The Commission has published the long-awaited updated version of the Annotated Grant Agreement, which includes additional explanations for those articles of the corporate Model Grant Agreement that were not covered in the previous version of the document. The document is still marked as a draft since not all articles are covered by it and further changes are planned in the coming months.
According to the list of updates included in the document, changes were made to Articles 1-12 and 20, which had previously been included in the draft AGA. These sections of the document are now complete (except 6.2.D.X Specific other cost categories). Furthermore, new annotations were added to the existing articles that were not part of the previous version of the AGA.
UKRO will provide further information on the key changes in the document soon.
Background information
The Annotated Grant Agreement (AGA) reflects the new corporate structure of the General Model Grant Agreement (MGA) and will be used for all centrally managed EU programmes that have already migrated to the Funding & Tenders Portal. Therefore, the draft document includes annotations that sometimes may not be relevant for Horizon Europe (e.g. volunteers). Annotations relevant to specific programmes are clearly marked in purple.
The AGA is essentially a recycled version of the previous Horizon 2020 Annotated Grant Agreement, with many annotations simply copied over where possible. There is, however, new guidance provided on the main novelties in Horizon Europe, such as the daily rate used to calculate personnel costs or Gender Equality Plans.
The early draft of the AGA was published back in 2021 to help applicants to the first Horizon Europe calls prepare their submissions. Further updates to the document can be expected in the coming months as discussions between the different Commission services responsible for all centrally managed EU programmes progress.
The AGA, together with the corporate Online Manual (not specific to Horizon Europe) and the dedicated Horizon Europe Programme Guide, form part of the Commission’s wider suite of resources intended to help future participants manage their projects successfully.