Amendment of a Grant Agreement

GJW Gramza i Wspólnicy advises on matters related to amendments to funding agreements and related documentation (including annexes, change requests, and updates to schedules and budgets). We support beneficiaries in implementing project changes in a secure manner, ensuring compliance with program conditions, guidelines, and state aid rules, taking into account the impact of such changes on the eligibility of expenditures, project indicators, and project durability.

The need to introduce changes to a project may arise from organisational, technical, or market-related reasons. Regardless of the source, the key issue is to determine whether the proposed modification requires the institution’s consent or falls within the permissible limits of flexibility. In practice, the proper preparation of amendments helps reduce the risk of disputes with the institution, as well as consequences such as repayment of EU funding or even termination of the grant agreement.

In projects subject to the state aid regime, it is also essential to ensure that the amendment does not result in a material breach of the conditions under which the support was granted, in particular with regard to eligible costs, aid intensity, cumulation, and the incentive effect.

The scope of our services includes in particular:

• analysis of the planned amendment in terms of its admissibility and its consequences for the grant agreement, the call rules, and the applicable guidelines,
• preparation and review of the application for amendment and the draft annex to the grant agreement, together with the supporting justification and evidence,
• assessment of the impact of the amendments on the eligibility of expenditures and on the method of documenting costs, including personnel costs, external services, and fixed assets,
• advice on introducing amendments to the budget and timetable: reallocations between categories, changes to the substantive scope, project phasing, and implementation deadlines,
• monitoring the impact of the amendments on output and result indicators, including the risk of score reduction, financial corrections, or repayment of EU funding at the settlement stage, and proposing optimal adaptive measures,
• assessment of the compliance of the amendments with obligations relating to project durability, including the effects of organisational, ownership, and operational changes,
• advice on procurement related to the amendment: the competitiveness principle and Public Procurement Law (PZP), including the admissibility of amendments to contracts with contractors,
• analysis of the effects of the amendments under the state aid regime: classification of costs, aid intensity, cumulation, conditions for granting aid, and reporting obligations,
• handling correspondence with the institution, including responses to requests and submission of supplementary documentation,
• professional representation in contentious situations where the institution challenges the admissibility of the amendment or considers consequences such as termination of the grant agreement.

Our approach

We focus on ensuring that the amendment is implemented in an orderly manner and can be defended in the event of an inspection. We organise the factual and documentary basis, identify the consequences for the budget, indicators, and timetable, and verify compliance with state aid rules. The objective is to obtain the institution’s approval while maintaining continuity of project implementation and reducing the risk of financial corrections, repayment of funding, or termination of the grant agreement.