Is it possible to grant access rights to affiliates if they are not explicitly named in the Consortium Agreement?
Affiliates can be granted access rights through corresponding provisions in the Consortium Agreement, by identifying the affiliates in an attachment to the Consortium Agreement, or – on an ad hoc-basis – whenever a contractor intends to do so. It is possible to grant access rights to affiliates of a contractor without identifying them, e.g. by generally referring to all affiliates of a contractor, since the FP6 Rules for Participation authorise the contractors to grant access rights to third parties, in particular to enterprises associated with the contractors. Nevertheless, it should be taken into account that affiliates are considered third parties under the Rules for participation. Therefore, the granting of access rights is subject to two major preconditions set up by the Rules for participation, which need to be safeguarded. These are the maintenance of (potential) access rights of the other contractors, and – if the affiliates were not established in a Member State or Associated
