La Comisión Europea amplía el plazo de convocatorias del Programa Marco de Investigación e Innovación, Horizonte 2020, a causa del COVID-19

Plazos de convocatorias Horizonte 2020

Debido a la situación excepcional y, dado que las restricciones en vigor por la crisis del COVID-19 pueden afectar a la presentación de propuestas de calidad, la Comisión Europea ha decidido extender el plazo de presentación de propuestas de las convocatorias de Horizonte 2020 cuyo cierre estaba previsto entre el 17 de marzo y el 15 de abril, a excepción de las convocatorias de IMI (IMI2-2020-21-01) y del piloto del EIC - Consejo Europeo de Innovación (EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020).

Los plazos que aplican en cada "topic" deben consultarse en el portal del participante.

Asimismo, se ha ampliado el plazo en el caso de las convocatorias de la Sección 1 de PRIMA.

Causa de fuerza mayor en proyectos Horizonte 2020

En relación con las implicaciones que puede tener el brote del COVID-19 en la ejecución de los proyectos de Horizonte 2020, la Comisión Europea ha indicado lo siguiente:

"The outbreak of Corona virus in the EU and elsewhere may have implications for the participation of individuals in meetings and events organised by beneficiaries for the purposes of H2020 ongoing actions and for their implementation.  For instance, it may prevent beneficiaries to fulfil their obligations under the action or even to carry out work in a zone affected by the virus. It may also force beneficiaries to cancel a meeting due to unavailability of key staff or because most of the participants cannot attend.

If such a situation occurs, beneficiaries must immediately inform the Project Officer, which will examine on a case-by-case basis the possible application of the rules on force majeure, in the meaning of Article 51 of the H2020 MGA.

Example: Beneficiaries cannot attend meetings or events related to the action because of their recent contact with someone suffering from the virus or their presence in an area considered to be at high risk. Costs of travel or accommodation that could not be cancelled and which are not reimbursed from other sources could be eligible (provided that the cost eligibility conditions are fulfilled, notably the that meeting was necessary for the action, the costs were reasonable and in line with the usual practices of the beneficiary on travel) even if the beneficiary did not travel and did not take part in the meeting/event."