Consortium Agreement - DESCA - Model Consortium Agreement for Horizon Europe

Sep 2, 2026

Consortium Agreement remarks and template guidance for MSCA Doctoral Networks and MSCA Staff Exchanges under a Horizon Europe model Grant Agreement, based on the DESCA Consortium Agreement. The text explains how to adapt the agreement to project needs, focusing on interactions among Parties, the treatment of Associated Parties (including “Employing Associated Partners”), and when external partners may participate similarly to Partner Organisations under Horizon 2020. It also notes attachment dependencies and provides a DESCA-based framework versioned for July 2022 and updated for June 2023 changes highlighted in yellow.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLetters

FormatDOCX

Pages77

Reading Time27 min

AccessFree to download

Definitions

Purpose

Entry into force, duration and termination

Responsibilities of Parties

Liability towards each other

Governance structure

Financial provisions

Results

Access Rights

Non-disclosure of information

Miscellaneous

Signatures

Attachment 1: Background included

Attachment 2: Accession document

Attachment 3 (Template for Career Development Plan)

Attachment 4a) Secondment Agreement for Doctoral Candidates

Attachment 4b) Partnership Agreement (Option)

Attachment 4c) Secondment Agreement for Doctoral Candidates (Option)

Attachment 5 NDA for External Expert Advisory Board (Option)

Attachment 6 Consortium Plan Budget and Coordination costs

Attachment 7 List of third parties for simplified transfer (Option)

Attachment 8 Identified entities under the same control (Option)

Module GOV LP (Option)

MODULE IPR SC Specific Software provisions for the Access Rights

REMARKS BAK-AG Recht adapted this Consortium Agreement model for MSCA Doctoral Networks and MSCA Staff Exchanges which will be governed by a Horizon Europe model Grant Agreement and based on the DESCA Consortium Agreement. A use for other types of project will likely require adaptions. Also, please always adapt this Consortium Agreement to your Project’s needs. First of all this Consortium Agreement intends to regulate the interactions amongst the Parties. For the purpose of this Agreement, the signature of Associated Parties (Art. 9.1. HEU Model Grant Agreement) is not required. However we do recommend to include such Associated Party(ies) who are implementing such a big part of the Project, that e.g. Access Rights for Implementation need to be granted, confidential information needs to be sheared and financial contributions to the institutional unit costs might be made. In short, if Associated Partner(s) take indeed the role of a beneficiary (without funding), then there is good reason to make such AP a Party to the Consortium Agreement. The most typical example are universities from Non-Associated Countries which do employ doctoral candidates or staff but without the right to claim costs from the EU Funding authority. We orientated our suggestion to differentiate such Associated Partners with a beneficiary-like role from other Associated Partners with minor implementation tasks by introducing the wording of ‘Employing Associated Partners’. For such Associated Partners with a minor role, e.g. which will be Hosting Party to a seconded doctoral candidate or staff, or which might only be a partner for a work shop, we added models for external Parties (Attachment 4c – Secondment Agreement, Attachment 4b- Partnership Agreement). The MSCA work programme as well as the Grant Agreement could be understood in a way that under Horizon Europe only Associated Partners may be involved in implementing the action, e.g. by hosting seconded Doctoral Candidates or Staff. However, practice of EU-Beneficiaries as well as the European Union seem to suggest that external partners (former Partner Organisations under Horizon 2020) are still allowed to take part in the Project. Thus as we understood that those external partners as well as Associated Partners with a minor role in implementing the Project have a quite similar role to Partner organisations under H2020 we referred to them individually and jointly to ‘Partner Organisations’. Please also check the original DESCA model consortium agreement including its elucidation notes made in this model; those remarks are relevant for this model as well. Please keep in mind that any changes in the core text of this consortium agreement can lead to necessity of changing the wording in the attachments. This template is based on the DESCA – Model Consortium Agreement for Horizon Europe, AP Version 1, July 2022. Changes and further amendments / options to this version are highlighted in yellow. The template can be used freely but as any model agreement it needs to be adapted to the needs of the project and the project partners in each single case. Consortium Agreement [ACRONYM OF PROJECT] Version [X] – [DATE] Based on DESCA – Model Consortium Agreement for Horizon Europe AP Version 1, July 2022 MSCA (Doctoral Networks and Staff Exchange) Version 1 June 2023 Table of Contents TOC \o "1-1" \h \z \u HYPERLINK \l "_Toc135667000" 1 Definitions PAGEREF _Toc135667000 \h 6 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc135667001" 2 Purpose PAGEREF _Toc135667001 \h 8 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc135667002" 3 Entry into force, duration and termination PAGEREF _Toc135667002 \h 8 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc135667003" 4 Responsibilities of Parties PAGEREF _Toc135667003 \h 9 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc135667004" 5 Liability towards each other PAGEREF _Toc135667004 \h 12 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc135667005" 6 Governance structure PAGEREF _Toc135667005 \h 13 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc135667006" 7 Financial provisions PAGEREF _Toc13566700

FAQs

How should this consortium agreement template be adapted for a specific MSCA project?

The template is intended to regulate interactions among Parties, but it must always be adapted to the project’s needs and the involved project partners. Changes in the core text may require corresponding wording updates in the attachments.

What is the role of Associated Parties in this template?

The remarks explain that the signature of Associated Parties is not required for the agreement, but Associated Party(ies) may be included when access rights, confidential information sharing, and institutional unit cost contributions apply. If Associated Partners act as beneficiaries without funding, there is a reason to make them Parties.

When can external partners participate under this Horizon Europe MSCA framework?

While the work programme and grant agreement may suggest involvement primarily by Associated Partners, EU-beneficiaries and the European Union practice indicate external partners are still allowed to take part. The document therefore refers to such external partners and minor-role Associated Partners jointly as “Partner Organisations” similar to H2020.

Sep 2, 2026

Upload by Maya Linwood