Partner or coordinator – what are your responsibilities in the consortium?
In Horizon Europe, when you decide to prepare a proposal together with other entities, you must assign specific roles to each party before submitting the application. In practice, this means deciding who will coordinate the consortium and who will have a partner status.
General obligations of partners and coordinator
Generally speaking, every project beneficiary is bound by the Grant Agreement (GA) which means that it must strictly follow the GA rules as well as provisions of EU, national and international law. In addition, all beneficiaries have full responsibility for implementing the project properly.
Are coordinator and partner roles so different?
Even if the general objective is to implement the project according to the GA, the division of roles is very important as different tasks are assigned to each position. In short, the coordinator is the one that manages the consortium work and contact the EC on behalf of the consortium, so that the partners can focus on executing their project tasks.
Below, you can find a summary of coordinator and partner tasks:
| Coordinator | Partners/Beneficiaries |
| Contacts the EC on behalf of the consortium. | Provide their input for the communication with the EC. |
| Directly signs the Grant Agreement. | Sign the GA by signing the Accession Form. |
| Signs Amendments to the GA, if any, on behalf of the other beneficiaries. | Provide coordinator with input to prepare Amendments. |
| Coordinates and manages the project implementation. | Together contribute to a smooth and successful implementation of the project. |
| Submits the deliverables and reports in the system. | Provide input for deliverables, prepare their deliverables for the coordinator’s revision. |
| Distributes payments to the other beneficiaries. | Spend their budget according to the Horizon Europe rules. |
| Reviews the individual financial statements from each partner. | Prepare their own financial statements. |
| Verifies that all the requested documents/information have been provided by partners (e.g. the use of resources, etc.) | Prepare requested documentation for the coordinator’s revision. |
It is also important to stress that the coordinator’s tasks cannot be delegated or subcontracted to any other party. The coordinator should have his/her own resources and relevant experience to be able to manage the consortium properly.
If you are still not sure about your responsibilities in the consortium, contact us at hello@polite.eu. We will solve your doubts.