Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A university joining a Horizon Europe RIA as one of seven beneficiaries signs the accession form to the GA.
- Is an instance
A SME receives 200,000 EUR of Horizon Europe funding directly as a beneficiary.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
An associated partner without funding is not a beneficiary.
- Not an instance
A subcontractor providing services for a fee is not a beneficiary.
Editorial commentary
Each Horizon Europe consortium consists of one or more beneficiaries (and optionally affiliated entities, third parties, and subcontractors). Each beneficiary has its own budget share, work-package contribution, signed accession to the GA, and reporting obligations. The lead beneficiary is the coordinator. Beneficiaries jointly and severally bear consortium-level obligations under specified circumstances. Beneficiary status is distinct from associated partners (no funding) and from subcontractors.
The umbrella term for coordinator and partner
“Beneficiary” is the umbrella legal status under the Grant Agreement: every organisation that signs it is a beneficiary, whether it takes on the administrative-lead coordinator role or contributes as a partner. The coordinator and partners are not different legal categories under the GA — both are beneficiaries — but this dictionary and most consortium documentation use “coordinator” and “partner” to distinguish the administrative-lead role from the contributing roles within that shared status.
Joint-and-several liability
Beneficiaries can bear joint-and-several financial responsibility for the correct implementation of the action as a whole under specified default circumstances — for example, where the Commission cannot recover sums owed from a specific defaulting beneficiary through ordinary means. This shared exposure is a defining feature of beneficiary status and does not apply to associated partners (which receive no EU funding) or to subcontractors (which are engaged commercially and have no direct relationship with the funder).
Accession and affiliated entities
A beneficiary’s participation becomes formal only once it signs the accession form referenced in the GA, not merely by being named in the proposal. Affiliated entities and associated partners, distinct concepts that also appear in Horizon Europe consortia, either share a structural link to a beneficiary without separately signing the GA (affiliated entities) or contribute without receiving EU funding at all (associated partners) — neither carries full beneficiary status or its joint-and-several exposure.
References
- European Commission Horizon Europe Model Grant Agreement; Annotated Grant Agreement.
Also known as
HE beneficiary · Grant beneficiary (EU)
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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