REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE

Executive Summary

This Staff Working Document presents the interim evaluation of the direct actions of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission implemented under the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 (hereinafter the Euratom Programme). It takes into account the external evaluation conducted by a panel of high-level independent experts between October 2016 and April 2017.

The general objective of the Euratom Programme is to pursue nuclear research and training activities with an emphasis on continuous improvement of nuclear safety, security and radiation protection, notably to potentially contribute to the long-term decarbonisation of the energy system in a safe, efficient and secure way. The general objective is implemented through the direct and indirect actions which pursue the specific objectives.

The scope of this interim evaluation encompasses the direct actions of the JRC carried out in the context of the Euratom Programme during its first half, assessing the continued relevance of the programme’s objectives, reviewing initial outputs and early impacts of the programme and considering areas for improvement for the remaining part of the programme.

The present document describes how the programme is implemented, showing its structure and explaining the mechanism for adoption.

The evaluation follows the guidelines for Better regulation, considering the aspects of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, coherence and EU added value of the work performed under the programme and its follow up for the coming period to the end of it.

The effort carried out to meet the needs of the EU and ensure a global influence is described in this report. The direct actions performed constitute a diverse programme of scientific and technical work, which supports the EU policies, the Commission political agenda and meets EU Member States needs in relation to nuclear safety and security.

The programme is achieving its objectives both by providing scientific and technological support for the EU research and training policies on nuclear safety and security, and also by contributing to improve the nuclear security and nuclear safety in Europe and worldwide.

The efficiency of the direct actions is evaluated against two aspects: the productivity, defined as number of outputs delivered, and the impact provided in support to the EU policies, which is predefined according to a generic set of impact indicators. A bibliometric analysis carried out for the period 2007-2015, showed that the performance of JRC’s research publications in the field of Nuclear Science and Technology is well above average, and ranking well amongst peer organisations; the importance of the policy support outputs delivered and its quality were recognised and underlined several times by the expert's panel that carried out the interim evaluation.

The programme shows coherence both, internally and externally. The different parts of the programme are mutually supporting, learning from each other to obtain benefits and synergies. At the same time the direct actions performed are supporting research programmes carried out under other schemes such as indirect actions and national programmes. The participation in contractual activities complements the tasks outlined in the direct actions and allows the JRC to be firmly integrated in the European research landscape.

The EU added value of the direct actions of the Euratom programme is demonstrated by the following components: it complements national research programmes; it provides essential scientific and technical support to the Commission in the preparation, implementation and monitoring of the EU policies and to fulfil its legal obligations and competences; it supports the standardization, and it provides training in the fields of its objectives. The representation of Euratom in Generation IV International Forum and the coordination of the Euratom’s technical and scientific contribution to Generation IV stem from the Euratom programme direct actions or are funded through its indirect actions, completed with MS direct contributions.

The recommendations received from the external evaluation panel for the reporting period, as well as the actions proposed to address these recommendations are included.

Regarding efficiency and effectiveness of the Programme, the reports indicated some areas requiring some improvement. Some of the recommendations will be implemented during the next two years programme 2019-2010, other will be further analysed.