EN    EN EN 
 
EN    EN  COMMISSION OF THE E UROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 25.7.2008 
SEC(2008) 2279 
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 
Accompanying document to the 
 
Proposal for a  
 
COUNCIL REGULATION  
 
on the Community legal framework for a European Research Infrastructure (ERI) 
  
SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT  
 
{COM(2008) 467 final} 
{SEC(2008) 2278} 
 
EN 2   EN SUMMARY 
This Impact Assessment accompanies the proposal for a "REGULATION on the 
Community legal framework for a European Re search Infrastructure (ERI)", which is 
included in the Commission Legi slative and Work Programme 2008 as one of the priority 
initiatives.  
Since the Communication of the EU Commission Towards a European Research Area of 
January 2000 the idea of a co mmon European Research Area  (ERA) has been the guiding 
principle for all Community R&D measures and a central pillar in re alising the research 
goals of the Lisbon Strategy for growth, jobs and a dynamic and knowledge-based 
European economy. In the 2007 ERA Green Paper The European Research Area: New 
Perspectives a number of key areas have been identified where effective action in 
partnerships between Member States would have  the potential to deli ver significant gains 
for Europe's research system and help to cr eate a "fifth freedom" in Europe - the free 
movement of knowledge. In this context, "Developing world cla ss research infrastructures" 
is put forward as one of the pi llars of an ambitious ERA vision. 
Research infrastructures play  an increasing role in the advancement of knowledge and 
technology. For example, irradia tion facilities, data banks in  genomics and data banks in 
social science, observatories for environmen tal sciences, imaging systems or clean rooms 
for nano-electronics, are at th e core of research and innova tion processes. By offering 
unique research services to users from di fferent countries, by at tracting young people to 
science and through networking of facilities, research infrastr uctures help structuring the 
scientific community and play therefore a key role in the construction of an efficient research and innovation environment. Because of their ability to assemble a ‘critical mass’ 
of people and investment, they contribute to national, regional and European economic 
development. They are therefore at the co re of the knowledge triangle of research, 
education and innovation.  
As the frontiers of research evolve and b ecome more advanced and as our technologies 
progress, research infrastructures are becoming increasingly complex and more expensive , 
often placing them beyond the reach of a si ngle research group, region, nation or even 
continent. The fragmentation in Europe doe s not help in facing these challenges.  
This was recognised by the Competitivenes s Councils of 1-3 July 2004 and of 25-26 
November 2004 when Ministers agreed that , within the framework of the further 
development of the ERA, the reinforcement of competitive research, prevention of fragmentation, and cooperation in the field of research infrastructures are required. 
Ministers emphasized the need for the developm ent of a European strategy in the field of 
research infrastructures, which should imply great er coordination at European level as well 
as different approaches depending on the si ze and scope of the research facilities 
concerned. The Ministers ma ndated ESFRI, the European Strategy Forum for Research 
Infrastructure to develop a strategic road map for Europe for the next generation of 
Research Infrastructures. 
Following the release of the ESFRI roadmap, in October 2006, several Competitiveness 
Councils, as well as the Eur opean Council, invited Member  States to participate actively  in 
the implementation of Research Infrastructures  of pan-European interest, and recognised 
the important role of the European Commission in this process. 
However, a major difficulty for setting up ne w European research infrastructures, apart 
from scarcity of resources and the complexity of technical and organi sational issues, is the 
 
EN 3   EN lack of an adequate legal framework  allowing the creation of appropriate partnership with 
partners from different countries. Recent work carried out under the au spices of ESFRI has 
recognised the limitations of existing legal inst ruments and identified a need to develop a 
new dedicated Community legal framewor k for setting-up European research 
infrastructures involving several Member States.  
It is in that context that the Commission has included in its 2008 Legislative and Work 
Programme, as a Priority Initiative, a proposal  to develop a "REGULATION on the 
Community legal framework for a Europ ean Research Infrastructure (ERI)".  
A wide-ranging consultation of interested parties has been carried out to prepare this 
initiative. The impact assessment has drawn in formation coming from a variety of sources 
i) analysis conducted by experts; ii) consultatio n of stakeholders and ii i) contributions from 
an inter-service group and from an independe nt "sounding board" specifically set up to 
follow this initiative.  
Four policy options  have been considered:  
• Option 1: The "no specific EU action" op tion corresponds to the present situation, 
where, each consortium, through an ad hoc process, tries to identify among existing 
legal forms the one which could be the most appropriate for their project;  
• Option 2 corresponds to a "light " form of intervention from  the European Commission, 
helping those involved in building European infrastructures to identify problems and 
needs, to exchange informati on about how to tackle these pr oblems and to establish best 
practices.  
• Option 3 corresponds to the setting-up of  Joint Undertakings by the Community, 
according to Article 171 of the EC-Treaty, on case by case basis, every time that a need 
for such setting-up occurs;  
• Option 4 is a more direct response to the problem at hand. It proposes a legislative 
action to provide a new legal instrument ad apted to the need of European research 
infrastructures, complementing existing forms at national and European level; it also considers the empowerment from the legi slator to the Eur opean Commission for 
conferring the "European Resear ch Infrastructure" status.  
A comparative assessment of the different polic y options clearly identifies Option 4 as the 
most effective and efficient to achiev e the policy objectives of the proposal. 
 
EN 4   EN   
 
Policy objectives  Option 1 Option 2 Option 
3 Option 
4 
Ease and speed-up the process of setting-up 
new European research infrastructures  Generally 
Low Generally Low  Moderate High  
Increase the number of European research 
infrastructures  Very Low Moderate Moderate High 
Contribute to the further development of a 
European policy for rese arch infrastructures Very Low  Moderate  Moderate High  
Provide a cost efficient procedure for setting-up 
new European research infrastructures Generally Low  Generally Low  Low High  
Provide all the features that a legal form should 
have for European research infrastructures  Depends on 
scheme  Depends on 
scheme  Moderate  High  
Increased EU positive image at international level 
through the reinforcement of ERA Very Low  Moderate  Moderate High  
Contribute to achievement of socio-economic, 
environmental and societal impacts Generally Low Moderate Moderate High