Consortium Agreement

A consortium agreement (CA) is a contract that the members of a consortium conclude among themselves. The grant agreement governs the consortium's relationship with the funder; the consortium agreement governs the partners' relationship with each other: who takes decisions, how money is shared, who owns the results and what happens if someone leaves the project.

Status of the document and timing

The EU Annotated Grant Agreement (AGA) calls the consortium agreement purely internal: it is not submitted to the granting authority for information or review, and the granting authority is not a party to it and bears no responsibility for its consequences. It must complement the grant agreement and may not contradict it.

Article 7 of the model grant agreement requires a written consortium agreement where the Data Sheet says so. In Horizon Europe the default for that item is "yes", and a call may set an exception. Even where it is not mandatory, the AGA recommends having one.

It should be concluded before grant signature: each partner signs the consortium agreement before signing its Accession Form. Negotiations therefore take place during grant agreement preparation. Costs of preparing the consortium agreement before the project starts are ineligible; costs of updating it during the project may be eligible.

What the agreement covers

• Governance. Consortium bodies, quorum, voting rules, veto rights, the powers of the coordinator.
• Money. The funder pays the coordinator only. When and in what instalments the coordinator distributes the pre-financing and later payments is an internal matter for the consortium, and this agreement is where it is fixed.
• Liability. Limits of the partners' liability towards each other, what happens when tasks are not delivered, and how recoveries are handled.
• Intellectual property. The list of background (what a partner held before the project and what is needed for the work), ownership of results, joint ownership, access rights.
• Confidentiality, disputes, withdrawal or replacement of a partner.

Model agreements

The European Commission endorses no particular template. The most widely used model for Horizon Europe is DESCA: the current version, HE 2.1, is dated February 2026 and can be downloaded from the initiative's website together with elucidations on each clause. The model comes with options and alternative modules, so two contracts "based on DESCA" can differ substantially. In other programmes and with other donors a similar document is often called a partnership agreement, and whether it is mandatory depends on the call conditions.

What a Ukrainian partner should check

• Background. Under the grant agreement, partners give each other royalty-free access to background needed to carry out their tasks, unless the holder informed the others of restrictions in advance, before acceding to the agreement. Anything you are not prepared to share has to be written into the annex to the consortium agreement.
• Payment schedule. Check exactly when the coordinator transfers your share and whether part of it is withheld until a report is approved.
• Governing law and forum for disputes. These are a matter for negotiation, not a given.
• Signatory and lead times. Allow time for internal approval, legal review and translation.

Common mistakes

Signing the coordinator's text unread. Leaving the background list empty. Not describing the procedure for a partner's withdrawal and then having to settle it through an amendment to the grant agreement in the middle of a conflict. Assuming the consortium agreement can alter the requirements of the grant agreement: where the two diverge, the grant agreement prevails.