Important budget shifts in EU projects should be reported to the coordinator and the coordinator should report it to the funding authority (i.e. European Commission) and request an amendment of the Grant Agreement.

As a general rule, important budget shifts include shifts in subcontracting, financial support to third parties, and amounts of more than 15% of the budget category (personnel, travel, equipment, other goods and services). Such budget shifts have to be reported through an amendment process or in some cases a validation by the funding authority (project officer) is sufficient. More specifically, for subcontracting, according to article 6.2 B. Subcontracting of the Annotated Model Grant Agreement of Horizon Europe, the tasks to be subcontracted and the estimated cost for each subcontract must be set out in Annex 1 and the total estimated costs of subcontracting per beneficiary must be set out in Annex 2.

Shifts of less than 15% of the budget category for personnel, travel, equipment, and other goods and services, usually, do not need an amendment. Such minor deviations will be reported in the reporting phase and an explanation will be asked. The greater the deviation, the thorougher the explanation. In case of doubt, ask the coordinator or the funding authority.

In case you report more costs than budgeted, this is not a problem from the funding authority. However, you will not receive more grant than stated in the Grant Agreement. The granting authority might also ask for an explanation regarding the overspending.