Areas of Union competence deriving from the Treaty (Articles 179 and 180 of the TFEU) Collection of information The Union shall have the objective of strengthening its scientific and technological bases by achieving a European research area in which researchers, scientific knowledge and technology circulate freely, and encouraging it to become more competitive, including in its industry. For this purpose the Union shall encourage undertakings, including SMEs, research centres and universities in their research and technological development activities of high quality; it shall support their efforts to cooperate with one another, aiming, notably, at permitting researchers to cooperate freely across borders and at enabling undertakings to exploit the internal market potential to the full, in particular through […] the definition of common standards and the removal of legal and fiscal obstacles to that cooperation. […] In pursuing these objectives, the Union shall carry out the following activities, complementing the activities carried out in the Member States: (a) implementation of research, technological development and demonstration programmes, by promoting cooperation with and between undertakings, research centres and universities, (b) promotion of cooperation in the field of Union research, technological development and demonstration with third countries and international organisations, (c) dissemination and optimisation of the results of activities in Union research, technological development and demonstration, (d) stimulation of the training and mobility of researchers in the Union.

Competences of the Agency (Commission Decision 2008/46/EC) Objectives The objective of the Agency is to manage the Programmes entrusted to it under the Seventh Framework Programme of the Union for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities (2007-2013) (hereafter FP7) (the People Programme, the SME actions of the Capacities Programme, and the Space and Security themes of the Cooperation Programme) efficiently and effectively, to deliver efficient and effective services to the research community and to provide centralised FP7 support services to the respective Commission services for all areas of the Cooperation, Capacities and People Specific Programmes. With regard to efficient and effective Programme implementation, the Agency – as promoter of the European Research Area – aims at improving project management, establishing close contact with final beneficiaries and providing high visibility for the European Union. Tasks With regard to the management of projects, the Agency concludes and manages grant agreements, involving the following operations: — preparation and publication of calls for proposals, — evaluation of proposals, — preparation and signature of grant agreements, — monitoring the implementation of projects including acceptance of reports and other deliverables, — payments, recoveries, and application of sanctions within the meaning of Article 114(4) of the general Financial Regulation, notably when errors in declared costs have been identified following ex post audits at the level of the final beneficiaries, — ex post publicity and dissemination of results. With regard to FP7 Support Services, the Agency performs the following tasks: — administrative support for call publication, — management of the electronic reception of proposals, — support for remote and on-site evaluations, — support for the preparation of appointment letters and payments for experts, — management of the Central FP7 participants database (Unique Registration Facility – URF), including support for financial capacity checks on selected beneficiaries, — management of the Research Enquiry Service.

Governance Steering Committee Comprises five members appointed by the European Commission. It adopts the Agency’s organisation chart and its Annual Work Programme after approval by the Commission. In addition, it adopts the administrative budget of the Agency and its Annual Activity Report. Director Appointed by the Commission, manages the Agency together with the Steering Committee, implements the administrative budget, sets up management and internal control systems adapted to the tasks entrusted to the Agency and prepares the reports to be presented to the Commission. External audit European Court of Auditors. Discharge authority European Parliament acting on a recommendation from the European Council. With respect to the Agency’s implementation of its administrative budget, the discharge decision is addressed to the Director. For the implementation of the operational budget delegated by the Commission to the Agency, the Commission remains accountable.

Resources made available to the Agency in 2012 (2011) Operational Budget 2012 (2011) 1 479,9(1 340,6) million euro of commitment appropriations and 1 459,6(1 059) million euro of payment appropriations. The Agency implements the Commission’s operational budget under a delegation decision of the Commission. Administrative Budget 2012 (2011) 46,4 (39,2) million euro. The Agency implements the administrative budget autonomously. Staff at 31 December 2012(2011) Temporary staff posts: 128 (117) listed in the establishment plan of which 122 (103) occupied Contract staff: 385 (349) staff planned of which 374 (351) were in place as of 31 December 2012 Total staff in place: 496 (454) undertaking the following tasks: — programme implementation: 330 (287) — FP7 support services: 90 (88) — management and administrative functions: 76 (79)

Products and services 2012 (2011) For the People Programme, 10 (9) calls were closed in 2012 and 10 (9) evaluations completed. 1 899(1 615) new grant agreements were signed and 3 599(2 676) payments made (excluding payments for expert evaluators). The Agency now manages a total of 5 492(5 159) projects under this programme. For the SME actions of the Capacities Programme, 1 (1) call was closed and 1 (1) evaluation completed. 201 (162) new grant agreements were signed and 508 (385) payments made (excluding payments for expert evaluators). The Agency now manages a total of 625 (522) projects under this scheme. For the Space and Security themes of the Cooperation Programme, 2 (2) calls were closed in 2012 and 2 (2) evaluations completed. 80 (118) new grant agreements were signed and 258 (183) payments made (excluding payments to expert evaluators). The Agency now manages a total of 317 (271) projects under these themes. As regards the FP7 support services, the results obtained for 2012 are as follows: — 89 (64) call publications supported; — 32 286(26 838) proposals received through the electronic proposal submission tool; — 6 462(3 897) expert evaluators contracted and 4 217(3 620) expert payments made (for programmes managed by the Agency only); — 6 616(6 252) validations of participants completed; — 5 871(7 123) replies sent following questions to the Research Enquiry Service.