The NRDI Office is in continuous technical consultation with the European Commission on the interpretation and implementation of the Council Decision of last December.
The European Commission (DG Research and Innovation) confirmed in its information letter that Hungarian public interest trusts established under Act IX of 2021, and any legal entity maintained by them, are still eligible to apply, and that proposals will continue to be admissible and will be evaluated. If the proposal remains eligible (the composition of the consortium meets the minimum eligibility criteria 1) without the Hungarian partner being a beneficiary, the grant agreement may be signed and the Hungarian legal entity may remain an associated partner in the project, provided that the call conditions do not exclude the contribution of associated partners.
If the Hungarian organisation does not wish to participate in the project as an associated partner, the consortium must either redistribute the tasks of the Hungarian partner among the remaining members or propose a new partner to take over the tasks. If the consortium no longer meets the minimum eligibility requirements due to withdrawal or the legal status change to an associated partner, the proposal will only be considered eligible if the consortium includes an additional eligible organisation (one or more as appropriate) to sign the grant agreement as a beneficiary.
Below is the English text of the resolution:
“We can already confirm that the Hungarian public interest trusts established under Hungarian Act IX of 2021 or any entity they maintain are still eligible to submit proposals and such proposals remain admissible and will be evaluated. If the proposal continues to remain eligible (meets the minimum eligibility criteria) without the respective Hungarian entity as a beneficiary, the grant agreement may be signed and the respective Hungarian entity may remain in the project as an associated partner, provided that the call conditions do not exclude this legal status. If the Hungarian entity does not want to continue in the project as associated partner, the Consortium must either re-distribute the Hungarian participant tasks among the remaining participants or propose a new participant to take over those tasks. If, due to the withdrawal or change of role to Associated Partner, the consortium does no longer satisfy minimum eligibility requirements, the proposal would be deemed eligible only if the consortium adds additional eligible entities (one or more as needed) to sign the grant agreement as beneficiaries.”
UPDATE 2023,01,23: The European Commission published on 20 January 2023 a list of Frequently Asked Questions on the details of the implementation of the Council Decision, which is available on the F&T portal at the following link:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/support/news#21514
We continue to invite the concerned national applicant institutions that are disadvantaged due to the Council Decision in the grant or proposal preparation process to report this to the central telephone number +36 30 372 7543, or to the National Contact Points of the NRDI Office at horizonteuropa@nkfih.gov.hu.
The Office will provide all assistance to the applicants concerned in advocacy towards and communication with the Commission and the host institution of the National Contact Points for Horizon Europe in the country of the consortium leader.
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1 Minimum requirement for a consortium: 3 independent legal entities; one from an EU Member State, two from two other EU Member States/Associated States (unless otherwise specified in the Work Programme).