Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (repealed)Show full title

Article 121 Scope of grants

1. Grants are direct financial contributions, by way of donation, from the budget in order to finance any of the following:

(a) an action intended to help achieve a Union policy objective;

(b) the functioning of a body which pursues an aim of general Union interest or has an objective forming part of, and supporting, a Union policy ('operating grants').

Grants shall be covered either by a written agreement or by a Commission decision notified to the successful applicant of a grant.

The Commission may establish secure electronic systems for exchanges with the beneficiaries.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning the detailed specification of the scope of grants, and concerning rules determining whether grant agreements or grant decisions are to be used. Furthermore, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning details of the electronic exchange system, including the conditions under which documents submitted by means of such systems, including grant agreements, are to be deemed originals and to have been signed, and the use of framework partnerships.

2. The following do not constitute grants within the meaning of this Title:

(a) expenditure on the members and staff of the institutions and contributions to the European schools;

(b) public contracts as referred to in Article 101, aid paid as macro-financial assistance, and budget support;

(c) financial instruments, as well as shareholdings or equity participation in international financial institutions such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) or specialised Union bodies such as the European Investment Fund;

(d) contributions paid by the Union as subscriptions to bodies of which it is a member;

(e) expenditure implemented under shared management and indirect management within the meaning of Articles 58, 59 and 60, unless specified otherwise in the financial rules applicable to the budget of the entities or persons entrusted pursuant to point (c) of Article 58(1) or in delegation agreements;

(f) contributions to executive agencies referred to in Article 62, made by virtue of each agency's constitutive act;

(g) expenditure relating to fisheries markets as referred to in point (f) of Article 3(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 of 21 June 2005 on the financing of the common agricultural policy(1);

(h) repayment of travel and subsistence expenses incurred by, or where appropriate any other indemnities paid to, persons invited or mandated by the institutions;

(i) prizes given as rewards for a contest, to which Title VII of Part One applies.

3. Interest rate rebates and guarantee fee subsidies shall be treated as grants, provided that they are not combined in a single measure with financial instruments as referred to in Title VIII of Part One.

Such rebates and subsidies shall be subject to the provisions of this Title, with the exception of the following:

(a) the co-financing principle as set out in Article 125(3);

(b) the no-profit principle as set out in Article 125(4);

(c) for actions where the objective is to reinforce the financial capacity of a beneficiary or to generate an income, the assessment of the financial capacity of the applicant as referred to in Article 132(1).

4. Each institution may award grants for communication activities where, for duly justified reasons, the use of public procurement procedures is not appropriate.

(1)

OJ L 209, 11.8.2005, p. 1.