1.   The following minimum conditions shall apply:

2.   For the purposes of paragraph 1, where one of the participants is the JRC, or an international European interest organisation or an entity created under Union law, it shall be deemed to be established in a Member State or associated country other than any Member State or associated country in which another participant in the same action is established.

3.   By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the minimum condition shall be the participation of one legal entity established in a Member State or associated country, in the case of:

4.   By way of derogation from paragraph 1, in the case of coordination and support actions and training and mobility actions, the minimum condition shall be the participation of one legal entity.

5.   Where appropriate and duly justified, work programmes or work plans may provide for additional conditions according to specific policy requirements or to the nature and objectives of the action, including inter alia conditions regarding the number of participants, the type of participant and the place of establishment.

1.   The following participants are eligible for funding from the Union:

2.   In the case of a participating international organisation or in the case of a participating legal entity established in a third country, neither of which are eligible for funding according to paragraph 1, funding from the Union may be granted provided that at least one of the following conditions is fulfilled:

1.   Calls for proposals shall be issued in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 and Regulation (EU) No 1268/12, taking account in particular of the need for transparency and non-discrimination, and for flexibility appropriate to the diverse nature of the research and innovation sectors.

2.   As an exception and without prejudice to the other cases provided for in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 and Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012, calls for proposals shall not be issued for coordination and support actions and programme co-fund actions to be carried out by legal entities identified in the work programmes or work plans provided that the action does not fall within the scope of a call for proposals.

3.   In accordance with the relevant rules of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 and Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012, sufficient time periods for preparing proposals shall be provided, with reasonable notice of upcoming calls for proposals through the publication of a work programme and a reasonable time period between the publication of a call for proposals and the deadline for submitting a proposal.

1.   Joint calls for proposals with third countries or their scientific and technological organisations and agencies or with international organisations may be issued to jointly fund actions in priority areas of common interest and expected mutual benefit where there is a clear added value for the Union. Proposals shall be evaluated and selected through joint evaluation and selection procedures to be agreed upon. Such evaluation and selection procedures shall ensure compliance with the principles set out in Title VI of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 and involve a balanced group of independent experts appointed by each party.

2.   Legal entities receiving funding from the Union shall conclude a grant agreement with the Union or the relevant funding body. That grant agreement shall include a description of the work to be done by those participants and by the participating legal entities from the third countries involved.

3.   Legal entities receiving funding from the Union shall conclude a coordination agreement with the participating legal entities receiving funding from the relevant third countries or international organisations.

1.   Proposals shall include a draft plan for the exploitation and dissemination of the results, where provided for in the work programme or work plan.

2.   Any proposal for research on human embryonic stem cells shall include, as appropriate, details of licensing and control measures that will be taken by the competent authorities of the Member States concerned as well as details of the ethical approvals that will be provided. As regards the derivation of human embryonic stem cells, institutions, organisations and researchers shall be subject to strict licensing and control in accordance with the legal framework of the Member States concerned.

3.   A proposal which contravenes ethical principles or any applicable legislation, or which does not fulfil the conditions set out in Decision No 2013/743/EU, in the work programme, in the work plan or in the call for proposals may be excluded from the evaluation, selection and award procedures at any time.

4.   Where relevant and specified in the work programme or the work plan, proposals shall explain how and to what extent gender analysis is relevant to the content of the intended project.

1.   The Commission shall systematically carry out ethics reviews for proposals raising ethical issues. That review shall verify the respect of ethical principles and legislation and, in the case of research carried out outside the Union, that the same research would have been allowed in a Member State.

2.   The Commission shall make the process of the ethics review as transparent as possible and ensure that it is carried out in a timely manner avoiding, where possible, the resubmission of documents.

1.   The proposals submitted shall be evaluated on the basis of the following award criteria:

2.   Only the criterion referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1 shall apply to proposals for ERC frontier research actions.

3.   The criterion referred to in point (b) of paragraph 1 may be given a higher weighting for proposals for innovation actions.

4.   The work programme or work plan shall lay down further details of the application of the award criteria laid down in paragraph 1, and specify weightings and thresholds.

5.   The Commission shall take into account the possibility of a two-stage submission procedure provided for in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 and Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012, where appropriate and consistent with the objectives of the call for proposals.

6.   Proposals shall be ranked according to the evaluation results. The selection shall be made on the basis of that ranking.

7.   The evaluation shall be carried out by independent experts.

8.   In the case of a legal entity referred to in Article 11(2) or in other duly justified exceptional circumstances, the evaluation may be carried out in a manner derogating from paragraph 7. In each case of such evaluation the Commission shall provide the Member States with detailed information on the evaluation procedure used and its outcome.

9.   In cases where the requested funding from the Union for the action is equal or superior to EUR 500 000, the Commission or the relevant funding body shall, by means compatible with national law, verify in advance the financial capacity of only the coordinators. Furthermore, whenever there are grounds to doubt the financial capacity of the coordinator or other participants on the basis of available information, the Commission or the relevant funding body shall verify their financial capacity.

10.   The financial capacity shall not be verified either in respect of legal entities whose viability is guaranteed by a Member State or an associated country or in respect of higher and secondary education establishments.

11.   Financial capacity may be guaranteed by any other legal entity, whose financial capacity shall in turn be verified in accordance with paragraph 9.

1.   The Commission or the relevant funding body shall provide a transparent evaluation review procedure for applicants which consider that the evaluation of their proposal has not been carried out in accordance with the procedures set out in this Regulation, the relevant work programme, work plan or the call for proposals.

2.   A request for review shall relate to a specific proposal, and shall be submitted by the coordinator of the proposal within 30 days of the date on which the Commission or the relevant funding body informs the coordinator of the evaluation results.

3.   The Commission or the relevant funding body shall be responsible for the examination of the request referred to in paragraph 2. The examination shall cover only the procedural aspects of the evaluation, and not the merits of the proposal.

4.   An evaluation review committee composed of Commission staff or of staff of the relevant funding body shall provide an opinion on the procedural aspects of the evaluation process. It shall be chaired by an official of the Commission or of the relevant funding body, from a department other than that responsible for the call for proposals. The committee may recommend one of the following:

5.   On the basis of the recommendation referred to in paragraph 4, a decision shall be taken by the Commission or the relevant funding body and notified to the coordinator of the proposal. The Commission or the relevant funding body shall take such decision without undue delay.

6.   The review procedure shall not delay the selection process of proposals which are not the subject of requests for review.

7.   The review procedure shall not preclude any other actions the participant may take in accordance with Union law.

1.   The Commission shall ensure the existence of a procedure for participants to make enquiries or complaints about their involvement in Horizon 2020.

2.   The Commission shall ensure that information on how to register concerns, enquiries or complaints is made available to all participants and is published on-line.

1.   The Commission shall, in close cooperation with the Member States, draw up model grant agreements between the Commission or the relevant funding body and the participants in accordance with this Regulation. If a significant modification of a model grant agreement is required, the Commission shall, in close cooperation with the Member States, revise it as appropriate.

2.   The Commission or the relevant funding body shall enter into a grant agreement with the participants. The removal or substitution of an entity before signature of the grant agreement shall be duly justified.

3.   The grant agreement shall establish the rights and obligations of the participants and of either the Commission or the relevant funding body in compliance with this Regulation. It shall also establish the rights and obligations of legal entities which become participants during the implementation of the action, as well as the role and tasks of a consortium coordinator.

4.   On the basis of a requirement in a work programme or work plan, the grant agreement may establish rights and obligations of the participants with regard to access rights, exploitation and dissemination, in addition to those laid down in this Regulation.

5.   The grant agreement shall, where appropriate and to the extent possible, reflect the general principles laid down in the Commission Recommendation on the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers, principles of research integrity, the Commission Recommendation on the management of intellectual property in knowledge transfer activities, the Code of Practice for universities and other public research institutions as well as the gender equality principle laid down in Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013.

6.   The grant agreement shall, where appropriate, contain provisions ensuring the respect of ethical principles, including the establishment of an independent ethics board and the right of the Commission to carry out an ethics audit by independent experts.

7.   In duly justified cases, specific grants for actions may form part of a framework partnership in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 and Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012.

1.   In accordance with Article 128(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, calls for proposals shall specify the planned date by which all applicants shall be informed of the outcome of the evaluation of their application and the indicative date for the signature of grant agreements or the notification of grant decisions.

2.   The dates referred to in paragraph 1 shall be based on the following periods:

3.   The periods referred to in paragraph 2 may be exceeded for actions of the ERC and in exceptional, duly justified cases, in particular where actions are complex, where there is a large number of proposals or where requested by the applicants.

4.   Participants shall be given reasonable time to submit the information and documentation required for the signature of the grant agreement. The Commission shall make decisions and requests for information as promptly as possible. Where possible, resubmission of documents shall be avoided.

1.   Participants shall implement actions in compliance with all the conditions and obligations set out in this Regulation, Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012, Decision 2013/743/EU, the work programme or work plan, the call for proposals and the grant agreement.

2.   Participants shall make no commitments which are incompatible with this Regulation or the grant agreement. Where a participant fails to comply with its obligations regarding the technical implementation of the action, the other participants shall comply with the obligations without any additional Union funding unless the Commission or the relevant funding body expressly relieves them of that obligation. In the event of a participant defaulting, the Commission may, in accordance with point (a) of Article 39(3) transfer the amount due from the Participant Guarantee Fund referred to in Article 38 to the coordinator of the action. The financial responsibility of each participant shall be limited to its own debt subject to the provisions relating to the Participant Guarantee Fund. Participants shall ensure that the Commission or the relevant funding body is informed in due time of any event which might significantly affect the implementation of the action or the interests of the Union.

3.   Participants shall implement the action and shall take all necessary and reasonable measures to that end. They shall have the appropriate resources as and when needed for carrying out the action. Where it is necessary for the implementation of the action, they may call upon third parties, including subcontractors, to carry out work under the action or may use resources made available by third parties by means of contributions in kind, according to the conditions set out in the grant agreement. Participants shall retain responsibility towards the Commission or the relevant funding body and towards the other participants for the work carried out.

4.   The award of subcontracts for carrying out certain elements of the action shall be limited to the cases provided for in the grant agreement and to duly justified cases that could not be clearly foreseen at the time of entry into force of the grant agreement.

5.   Third parties other than subcontractors may carry out work under the action under the conditions laid down in the grant agreement. The third party and the work to be carried out by it shall be identified in the grant agreement.

Costs incurred by those third parties may be deemed eligible if the third party meets all the following conditions:

6.   Third parties may also make available resources to a participant by means of contributions in kind to the action. Costs incurred by third parties in relation to such contributions which are made free of charge are eligible for funding provided they meet the conditions established in the grant agreement.

7.   The action may involve financial support to third parties under the conditions established in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 and Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012. The amounts referred to in point (c) of Article 137(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 may be exceeded where it is necessary to achieve the objectives of an action.

8.   The action carried out by participants which are contracting authorities within the meaning of Directive 2004/17/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (24), Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (25) and Directive 2009/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (26) may involve or have as their primary aim the pre-commercial procurement and procurement of innovative solutions, where provided for in a work programme or a work plan and required for its implementation. In such cases, the rules set out in Article 51(2), (4) and (5) of this Regulation shall apply to the procurement procedures carried out by the participants.

9.   Participants shall comply with national legislation, regulations and ethical rules in the countries where the action will be carried out. Where appropriate, participants shall seek the approval of the relevant national or local ethics committees prior to the start of the action.

10.   Work using animals shall be carried out in accordance with Article 13 TFEU and shall comply with the requirement to replace, reduce and refine the use of animals for scientific purposes in accordance with Union law and in particular with Directive 2010/63/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (27).

1.   The members of any consortium wishing to participate in an action shall appoint one of them to act as coordinator, which shall be identified in the grant agreement. The coordinator shall be the principal point of contact between the members of the consortium in relations with the Commission or the relevant funding body, unless specified otherwise in the grant agreement, or in the event of non-compliance with its obligations under the grant agreement.

2.   The members of a consortium participating in an action shall conclude an internal agreement ("the consortium agreement") establishing their rights and obligations with respect to the implementation of the action in compliance with the grant agreement, except in duly justified cases provided for in the work programme or work plan or call for proposals. The Commission shall publish guidelines on the main issues that may be addressed by participants in the consortium agreement.

3.   The consortium agreement may stipulate inter alia the following:

The members of the consortium may make any arrangements in the consortium they deem fit to the extent that those arrangements are not in conflict with the grant agreement or this Regulation.

4.   The consortium may propose to add or remove a participant or change the coordinator in accordance with the relevant provisions of the grant agreement, provided that the change is in conformity with the conditions for participation, does not adversely affect the implementation of the action and is not contrary to the principle of equal treatment.

1.   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.

2.   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.

1.   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.

2.   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:

3.   Additional remuneration may be eligible up to EUR 8 000 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 8 000 by the number of annual productive hours calculated in accordance with Article 31.

1.   The funding of an action shall not exceed the total eligible costs minus the receipts of the action.

2.   The following shall be considered as receipts of the action:

3.   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.

4.   The Horizon 2020 grant may reach a maximum of 100 % of the total eligible costs, without prejudice to the co-financing principle.

5.   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.

6.   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.

1.   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.

2.   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.

1.   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.

2.   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.

3.   The grant agreement shall contain:

1.   In accordance with Article 124 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, the Commission may establish methods to determine unit costs based on:

2.   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:

1.   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.

2.   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.

1.   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 (28) 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.

2.   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.

1.   A participant guarantee fund (the "Fund") is hereby established and shall cover the risk associated with non-recovery of sums due to the Union under actions financed through grants by the Commission under Decision No 1982/2006/EC and by the Commission or Union funding bodies under "Horizon 2020" according to the rules set out in this Regulation. The Fund shall replace and succeed the Participant Guarantee Fund set up under Regulation (EC) No 1906/2006.

2.   The Fund shall be operated in accordance with Article 39. Any financial interest generated by the Fund shall be added to the Fund and shall serve exclusively for the purposes set out in Article 39(3).

3.   Where interest is insufficient to cover the operations described in Article 39(3), the Fund shall not intervene and the Commission or the relevant Union funding body shall recover directly from participants or third parties any amount owed.

4.   The Fund shall be considered a sufficient guarantee under Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012. No additional guarantee or security may be accepted from participants or imposed upon them except in the case described in paragraph 3 of this Article.

5.   Participants in actions under Horizon 2020 whose risk is covered by the Fund shall make a contribution of 5 % of the Union funding for the action. At the end of the action the amount contributed to the Fund shall be returned to the participants, via the coordinator.

6.   The rate of the participants' contribution to the Fund set out in paragraph 5 may be reduced on the basis of the interim evaluation of Horizon 2020.

1.   The Fund shall be managed by the Union, represented by the Commission acting as executive agent on behalf of the participants, in accordance with the conditions established by the grant agreement.

The Commission may manage the Fund directly or entrust the financial management of the Fund either to the European Investment Bank or to an appropriate financial institution ("the depository bank"). The depository bank shall manage the Fund pursuant to the instructions of the Commission.

2.   The participants' contribution to the Fund may be offset from the initial pre-financing and be paid to the Fund on behalf of the participants.

3.   Where amounts are due to the Union by a participant, the Commission may, without prejudice to penalties which may be imposed on the defaulting participant, take either of the following actions:

The Commission shall issue a recovery order against that participant or third party to the benefit of the Fund. The Commission may adopt to that end a recovery decision in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012.

4.   The amounts recovered shall constitute revenue assigned to the Fund within the meaning of Article 21(4) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012. Once the implementation of all grants whose risk is covered by the Fund is complete, any sums outstanding shall be recovered by the Commission and entered into the budget of the Union, subject to decisions of the legislative authority.

1.   Results shall be owned by the participant generating them.

2.   Where participants in an action have jointly generated results, and where their respective contribution to the joint results cannot be ascertained, or where it is not possible to separate such joint results for the purpose of applying for, obtaining or maintaining the relevant intellectual property rights protection, they shall have joint ownership of those results. The joint owners shall establish an agreement regarding the allocation and terms of exercise of that joint ownership in accordance with their obligations under the grant agreement. The joint owners may agree not to continue with joint ownership but decide on an alternative regime, inter alia by transferring their ownership shares to a single owner with access rights for the other participants, once the results have been generated.

Unless otherwise agreed in the joint ownership agreement, each joint owner shall be entitled to grant non-exclusive licences to third parties to exploit the jointly owned results, without any right to sub-license, subject to the following conditions:

3.   If employees or any party working for a participant are entitled to claim rights to the results generated, the participant concerned shall ensure that it is possible for those rights to be exercised in a manner compatible with its obligations under the grant agreement.

1.   Where results are capable of or may reasonably be expected to be capable of commercial or industrial exploitation, the participant owning those results shall examine the possibility of protecting them. The participant shall, if possible, reasonable and justified given the circumstances, adequately protect them for an appropriate period of time and with an appropriate territorial coverage, having due regard to its legitimate interests, and the legitimate interests, particularly the commercial interests, of the other participants in the action.

2.   Where a participant that has received Union funding intends not to protect results generated by it for reasons other than impossibility under Union or national law or the lack of potential for commercial or industrial exploitation, and unless the participant intends to transfer them to another legal entity established in a Member State or associated country in view of their protection, it shall inform the Commission or the relevant funding body before any dissemination relating to those results takes place. The Commission, on behalf of the Union, or the relevant funding body may, with the consent of the participant concerned, assume ownership of those results and take the necessary steps for their adequate protection.

The participant may refuse consent only if it demonstrates that its legitimate interests would suffer significant harm. No dissemination relating to those results may take place until the Commission or the relevant funding body has taken a decision not to assume ownership of the results or has decided that it will assume ownership and has taken the necessary steps to ensure their protection. The Commission or the relevant funding body shall make such decision without undue delay. The grant agreement shall lay down time-limits in this respect.

3.   Where a participant that has received Union funding intends to abandon the protection of results or intends not to seek the extension of such protection for reasons other than the lack of potential for commercial or industrial exploitation within a period that shall not exceed five years following the payment of the balance, it shall inform the Commission or the relevant funding body, which may continue or extend protection by assuming ownership thereof. The participant may refuse consent only if it demonstrates that its legitimate interests would suffer significant harm. The grant agreement shall lay down time-limits in this respect.

1.   Each participant that has received Union funding shall use its best efforts to exploit the results it owns, or to have them exploited by another legal entity, in particular through the transfer and licensing of results in accordance with Article 44.

Any additional exploitation obligations shall be laid down in the grant agreement. In the case of research with the potential to address major societal challenges, additional exploitation obligations may include licensing on non-exclusive terms. Any such additional obligations shall be indicated in the work programme or work plan.

2.   Subject to any restrictions due to the protection of intellectual property, security rules or legitimate interests, each participant shall through appropriate means disseminate the results it owns as soon as possible. The grant agreement may lay down time-limits in this respect.

Any additional dissemination obligations shall be laid down in the grant agreement and indicated in the work programme or work plan.

With regard to the dissemination of results through scientific publications, open access shall apply under the terms and conditions laid down in the grant agreement. Costs relating to open access to scientific publications that result from research funded under Horizon 2020, incurred within the duration of an action, shall be eligible for reimbursement under the conditions of the grant agreement. With due regard to Article 18 of Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013, the grant agreement shall not stipulate conditions regarding open access to publications which would result in additional publishing costs after the completion of an action.

With regard to the dissemination of research data, the grant agreement may, in the context of the open access to and the preservation of research data, lay down terms and conditions under which open access to such results shall be provided, in particular in ERC frontier research and FET (Future and Emerging Technologies) research or in other appropriate areas, and taking into consideration the legitimate interests of the participants and any constraints pertaining to data protection rules, security rules or intellectual property rights. In such cases, the work programme or work plan shall indicate if the dissemination of research data through open access is required.

Prior notice of any dissemination activity shall be given to the other participants. Following notification, a participant may object if it demonstrates that its legitimate interests in relation to its results or background would suffer significant harm by the intended dissemination. In such cases, the dissemination may not take place unless appropriate steps are taken to safeguard those legitimate interests. The grant agreement shall lay down time-limits in this respect.

3.   For the purposes of monitoring and dissemination by the Commission or the relevant funding body, participants shall provide any information on their exploitation and dissemination related activities, and provide any documents necessary in accordance with the conditions laid down in the grant agreement. Subject to the legitimate interests of the participants which have provided the information, such information shall be made publicly available. The grant agreement shall, inter alia, lay down time-limits with respect to such reporting obligations.

4.   All patent applications, standards, publications or any other dissemination, including those in electronic form, relating to results shall, if possible, include a statement, which may include visual means, that the action received financial support from the Union. The terms of that statement shall be established in the grant agreement.

1.   Where a participant transfers ownership of results, it shall pass on its obligations under the grant agreement regarding those results to the transferee, including the obligation to pass them on in any subsequent transfer.

Without prejudice to confidentiality obligations arising from laws or regulations in the case of mergers and acquisitions, where other participants still enjoy access rights or may still request the granting of access rights to the results to be transferred, a participant which intends to transfer the results shall give prior notice to the other participants, together with sufficient information concerning the intended new owner of the results, to permit the other participants to analyse the effect of the intended transfer on the possible exercise of their access rights.

Following notification, a participant may object to the transfer of ownership if it demonstrates that the intended transfer would adversely affect the exercise of its access rights. In such a case, the transfer may not take place until agreement has been reached between the participants concerned. The grant agreement shall lay down time-limits in this respect.

The other participants may by prior written agreement waive their right to prior notice and to object to transfers of ownership from one participant to a specifically identified third party.

2.   Provided that access rights to the results can be exercised, and that any additional exploitation obligations are complied with by the participant which owns the results, the latter may grant licences or otherwise grant the right to exploit them to any legal entity, including on an exclusive basis. Exclusive licences for results may be granted subject to consent by all the other participants concerned that they will waive their access rights thereto.

3.   With regard to results which are generated by participants that have received Union funding, the grant agreement may provide that the Commission or the relevant funding body may object to transfers of ownership or to grants of an exclusive licence to third parties established in a third country not associated with Horizon 2020, if it considers that the grant or transfer is not in accordance with the interests of developing the competitiveness of the Union economy, or is inconsistent with ethical principles or security considerations.

In such cases, the transfer of ownership or grant of exclusive licence shall not take place unless the Commission or the relevant funding body is satisfied that appropriate safeguards will be put in place.

Where appropriate, the grant agreement shall provide that the Commission or the relevant funding body is to be notified in advance of any such transfer of ownership or grant of an exclusive licence. The grant agreement shall lay down time-limits in this respect.

1.   Any request to exercise access rights or any waiving of access rights shall be made in writing.

2.   Unless otherwise agreed by the owner of the results or background to which access is requested, access rights shall not include the right to sub-license.

3.   Participants in the same action shall inform each other before their accession to the grant agreement of any legal restriction or limit to granting access to their background. Any agreement concluded thereafter by a participant regarding background shall ensure that any access rights may be exercised.

4.   The termination of the participation in an action shall not affect the obligation of such a participant to grant access under the terms and conditions established in the grant agreement.

5.   The consortium agreement may stipulate that where a participant defaults on its obligations and such default is not remedied, such a defaulting participant shall no longer enjoy access rights.

1.   A participant shall enjoy access rights to the results of another participant in the same action if those results are needed by the former to carry out its work under the action.

Such access shall be granted on a royalty-free basis.

2.   A participant shall enjoy access rights to background of another participant in the same action if this background is needed by the former to carry out its work under the action, and subject to any restrictions or limits pursuant to Article 46(3).

Such access shall be granted on a royalty-free basis, unless otherwise agreed by the participants before their accession to the grant agreement.

1.   A participant shall enjoy access rights to the results of another participant in the same action if those results are needed by the former to exploit its own results.

Subject to agreement, such access shall be granted under fair and reasonable conditions.

2.   A participant shall enjoy access rights to background of another participant in the same action if this background is needed by the former to exploit its own results, and subject to any restrictions or limits pursuant to Article 46(3).

Subject to agreement, such access shall be granted under fair and reasonable conditions.

3.   An affiliated entity established in a Member State or associated country shall, unless otherwise provided for in the consortium agreement, also have access rights to results and, subject to any restrictions or limits pursuant to Article 46(3), to background under fair and reasonable conditions if those results and background are needed to exploit the results generated by the participant to which it is affiliated. Such access rights shall be requested and obtained directly from the participant owning the results or background unless otherwise agreed in accordance with Article 46(2).

4.   A request for access under paragraphs 1, 2 or 3 may be made up to one year after the end of the action, unless the participants agree on a different time-limit.

1.   The Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies shall, for the duly justified purpose of developing, implementing and monitoring Union policies or programmes, enjoy access rights solely to the results of a participant that has received Union funding. Such access rights are limited to non-commercial and non-competitive use.

Such access shall be granted on a royalty-free basis.

2.   Regarding actions under the specific objective 'Secure societies - Protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens' set out in Part III of Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013, Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, as well as Member States' national authorities, shall, for the purpose of developing, implementing and monitoring their policies or programmes in this area, enjoy the necessary access rights to the results of a participant that has received Union funding. Such access rights shall be limited to non-commercial and non-competitive use. Such access rights shall be granted on a royalty-free basis and upon bilateral agreement defining specific conditions aimed at ensuring that those rights will be used only for the intended purpose and that appropriate confidentiality obligations will be in place. Such access rights shall not extend to the participant's background. The requesting Member State, Union institution, body, office or agency shall notify all Member States of such requests. The Commission rules on security shall apply regarding classified information.