Dear all,
I am in the process of negotiations for a FP7 project: Research for SMEs.
I have previously negotiated three other FP6 proposals
I would very much well comments and advice from people on a good checklist for items for negotiations on FP7.
Thanks in advance,
Shak
We are experiencing at present a very rigorous negotiation concerning the budget. The PO questions a lot of the equipment needed, part of the travel costs (travel to conferences) etc, although the ESR had stated: “Resources allocated are adequate, both in terms of equipment, travelling and labour.”
Of course we know that the EC will not pay for anything excessive and we don’t regard the required resources as excessive. Also I have experienced some other negotiations before, but never, that almost everything was put into question.
Does anyone else have experiences or some ideas what we can do – apart from defending the resources? Has a PO the right to eliminate so many things from our budget, which would probably lead to a budget cut?
Thanks in advance and kind regards,
Christiane
I have just started my first FP7 contract negotiation. The Commission project officer is being very tough, and has told me I have to reduce costs overall by almost 20%. My view is that the project will then not be viable, but he doesn’t accept that. When I ask him why he wants to cut the different costs, he just says ‘you and your partners are too expensive”. But we are all charging our usual costs and there is nothing in the Evaluation Summary Form about expensive partners. Are Project Officers allowed to do this sort of thing? Can anybody give me some practical advice about what to do? But quickly because the next negotiation meeting is very soon!