Financial contributions

AENEAS Members

AENEAS membership brings many benefits and there is no fee to join the Association. If you are interested in funded collaborative programmes in Europe, such as Xecs and KDT, AENEAS provides extensive support to these instruments. Therefore, AENEAS requests that project participants who actually receive funding pay a Variable Contribution1. AENEAS membership provides an easy mechanism for fulfilling the required commitment to the Variable Contribution for all programmes that AENEAS supports.

Declaration of Acceptance signatories for ECSEL Projects

In line with the new EU Financial Regulations, as of Call 2020, AENEAS will no longer accept new Declaration of Acceptances (DoA) for ECSEL projects. However, for ECSEL projects until and including the Calls of 2019, participants can sign an ECSEL DoA.

Declaration of Acceptance signatories for Xecs, PENTA and EURIPIDES Projects

If limited participation in EUREKA programmes is envisaged, there is an option to submit a project specific Declaration of Acceptance (DoA). Please note that this will be required for every project that a partner participates in, so a free AENEAS membership may be a more convenient mechanism to fulfil this requirement.

AENEAS Variable Contribution

For ECSEL and KDT projects, the Variable Contribution is a set percentage of the Maximum Possible Funding² of each Member and all its Affiliated Companies, the Maximum Possible Funding being the sum of the EC and National (and/or Regional) Funding to be received as expected at the start of the project.

  • For AENEAS Members, following the AENEAS General Assembly of November 2022, the 2023 Variable Contribution for ECSEL and KDT has been defined at 1.8% of the Maximum Possible Funding.
  • For ECSEL DoA signatories, the agreed percentage3 for 2022 is set at 1.9%, which is applicable to 2023 invoicing due to the delayed invoicing by AENEAS.

For PENTA projects, the Variable Contribution is a set percentage of the Maximum Possible Funding² to be received as expected at the start of the project, independent from the source of the public funding (e.g., national, regional, etc.).

  • This applies to each Member or DoA signatory and all their Affiliated Companies.
  • Following the AENEAS General Assembly of November 2022, the 2023 PENTA Variable Contribution will be 1.8% of the Maximum Possible Funding.

For EURIPIDES and joint Cluster Call projects, the Variable Contribution4 is defined as 1.5% of the eligible project cost of each funded participant, be it a Member or a DoA signatory.

For Xecs projects selected in 2022, the Variable Contribution will follow similar rules as for PENTA, with a level based on the decision of the AENEAS General Assembly of November 2023 when invoicing starts in 2024.

  • Any change in the conditions above requires approval of the AENEAS General Assembly.
  • The Variable Contribution is invoiced in 3 instalments over 3 consecutive years.
  • The first instalment will be issued in the year after the start of the project(s) and sent in the first quarter of that year.
  • In 2023, invoices will be sent for projects of ECSEL Calls 2019 and 2020, KDT Call 2021, and PENTA Calls 4 to 6.

For detailed information, please refer to the AENEAS Internal Regulations and AENEAS Articles of Association.

1  The C Members (Corporate) in ECSEL projects, in accordance with Clause 2 of the Internal Regulations, agreed to pay an Extra Variable Contribution for non-contributing non-members (otherwise known as free-riders), participating in the same projects as they are. The list of estimated non-members will be sent with the Variable Contribution invoice, thus allowing C Members to encourage non-members to become a member (or a DoA signatory for ECSEL projects until and including the Calls of 2019) before the Extra Variable Contribution invoice is issued as of the 1st of September.

2  The Maximum Possible Funding includes, and is not limited to, national and European funding, subsidies, and loans, to be received as expected at the start of the project (PAB decision). Any reduction, cancellation of funding, or reimbursement of loan, will give right to a reimbursement by AENEAS, upon submitting a request in writing with official documentation validating the change.

3   The three JU Associations of ECSEL (AENEAS, EPoSS and Inside) have agreed to a coordinated approach to invoicing contributions so that partners who are members or DoA signatories of 2 or 3 Associations are not charged double or triple amounts.

4  EURIPIDES programme has specific rules as defined in the Articles of Associations of the EURIPIDES association before it was absorbed by AENEAS. Therefore, the original rules are applied.