Hand-over to beneficiaries

Where the Grant Beneficiary does not have its headquarters in the country where the Action is implemented and unless otherwise specified in the Special Conditions or differently agreed with the Contracting Authority, the equipment, vehicles and supplies paid for with the Budget of the Action must be transferred to any local partners of the Grant Beneficiary and/or to the final recipients of the Action.

At the latest one month before the end of the implementation period, the grant beneficiary must have a clear view of remaining stocks (goods and equipment) and should inform the EC thereof.

Copies of the proofs of transfers of equipments and vehicles, the purchase cost of which was more than 5,000 EURO per item, must be attached to the final report. Such proofs must be kept for control in all other cases.

In the project proposal the organisation must give clear evidence of the necessity to purchase any equipment and must specify its intended use in the framework of the Action (e.g. donation to beneficiaries, logistic use).

Donations may never give rise to a situation of conflict of interest.

A donation certificate is a document signed by the grant beneficiary and the recipient of the donation (of durable equipment or stocks), the purpose of which is to lay down the terms and conditions of the donation. The Grant Beneficiary should use Annex IX to the Grant Contract - Transfer of ownership of assets, available from November 2010. For grants for previous years Grant Beneficiaries can use the donation certificate model uploaded in the Toolkits.

In case of donation to local beneficiaries, the grant beneficiary must prepare a donation letter or certificate, to be signed by its representative and the recipient of the donation. The purpose of such certificate is to lay down the terms and conditions of the donation. It contains inter alia the following information/characteristics:

• the intended use of the donated equipment;
• the donated equipment must be identified in the beneficiary's inventory and/or allow for possible verifications;
• in case of donation to individual beneficiaries, it must be duly justified and the latter must be clearly identified;
• the certificate must also foresee that if the beneficiary does not comply with these conditions, the grant beneficiary may request the return of the donated equipment.

Sources and useful links:

• General Conditions, art. 7
• Transfer of ownership of assets (Annex IX)