finding partners from other countries, and in assisting in procedural or administrative matters. There are a number of other networks such as Innovation Relay Centres, Euro Info Centres etc., which potential proposers may also consult. The European Commission maintains an Infodesk for each programme of the Fifth Framework Programme for the duration of their Calls. Any questions concerning the Call not covered in this document nor in the material available at the programme web site may be directed to the Infodesk, whose address is included in the Call specific information in the Guide Part 2. The Infodesk will post any last-minute information concerning the Call on the programme website, which potential proposers should check periodically for this reason. The certification service provider has established an EU-wide support network for proposers in the national languages. Details are given on the web page relating to this service (http://www.fp5.csp.org). The Commission may organise “Info-days”, to disseminate information about the Fifth Framework or a particular Call, and also to provide an occasion for proposers to meet potential consortium partners. The Commissions CORDIS server in Luxembourg (http://www.cordis.lu/fp5/) offers a number of services and information sources which may be useful in particular to support partner search activities. It also contains details of organisations which have already expressed an interest in participating to the different programmes under the Fifth Framework Programme. In addition, the CORDIS website offers targeted information concerning both implementation modalities of the specific programmes as well as financial and administrative management aspects.

Box 3 - Co-operation with non-EU Countries and International Organisations

Opportunities for participation in proposal consortia In planning a RTD proposal for submission to one of the programmes or to the key action Improving the socio-economic knowledge base, researchers should be aware that it is also open to participation by entities from non-EU countries and to international organisations. The opening falls into three categories and in all cases, the third country/international organisation