Why a CA?

Signing a Consortium Agreement is most of the time mandatory for European Projects. The CA should be installed before signing the Grant Agreement.

The consortium agreement represents how the members of the consortium will be working on the project. While the Grant Agreement (GA) is signed between the consortium (represented by the coordinator) and the European Commission or granting authority, the CA governs the relationship between the beneficiaries themselves.

It should handle:

• internal governance structures (project management and decision making structures)
• voting rules and thresholds
• internal budget distribution and transfers
• inclusion of third parties in the project
• internal liability arrangements
• conflict resolution mechanisms
• detailed IP management (definition of IP (background, foreground, detailed ownership provisions, minimum access rights, licensing to third parties,...)
• exploitation and dissemination of project-results (including after project end)
• publication procedures (confidentiality, non-disclosure obligations)
• ...

Available Models 

In practise many Consortium Agreements are based on the DESCA-models though there are other models available. DESCA provides models for both Lump sum and Actual Cost based grants and an edition that for the inclusion of Associated Partners. 

Some partnerships in specific sectors provide CA-models taking into account specific approaches widely used in the sector (eg IHI).

Customise the model

Even when starting from these widely used models you should:

• read all provisions carefully and adapt them to your project's needs
• do not keep model clauses you do not fully understand
• make sure all partners understand the full content