Commission Decision of 18 December 2009 on the adoption of the Work Plan for 2010 for the implementation of the second programme of Community action in the field of health (2008-2013), on the selection, award and other criteria for financial contributions to the actions of this programme and Community payment to the WHO Framework Convention on tobacco control (notified under document C(2009) 10183) (2009/964/EU)

2. Grants must comply with the following principles:

• Co-financing rule: external co-financing from a source other than Community funds is required, either by way of the beneficiary's own resources or the financial resources of third parties. Contributions in kind from third parties may be considered as co-financing if considered necessary or appropriate (Articles 113 of the Financial Regulation and 172 of the Implementing Rules).

• No-profit rule: the grant may not have the purpose or effect of producing a profit for the beneficiary (Articles 109(2) of the Financial Regulation and 165 of the Implementing Rules).

• No-retroactivity rule: expenditure eligible for financing must be incurred after the agreement is signed. In exceptional cases, it may be acceptable to consider expenditure that was incurred from the date of submission of the grant application, but not earlier (Article 112 of the Financial Regulation).

• No-cumulation rule: only one grant may be awarded for a specific action carried out by a given beneficiary per financial year (Article 111 of the Financial Regulation)(1).

(1)

This means that a specific action, submitted by one applicant for a grant, can be approved for co- financing by the Commission only once a year, regardless of the length of this action.