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European Education and Culture Executive Agency
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Coronavirus Impact

EACEA's response to Coronavirus

Please note that the possibility to apply the exceptional measures described below has been extended until 1 April 2022, if still justifiable in your situation.

This page is for beneficiaries, students, volunteers and other participants in EACEA’s funding programmes. It gives information on how coronavirus is affecting our activities, what changes are taking place, and what help is available.

The COVID-19 outbreak negatively affects ongoing or planned activities under EACEA’s funding programmes.

The European Commission’s response

The European Commission’s main objective is the safety and protection of all participants in EACEA’s funding programmes, while fully respecting all the containment measures taken at national level. The European Commission is working to help beneficiaries, students, volunteers and other participants in these programmes to deal with the consequences for them.

The Commission will continue to adapt its response to this unprecedented situation as it evolves, clarifying and simplifying the application of rules and procedures where necessary in cooperation with National Agencies and the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).

EACEA’s support for beneficiaries

EACEA continues to offer support and guidance to beneficiaries of our funding programmes. If you are a beneficiary of one of our funding programmes, please read the message below for steps to follow during this difficult period.

Message for the attention of beneficiaries/contractors/experts

If the implementation of the project or contracts are impeded by the spread of Corona Virus COVID-19, as a first step the beneficiaries/contractors/experts must inform the Executive Agency (EACEA) by e-mail to the responsible project officer you are usually in contact with or the functional mailbox of the Action and describe in detail the issue and its impact on the project implementation.

In any case, the following flexibility measures will apply:

  1. Eligibility of costs in ongoing actions or contracts

    Where individuals who were to take part in mobilities, meetings or events are prevented from doing so, for example owing to their recent contact with someone suffering from the virus or their presence in an area considered to be at high risk, EACEA may consider as eligible(if they fulfil the general eligibility conditions set out in the grant agreement/decision, or contract) expenses of travel or accommodation that could not be cancelled and which are not reimbursed from other sources provided that the beneficiaries/contractors/experts submit relevant supporting documents in this sense (in particular that they have claimed reimbursement and that it was denied).

  2. Where COVID-19 prevents implementation of action or contract

    Where the execution of contracts is impeded because of COVID-19 (for example due to unavailability of key staff, the impossibility of carrying on work in a zone affected by the virus or any other case which can be regarded as force majeure), EACEA may accept replacement activities or delayed performance. This could be done following a justified request by the beneficiary/contractor/expert to amend the contract including by extending the period of its implementation/ performance.

    Documentation

    Beneficiaries/contractors/experts must collect and keep the relevant documentation which might be needed at a later stage to prove/justify any decision taken having an impact on the implementation of the project (notably from a financial point of view). Other updates may follow as the situation evolves.

EACEA remains at your service throughout these difficult times. Please don’t hesitate to contact our Project Officers for any information you might need. Our staff will do their very best to help you.