When is an amendment required?
An amendment is typically necessary in the following situations:
- Changes in the consortium: accession of a new beneficiary or termination of participation
- Change of coordinator (with or without the organisation’s consent)
- Changes related to affiliated entities or associated partners
- Suspension or early termination of the project
- Changes to options or specific provisions in the GA
- Substantial changes to Annex 1 (Description of the Action):
e.g. project name, acronym, duration, or significant changes to tasks and responsibilities
- Changes to the budget (Annex 2) that require approval by the European Commission or funding body
Important: The minimum eligibility conditions (e.g. consortium composition) must still be fulfilled after the amendment.
When is an amendment NOT required?
Not all changes require a formal amendment:
- Administrative updates (e.g. name, legal form, address of an organisation) are handled by the LEAR (Legal Entity Appointed Representative) directly in the Funding & Tenders Opportunities Portal.
- Budget transfers are generally possible without an amendment, as long as they do not involve substantial changes to Annex 1.
- Unplanned subcontracting or in-kind contributions: beneficiaries may decide whether to request an amendment or accept the risk of ex-post acceptance of the costs.
Procedure
Amendments are processed entirely electronically via the Funding & Tenders Opportunities Portal. In most cases, the initiative comes from the consortium, based on its internal decision-making rules (e.g. as defined in the Consortium Agreement).
- The coordinator submits the amendment request on behalf of the consortium.
- The European Commission or funding body typically has 45 days to assess the request and may:
- approve it (“agreement”),
- reject it (“rejection”; lack of response may also be considered a rejection), or
- request additional information and/or extend the deadline.
Each amendment request is treated as a single package and can only be accepted or rejected in full. If separate decisions are needed, multiple requests should be submitted.
Once submitted, an amendment request cannot be modified. The amendment enters into force upon electronic signature, either on that date or on another agreed date (which may also be retroactive, if justified).
Further information