A consortium is a group of legal entities that submit a proposal together and sign the grant agreement. Horizon Europe research and innovation actions require at least three independent organisations from three different countries, at least one of them from an EU Member State.
The minimum for research and innovation actions is stated precisely: three legal entities independent of each other, each established in a different country, of which at least one is in an EU Member State and two others in different Member States or associated countries.
Hence the mistake that eliminates proposals: three partners from three associated countries do not satisfy the condition – at least one must be from the EU.
Who does not count
Affiliated entities do not sign the grant agreement and therefore do not count towards the minimum three. Associated partners participate without funding and without signing – they do not count either.
The Commission's Joint Research Centre, international European research organisations and entities created under EU law are deemed established in a Member State other than the others – so they "cover" one country.
Other types of action
Coordination and support actions, training and mobility actions and programme co-fund actions may be submitted by one or more legal entities. For public procurement of innovative solutions the rule is stricter: of the three participants, at least two must be public procurers from different countries.
The consortium agreement
In Horizon Europe it is mandatory by default – set in the Data Sheet of the grant agreement; it is not required only for mono-beneficiary projects.
It must settle the consortium's internal organisation, management of portal access, other keys for distributing payments, financial liability on recoveries, rules on background and results, internal dispute resolution and confidentiality. One hard limit: no provision may contradict the grant agreement.
Three things worth knowing. The agreement is purely internal: it is not submitted to the Commission, which is not a party and takes no responsibility for it. The cost of preparing it is ineligible (updating it during the project may not be). And the recommendation is to conclude one even where it is not formally required.
The most common model is DESCA, currently version 2.1 of February 2026, covering both actual-cost and lump sum grants. It is not a Commission document: the EU deliberately endorses no particular model.
The scale to expect
According to the programme's own evaluation, the average consortium in Pillar II grew from 12 partners in the predecessor programme to 16, and the average grant to about €2.9m. The management load on the coordinator has grown accordingly.
Updated 27.07.2026 · Reviewed by: GetGrant editorial team
