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What is the Grant Agreement Preparation (GAP)?

The Grant Agreement Preparation (GAP) is the phase that starts once you receive the evaluation summary report (ESR) from the European Commission that states that your proposal has been funded. Now, jointly with the European Commission, the coordinator of the proposal has to prepare the grant agreement and ensure its timely signature. This process is specially important in Horizon Europe calls.

A few principles about the Grant Agreement Preparation phase:

  • The entire process is being done through the Funding & Tenders Portal of the European Commission
  • The entire process is managed electronically including signatures. No paper is necessary.

Below an overview of the GAP process:

The conclusion of the grant agreement is subject to time limits and has strict deadlines, following the EU Financial Regulation. The invitation letter sent by the European Commission to the beneficiary (coordinator) specifies the deadlines applicable for the GAP. Therefore, it is important to align with the applicable deadlines and make diligent efforts to comply with the dates set. If you encounter delays, notify the EU services at your earliest convenience. The non-respect of the deadlines may lead to the termination of the grant preparation.

The proposal evaluation period is of maximum 5 months. The grant agreement preparation period is of minimum 3 months but might be more if the evaluation process took less time than 5 months.

The Grant Agreement Preparation Period is divided into sub-periods.

Hereby the main steps of the GAP process:

An important point to take into account in the GAP is that no negotiation is possible. Your proposal submitted is taken as it is.

Source and more information: EC website and webinar