HUMANITARIAN AID CONTRIBUTION AGREEMENT (HACA)

The Humanitarian Aid Contribution Agreement (HACA) is the contractual template to be used when implementing a Humanitarian Aid Action, with entities entitled to work under indirect management with the European Commission. Humanitarian Partners working with DG ECHO under indirect management budget implementation mode include International Organisations, including UN Agencies, as well as certain Member States’ Specialised Agencies (MSSAs).

When signing the HACA the Partner agrees to carry out the Action acting on its own responsibility and in accordance with the terms and conditions laid down in the Agreement (including objectives and results of the Action described in the e-Single Form) and in the Financial Framework Partnership Agreement – if any – signed with the European Commission.  

In general, the HACA is composed of the following parts, which form an integral part of the Agreement:

• The Special Conditions: the 7 articles of the Special Conditions describe the main elements of the Action. (See below to find out what is covered by each article).

• The Annex I: is the Description of the Action, which is included in the e-Single Form. The HACA is be generated on the basis of the information provided in the approved e-Single Form.  

• The Annex II: is the General Conditions of the Agreement which set general administrative, financial and managerial conditions governing the implementation of a DG ECHO funded Action. Annex II is an integral part of the Agreement, even if not materially attached to it.

• The Annex IIa: includes the Provisions applicable only to Multi-Partner Contribution Agreements. Annex IIa applies only in cases where two or more DG ECHO Partners entitled to work under indirect management co-sign a HACA to implement together a DG ECHO funded Action (“multi-Partner HACA”). It describes the roles and responsibilities of the parties participating in the Action.

• The Annex III: is the Management Declaration, a formal declaration that the Partner has to provide, based on the template, either annually or with every progress and final report – according to what is explicitly foreseen in Article 1.5 of the Special Conditions.   

In the specific case of the Agreement negotiated with the ICRC, the HACA and its annexes (the Special Conditions, Annex I, Annex II and Annex IIa as presented above) are Annex I to the FFPA signed with the European Commission and the management declaration correspond to Annex II to the FFPA. 

Each Agreement concluded between DG ECHO and the concerned Partner has a reference number (a code attributed to a project when selected for contribution and complementary to the project number ) indicated in the heading of the Agreement together with the project number (Project number is the code associated to a proposal submitted to DG ECHO. Normally it follows this structure [year]/[number] ).

While the language of the Agreement is English, as stated in Article 5 of the Special Conditions, all communication in connection with the Agreement, including reports, shall be in English, or where appropriate, in French. The language of the e-Single Form determines the language to be used for reporting.

The 7 Articles of the Special Conditions describe the main elements of the action as follows:

• Article 1: the purpose of the Agreement
• Article 2: Entry into force of the Agreement and the implementation period of the Action
• Article 3: Financing the Action
• Article 4: Payment arrangements and Reporting
• Article 5: Communication language and contacts
• Article 6: Annexes
• Article 7: Additional specific conditions applying to the Action

The HACA has to be duly signed by the Partner(s), represented by the Legal Representative mentioned in Section 15.1 of the e-Single Form. In case of a multi-Partner HACA, all Partners participating in the Action, co-sign the Agreement. By doing so, they become ‘Party’ to the Agreement.

Please note that, under no circumstances whatsoever may the Partner unilaterally make changes to the HACA received for signature. If the Partner spots a clause that it disagrees with or has questions on, it is to contact the DG ECHO Desk Officer as soon as possible.

As mentioned in the Agreement itself, the Parties signing the Agreement recognise the Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) (in compliance with the Regulation (EU) No 910/2014) as having equivalent legal effect to a hand-written signature. While DG ECHO always signs using QES, Partners have the possibility to choose whether to sign with a qualified electronic signature or to hand sign.

Moreover, in the specific case of multi-Partner HACA, the Agreement needs to be signed by all Parties in the same format, either with qualified electronic signature by email or hand-signed by courier.

Instructions on how to sign are provided in the cover letter accompanying the Agreement.

 
N.B. The Agreement must be returned signed within 15 days from its reception. Only once the Agreement is returned signed, the process for the initial pre-financing payment  will be launched.

In the case of clerical errors (unintentional additions, omissions or typographical errors) in the text of the HACA, the Parties shall inform each other as soon as the error is identified, and the text shall be rectified by mutual consent. The clerical error shall be without prejudice to the validity of the HACA.

Unless the Agreement is terminated earlier following the above-mentioned procedures, it shall end by:

• the date of the payment of the balance by DG ECHO or
• the date when the Partner repays any amounts paid in excess by DG ECHO or
• the date of completion of the dispute settlement procedure, if any.