Together with the assistance of independent experts, the European Commission evaluates all eligible proposals. The evaluation procedure takes place either in a single or two-stage procedure and is divided into several steps.

Prior to the actual evaluation, the Commission briefs the evaluators either orally or in writing, so as to inform them of  the general evaluation guidelines and the objectives of the research area under consideration.

Each proposal is then independently evaluated against the applicable evaluation criteria by three or five experts. Each expert  fills in an individual evaluation form,  in which they provide comments and give evaluation marks. A proposal being analysed and evaluated by the experts forms the basis of the consensus report.
If it is required, a panel discussion may subsequently be convened, in which the consensus reports, the proposal evaluation marks, the actual proposals themselves and possible recommendations about their ranking or summarisation are compared.

The applicants may also be interviewed. The evaluation criteria applying to the different programmes are outlined in the rules for participation and in the relevant work programmes. Work programmes and calls for proposals describe how the Commission will apply these criteria. Depending on the Commission’s decision, the evaluation of proposals by the independent experts may take place either at their home, on Commission premises or at their place of work (remote procedure). In general, independent experts utilise the remote assessment procedure  for the reading and evaluation of  proposals.