General Partner Agreement
Below are the regulations that govern approved projects, projects that will be submitted by the selected Coordinating Organisation stated in the Call for Partners. This is the agreement for the implementation of these projects by the coordinating organization and the partner organizations. This agreement constitutes the responsibilities of all the partner organizations involved in the project and their respective selected participants. During the selection of projects that you wish to partner with us, you accept this partner agreement. As per signing your mandate you agree to the terms of this agreement.
Projects are approved for co-funding by the National Agency in the respected country that the project will be/has been submitted. This is an agreement between the Partner Organization (Sending Organization, PO or SO) and the Coordinating Organisation, therefore, Coordinator (not necessarily the hosting organization) for the approved project.
The Project Dates (project cycle) and the Activity Dates are sent to you as soon as the Grant Agreement is signed by the National Agency and the Coordinating Organisation.
1. Participants are required to arrive at the venue of the project no later than 20:00 on the Arrival Day of the Activity Dates and depart no sooner than 08:00 on the Departure Day of the Activity Dates. If participants are unable to travel on these dates or be at the venue on time, this needs to be communicated to the host organization and approved. Participants arriving before the project start date or leaving after the project start date need to arrange and pay for their accommodation, the host organization can assist in finding accommodation if needed. Participants are allowed a maximum of 2 days extra either before the project or after the project or 1 day before and 1 day after the Activity Dates. Additional extra days from the above official reasoning needs to be provided and approved.
2. If you have participant(s) under the age of 18 or the legal age of the hosting country, then we will need a letter of consent from the guardian(s)/parent(s) of the participant and a competent leader who will be responsible for the minor(s). It is also important to maintain the gender balance of your participants. Participants with fewer opportunities should have priority in your selection procedures.
3. All selected participants and leaders should register on the Organisation Participant Application Form (OPAF) at least 60 days before the Activity Start Date. Upon arrival, participants may be asked to sign the Participant Pledge which is required. Terms on the Participant Pledge are also agreed upon during the registration phase. All details on this form must be completed and it is the responsibility of the sending organization to ensure that the information submitted is correct and accurate to the best of their knowledge. The sending organization is also liable in selecting participants that are not participating in any other Erasmus+/ESC/or other EU Funding Programme approved project at the same time, and in no circumstance should the participant be under dual funding from EU funds or programs. The information in the OPAF form is vital for the success of the project. The information is used to arrange the rooms and accommodation for the participants and also to know what food allergies or other special needs or assistance they might have so that suitable preparations are made on the menu and practical arrangements for the project and arranged accordingly. Not having all the information in time can cause delays and in some cases, changes can’t be made to the menu or the rooms when information is not given on time. Additionally, the information given on the OPAF is used to prepare YouthPass Certificates for the participants and the EU Mobility Tool.
4. The sending organization or participants will buy flight tickets. Only online flight booking and purchase is allowed. Travel Agencies are not accepted. All travel costs/options need to be accepted by the Coordinating organization before any purchase is made, 3 offer options via screenshot or another medium from any travel website can be sent to the Coordinating organization in advance using our HELP DESK platform and they will be approved or declined within 48 hours, all attempts will be made to answer these emails as soon as possible. Tickets purchased without prior consent could result in no reimbursement for travel costs as for value for money is required. As for some sending organizations, flight tickets can be bought by the Coordinating organization upon request to help participants (especially participants with fewer opportunities) to participate in co-funded projects. All travel tickets must be purchased at least 1 month before the project activity start date.
During the audit of the project, the Accounts Department has the right to reject or reduce flight ticket invoice reimbursable amounts if they deem that the purchased tickets are not value for money or are unreasonable or unjustified. All boarding passes of each flight and invoices must be kept and submitted after the project in the original format and must also be sent (and scanned if necessary) to the Accounting Department via the same Help Desk Platform to the Coordinating organization within 30 days after the Activity End Date.
5. The partner organization takes full responsibility in the event of cancellation (of last minute) of any participant and will be fully responsible for the full price of the travel costs. The partner also needs to inform the host organization as soon as possible of any cancellations or changes. As name changes are generally not permitted by most airlines or are allowed at a fee, these costs are the responsibility of the partner organization and not the Coordinating organization. If cancellations are made by participants after the payment of the accommodation, these costs could also be deducted from the final reimbursement if a replacement is not found in time.
6. Reimbursement of 50% will be made shortly after the Activity End Date, provided all boarding passes, tickets, invoices and documents required are submitted to the Accounting Department of the Coordinating organisation in original format as the documents were initially issued (hardcopy, or digital), by completing the Travel Cost Statement form (excel file) sent to all participants and/or leaders and sending organisations, a few days (not more than 5) after the Activity End Date and also after completing at least one dissemination activity by the participants and sending organisations in their country and posting information of this either in Social Networks and sending associated links and materials to the Coordinating organisation.
6.1. All reimbursement payments will be made to the sending partner as per the grant agreement by direct bank transfer.
6.2. All charges deducted by receiving banks from the reimbursement amount are the onus of the Partner Organization receiving the reimbursement.
6.3. The exchange rate calculated for all payments will be base on the date of the first pre-financing by the coordinating organization.
7. All other travel costs that are needed to get to the airports/stations of the sending country will be paid by the sending organization or the participants. Only public transport costs are accepted as travel costs unless previously agreed on between the partner organization and the Coordinating organization, where public transport is not available or not possible. All original receipts must be kept by the participants and originals must be submitted with the final statement in the original format as stated in the sections above.
8. Tickets and invoices cannot and should not be submitted during the project activity to anyone. Everything must be sent by post (or electronic format if they are issued originally electronically) to the Accounting Department of the Coordinating organization within 30 days after the Activity End Date the same as section 4. If they are not received within 30 days, costs will not be accepted for reimbursement unless prior agreed. Before these are mailed, a scanned copy must also be sent to the Accounts Department via the Help Desk to the Coordinating organization as mentioned above. All information must be clearly written on travel documents and must include price, currency, and date of travel and from and to destinations. If documents are in national languages, then they need to be explained in English and also clearly stated on the Travel Cost Statement (excel file).
9. As it is a requirement for all participants to have travel insurance under the Erasmus+/ESC/or other EU Funding Programme program, it is required that all participants have travel insurance. Please note that travel insurance is the responsibility of the participant and/or sending organization and this cost is the responsibility of the participant/sending organization. Travel insurance cannot be reimbursed and it is considered as the contribution from the participants/sending organization as the project is co-funded.
10. Public liability insurance is the responsibility of the Coordinating/host organization and all costs derived from that are the responsibility of the Coordinating/host organization.
11. All participants are required to have their European Health Cards (E111) with them before travel and to have these cards with them when coming to the mobility, if they do not have access to a European Health Card then they need to have adequate medical insurance for the duration of their travel and at least during the project activity dates. Health insurance is upon the participant's responsibility or the sending organization the same as section 9.
12. Participants are required to have 100% participation during the projects and failure to do so will result in no or partial reimbursement of travel costs. If a participant is not feeling well or needs to miss a session, for any reason, this needs to be communicated to the responsible officer of the project either by the participant or by the leader. Participants are required to sign a pledge, stating the rules and their obligations for the project as stated also in section 3. Failure to sign and return this pledge will result in the participant not being accepted to participate in the project and no reimbursement will be made. The pledge is viewed upon the registration phase where the participant is still a candidate. Participants with fewer opportunities are known and may be exempt in some cases of some of the sections in this agreement and again it must be agreed prior with the Coordinating Organization and Partner Organization and documented.
13. Participants will receive a number of infopacks describing all details of the project, including but not limited to the description of the project, dates, venue, travel budget, reimbursement rules (from the Reimbursement Guides), weather, currency, travel options and methods towards the venue and other vital practical arrangments of the project. Participants, when assigned, are (or maybe) required to complete preparation tasks that are sent by the Coordinating/host organization in the preparation phase of the project and must bring these to the project with them if needed.
14. Participants are also required to complete surveys sent by the National Agency and/or European Commission and Mobility Tool+, this is part of the project and all participants must complete these surveys. These must be completed within 7 days of receipt. Failure to do so means the failure of participation which could result in no reimbursement or even blacklisting of the sending organization.
15. Participants and the sending organization are required to complete at least one dissemination activity in their home country after the completion of the Activity and before the Project End Date and all information and pictures of these events need to be sent to the Coordinating organization.
16. Participation Fee is not allowed to be paid by any participant toward any mobility project as all Erasmus+/ESC/or other EU Funding Programme as these programs dictate free, fair and equal participation of all. Partners charging a participation fee will be expelled immediately from the project and replaced by reporting them also to the corresponding National Agency.
17. As the travel costs under the Erasmus+/ESC/or other EU Funding Programme program are calculated on a distance band and are fixed, the reimbursement will be calculated based on this for each participant.
17.1. Travel costs that exceed the limit will be the responsibility of the participants or the sending organizations to cover the excess costs. In some cases and depending on budget allocation, some costs may be additionally covered especially for participants with fewer opportunities. What does this mean: If the budget for travel costs per participants is €300 and the total costs for the travel is €400 per participant then the reimbursement will be €300 and the costs for each participant is €100 payable by the participant or the sending organization. If the budget for travel costs is €300 and the actual travel costs is €200 then the participant or sending organization will receive a reimbursement of €200 and therefore the final contribution of the participant or sending organization is zero.
17.2. In special cases where mobilities include participatns with fewer opportunities, the coordinating organisation may help financially in the purchase of travel arrangements. If travel arrangements are directly paid by the coordinating organisation then the sending organisation will not receive the reimbursement.
18. We are required by law and by the Erasmus+/ESC/or other EU Funding Programme Grant Agreement to keep these records for 7 years if the National Agency or European Commission wishes to audit the project. Therefore, all documents mentioned above are required to qualify for reimbursement.
19. The balance of the reimbursement will be paid to the partner organization once we receive the final payment from the National Agency after the final report is submitted and evaluated by the NA after the Project Cycle has ended. The reason for this is because we only receive 70% - 80% of the grant on approval of the project and signing of the Grant Agreement and only receive the final payment from the National Agency after we have submitted the final report (until 60 days after Project End Date). We always submit our final reports as soon as possible but when we are delayed by participants, with their travel documents, dissemination activities, etc., we delay in submitting the final reports. With the Erasmus+/ESC/or other EU Funding Programme rules the final payment is determined by the quality of the project and the participation of the participants in all parts of the project as specified in the participant pledge, including the final dissemination of the project in each of the partner countries. Failing to complete the project properly may result in the final payment from the National Agency being reduced by up to 75%, therefore participants and partners are required to fulfill all the obligations in this agreement and the participant pledge. The National Agency has the right to reduce the travel budget and calculate the travel budget on the actual distance band from the sending location to the hosting location, this will be communicated to the affected sending organizations.
20. All sections of this agreement are negotiable but vital for the success of any project that is co-funded. In any case of amendments between parties should and will be documented and annexed in the project folder. If the mobility activity is an EVS/ESC Voluntary Mobility Project you agree also to the Internal Voluntary Agreement between organizations. After the date of signing the mandate, all of these terms are accepted.
21. Channels of communication are open between all parts of the partners within a project. Participants should communicate any problems freely to their sending organization and they should on their part communicate with the Coordinating/Host organization to resolve any problems arising before, during and after the project, always with respect and according to the Code of Conduct and respect.
22. Outstanding debts with the OTI Network
Please be aware that as part of the reimbursement process, checks will include verification that your organisation does not have any outstanding debts with the OTI Network. Should your organisation have any such debts, you are advised to resolve these as they may result in delays in the reimbursement for your organisation and/or future cooperation.
23. These terms are negotiable with any partner until the signature of the mandate. After the date of signing the mandate, these terms are accepted and when the project is approved a Partner Agreement Confirmation will be sent and along with the original mandate will be sent to the Coordinator.