The SRA Symposium - College of Medicine

Papers
Activity and Financial Reporting - Period activity reports describing progress toward agreed objectives,
milestones and deliverables, periodic management reports (justifying resources allocated,
plus a financial statement for the period of the report) and a final report (to include audit certificates),
are to be submitted to the EC within 45 days of the respective period. EC budget allocations
are made on an 18-month rolling grant basis. The EC undertakes to evaluate all activity reports
within 45 days. If no comments or changes are received from the EC within 90 days after submission
of the report, the activity report is deemed accepted by the EC. This automatic acceptance
does not apply to any other type of report, such as financial reports.
Confidentiality, Use of Confidential Information, and Publication - All information, documents,
intellectual property or materials are to be kept confidential when the disclosing party cites it
as being confidential. Without prejudice to this confidentiality provision, project partners are
required to provide confidential information to the EC to enable the continuous and systematic
review of the specific research programme, the sixth framework programme, and for the evaluation/impact
assessment of EC activities. The EC will also make confidential information available
to any Member State, including intellectual property generated from an EC project, only where
it is relevant to public policy and when no reasoned case has been received by it from a project
partner(s) not to do so. Any information supplied by the EC to a Member State will be on a confidential
basis only. The project partners during the life of the project must also take appropriate
measures to ensure suitable publicity in order to highlight the EC financial support given (similar
to the Stevens Act). Any notice (verbal or written) or publication (in whatever medium), including
seminars or conferences, must specify that the project has received EC financial support from the
EC Framework Programme. The usual disclaimer statements are to be made also, similar to the
requirements of the National Institutes for Health and the National Science Foundation.
Liability and Indemnity - The EC cannot be held liable for acts or omissions committed by the
project partners. The EC is also not to be held liable for any defaults of any products or services
created by intellectual property resulting from the project. Each project partner is to indemnify
the EC against any action, claim, or proceeding brought by a third party as a result of damage
caused, by either act or omission committed by a project partner(s) in performing the project, or
through any products or services created by intellectual property generated from the project. In
the event that a claim is raised by a third party against a project partner(s), the EC may opt to assist
the project partner(s) at the project partner(s) own expense.
Assignation of rights - No project partner(s) may assign their rights and/or obligations arising
from the contract without prior approval of the EC.
Breach of contract terms - In the case of a breach, the Consortium has 30 days to come up with a
solution, which needs to be accepted by the EC. Costs incurred by the Consortium after the date
of such a breach will only be paid by the EC if they accept the remedial action suggested. If the EC
fails to accept the remedial action proposed, the EC can terminate the contract or terminate the
defaulting project partner if the project is still capable of being delivered. The EC is also able to immediately
terminate the participation of a project partner in the event of a deliberate or negligent
act or contravention of any fundamental ethical principle set by the EC. A defaulting project partner
has 30 days from the effective date of termination to provide the EC with an activity report for
the period of performance and a final audit certificate. Failure to provide either report will result
in no remaining eligible payments being made by the EC to the defaulting party. The Consortium
(within 30 days of termination) is also required to provide the EC with information on the share
of the EC contribution paid to the defaulting partner up to the point of termination. The EC will
then determine what sums are due to it from the defaulting partner’s share.
2005 Symposium Proceedings Book 179