Section III

Grants may take any of the forms provided for in Article 123 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, taking into account the objectives of the action. Conditions for eligibility of costs are defined in Article 126 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012. Costs incurred by third parties under the action may be eligible according to the provisions of this Regulation and of the grant agreement. Ineligible costs are those not complying with the conditions of paragraph 1, including, in particular, provisions for possible future losses or charges, exchange losses, costs related to return on capital, costs reimbursed in respect of another Union action or programme, debt and debt service charges and excessive or reckless expenditure. Without prejudice to the conditions laid down in Article 26, direct eligible personnel costs shall be limited to salaries plus social security charges and other costs included in the remuneration of personnel assigned to the action, arising from national law or from the employment contract. Without prejudice to the conditions laid down in Article 26, additional remuneration to personnel of participants that are non-profit legal entities assigned to the action, including payments on the basis of supplementary contracts regardless of their nature, may also be considered as direct eligible personnel costs, up to the amount set out in paragraph 3, if they fulfil the following additional conditions: it is part of the usual remuneration practices of the participant and is paid in a consistent manner whenever the same kind of work or expertise is required; the criteria used to calculate the supplementary payments are objective and of general application by the participant, independent of the source of funding used. Additional remuneration may be eligible up to EUR 8000 per year and per person. In relation to a person not working exclusively for the action, a limit per hour shall apply. The limit per hour shall be calculated by dividing EUR 8000 by the number of annual productive hours calculated in accordance with Article 31. The funding of an action shall not exceed the total eligible costs minus the receipts of the action. The following shall be considered as receipts of the action: resources made available by third parties to the participants by means of financial transfers or contributions in kind free of charge, the value of which has been declared as eligible costs by the participant, provided that they have been contributed by the third party specifically to be used in the action; income generated by the action, except income generated by the exploitation of the results of the action; income generated from the sale of assets purchased under the grant agreement up to the value of the cost initially charged to the action by the participant. A single reimbursement rate of the eligible costs shall be applied per action for all activities funded therein. The maximum rate shall be fixed in the work programme or work plan. The Horizon 2020 grant may reach a maximum of 100 % of the total eligible costs, without prejudice to the co-financing principle. The Horizon 2020 grant shall be limited to a maximum of 70 % of the total eligible costs for innovation actions and programme co-fund actions. By way of derogation from paragraph 3, the Horizon 2020 grant may, for innovation actions, reach a maximum of 100 % of the total eligible costs for non-profit legal entities, without prejudice to the co-financing principle. The reimbursement rates determined in this Article shall also apply in the case of actions where flat rate, unit or lump-sum financing is fixed for the whole or part of the action. Indirect eligible costs shall be determined by applying a flat rate of 25 % of the total direct eligible costs, excluding direct eligible costs for subcontracting and the costs of resources made available by third parties which are not used on the premises of the beneficiary, as well as financial support to third parties. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, indirect costs may be declared in the form of a lump sum or unit costs when provided for in the work programme or work plan. The interim evaluation of Horizon 2020 shall include an evaluation of the impact of the various features introduced by the new funding levels laid down in Articles 27, 28 and 29 of this Regulation, with the aim of evaluating whether the new approach has led to undesired situations adversely affecting the attractiveness of Horizon 2020. Eligible personnel costs shall cover only the actual hours worked by the persons directly carrying out work under the action. Evidence regarding the actual hours worked shall be provided by the participant, usually through a time recording system. For persons working exclusively for the action, no time recording is required. In such cases, the participant shall sign a declaration confirming that the person concerned has worked exclusively for the action. The grant agreement shall contain: the minimum requirements for the time recording system; the option to choose between a fixed number of annual productive hours and the method for establishing the number of annual productive hours to be used for the calculation of the hourly personnel rates, taking account of the participant's usual accounting practices. The owners of SMEs who do not receive a salary, and other natural persons who do not receive a salary, may charge personnel costs on the basis of a unit cost. In accordance with Article 124 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, the Commission may establish methods to determine unit costs based on: statistical data or similar objective means; auditable historical data of the participant. Direct eligible personnel costs may be financed on the basis of unit costs determined according to the participant's usual cost accounting practices, provided that they comply with the following cumulative criteria: they are calculated on the basis of the total actual personnel costs recorded in the participant's general accounts which may be adjusted by the participant on the basis of budgeted or estimated elements according to the conditions defined by the Commission; they comply with Articles 26 and 27; they ensure compliance with the non-profit requirement and the avoidance of double funding of costs; they are calculated with due regard to Article 31. The certificate on the financial statements shall cover the total amount of the grant claimed by a participant under the form of reimbursement of actual costs and under the form of unit costs referred to in Article 33(2), excluding the amounts declared on the basis of lump sums, flat rates and unit costs other than those determined according to the participant's usual cost accounting practices. The certificate shall be submitted only when that amount is equal to or greater than EUR 325000 at the time of claiming the payment of the balance of the grant. Participants that calculate and claim direct personnel costs on the basis of unit costs in accordance with Article 33(2) may submit to the Commission a certificate on the methodology. That methodology shall comply with the conditions set out in Article 33(2) and meet the requirements of the grant agreement. Where the Commission accepts a certificate on the methodology, it shall be valid for all actions financed under Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013 and the participant shall calculate and claim costs on the basis of it. Once the Commission has accepted a certificate on the methodology, it shall not attribute any systemic or recurrent error to the accepted methodology. The certificates on the financial statements and on the methodology referred to in Articles 34 and 35 shall be established by an independent auditor qualified to carry out statutory audits of accounting documents in accordance with Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts, amending Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC and repealing Council Directive 84/253/EEC (OJ L 157, 9.6.2006, p. 87). or similar national regulations, or by a competent and independent public officer in whom the relevant national authorities have vested the legal capacity to audit the participant and who has not been involved in the preparation of the financial statements. Upon request by the Commission, the Court of Auditors or the European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF), the auditor who delivers the certificate on the financial statements and on the methodology shall grant access to the supporting documents and audit working papers on the basis of which a certificate on the financial statements or on the methodology was issued. An action for which a grant from the Union budget has been awarded may also give rise to the award of a grant on the basis of Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013, provided that the grants do not cover the same cost items.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-04 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.