EN Official Journal of the European Union C 44/15

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Council Regulation on the establishment of the “ARTEMIS Joint Undertaking” to implement a Joint Technology Initiative in Embedded Computing Systems’

COM(2007) 243 final — 2007/0088 (CNS)

(2008/C 44/03)

On 11 June 2007 the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under Article 95 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the abovementioned proposal.

The Section for the Single Market, Production and Consumption, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 4 October 2007. The rapporteur was Mr Dantin.

At its 439th plenary session, held on 24 and 25 October 2007 (meeting of 24 October), the European Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 127 votes to two, with three abstentions.

1. Conclusions and recommendations

1.1 The EESC broadly supports the Commission's strategy. It believes that relaunching investment in R&D is an appropriate way of giving European businesses a stable frame of reference by means of a new instrument that makes it possible to overcome the current fragmentation of Community financing and avoids a wide range of thinly-spread programmes that made it almost impossible to evaluate results.

1.2 The EESC welcomes the proposal that an annual report on ARTEMIS' results be produced. However, the Committee regrets the absence of a detailed assessment of the operation and the results achieved by the former European Technology Platforms.

1.3 The EESC considers that the ARTEMIS joint undertaking, which is based on a public-private partnership, represents a strong basis for the creation of a European research area and a major contribution to the competitiveness of European businesses.

1.4 In supporting the proposal under consideration, the EESC stresses the importance of the innovative strategy that is being proposed in terms of investments, pooling the resources of the EU, businesses, different Member States, and participating R&D bodies.

1.5 In the light of this innovative collaborative structure, which may become complicated when it comes to using the products of the research to be carried out, the EESC welcomes the importance and the detail accorded to intellectual property in Article 24 of the joint undertaking's statutes.

1.6 Finally, the Committee considers the following to be necessary: — a genuine simplification of procedures, not least because of the negative impact that red tape had on previous R&D programmes; — an information programme aimed at encouraging the necessary funding to be released; — the establishment of appropriate vocational training programmes to ensure that the skills of workers match the jobs created by ARTEMIS, with the aim of creating the necessary conditions for providing the industrial leadership in this strategic sector.

2. Introduction

2.1 The purpose of the proposed Council Regulation under review is to launch the very first public-private partnerships in the area of R&D. It defines one of the first two Joint Technology Initiatives (JTI). This involves embedded computing systems (1).

2.2 The general aim of JTIs is to allow industry, research organisations, Member States and the Commission to pool some or all of their resources into selected research programmes.

2.3 Unlike the traditional strategy, which involves providing public funding for projects on a case-by-case basis, JTIs involve large-scale research programmes with shared strategic research goals. This new approach is expected to create a critical mass for European research and innovation, consolidate the scientific community in key strategic areas, and harmonise the funding of projects so that research findings can be put to use more quickly.

2.4 This proposal provides the legal framework establishing ARTEMIS, the JTI on embedded computing systems.

2.5 The ARTEMIS JTI involves invisible computers (integrated systems) that make numerous machines work, from cars and planes to phones, and from energy networks to various domestic appliances such as washing machines, televisions, etc.

2.6 Forecasts suggest that there will be more than 16 billion integrated processors in the world by 2010, and more than 40 billion by 2020. In 2010, this unseen hardware and software will represent 30 to 40 % of the value of new products: in consumer electronics (41 %), telecommunications (37 %), cars (36 %) and healthcare equipment (33 %).

2.7 The ARTEMIS budget dedicated to research will total EUR 2,7 billion over seven years. 60 % of this is to come from industry, EUR 410 million from the Commission, and EUR 800 million from Member State programmes.

3. Background

3.1 Information and communication technologies (ICT) are of fundamental economic and social importance and play a key role in the implementation of the revised Lisbon strategy, which emphasises that knowledge and innovation in the EU help to stimulate growth and jobs.

3.2 At global level, whilst total R&D expenditure is expected to rise by around 170 % over the next ten years, that on embedded systems is expected to increase by 225 %, thus rising from EUR 58 billion in 2002 to EUR 132 billion in 2015 (2).

3.3 In the EU, R&D on ICT represents about 18 % of total R&D expenditure, whereas the figure in the United States is 34 % and in Japan, 35 % (3). Expenditure per inhabitant is around EUR 80, whereas the figure is EUR 350 in the United States and EUR 400 in Japan. Research into embedded systems is a major part of ICT research. In Europe, it represents EUR 380 million of public funds and more than 50 % of businesses' budget for research into information and communication technologies.

3.4 If the EU is to continue to be a player in this sector with great development potential, the EU must increase its investment in this strategic area and make better use of it, rather than relying on a research structure that fragments effort and leads to duplication. EU businesses do not currently have a framework to facilitate the development of the necessary technologies and enabling standards.

3.4.1 In general terms, progress is held back by a lack of coordination of businesses' R&D goals, duplication, and sub-optimal use of limited research funding.

3.4.2 The Commission proposal seeks to change this environment.

4. The Commission's proposal

4.1 The decision on the establishment of the ARTEMIS Joint Undertaking set out in COM(2007) 243 final is based on Decision 1982/2006/EEC on the 7th Framework Programme, which provides for a Community contribution towards the establishment of long-term public-private partnerships at European level in the area of scientific research.

4.2 These partnerships take the form of Joint Technology Initiatives (JTI) and arise from the work of the former European Technology Platforms (ETP).

4.3 The Commission, in its Decision No 971/2006/EEC on the Specific Programme ‘Cooperation’ (4), emphasised the need to set up public-private partnerships and identified six areas in which the creation of joint technology initiatives is appropriate with a view to relaunching European research. These are: — Hydrogen cells and fuel cells — Aeronautics and air transport (5) — Innovative medicines (6) — Embedded computing systems — Nanoelectronics (7) — GMES (global monitoring for environment and security).

4.4 Within the context of this general strategy, the regulation contained in proposal COM(2007) 243 under review provides for the implementation of a Council Regulation on the establishment of the ARTEMIS Joint Undertaking to implement a Joint Technology Initiative in embedded computing systems.

4.5 The choice of an undertaking addressing the key theme of the ‘embedding of intelligence’ is part of a strategic area including the automotive sector, domestic appliances, communications equipment, control systems and office equipment.

4.6 In these sectors, it is expected that the already considerable importance of embedded systems for controlling appliances will increase significantly over the next five years: embedded systems' share of the value of finished goods is expected to reach between 35 and 40 %, and their total number is expected to be 16 billion in 2010 and more than 40 billion in 2020.

4.7 The main reason for setting up a JTI is the desire to create a European research and development programme that will help the European economy to become a world leader in embedded computing systems, which are essential innovations in key sectors for the competitiveness and the development of European businesses.

4.8 The role of an initiative such as ARTEMIS is, according to the Commission, essential to avoid a repeat of what has happened to the European personal computing and internet sector, where production moved away from Europe (to the United States, Japan, and elsewhere) precisely because of the lack of investment in research and innovation.

4.9 The establishment of an ARTEMIS JTI follows a wide-ranging consultation of the relevant stakeholders and a series of major initiatives and conferences at Community level. The aims and objectives of this initiative have been subjected to the prior scrutiny of academia and business, which have brought their expertise in the area of embedded systems to bear on the proposal. The Member States have recognised that the Community level is the only one capable of meeting the challenges of the future.

4.10 Legal basis

The proposal consists of a Council Regulation with the statutes of the joint undertaking in an appendix. It is based in Article 171 of the Treaty. The joint undertaking is to be a Community body, and although its budget falls under Article 185 of Council Regulation 1605/2002, it will have to take account of the specifics of this initiative in that it involves public-private partnerships with a large private-sector contribution at least equal to that of the public sector.

4.11 Composition

The founder-members of the joint technology initiative (JTI) are to be the European Community, represented by the Commission, the Member States who have announced their intention to participate in the JTI, and ARTEMISIA (an association representing a large number of companies from the relevant sector and other R&D organisations). The statutes set out a list of bodies that can subsequently become members of the ARTEMIS Joint Undertaking, inter alia the countries associated with FP7 that are not EU members, and any other legal entity able to make a contribution to the goals of the ARTEMIS joint undertaking.

4.12 Funding

The operating costs of the ARTEMIS Joint Undertaking set out in Article 4 are to be borne by the following contributions:

— a financial contribution from ARTEMISIA of up to EUR 20 million or up to 1 % of the overall costs of projects, but not exceeding EUR 30 million;

— a financial contribution from the Community of up to EUR 10 million;

— in-kind contributions from ARTEMIS Member States.

The R&D activities for the period ending on 31 December 2017 shall be supported by the following contributions:

— a financial contribution from the Community of up to EUR 410 million;

— contributions from ARTEMIS Member States, paid directly to research and development organisations participating in R&D projects;

— in-kind contributions from research and development organisations.

4.12.1 For the period ending on 31 December 2013, the Commission's maximum contribution is to be EUR 420 million. These funds are to be provided from the Specific Programme ‘Cooperation’ implementing the Seventh Framework Programme for research and technological development, according to the provisions of Article 54(2) of Council Regulation No 1605/2002. In 2008, 42,5 million are to be committed.

4.12.2 This considerable investment is justified by the fact that the future results of ARTEMIS in the areas concerned will also be important benchmarks for Community policy across the board, inter alia regarding the environment, transport, energy and the internal market. They will also make a tangible contribution to the achievement of the Lisbon competitiveness goals and the Barcelona goals as regards research expenditure. The proposed initiative is part of an ambitious Community strategy which includes, among other things, the proposal to create a European Institute of Technology (EIT).

4.13 Intellectual Property

ARTEMIS is to adopt rules governing the dissemination of research results which ensure that, where appropriate, intellectual property generated in R&D activities is protected, and that research results are used and disseminated. Article 24 of the undertaking's statutes sets out this principle in more detail.

4.14 According to the Commission, the establishment of the ARTEMIS Joint Undertaking will offer the Community the following objective benefits: — Integration of national efforts by pursuing common objectives identified at European level, which will help to build a European Research Area in embedded computing systems — More flexible use of Member States' resources — Leverage effect of the Community's financial contribution on R&D effort (national and private) — High programme efficiency and elimination of the weaknesses of previous programmes — Economic efficiency by reducing the time-to-project — Improvement of the EU's economic competitiveness thanks to shorter time-to-market for research results.

5. General comments

5.1 The EESC broadly supports the Commission's strategy. It believes that relaunching investment in R&D is an appropriate way of giving European businesses a stable frame of reference by means of a new instrument that makes it possible to overcome the current fragmentation of Community financing and avoids a wide range of thinly-spread programmes that made it almost impossible to evaluate results.

5.2 However, as stated under point 4.2, JTIs arise out of the work of the former European Technology Platforms (ETPs). However, these latter rarely achieved their stated aim of strategically relaunching research in Europe, not least because the stakeholders were insufficiently empowered. The creation of JTIs is based on this acknowledgement of partial failure regarding the role of the ETPs, which was essentially to make a key contribution to industry in the area of competitiveness.

5.2.1 In the light of this, the EESC regrets the absence from the Commission proposal of a more detailed outline of the work previously carried out by the European Technology Platforms (ETPs): there is no assessment, the results are not mentioned, and there are no bibliographical references.

5.2.2 For this reason, with regard to the JTIs, the EESC welcomes the proposal that an annual report, giving an assessment of the results and progress achieved, be submitted.

5.3 The EESC considers that the ARTEMIS joint undertaking, which is based on a public-private partnership, represents a strong basis for the creation of a European research area and a key contribution to the competitiveness of European businesses.

5.4 The future availability of increasingly intelligent systems could make a significant contribution to the production of ever more secure products, whilst at the same time stimulating the provision of high-level training and qualifications and, by extension, the creation and development of jobs.

5.5 In giving a favourable opinion on the proposal under review, the EESC would first of all like to highlight the importance of the innovative strategy that is proposed with regard to investment.

5.5.1 For the first time involving research and development programmes, resources are to be made available not only by the Community and businesses — which is unusual — represented by ARTEMISIA, but also by the various Member States and participating research organisations.

5.5.2 In the light of this innovative collaborative structure, which may become complicated when it comes to using the products of the research to be carried out, the EESC welcomes the importance and the detail accorded to intellectual property in Article 24 of the joint undertaking's statutes.

5.6 However, to achieve its aims and to maximise the potential that this new instrument offers, the EESC considers the following to be necessary: — a genuine simplification of procedures at every stage of the various R&D activities, from the selection of activities to the distribution of results, by giving ARTEMIS the main responsibility for these tasks. The administrative complexity and the uncertainty over funding and institutional references were some of the causes of the past failures of previous R&D programmes; — a wide-ranging information programme on the opportunities provided by the ARTEMIS undertaking, inter alia on its ability to mobilise the necessary economic resources in the light of the new forms of financing; — the establishment of appropriate vocational training programmes to create a highly-skilled workforce with the knowledge needed for the R&D supported by ARTEMIS, which will be highly strategic for the EU's industrial future. These high-level qualifications will provide the technical skills needed for the R&D jobs that will be created, will serve to slow the brain drain, and will provide one of the necessary conditions for providing the industrial leadership in these strategic sectors for the European Union.

Brussels, 24 October 2007. The President of the European Economic and Social Committee Dimitris DIMITRIADIS

(1) The other JTI involves innovative medicines. This is covered by opinion INT/363.

(2) Software Intensive Systems in the Future, IDATE/TNO, 2005.

(3) Commission Communication i2010 — An information society for growth and jobs, European Commission, 2005.

(4) OJ L 400, 30.12.2006, p. 1.

(5) INT/369.

(6) INT/363.

(7) INT/370.