Text proposed by the Commission Amendment

Article 2 Article 2

Definitions Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply: For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1) ‘research infrastructures’ mean facilities that provide resources and services for the research communities to conduct research and foster innovation in their fields. This definition includes the associated human resources, and it covers major equipment or sets of instruments; knowledge-related facilities such as collections, archives or scientific data infrastructures; computing systems, communication networks, and any other infrastructure, of a unique nature and open to external users, essential to achieve excellence in research and innovation. Where relevant, they may be used beyond research, for example for education or public services and they may be ‘single sited’, ‘virtual’ or ‘distributed’; (1) ‘research infrastructures’ mean facilities that provide resources and services for the research communities to conduct research and foster innovation in their fields. This definition includes the associated human resources, and it covers major equipment or sets of instruments in particular those supported by other Union funds as referred to in Annex IV ; knowledge-related facilities such as collections, archives or scientific data infrastructures; computing systems, communication networks, and any other infrastructure, of a unique nature and open to external users, essential to achieve excellence in research and innovation. Where relevant, they may be used beyond research, for example for education or public services and they may be ‘single sited’, ‘virtual’ or ‘distributed’;

(2) ‘smart specialisation strategy’ has the same meaning as smart specialisation strategy as defined in Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (26) and fulfilling the enabling conditions set out in Regulation (EU) XX [Common Provisions Regulation]; (2) ‘smart specialisation strategy’ has the same meaning as smart specialisation strategy as defined in Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (26) and fulfilling the enabling conditions set out in Regulation (EU) XX [Common Provisions Regulation];

(3) ‘European Partnership’ means an initiative where the Union, together with private and/or public partners (such as industry, research organisations, bodies with a public service mission at local, regional, national or international level or civil society organisations including foundations), commit to jointly support the development and implementation of a programme of research and innovation activities, including those related to market, regulatory or policy uptake; (3) ‘European Partnership’ means an initiative where the Union, together with private and/or public partners (such as industry, universities, research organisations including research infrastructures , bodies with a public service mission at local, regional, national or international level or civil society organisations including non-governmental organisations and foundations), where appropriate commit to jointly support the development and implementation of a programme of research and innovation activities, including those pursuant to Article 185 and 187 TFUE, and those related to market, regulatory or policy uptake;

(4) ‘open access’ means the practice of providing online access to research outputs resulting from actions funded under the Programme, in particular scientific publications and research data, free of charge to the end-user; (4) ‘open access’ means the practice of providing online access to research outputs resulting from actions funded under the Programme, in particular scientific publications and research data, free of charge to the end-user . With regard to research data, relevant privacy and security interests, as well as intellectual property rights, confidentiality, European Union global economic competitiveness and other legitimate interests need to be addressed in accordance with the principle ‘as open as possible, as closed as necessary’ and according to ‘robust opt-outs’ ;

(5) ‘mission’ means a portfolio of actions intended to achieve a measurable goal within a set timeframe, and impact for science and technology and/or society and citizens that could not be achieved through individual actions; (5) ‘mission’ means a portfolio of excellence-driven R&I actions which could be cross-cluster or cross-cutting intended to achieve a measurable goal within a set timeframe, and have an impact for science and technology , for society , policy-making and/or diplomacy and citizens and which could not be achieved through individual actions;

(6) ‘pre-commercial procurement’ means the procurement of research and development services involving risk-benefit sharing under market conditions, and competitive development in phases, where there is a clear separation of the research and development services procured from the deployment of commercial volumes of end-products; (6) ‘pre-commercial procurement’ means the procurement of research and development services involving risk-benefit sharing under market conditions, and competitive development in phases, where there is a clear separation of the research and development services procured from the deployment of commercial volumes of end-products;

(7) ‘public procurement of innovative solutions’ means procurement where contracting authorities act as a launch customer for innovative goods or services which are not yet available on a large-scale commercial basis, and may include conformity testing. (7) ‘public procurement of innovative solutions’ means procurement where contracting authorities act as a launch customer for innovative goods or services which are not yet available on a large-scale commercial basis, and may include conformity testing.

(8) ‘access rights’ means rights to use results or background; (8) ‘access rights’ means rights to use results or background under terms and conditions laid down in accordance with this Regulation ;

(9) ‘background’ means any data, know-how or information whatever its form or nature, tangible or intangible, including any rights such as intellectual property rights, that is: (i) held by beneficiaries prior to their accession to the action; (ii) identified by the beneficiaries in writing in any manner as needed for implementing the action or for exploiting its results; (9) ‘background’ means any data, know-how or information whatever its form or nature, tangible or intangible, including any rights such as intellectual property rights, that is: (i) held by beneficiaries prior to their accession to the action; and (ii) identified by the beneficiaries in a written agreement as needed for implementing the action or for exploiting its results;

(10) ‘dissemination’ means the public disclosure of the results by appropriate means (other than resulting from protecting or exploiting the results), including by scientific publications in any medium; (10) ‘dissemination’ means the public disclosure of the results by appropriate means (other than resulting from protecting or exploiting the results), including by scientific publications in any medium;

(11) ‘exploitation’ means the use of results in further research and innovation activities other than those covered by the action concerned, or in developing, creating, manufacturing and marketing a product or process, or in creating and providing a service, or in standardisation activities; (11) ‘exploitation’ means the use of results in further research and innovation activities other than those covered by the action concerned, or inter alia, commercial exploitation such as developing, creating, manufacturing and marketing a product or process, or in creating and providing a service, or in standardisation activities;

(12) ‘fair and reasonable conditions’ means appropriate conditions, including possible financial terms or royalty-free conditions, taking into account the specific circumstances of the request for access, for example the actual or potential value of the results or background to which access is requested and/or the scope, duration or other characteristics of the exploitation envisaged; (12) ‘fair and reasonable conditions’ means appropriate conditions, including possible financial terms or royalty-free conditions, taking into account the specific circumstances of the request for access, for example the actual or potential value of the results or background to which access is requested and/or the scope, duration or other characteristics of the exploitation envisaged;

(13) ‘funding body’ means a body or organisation, other than the Commission, as referred to in point (c) of Article 62(1) of the Financial Regulation, to which the Commission has entrusted budget implementation tasks under the Programme; (13) ‘funding body’ means a body or organisation, other than the Commission, as referred to in point (c) of Article 62(1) of the Financial Regulation, to which the Commission has entrusted budget implementation tasks under the Programme;

(14) ‘international European research organisation’ means an international organisation, the majority of whose members are Member States or associated countries, and whose principal objective is to promote scientific and technological cooperation in Europe; (14) ‘international European research organisation’ means an international organisation, the majority of whose members are Member States or associated countries, and whose principal objective is to promote scientific and technological cooperation in Europe;

(15) ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, Union law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without a legal personality in accordance with Article 197(2)(c) of the Financial Regulation; (15) ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, Union law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without a legal personality in accordance with Article 197(2)(c) of the Financial Regulation;

(15 a) ‘widening countries’ means those countries identified through the composite indicator of Research Excellence (R&D intensity, excellence in S&T, Knowledge-intensity of economy, High Tech& Medium Tech product contribution to trade balance) and with a corrective threshold of 70 % of the Union average ( 26a ) .

(16) ‘non-profit legal entity’ means a legal entity which by its legal form is non-profit-making or which has a legal or statutory obligation not to distribute profits to its shareholders or individual members; (16) ‘non-profit legal entity’ means a legal entity which by its legal form is non-profit-making or which has a legal or statutory obligation not to distribute profits to its shareholders or individual members;

(17) ‘mid-cap’ means a company that is not a micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprise (‘SME’) as defined in Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC (27), and that has a number of employees of up to 3 000 where the staff headcount is calculated in accordance with Articles 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Title I of the Annex of that Recommendation; (17) ‘mid-cap’ means a company that is not a micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprise (‘SME’) as defined in Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC (27), and that has a number of employees of up to 3 000 where the staff headcount is calculated in accordance with Articles 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Title I of the Annex of that Recommendation;

(18) ‘results’ means any tangible or intangible effect of the action, such as data, know-how or information, whatever its form or nature, whether or not it can be protected, as well as any rights attached to it, including intellectual property rights; (18) ‘results’ means any tangible or intangible output of the action, such as data, know-how or information, whatever its form or nature, whether or not it can be protected, as well as any rights attached to it, including intellectual property rights;

(19) ‘seal of excellence’ means a certified label which shows that a proposal submitted to a call for proposals exceeded all of the thresholds set out in the work programme, but could not be funded due to lack of budget available to that call in the work programme; (19) ‘seal of excellence’ means a certified label which shows that a proposal submitted to a call for proposals exceeded all of the thresholds set out in the work programme, but could not be funded due to lack of budget available to that call in the work programme , but which might receive support from other Union or national sources of funding ;

(19 a) ‘strategic R&I Plan’ means a document adopted every two years by means of a delegated act supplementing the Specific Programme, and following a broad mandatory multi-stakeholder consultation process with Member States, the European Parliament, the RDI stakeholders, including civil society. It defines the priorities, the instruments, and the suitable types of action and forms of implementation, thus serving as a basis for the development of the work programmes. It contains in particular the selected missions, the newly established or continued contractual or institutional partnerships, FET-Flagships and KICs;

(20) ‘work programme’ means the document adopted by the Commission for the implementation of the specific programme (28) in accordance with its Article 12 or the equivalent document in content and structure adopted by a funding body. (20) ‘work programme’ means the document adopted by the Commission for the implementation of the specific programme (28) in accordance with its Article 12 or the equivalent document in content and structure adopted by a funding body.

(21) ‘reimbursable advance’ means the part of a Horizon Europe or EIC blended finance corresponding to a loan under Title X of the Financial Regulation, but that is directly awarded by the Union on a non-profit basis to cover the costs of activities corresponding to an innovation action, and to be reimbursed by the beneficiary to the Union under the conditions provided for in the contract; (21) ‘reimbursable advance’ means the part of Horizon Europe Programme blended finance corresponding to a loan under Title X of the Financial Regulation, but that is directly awarded by the Union on a non-profit basis to cover the costs of activities corresponding to an innovation action, and to be reimbursed by the beneficiary to the Union under the conditions provided for in the contract;

(22) ‘contract’ means the agreement concluded between the Commission or a funding body with a legal entity implementing an innovation and market deployment action and supported by a Horizon Europe or EIC blended finance. (22) ‘contract’ means the agreement concluded between the Commission or a funding body with a legal entity implementing an innovation and market deployment action and supported by Horizon Europe Programme blended finance.

(23) ‘classified information’ means EU classified information ad defined in Article 3 of Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2015/444 as well as classified information of Member States, classified information of third countries with which the Union has a security agreement and classified information of international organisation with which the Union has a security agreement; (23) ‘classified information’ means EU classified information ad defined in Article 3 of Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2015/444 as well as classified information of Member States, classified information of third countries with which the Union has a security agreement and classified information of international organisation with which the Union has a security agreement;

(24) ‘Blending operation’ means actions supported by the EU budget, including within blending facilities pursuant to Article 2(6) of the Financial Regulation, combining non-repayable forms of support and/or financial instruments from the EU budget with repayable forms of support from development or other public finance institutions, as well as from commercial finance institutions and investors; (24) ‘Blending operation’ means actions supported by the EU budget, including within blending facilities pursuant to Article 2(6) of the Financial Regulation, combining non-repayable forms of support and/or financial instruments from the EU budget with repayable forms of support from development or other public finance institutions, as well as from commercial finance institutions and investors;

(25) ‘Horizon Europe or EIC blended finance’ means a single financial support to an innovation and market deployment action, consisting in a specific combination of a grant or a reimbursable advance with an investment in equity; (25) ‘Horizon Europe Programme blended finance’ means a single financial support to an innovation and market deployment action, consisting in a specific combination of a grant or a reimbursable advance with an investment in equity;

(25 a) ‘research and innovation action’ means an action primarily consisting of activities aiming to establish new knowledge and/or to explore the feasibility of a new or improved technology, product, process, service or solution. This may include basic and applied research, technology development and integration, testing and validation on a small-scale prototype in a laboratory or simulated environment;

(25 b) ‘innovation action’ means an action primarily consisting of activities directly aimed at producing plans and arrangements or designs for new, altered or improved products, processes or services, possibly including prototyping, testing, demonstrating, piloting, large-scale product validation and market replication;

(25 c) ‘ERC frontier research’ means principal investigator-led research actions, hosted by ERC only single or multiple beneficiaries;

(25 d) ‘training and mobility action’ means an action geared towards the improvement of skills, knowledge and career prospects of researchers based on mobility between countries, and, if relevant, between sectors or disciplines;

(25 e) ‘programme co-funding action’ means an action to provide co-funding to a programme of activities established and/or implemented by entities managing and/or funding research and innovation programmes, other than Union funding bodies;

(25 f) ‘pre-commercial procurement action’ means an action with the primary aim of conducting pre-commercial procurement procedures implemented by beneficiaries that are contracting authorities or contracting entities;

(25 g)‘ public procurement of innovative solutions action’ means an action with the primary aim of conducting joint or coordinated public procurement procedures concerning innovative solutions implemented by beneficiaries that are contracting authorities or contracting entities;

(25 h)‘ coordination and support action’ means an action contributing to the objectives of the Programme, excluding research and innovation activities;

(25 i) ‘public procurement’ means the implementation of parts of the Programme related to strategic interests and autonomy of the Union and the carrying out, for the Commission’s own purposes, of public procurement procedures for studies, products, services and capabilities;