The Commission drafts the Agreement in two originals, then signs and sends both of them for signature to the Humanitarian Organisation by registered letter with advice of delivery or equivalent.
Article 12.1 of the General Conditions stipulates that the Partner must send the final version of the Action proposal in paper copy.
In practice, the Partner does not know whether any one version of the proposal is the final one, as this depends on its acceptance by DG ECHO. The Partner will therefore send the consecutive versions of the proposal electronically. To save time, when DG ECHO accepts the proposal, it will draft, sign and send the agreement to the Partner on the basis of this electronic version. DG ECHO will attach to the agreement one printed copy of the accepted Single Form.
An authorised representative of the Partner shall sign and return one original of the Agreement and the copy of the Single Form attached thereto (see Fact sheet A.6) to the Commission by registered letter with advice of delivery or equivalent procedure within 15 calendar days following its receipt. In any case, Agreements have to be signed by the Partner in the same calendar year of their signature by the Commission. The Organisation may keep the other original for its records.
The language of the Agreement is, in principle determined by the language of the Single Form, which also determines the language to use for reporting.
Under no circumstances whatsoever may the Partner make changes to the Agreement sent for signature. In the case of a material error in the text sent for signature, the Parties shall inform each other as soon as the error is identified. The correction of the material error is without prejudice to the entering into force of the Agreement.
In case of non-compliance, the Commission reserves its right to declare the Agreement null and void.
Subject to the requirements established in Article 9 of the General conditions, Agreements shall be considered to be concluded and will enter into force on the date of receipt by the Commission of the original Agreement signed by the Partner, independently of the start date of the Action, as laid down in Article 2 of the Special Conditions.
As date of receipt of documents, both Parties agree to accept the first date of receipt, be it on paper or by electronic means, whichever happens to be first.
Each agreement concluded between DG ECHO and the Partner has a reference number (indicated in the heading of the agreement). For the electronic transmission of documents after the signature of the agreement, including the reports, the document's subject heading shall refer to this reference number as follows: “Agreement [number] - [Country] - [Additional information if relevant]”.
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