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What every EU project partner should know before sending a PIF

The 18 things to check first

A Partner Identification Form (PIF) is how a coordinator gets to know your organisation before deciding whether you join the consortium. None of the official forms and guides behind this checklist uses the term. The PIF is a working document between partners, and its content then travels into the official application form, where your organisation is identified by its OID or PIC and described through the partnership, the tasks and the work plan. The 18 checks below follow that path. Each one says what to check, why it matters, with the official document or interview it comes from, and how to fix it. Programme rules change with every call, so treat the Programme Guide and the form for your call as the final word.

Checked against official documents on . Prepared by Aeternus Progressus, Lda., Fundão, Portugal. An independent guide, not affiliated with or endorsed by the European Commission, EACEA or any National Agency.

Identity and registration

Check 1: Legal name and address, exactly as registered

Check
The legal name and address on your PIF match, letter for letter, your record in the Erasmus+ Organisation Registration System (ORS) and, if you have a PIC, the Participant Register of the Funding & Tenders Portal. If your template asks for the name in your national language and in Latin characters, give both.
Why it matters
In Erasmus+ actions run by National Agencies, entering your OID fills the application form with the data you registered (Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026, p. 414). In Horizon Europe, the organisation data in Part A comes from the central register linked to your PIC and is read-only in the proposal (Horizon Europe application form, Part A, “Organisation data”). A PIF that says something different leaves the coordinator to work out which version is right.
How to fix
Copy the name and address from the register, not from your letterhead or website. Keep your acronym or short name in a field of its own.

Check 2: The right OID, only one, and guarded

Check
The Organisation ID on your PIF is the one in ORS, your organisation has only one, and you know how many applications it is already in this round.
Why it matters
Erasmus+ actions managed by National Agencies identify you by your OID (Programme Guide 2026, p. 413). Registering more than once, or using several OIDs, “may qualify as misrepresentation” and can lead to rejection (p. 415). Each OID has a cap per deadline, counted whether you are the applicant or a partner: 5 applications for Small-scale Partnerships (KA210) and 10 for Cooperation Partnerships (KA220) in school education, vocational education and training, adult education and youth (pp. 245 and 237). The KA210 cap was 10 in the 2025 form (2025 KA210-YOU template, p. 6). The 2026 KA210 form emails the OID’s authorised person when the OID reaches the limit across draft and submitted applications (2026 KA210-YOU template, p. 6). Applicants need your explicit consent to use your OID, and can be disqualified without proof of it (Programme Guide 2026, p. 414).
How to fix
Look up your OID in ORS. Keep a list of every application your OID is in this round. Give it to coordinators you have agreed to work with, and make sure the authorised person’s email in ORS is one that somebody reads.

Check 3: One nine-digit PIC per organisation

Check
If you take part in Horizon Europe, CERV or Erasmus+ actions managed by EACEA, your PIF shows your Participant Identification Code, labelled as the PIC and kept apart from the OID.
Why it matters
Applications submitted through the Funding & Tenders Portal need every participant registered in the Participant Register with a 9-digit PIC (Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual; Programme Guide 2026, pp. 413 and 414). The OID and the PIC are two codes from two separate systems (Finnish National Agency for Education, EDUFI).
How to fix
Search the Participant Register before registering, so you do not create a duplicate. If a duplicate already exists, your LEAR or account administrator contacts the Central Validation Service (Online Manual).

Check 4: VAT and registration numbers, including “not applicable”

Check
Your VAT number and national registration number, if you have one, match the register. If your organisation is not liable to VAT, the PIF says so.
Why it matters
ORS asks for your VAT number and offers “VAT number not applicable” for organisations that are not liable (EDUFI registration guide). The register itself tells “no VAT number” apart from “missing”, and your PIF should too.
How to fix
Copy both numbers from the register. Write “VAT: not applicable” rather than leaving the field empty.

Check 5: Legal representative and contact person, as two roles with current details

Check
Your PIF names the legal representative and a separate contact person for the project, each with a direct email address and phone number, and both are still in post.
Why it matters
The legal representative is the person who registers the organisation in ORS or the Participant Register (Programme Guide 2026, p. 414). PIF templates shared among partners list the two roles separately (for example the template on SALTO-YOUTH’s OTLAS tool: “Legal representative” and “Person responsible for the project”). A coordinator we interviewed described what happens when they are wrong:
“I mean address and phone number, it was from the legal representative and contact person. So same information which is wrong. I have to call him to give me again another email address, another phone number because otherwise I cannot pass through the steps.”
Cristi Florescu, President, CPDIS, Romania (validation interview, 2 April 2026)
How to fix
Check both people’s details the week you send the PIF. Use a direct address for each, not the general inbox for both.

Check 6: The record behind the numbers is up to date

Check
Your ORS record holds the documents proving your legal status, and any change (a new address, a new legal representative) is made in the register before it is made in the PIF.
Why it matters
The 2026 Erasmus+ forms remind applicants that documents proving legal status must be uploaded to ORS (2026 KA210-YOU template, p. 12; 2026 KA220-VET template, p. 16). Registration also includes an Identification Form uploaded to ORS and validated by the National Agencies (Programme Guide 2026, p. 415). In the Participant Register, changes to a validated organisation’s data are requested by its LEAR or account administrators, and before validation by the person who registered it (Online Manual).
How to fix
Once a year, and whenever something changes, open the register first and the PIF second.

Capacity

Check 7: A presentation a stranger can picture

Check
One paragraph gives your type of organisation, scope of work, main areas of activity, approximate numbers of paid staff, volunteers and learners or participants, and the year you were established.
Why it matters
For applications to National Agencies, operational capacity is shown through information such as the “general presentation of the organisation(s)” (Programme Guide 2026, p. 424). The 2025 KA220 form asked for exactly these elements (2025 KA220-VET template, p. 8), and the 2026 form shows your establishment or registration date (2026 KA220-VET template, p. 6). The 2026 templates no longer carry the separate “Background and experience” questions. Your organisation is now described through the cooperation arrangements, such as “What are the strengths that each partner will bring to the project?” (2026 KA210-YOU template, p. 6) and “How does the mix of participating organisations complement each other” (2026 KA220-VET template, p. 8). One of the NGO leaders we interviewed described how the work is usually split, with the lead partner writing the application and the partners supplying the background information.
How to fix
Write five to seven sentences with numbers you can back up. Keep a short version and a longer one (see check 17).

Check 8: Key people, with the experience that matters here

Check
The PIF names the two to four people who will work on the project, their role, their qualifications and their relevant experience, and you have their CVs ready in one format.
Why it matters
Applications to National Agencies show operational capacity through “profiles (qualifications and experience) of the staff responsible for managing and implementing the project”, and the National Agency may ask for CVs of key persons (Programme Guide 2026, pp. 424 and 425). The CERV form asks you to list the staff by function, describe their tasks and provide CVs of key actors where the call requires them (CERV application form, section 2.3). Horizon Europe asks each participant for a table of the researchers involved (Part A). Missing staff information was one of the first gaps named in our interviews, by a coordinator describing the PIFs they receive.
How to fix
For each person: role in this project, one line of qualifications, one line of relevant experience. Keep every CV in the same layout.

Check 9: Previous EU projects, with reference numbers

Check
Your PIF lists the EU-funded projects of at least the last four years, each with its reference number and title, funding programme, start and end dates, your role, the amount in EUR and a website if there is one.
Why it matters
Those are the columns of the “List of previous projects” annex in the CERV form, which asks for the last 4 years (CERV application form, annex 4). Applications to EACEA include a list of EU-funded projects for the last 4 years, and for National Agency grants over EUR 60,000 an exhaustive list of previous and ongoing projects over the past four years is recommended (Programme Guide 2026, pp. 424 and 425). Horizon Europe asks each participant for up to 5 of its most relevant previous projects or activities (Part A). A reference number identifies a project without ambiguity, and the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform gives an overview of all projects funded under the 2021 to 2027 Erasmus+ programme.
How to fix
Keep one master table with those columns. For each call, put the most relevant projects first.

Fit

Check 10: Your role in this project, in your own words

Check
A short section says what you will do in this project: the tasks, activities or work packages you lead or contribute to, and why your organisation is the one to do them.
Why it matters
Both 2026 Erasmus+ forms ask for the tasks and responsibilities of each partner (2026 KA210-YOU template, p. 6; 2026 KA220-VET template, pp. 8 and 11). How far “the proposed allocation of tasks demonstrates the commitment and active contribution of all participating organisations” is scored under “Quality of the partnership and the cooperation arrangements”, worth up to 20 points, and a proposal needs at least 10 of them (Programme Guide 2026, pp. 241 and 242 for KA220, p. 249 for KA210). Horizon Europe and CERV both ask the applicant to show that each participant has a valid role and adequate resources to fulfil it (Horizon Europe Part B, section 3.2; CERV form, section 2.2). One of the organisations we interviewed sent its general PIF and was asked for one adapted to the project.
How to fix
Before you write, ask the coordinator for the concept note and the role they have in mind for you. Then write three to five sentences about that role.

Check 11: Experience matched to the topic

Check
The experience you put first is the experience that fits this call’s topic and activities, and any earlier project that this one follows up or complements is named.
Why it matters
The 2026 KA220 form asks whether the proposal is a follow-up of earlier Erasmus+ projects or of projects funded by other programmes, and whether it works in synergy with other initiatives (2026 KA220-VET template, p. 7). The KA220 partnership criterion looks for “past experience in the Programme and expertise to successfully complete all project objectives” (Programme Guide 2026, p. 241). One of the NGO leaders we interviewed said that matching the PIF to each project’s topic is the part that takes time, and that precise information is how you stand apart from the competition.
How to fix
For each call, move the two or three most relevant activities or projects to the top, each with one line that links it to the planned activities.

Check 12: Target groups you actually reach

Check
The PIF says who you work with (profiles and age groups), how you reach them, and roughly how many a year.
Why it matters
The 2026 KA220 form asks “What are the target groups of the project? How do the participating organisations engage with the project target groups in their activities?” and, for each activity, the expected number and profile of participants (2026 KA220-VET template, pp. 7 and 13). The 2026 KA210 form asks applicants to outline the target groups and their needs (2026 KA210-YOU template, p. 5). The 2025 KA210 form asked each organisation which profiles and age groups of learners its work concerns (2025 KA210-YOU template, p. 6).
How to fix
Three lines: the group, the age range, and how you reach them, with a yearly number you could show evidence for.

Check 13: Say plainly if you are a newcomer

Check
If this is your first time in the action or the programme, the PIF says so, and leads with the relevant experience you do have.
Why it matters
The partnership table in the 2026 KA220 form has a “Newcomer” column (2026 KA220-VET template, p. 8). The award criteria for both KA210 and KA220 include “the project involves newcomers and less experienced organisations to the Action” (Programme Guide 2026, pp. 241 and 249). Being new is something the coordinator can use.
How to fix
One line in this shape, with your own facts: “First Erasmus+ application. [Number] years of work with [target group], funded by [source].”

Check 14: What this programme asks that a general PIF lacks

Check
You know which programme and action the coordinator is applying to, and your PIF covers what that form asks.
Why it matters
The forms differ. Horizon Europe asks each participant for its roles in the project (chosen from a list), the researchers involved, up to 5 publications, datasets, software, goods or services, up to 5 relevant previous projects, any significant infrastructure or equipment, and whether it has a Gender Equality Plan, which is an eligibility criterion for public bodies, higher education establishments and research organisations from Member States and Associated Countries (Horizon Europe application form, Part A). CERV calls can make CVs, annual activity reports and a list of previous projects mandatory annexes (CERV application form, list of annexes). Higher education institutions in KA210 and KA220 must hold a valid Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (Programme Guide 2026, pp. 236 and 245).
How to fix
Keep a short “programme extras” section for each programme you apply to, and add it only when it applies.

Presentation

Check 15: Dated, and current

Check
The PIF carries a “last updated” month and year, and nothing on it predates your last change of staff, contact details or projects.
Why it matters
The two organisations we interviewed update their PIF anywhere from once a year to 10 to 15 times a year. Wrong contact details stopped one coordinator at a step of the application until they reached the partner by phone (see check 5).
How to fix
Put the date on the first page. Review the PIF when a project closes, when someone joins or leaves, and before each deadline.

Check 16: Consistent with your partners, your website and itself

Check
The same facts appear everywhere: in the PIF, in the register, on your website and on your social media profiles. The PIF follows the coordinator’s headings if they sent a template, and the numbers match from one section to the next.
Why it matters
Where there is doubt, a National Agency may use “information from the organisation’s website or social media profiles” to assess operational capacity (Programme Guide 2026, p. 424). A coordinator we interviewed asked for all partners’ CVs to look alike, because mismatched ones are annoying for an evaluator.
How to fix
Use the coordinator’s template when there is one. Check that your website’s “About” page gives the same staff numbers and projects as the PIF.

Check 17: Plain text that survives a paste, in two lengths

Check
Every section reads correctly when pasted into a web form as plain text. You keep a short and a long version of your presentation. Nothing essential sits only behind a link.
Why it matters
Coordinators paste PIF text into the application platform, and a coordinator we interviewed pointed out that bullet points do not come through, and the text arrives run together. The CERV form says “Do not use hyperlinks to show information that is an essential part of your application” (CERV application form, p. 2). In Horizon Europe, experts are told to ignore hyperlinks designed to expand the proposal. There, the title, list of participants and sections 1 to 3 of Part B are limited to 40 pages (45 for lump-sum topics), and the section describing the whole consortium is indicated at about 3 pages (Horizon Europe application form, Part B, pp. 3 and 14). The 2026 Erasmus+ template forms do not print their character limits, so the room in each field can only be seen in the live form.
How to fix
Write short paragraphs. Avoid tables and bullets in text that will be pasted. Add links as extras, for example to project results, and make sure each sentence works without them.

Check 18: Clear, formal English

Check
Unless the coordinator asks otherwise, the PIF is in English, in a formal register, and proofread by someone other than the writer.
Why it matters
Both organisations we interviewed write their PIFs in English, and one said the hardest part used to be getting the English formal enough. The Erasmus+ forms record the language the form is filled in, and ask for an English translation of the project summary (2026 KA210-YOU template, pp. 3 and 10).
How to fix
Read it aloud once. Replace every vague phrase, such as “extensive experience”, with a fact in this shape: “[number] youth exchanges since [year]”.

Common mistakes

These come only from the two validation interviews we held on 2 April 2026 with the presidents of two NGOs, in Portugal and Romania, and from the official rules cited above.

  1. 1.The same wrong details for two roles. A partner gave the same address and phone number for the legal representative and the contact person, and they were wrong. The coordinator could not get past a step of the application until they phoned for new ones (check 5).
  2. 2.A PIF that looks good and says too little. One coordinator received a well-designed PIF that still lacked the background, key staff and activities an Erasmus+ application needs (checks 7 and 8).
  3. 3.The general PIF, when the project needed its own. One organisation sent its general PIF and was asked to send it again, adapted to the project (check 10).
  4. 4.An OID that travels without you. One organisation found its OID had reached the application limit because it had been added to an application without its knowledge. Applicants need your explicit consent to use your OID, and Erasmus+ caps the number of applications one OID can be in per deadline (Programme Guide 2026, pp. 414, 237 and 245; check 2).
  5. 5.Two codes for one organisation. Using more than one OID may count as misrepresentation, and a duplicate PIC has to be sorted out through the Central Validation Service (Programme Guide 2026, p. 415; Online Manual; checks 2 and 3).
  6. 6.Formatting that falls apart on the way in. Bullet points that look tidy in Word arrive in the application platform as run-on text (check 17).
  7. 7.Generic text. Both interviewees use an AI assistant to adapt their PIF. One warned that, used carelessly, it gives general information, and that being precise is how you stand apart from the competition (check 11).
  8. 8.Essentials behind links. The CERV form tells applicants not to use hyperlinks for essential information, and Horizon Europe experts are told to ignore links designed to expand a proposal (CERV form, p. 2; Horizon Europe Part B, p. 3; check 17).

One of the coordinators we interviewed told us a poor PIF is reason enough to drop a partner, and called the PIF the starting point: the visiting card of an organisation.

Keeping it current

Most of these checks go out of date the day something changes, such as a new legal representative, a finished project or a new phone number. Whatever tool you use, keep one master version, date it, and send partners that version rather than an old attachment. MyPIF, which we build, keeps your PIF behind one permanent link, so a partner who opens it sees the version you last published. The free plan covers one PIF and its link.

mypif.eu

Where this comes from

All documents opened on 24 September 2026.

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