Erasmus+ OID Registration: Step-by-Step Guide

Before any Erasmus+ application can be submitted — whether you are the coordinator or a partner organisation — every organisation in the consortium must have a valid Organisation ID, known as an OID. No OID means no application. The Beneficiary Module will not allow an organisation without a validated OID to be added to a project, and an application submitted with a missing or unvalidated OID will be rejected at admissibility.

The registration process itself is free, straightforward and takes around 20 minutes to complete. The only unpredictable element is processing time — validation by the European Commission takes between 1 and 5 working days, and there is no way to expedite it. This guide walks you through every step of the registration process, shows you how to find an OID that may already exist for your organisation, and covers the most common errors that delay or block validation.

1. What Is an Erasmus+ OID

An Organisation ID (OID) is a unique nine-character identifier — beginning with the letter “E” followed by eight digits, for example E10123456 — assigned to every organisation that registers in the EU Funding and Tenders Portal. It is the European Commission’s way of identifying and verifying organisations across all EU funding programmes, not just Erasmus+.

For Erasmus+ specifically, the OID serves three functions. First, it is an admissibility requirement — every organisation in every KA1 and KA2 application must have a validated OID. Second, it links the organisation’s legal and financial identity to the application — the data in the EU Funding and Tenders Portal (legal name, address, bank account, legal representative) is what the European Commission uses for grant agreements and payment transfers. Third, it is persistent — once registered, an organisation’s OID does not change and can be reused for every Erasmus+ application the organisation submits in the current and future programme generations.

The OID replaced the older PIC (Participant Identification Code) system in the 2021–2027 programme generation. If your organisation participated in Erasmus+ projects under the 2014–2020 programme, it will have a PIC rather than an OID. PICs are not automatically transferred — organisations that previously had a PIC need to re-register in the new portal to obtain an OID.

Detail	Information
Format	E + 8 digits — e.g. E10123456
Where it is registered	EU Funding and Tenders Portal — ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal
Cost	Free — no registration fee
Processing time	1–5 working days — cannot be expedited
Validity	Permanent — reused for all future EU funding applications
Who needs one	Every organisation in every KA1 and KA2 application — coordinator and all partners
Per organisation	One OID per organisation — not per person, not per project

2. What You Need Before You Start

Before beginning the registration process, gather the following information and documents. Having them ready before opening the portal prevents the most common interruption — reaching a required field and not having the data to hand, which often results in a partially saved registration that requires restarting.

An EU Login account. The EU Funding and Tenders Portal requires an EU Login account (previously called ECAS) to access. EU Login is a personal account — it belongs to the individual, not the organisation. If you do not have an EU Login account, create one first at ecas.ec.europa.eu. Use your professional email address — the one associated with your organisation. The EU Login account is also required to access the Beneficiary Module, so creating it at this stage means it is ready for both registration and application submission.

Organisation legal name. The full official name of the organisation exactly as it appears in its national registration documents — including any legal suffix (e.g. “Ltd”, “A.Ε.”, “GmbH”, “ONG”). Discrepancies between the name submitted in the portal and the name in official documents can delay validation or require correction.

Legal registration number. The national registration number of the organisation — the identifier assigned by the national body that registered it (company register, NGO registry, chamber of associations, etc.). This number is what the European Commission uses to verify that the organisation is a legitimate legal entity in its country.

Official registered address. The organisation’s full registered address — street, city, postcode and country — as it appears in the national registration documents. Note that this is the registered address, not necessarily the office address or the project address.

Organisation type. The legal form of the organisation — NGO/association, school, university, public authority, private company, etc. The portal provides a dropdown list of organisation types; select the one that most closely matches your organisation’s legal form as registered in your country.

Legal representative details. The name, title and contact email of the person who is the organisation’s legal representative — the individual authorised to sign contracts and legal documents on behalf of the organisation. This is typically the director, president, CEO or equivalent. For KA220, the legal representative is also the person who signs mandate letters — their details must be consistent across the portal and the mandate letter.

Bank account details (for coordinators). Organisations that will act as coordinator — and therefore receive the grant directly from the NA — must provide bank account details: account number/IBAN, BIC/SWIFT code and bank name. For organisations receiving grants above €60,000, a financial identification form signed by the bank is also required. Partner organisations that receive funds through the coordinator do not need to submit bank details to the portal.

3. Step-by-Step OID Registration Guide

Follow these steps in order. Do not skip ahead to Step 4 before Step 3 is complete — the portal requires each section to be saved before the next one becomes available.

Step 1 — Log into the EU Funding and Tenders Portal. Go to ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal and click “Sign In” in the top right corner. Log in using your EU Login credentials. If you do not yet have an EU Login account, click “Create an account” and complete the registration at ecas.ec.europa.eu before returning to this step.

Step 2 — Navigate to “My organisations”. Once logged in, click on your name or the profile icon in the top right corner. From the dropdown menu, select “My organisations.” This section shows all organisations currently linked to your EU Login account. If this is your first registration, the list will be empty.

Step 3 — Register a new organisation. Click the “Register a new organisation” button. A registration form will open. Work through each section in order — do not skip fields. Required sections include: organisation identification (legal name, registration number, country), organisation address, legal representative information, organisation type and — for coordinators — bank account details. Complete every mandatory field marked with an asterisk before attempting to save.

Step 4 — Enter the organisation name exactly. In the “Organisation legal name” field, enter the name precisely as it appears in your national registration document — including capitalisation, punctuation and legal suffix. Do not use abbreviations, common names or translated versions of the name unless these are the official registered name. The portal validates the name against registration records; inconsistencies trigger a manual review that significantly extends processing time.

Step 5 — Select the correct organisation type. Use the organisation type dropdown to select the category that best matches your organisation’s legal form. Common categories include: Non-governmental organisation / Association, Higher Education Institution, School / Secondary school / Pre-primary / Other educational institution, Public body / National or European agency or body, Vocational Training Organisation, and Private company. If none of the listed types perfectly match your organisation’s legal form, select the closest equivalent and note the specifics in the description field.

Step 6 — Upload supporting documents if prompted. Depending on your organisation type and country, the portal may ask you to upload a copy of your official registration document — the national registry entry, founding statute or equivalent. Prepare a PDF scan of the relevant document before beginning the registration. Accepted file size is typically up to 4MB per document.

Step 7 — Submit and note your temporary ID. Once all fields are completed and all required documents uploaded, click “Submit.” The portal will generate a temporary reference number immediately. Note this number — it allows you to track the status of your registration while it is being processed. The reference number is not the OID — the OID is assigned only after validation is complete.

Step 8 — Wait for validation and receive your OID. The European Commission validates the registration within 1–5 working days. You will receive an email confirmation at the address associated with your EU Login account when the OID has been assigned. Log back into the portal after receiving the confirmation to verify the OID is displayed correctly in “My organisations.” Share the OID with the coordinator of your consortium immediately upon receipt.

4. How to Find an Existing OID for Your Organisation

Before registering a new OID, always check whether your organisation already has one. Duplicate registrations — two OIDs for the same legal entity — cause problems at the grant agreement stage and must be resolved with the National Agency before the project can proceed. There are three ways to check.

Method 1 — Check the EU Funding and Tenders Portal directly. Log into the portal at ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal with your EU Login account and go to “My organisations.” If your organisation is already registered and linked to your EU Login account, it will appear here with its OID displayed. If the organisation was registered by a colleague using a different EU Login account, it may not appear in your personal “My organisations” view — in that case, use Method 2.

Method 2 — Search the public organisation register. The EU Funding and Tenders Portal includes a public search function that allows anyone to search for registered organisations by name, country or OID. Navigate to the portal’s “Search” or “Organisation register” section and search using your organisation’s legal name and country. If a matching entry exists, note the OID and contact the person in your organisation who manages EU accounts to retrieve access. Do not register a new OID for an organisation that already appears in the public register.

Method 3 — Check previous grant documents. If your organisation has participated in any EU-funded project since 2021 — as coordinator or partner — the OID will appear in the grant agreement, the Beneficiary Module project record and all official correspondence from the National Agency or EACEA. Search your organisation’s email archive and file system for any documents referencing an “E” number beginning with “E1” — this is the OID format.

If you find a PIC but no OID. A Participant Identification Code (PIC) was the predecessor to the OID system used in the 2014–2020 Erasmus+ programme. PICs are not automatically converted to OIDs. If your organisation has a PIC from previous EU projects, you will still need to complete the OID registration process in the current portal. The PIC may speed up validation — reference it in the registration notes — but it does not substitute for a new OID registration.

5. After Registration: What Happens Next

Once your OID has been validated and confirmed, there are several immediate actions to take — both to prepare for the current application and to ensure the OID remains useful for future ones.

Share the OID with the coordinator immediately. The moment your OID is confirmed, send it to the coordinator of your consortium. The coordinator needs every partner’s OID to be able to add them to the application in the Beneficiary Module. Delays in sharing OIDs after validation cause unnecessary last-minute pressure for the coordinator.

Link the OID to the Beneficiary Module. The Beneficiary Module is a separate platform from the EU Funding and Tenders Portal, though they are connected. Log into the Beneficiary Module at webgate.ec.europa.eu/beneficiary-module using your EU Login credentials and search for your organisation using your OID. Link the OID to your Beneficiary Module account to enable application work. For a full walkthrough see our Beneficiary Module guide.

Assign the Authorised Representative role. In the Beneficiary Module, the Authorised Representative is the only person who can sign grant agreements and submit applications on behalf of the organisation. This role must be assigned to the correct person — typically the legal representative or a delegated signatory — before the application deadline. Assigning this role requires the person’s EU Login account to be linked to the organisation in the portal.

Keep the portal profile up to date. If your organisation’s legal name, address, legal representative or bank account details change after OID registration, update the EU Funding and Tenders Portal profile promptly. Outdated profile data — particularly bank account details or legal representative information — can block grant agreement signature and payment processing. Assign a named person in your organisation to be responsible for keeping the portal profile current.

Store the OID in an accessible location. Record the OID in your organisation’s project management system, your shared documents folder and your email signature template for EU project correspondence. The OID is required for every EU funding application your organisation submits and should be as readily accessible as your VAT number or registration number.

6. Most Common OID Registration Errors

Organisation name entered incorrectly. The most common validation delay is a mismatch between the name entered in the portal and the name in the national registration documents. Common causes include entering the trading name instead of the legal name, omitting the legal suffix (Ltd, NGO, A.Ε.), translating the name into English when the registered name is in another language, or using punctuation inconsistencies. Always copy the name directly from the official registration document — do not type it from memory.

Registering a duplicate OID. When multiple people in an organisation independently try to register an OID — because each assumed the other had not done it — the result is two OID registrations for the same legal entity. The EC will typically contact the organisation to resolve the duplication before validating either. Check the portal first using Method 2 in Section 4 before beginning a new registration.

Wrong organisation type selected. Selecting “Private company” for a registered NGO, or “Higher Education Institution” for a VET provider, can trigger additional validation steps or require correction before the OID is confirmed. Use the organisation type that most closely matches your legal form as registered in your country — not the type that sounds most prestigious or most aligned with the project topic.

Using a personal EU Login account for the organisation. EU Login accounts are personal — they belong to an individual, not an organisation. Registering the OID under a personal email account that is not associated with the organisation (e.g. a gmail.com address rather than a work address) creates access management problems when the individual leaves the organisation or changes roles. Always use a professional email address linked to the organisation for the EU Login account used to register the OID.

Not updating the profile after legal changes. An organisation that changes its legal name, registered address or legal representative and does not update the EU Funding and Tenders Portal profile will face problems at the grant agreement stage — the NA will cross-check the profile against the application and flag any discrepancies. Update the portal profile immediately whenever any of these details change.

Confusing OID with PIC. Organisations that participated in Erasmus+ projects under the 2014–2020 programme have a PIC — a Participant Identification Code — not an OID. PICs look different from OIDs and are not interchangeable. If a partner sends you a PIC number when you asked for their OID, they need to complete a new registration in the current EU Funding and Tenders Portal to obtain an OID. Check carefully — a PIC typically has 9 digits with no leading “E”, while an OID always begins with “E”.

Starting the application before all partner OIDs are confirmed. Beginning the application form before all partner OIDs are validated does not save time — it creates a partially complete application that cannot be submitted until the missing OIDs arrive. If a partner’s OID is not validated by the submission deadline, they cannot be included. Confirm all OIDs before opening the Beneficiary Module form.

7. OID Registration Checklist

• ✅ Checked whether the organisation already has an OID — searched the EU Funding and Tenders Portal before starting a new registration
• ✅ EU Login account created using a professional organisational email address
• ✅ Organisation’s official legal name copied exactly from national registration documents
• ✅ Legal registration number from national registry confirmed and ready
• ✅ Registered address verified against official documents — not office or project address
• ✅ Correct organisation type selected from portal dropdown
• ✅ Legal representative details entered — name, title and contact email consistent with official documents
• ✅ Supporting registration documents uploaded as PDF if required by the portal
• ✅ Bank account details entered for coordinator organisations
• ✅ Registration submitted and temporary reference number noted
• ✅ OID validation confirmed by email — logged back into portal to verify OID displayed correctly
• ✅ OID shared with the consortium coordinator immediately after validation
• ✅ OID linked to Beneficiary Module account
• ✅ Authorised Representative role assigned in the Beneficiary Module
• ✅ OID stored in organisation’s project management records for future use
• ✅ All partner OIDs confirmed as validated before beginning the application form