When applying for EU tenders, small businesses are forced to complete a project within a specific timeframe or they would not receive funding. Example: An entrepreneur submits an application and tender dossier in April 2019. In August 2019, he receives a decision approving the tender and thus the green light to carry out his project in 2019 (according to the tender conditions). He carries out the project according to the rules and invests all the money in it. In the meantime, it expects to receive the decision and the contract, which are the legal basis for the implementation and the request for payment of the funds. The second part of the project is linked to 2020 and has to be implemented by the end of September 2020. The request for payment of the first part could therefore cover the second part of the project, which is otherwise difficult to implement or requires new funding or other sources of financing (please note that in these cases it is the small entrepreneurs who do not have an unlimited amount of financial resources). How can the entrepreneur proceed with the project if neither the decision nor the contract has been received in the meantime? Without the latter, he has no legal basis to carry out the call for tenders, but he is still bound by the deadlines - no extensions.