EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1. CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

The set of proposals for "Horizon 2020", drawn up fully in line with the Commission Communication 'A Budget for Europe 2020'[1], wholly supports the Europe 2020 strategy, which identified research and innovation as central to achieving the objectives of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The set consists of the proposals for:

(1) a Framework Programme for Horizon 2020 (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union – 'TFEU');

(2) a single set of Rules for Participation and Dissemination (TFEU);

(3) a single specific programme to implement Horizon 2020 (TFEU); as well as

(4) a single proposal for the parts of Horizon 2020 corresponding to the Euratom Treaty.

The overall political narrative and background to these legislative proposals is provided by a Commission Communication adopted together with them, which addresses a number of major cross-cutting elements such as simplification and how the approach to innovation has been strengthened.

Horizon 2020 contributes directly to tackling the major societal challenges identified in Europe 2020 and its flagship initiatives. It will contribute equally to creating industrial leadership in Europe. It will also increase excellence in the science base, essential for the sustainability and long term prosperity and wellbeing of Europe. To achieve these aims, the proposals include a full range of support that is integrated across the research and innovation cycle. Horizon 2020 therefore brings together and strengthens activities currently funded under the 7th Framework Programme for research, the innovation parts of the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme, and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology. In this way, the proposals are also designed to realise a substantial simplification for participants.

2. RESULTS OF CONSULTATIONS WITH THE INTERESTED PARTIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS

The preparation of the four proposals took full account of the responses to an extensive public consultation based on a Green Paper, "From challenges to opportunities: towards a common strategic framework for EU research and innovation funding", COM(2011)48. Views were expressed by the European Council, Member States and a wide range of stakeholders from industry, academia and civil society.

The proposals also rely on two in-depth impact assessments, drawing on stakeholder consultations, internal and external evaluations, and contributions from international experts. The assessments found that the Horizon 2020 option would bring more clarity of focus, best achieve the necessary critical mass of effort at programme and project level, and lead to greatest impact on the policy objectives and downstream economic, competitiveness, and social benefits, while at the same time helping to simplify matters by e.g. easing the administrative burden for participants, streamlining the applicable rules and procedures, ensuring consistency between instruments and pointing to a new risk/trust balance.

3. LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL

3.1. Legal base

The proposal integrates research and innovation activities in a seamless way in order to achieve the policy objectives.

As such, Horizon 2020 will be based on the TFEU Titles "Industry" and "Research and technological development and space" (Articles 173 and 182). The related Rules for participation and dissemination will be based on the same TFEU Titles (Articles 173, 183 and 188). The "Industry" basis in both cases will relate predominantly to the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), which will be funded by a financial contribution from Horizon 2020. The EIT will not appear at the specific programme level.

It is recalled that innovation activities have been explicitly included in various Framework Programmes based on the Research Title of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and that the current Framework Programmes also includes a range of innovation activities. As a consequence, the specific programme that will implement Horizon 2020 will be based on the TFEU Title "Research and technological development and space" (Article 182) as the activities foreseen in them will fall under those covered by this Title.

The proposal for the Euratom research and training programme contributing to Horizon 2020 is based on Article 7 of the Euratom Treaty.

3.2. Subsidiarity and proportionality principles

The proposals have been designed to maximise Union added value and impact, focusing on objectives and activities that cannot be efficiently realised by Member States acting alone. Union level intervention can strengthen the overall research and innovation framework and coordinate Member States' research efforts thereby avoiding duplication, retaining critical mass in key areas and ensuring public financing is used in an optimal way. Union level intervention enables continent-wide competition to select the best proposals, thereby raising levels of excellence and providing visibility for leading research and innovation. The Union level is also best placed to support trans-national mobility, thereby improving training and career development for researchers. A Union level programme is more able to take on high risk and long-term R&D, thereby sharing the risk and generating a breadth of scope and economies of scale that could not otherwise be achieved. Union level intervention can leverage additional public and private investments in research and innovation; contribute to the European Research Area whereby knowledge, researchers and technology circulate freely; and accelerate the commercialisation and diffusion of innovations across the Single Market. Union level programmes are also needed to support policy making as well as the objectives set by a range of policies. Full evidence is presented in the accompanying impact assessments.

4. BUDGETARY IMPLICATION

The budget of all proposals is presented in current prices. The legislative financial statement attached to this proposal sets out the budgetary, human and administrative resource implications. The Commission may use, on the basis of a cost-benefit analysis, existing executive agencies for the implementation of Horizon 2020, as provided for in Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 laying down the statute for executive agencies to be entrusted with certain tasks in the management of Union programmes.

2011/0402 (CNS)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL DECISION

establishing the Specific Programme Implementing Horizon 2020 - The Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-2020)

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 182(4) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national Parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament[2],

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee[3],

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions[4],

Acting in accordance with a special legislative procedure,

Whereas:

(1) In accordance with Article 182(3) of the Treaty, Regulation (EU) No […] of the European Parliament and the Council of … concerning Horizon 2020 – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation ("Horizon 2020")[5] – is to be implemented through a specific programme which determines the specific objectives and rules for their implementation, fixes its duration and provides for the means deemed necessary.

(2) Horizon 2020 pursues three priorities, namely generating excellent science (“Excellent science”), creating industrial leadership (“Industrial leadership”) and tackling societal challenges (“Societal challenges”). Those priorities should be implemented by a specific programme consisting of three Parts on indirect actions and one Part on the direct actions of the Joint Research Centre (JRC).

(3) While Horizon 2020 sets out the general objective of that framework programme, the priorities and the broad lines of the specific objectives and activities to be carried out, the specific programme should define the specific objectives and the broad lines of the activities which are specific to each of the Parts. The provisions set out in Horizon 2020 on implementation apply fully to this specific programme, including those relating to ethical principles.

(4) Each Part should be complementary to and implemented in a coherent way with the other Parts of the specific programme.

(5) There is a critical need to reinforce and extend the excellence of the Union’s science base and ensure a supply of world class research and talent to secure Europe's long term competitiveness and well-being. Part I “Excellent science” should support the activities of the European Research Council on frontier research, future and emerging technologies, Marie Curie Actions and European research infrastructures. These activites should aim at building competence in the long term, focusing strongly on the next-generation of science, systems and researchers, and providing support for emerging talent from across the Union and from associated countries. Union activities to support excellent science should help consolidate the European Research Area and make the Union’s science system more competitive and attractive on a global scale.

(6) Research actions carried out under Part I “Excellent science” should be determined according to the needs and opportunities of science, without pre-determined thematic priorities. The research agenda should be set in close liaison with the scientific community. Research should be funded on the basis of excellence.

(7) The European Research Council should replace and succeed the European Research Council established by Commission Decision 2007/134/EC[6]. It should operate according to the established principles of scientific excellence, autonomy, efficiency and transparency.

(8) In order to maintain and increase the Union's industrial leadership there is an urgent need to stimulate private sector research and development and innovation investment, promote research and innovation with a business driven agenda and accelerate the development of new technologies which will underpin future businesses and economic growth. Part II "Industrial leadership" should support investments in excellent research and innovation in key enabling technologies and other industrial technologies, facilitate access to risk finance for innovative companies and projects, and provide Union wide support for innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises.

(9) Space research and innovation, which is a shared competence of the Union, should be included as a coherent element in Part II "Industrial leadership" in order to maximize the scientific, economic and societal impact and, to ensure an efficient and cost effective implementation.

(10) Addressing the major societal challenges identified in the Europe 2020 strategy[7] requires major investments in research and innovation to develop and deploy novel and breakthrough solutions that have the necessary scale and scope. These challenges also represent major economic opportunities for innovative companies and therefore contribute to the Union's competitiveness and employment.

(11) Part III “Societal challenges” should increase the effectiveness of research and innovation in responding to key societal challenges by supporting excellent research and innovation activities. Those activities should be implemented using a challenge-based approach which brings together resources and knowledge across different fields, technologies and disciplines. Social sciences and humanities research is an important element for addressing all of the challenges. The activities should cover the full range of research and innovation with an emphasis on innovation-related activities such as piloting, demonstration, test-beds, and support for public procurement, pre-normative research and standard setting, and market uptake of innovations. The activities should support directly the corresponding sectoral policy competences at Union level. All challenges should contribute to the overarching objective of sustainable development.

(12) As an integral part of Horizon 2020, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) should continue to provide independent customer-driven scientific and technical support for the formulation, development, implementation and monitoring of Union policies. In order to achieve its mission the Joint Research Centre should carry out research of the highest quality. In carrying out the direct actions in accordance with its mission, the Joint Research Centre should place particular emphasis on areas of key concern for the Union, namely smart, inclusive and sustainable growth, security and citizenship and Global Europe.

(13) The direct actions of the Joint Research Centre should be implemented in a flexible, efficient and transparent manner, taking into account the relevant needs of the users of the Joint Research Centre and Union policies, as well as respecting the objective of protecting the Union's financial interests. Those research actions should be adapted where appropriate to these needs and to scientific and technological developments and aim to achieve scientific excellence.

(14) The Joint Research Centre should continue to generate additional resources through competitive activities, including participation to the indirect actions of Horizon 2020, third party work and, to a lesser extent, the exploitation of intellectual property.

(15) The specific programme should complement the actions carried out in the Member States as well as other Union actions which are necessary for the overall strategic effort for the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy, in particular with actions in the policy areas of cohesion, agriculture and rural development, education and vocational training, industry, public health, consumer protection, employment and social policy, energy, transport, environment, climate action, security, marine and fisheries, development cooperation and enlargement and neighbourhood policy.

(16) In order to ensure that the evaluations of Horizon 2020 properly reflect the state of the art and that the specific conditions for the use of the finance facilities reflect market conditions, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission to adapt or further elaborate the performance indicators corresponding to the specific objectives of the specific programme and the specific conditions for use of the finance facilities. It is of particular importance that the Commission carries out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level.

The Commission, when preparing and drawing-up delegated acts, should ensure a timely and appropriate transmission of relevant documents to the Council.

(17) In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of the specific programme, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission to adopt work programmes for the implementation of the specific programme.

(18) The implementing powers relating to the work programmes for Parts I, II and III, with the exception of the actions of the European Research Council where the Commission does not depart from the position of the Scientific Council, should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by the Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers[8].

(19) The Board of Governors of the Joint Research Centre, set up by Commission Decision 96/282/Euratom of 10 April 1996 on the reorganization of the Joint Research Centre[9], has been consulted on the scientific and technological content of the specific programme on the direct actions of the Joint Research Centre.

(20) For reasons of legal certainty and clarity, Council Decision 2006/971/EC of 19 December 2006 concerning the specific programme "Cooperation" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)[10], Council Decision 2006/972/EC of 19 December 2006 concerning the specific programme "Ideas" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)[11], Council Decision 2006/973/EC of 19 December 2006 concerning the specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)[12], Council Decision 2006/974/EC of 19 December 2006 concerning the specific programme "Capacities" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)[13], and Council Decision 2006/975/EC of 19 December 2006 concerning the specific programme to be carried out by means of direct actions by the Joint Research Centre under the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)[14], should be repealed,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

TITLE I

ESTABLISHMENT

Article 1 Subject matter

This Decision establishes the specific programme implementing Regulation (EU) No XX/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council[15] and determines the specific objectives for Union support to the research and innovation activities set out in Article 1 of that Regulation as well as the rules for implementation.

Article 2 Establishment of the Specific Programme

1. The specific programme implementing Horizon 2020 – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-2020) ("the specific programme") is hereby established for the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2020.

2. In accordance with Article 5(2) and 5(3) of Regulation (EU) No XX/2012 [Horizon 2020], the specific programme shall consist of the following Parts:

(a) Part I “Excellent science”;

(b) Part II “Industrial leadership”;

(c) Part III “Societal challenges”;

(d) Part IV “Non-nuclear direct actions of the Joint Research Centre (JRC)”.

Article 3 Specific objectives

1. Part I “Excellent science” shall strengthen the excellence of European research in accordance with the priority “Excellent science” set out in Article 5(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No XX/2012 [Horizon 2020] by pursuing the following specific objectives:

(a) strengthening frontier research, through the activities of the European Research Council (ERC);

(b) strengthening research in Future and Emerging Technologies;

(c) strengthening skills, training and career development, through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions ("Marie Curie actions");

(d) strengthening European research infrastructures, including e-infrastructures.

The broad lines of the activities for those specific objectives are set out in Part I of Annex I.

2. Part II “Industrial leadership” shall strengthen industrial leadership and competitiveness in accordance with the priority “Industrial leadership” set out in Article 5(2)(b) of Regulation (EU) No XX/2012 [Horizon 2020] by pursuing the following specific objectives:

(a) boosting Europe's industrial leadership through research, technological development, demonstration and innovation in the following enabling and industrial technologies:

(i) information and communication technologies;

(ii) nanotechnologies;

(iii) advanced materials;

(iv) biotechnology;

(v) advanced manufacturing and processing;

(vi) space;

(b) enhancing access to risk finance for investing in research and innovation;

(c) increasing innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises.

The broad lines of the activities for those specific objectives are set out in Part II of Annex I. There shall be specific conditions for use of finance facilities under the specific objective in point (b). Those conditions are set out in Point 2 of Part II of Annex I.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 10 for the purpose of adapting those specific conditions if economic market conditions so require or according to the results achieved by the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme Loan Guarantee Facility and the Risk Sharing Instrument of the Seventh Framework Programme Risk Sharing Financial Facility.

3. Part III “Societal challenges” shall contribute to the priority “Societal challenges” set out in Article 5(2)(c) of Regulation (EU) No XX/2012 [Horizon 2020] by pursuing research, technological development, demonstration and innovation actions which contribute to the following specific objectives:

(a) improving the lifelong health and wellbeing;

(b) securing sufficient supplies of safe and high quality food and other bio-based products, by developing productive and resource-efficient primary production systems, fostering related ecosystem services, along side competitive and low carbon supply chains;

(c) making the transition to a reliable, sustainable and competitive energy system, in the face of increasing resource scarcity, increasing energy needs and climate change;

(d) achieving a European transport system that is resource-efficient, environmentally-friendly, safe and seamless for the benefit of citizens, the economy and society;

(e) achieving a resource-efficient and climate change resilient economy and a sustainable supply of raw materials, in order to meet the needs of a growing global population within the sustainable limits of the planet's natural resources;

(f) fostering inclusive, innovative and secure European societies in a context of unprecedented transformations and growing global interdependencies.

The broad lines of the activities for those specific objectives are set out in Part III of Annex I.

4. Part IV "Non-nuclear direct actions of the Joint Research Centre" shall contribute to all of the priorities set out in Article 5(2) of Regulation (EU) No XX/2012 [Horizon 2020] with the specific objective of providing customer-driven scientific and technical support to Union policies.

The broad lines of that specific objective are set out in Part IV of Annex I.

5 The specific programme shall be assessed in relation to results and impact as measured against performance indicators, including, where appropriate, publications in high impact journals, the circulation of researchers, the accessibility of research infrastructures, investments mobilised via debt financing and venture capital, SMEs introducing innovations new to the company or the market, references to relevant research activities in policy documents as well as occurences of specific impacts on policies.

Further detail on the key performance indicators which correspond to the specific objectives set out in paragraphs 1 to 4 of this Article are set out in Annex II.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 10 for the purpose of adapting those indicators in view of new developments or further elaborating them.

Article 4 Budget

1. In accordance with Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) No XX/2012 [Horizon 2020], the financial envelope for the implementation of the specific programme shall be EUR 86198 million.

2. The amount referred to in paragraph 1 shall be distributed among the four Parts set out in Article 2(2) of this Decision in accordance with Article 6(2) of Regulation (EU) No XX/2012 [Horizon 2020]. The indicative budgetary breakdown for the specific objectives set out in Article 3 of this Decision and the maximum overall amount of the contribution to the actions of the Joint Research Centre are set out in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No XX/2012 [Horizon 2020].

3 No more than 6 % of the amounts referred to in Article 6(2) of Regulation (EU) No XX/2012 [Horizon 2020] for the Parts I, II and III of the specific programme shall be for the Commission's administrative expenditure.

4. Where necessary, appropriations may be entered in the budget beyond 2020 to cover technical and administrative expenses, in order to enable the management of activities not yet completed by 31 December 2020.

TITLE II

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 5 Work programmes

1. The specific programme shall be implemented by work programmes.

2. The Commission shall adopt common or separate work programmes for the implementation of the Parts I, II and III of this specific programme referred to in points (a), (b) and (c) of Article 2(2), except for the implementation of the actions under the specific objective “Strengthening Europe's science base in frontier research”. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 9(2).

3. The work programmes for the implementation of the actions under the specific objective “Strengthening Europe's science base in frontier research” as established by the Scientific Council of the European Research Council under Article 7(2)(b), shall be adopted by the Commission, by means of an implementing act. The Commission shall depart from the work programme established by the Scientific Council only when it considers that it is not in accordance with the provisions of this Decision. In that case, the Commission shall adopt the work programme by means of an implementing act in in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 9(2). The Commission shall duly motivate this measure.

4. The Commission shall adopt a separate multi-annual work programme, by means of an implementing act, for Part IV of the specific programme concerning the non-nuclear direct actions of the Joint Research Centre referred to in point (d) of Article 2(2).

This work programme shall take into account the opinion provided by the Board of Governors of the Joint Research Centre referred to in Decision 96/282/Euratom.

5. The work programmes shall take account of the state of science, technology and, innovation at national, Union and international level and of relevant policy, market and societal developments. They shall contain information on coordination with research and innovation activities carried out by Member States, including in areas where there are joint programming initiatives. They shall be updated where appropriate.

6. The work programmes for the implementation of the Parts I, II and III referred to in points (a), (b) and (c) of Article 2(2) shall set out the objectives pursued, the expected results, the method of implementation and their total amount, including indicative information on the amount of climate related expenditure, where appropriate. They shall also contain a description of the actions to be financed, an indication of the amount allocated to each action, an indicative implementation timetable, as well as a multi-annual approach and strategic orientations for the following years of implementation. They shall include for grants the priorities, the essential evaluation criteria and the maximum rate of co-financing. They shall allow for bottom-up approaches that address the objectives in innovative ways.

In addition, those work programmes shall contain a section which identifies the cross-cutting actions as referred to in Article 13 of Regulation (EU) No XX/2012 [Horizon 2020], across two or more specific objectives both within the same priority and across two or more priorities. Those actions shall be implemented in an integrated manner.

Article 6 European Research Council

1. The Commission shall establish a European Research Council (“ERC”), which shall be the means of implementing the actions under the Part I “Excellent science” which relate to the specific objective “Strengthening Europe's science base in frontier research”. The European Research Council shall succeed the European Research Council set up by Decision 2007/134/EC.

2. The European Research Council shall be composed of the independent Scientific Council provided for in Article 7 and the dedicated implementation structure provided for in Article 8.

3. The ERC shall have a President, who shall be chosen from among senior and internationally respected scientists.

The President shall be appointed by the Commission following a recruitment process involving a dedicated search committee, for a term of office limited to four years, renewable once. The recruitment process and the candidate selected shall have the approval of the Scientific Council.

The President shall chair the Scientific Council and shall ensure its leadership and liaison with the dedicated implementation structure, and represent it in the world of science.

4. The European Research Council shall operate according to the principles of scientific excellence, autonomy, efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability. It shall ensure continuity with European Research Council actions conducted under Council Decision 2006/972/EC.

5. The activities of the European Research Council shall support research carried out across all fields by individual and transnational teams in competition at the European level. European Research Council frontier research grants shall be awarded on the sole criterion of excellence.

6. The Commission shall act as the guarantor of the autonomy and integrity of the European Research Council and shall ensure the proper execution of the tasks entrusted to it.

The Commission shall ensure that the implementation of the European Research Council actions is in accordance with the principles set out in paragraph 4 of this Article as well as with the overall strategy of the Scientific Council referred to in Article 7(2).

Article 7 Scientific Council

1. The Scientific Council shall be composed of scientists, engineers and scholars of the highest repute and appropriate expertise, ensuring a diversity of research areas and acting in their personal capacity, independent of extraneous interests.

The members of the Scientific Council shall be appointed by the Commission, following an independent and transparent procedure for their identification agreed with the Scientific Council, including a consultation of the scientific community and a report to the European Parliament and Council.

Their term of office shall be limited to four years, renewable once, on the basis of a rotating system which shall ensure the continuity of the work of the Scientific Council.

2. The Scientific Council shall establish:

(a) the overall strategy for the European Research Council;

(b) the work programme for the implementation of the European Research Council activities;

(c) the methods and procedures for peer review and proposal evaluation on the basis of which the proposals to be funded are determined;

(d) its position on any matter which from a scientific and perspective may enhance the achievements and impact of the European Research Council, and the quality of the research carried out;

(e) a code of conduct addressing, inter alia, the avoidance of conflict of interests.

The Commission shall depart from the positions established by the Scientific Council in accordance with points (a), (c), (d), and (e) of the first subparagraph only when it considers that the provisions of this Decision have not been respected. In that case, the Commission shall adopt measures to maintain continuity in the implementation of the specific programme and the achievements of its objectives, setting out the points of departure from the Scientific Council positions and duly motivating them.

3. The Scientific Council shall act in accordance with the mandate set out in point 1.1, Part I of Annex I.

4. The Scientific Council shall act exclusively in the interest of achieving the objectives of the part of the specific programme relating to the specific objective “Strengthening Europe's science base in frontier research” according to the principles set out in Article 6(4). It shall act with integrity and probity and shall carry out its work efficiently and with the greatest possibled transparency.

Article 8 Dedicated implementation structure

1. The dedicated implementation structure shall be responsible for the administrative implementation and programme execution, as described in point 1.2 of Part I of Annex Iand shall support the Scientific Council in the conduct of all of its tasks.

2. The Commission shall ensure that the dedicated implementation structure follows strictly, efficiently and with the necessary flexibility the objectives and requirements of the European Research Council alone.

TITLE III

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 9 Committee procedure

1. The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011[16].

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

3. Where the opinion of the committee referred to in paragraph 2 is to be obtained by written procedure, that procedure shall be terminated without result when, within the time-limit for delivery of the opinion, the chair of the committee so decides or a simple majority of committee members so request.

Article 10 Exercise of the delegation

1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

2. The power to adopt delegated acts shall be conferred on the Commission for an indeterminate period of time from the entry into force of this Decision.

3. The delegation of power may be revoked at any time by the Council. A decision of revocation shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

4. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it to the Council.

5. A delegated act shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed by the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the Council has informed the Commission that it will not object. That period shall be extended by one month at the initiative of the Council.

6. The European Parliament shall be informed of the adoption of delegated acts by the Commission, or any objection formulated to them, or of the revocation of the delegation of powers by the Council.

Article 11 Repeal and transitional provisions

1. Decisions 2006/971/EC, 2006/972/EC, 2006/973/EC, 2006/974/EC and 2006/975/EC are repealed with effect from 1 January 2014.

2. However, actions initiated under Decisions referred to in paragraph 1 and financial obligations related to actions pursued under those Decisions shall continue to be governed by those Decisions until their completion. Where necessary, any remaining tasks of the Committees established by the Decisions referred to in paragraph 1 shall be undertaken by the Committee referred to in Article 9 of this Decision.

3. The financial allocation for the specific programme may also cover technical and administrative assistance expenses necessary to ensure the transition between the specific programme and the measures covered by Decisions 2006/971/EC, 2006/972/EC, 2006/973/EC, 2006/974/EC and 2006/975/EC.

Article 12 Entry into force

This Decision shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 13

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the Council

The President

ANNEX I Broad lines of the activities

Common elements for the indirect actions

1. Programming

1.1. General

Regulation (EU) No XX/2012 (Horizon 2020) provides a set of principles in order to foster a programmatic approach whereby activities contribute in a strategic and integrated way to its objectives and in order to ensure strong complementarities with other related policies and programmes across the Union.

The indirect actions of Horizon 2020 will be implemented through the forms of funding provided for in the Financial Regulation, in particular grants, prizes, procurement and financial instruments. All forms of funding will be used in a flexible manner across all of Horizon 2020's general and specific objectives, with their use being determined on the basis of the needs and the specificities of the particular specific objective.

Particular attention will be paid to ensuring a broad approach to innovation, which is not only limited to the development of new products and services on the basis of scientific and technological breakthroughs, but which also incorporates aspects such as the use of existing technologies in novel applications, continuous improvement, non-technological and social innovation. Only a holistic approach to innovation can at the same time tackle societal challenges and give rise to new competitive businesses and industries.

For the societal challenges and the enabling and industrial technologies in particular, there will be a particular emphasis on supporting activities which operate close to the end-users and the market, such as demonstration, piloting or proof-of-concept. This will also include, where appropriate, activities in support of social innovation, and support to demand side approaches such as pre-standardisation or pre-commercial procurement, procurement of innovative solutions, standardisation and other user-centered measures to help accelerate the deployment and diffusion of innovative products and services into the market. In addition, there will be sufficient room for bottom-up approaches and open, light and fast schemes under each of the challenges and technologies to provide Europe's best researchers, entrepreneurs and enterprises with the opportunity to put forward breakthrough solutions of their choice.

Detailed priority setting during implementation of Horizon 2020 will entail a strategic approach to programming of research, using modes of governance aligning closely with policy development yet cutting across the boundaries of traditional sectoral policies. This will be based on sound evidence, analysis and foresight, with progress measured against a robust set of performance indicators. This cross-cutting approach to programming and governance will allow effective coordination between all of Horizon 2020's specific objectives and will allow to address challenges which cut across them, such as for instance sustainability, climate change or marine sciences and technologies.

Priority setting will equally be based on a wide range of inputs and advice. It will include, where appropriate, groups of independent experts set up specifically to advise on the implementation of Horizon 2020 or any of its specific objectives. These experts group shall show the appropriate level of expertise and knowledge in the covered areas and a variety of professional backgrounds, including industry and civil society involvement.

Priority setting may also take into account the strategic research agendas of European Technology Platforms or inputs from the European Innovation Partnerships. Where appropriate, public-public partnerships and public-private partnerships supported through Horizon 2020 will also contribute to the priority setting process and to the implementation, in line with the provisions laid down in Horizon 2020. Regular interactions with end-users, citizens and civil society organisations, through appropriate methodologies such as consensus conferences, participatory technology assessments or direct engagement in research and innovation processes, will also be a cornerstone of the priority setting process.

As Horizon 2020 is a programme for seven years, the economic, societal and policy context in which it will operate may change significantly during its life-time. Horizon 2020 needs to be able to adapt to these changes. Under each of the specific objectives, there will therefore be the possibility to include support for activities beyond the descriptions set out below, where this is duly justified to address major developments, policy needs or unforeseen events.

1.2. Social sciences and humanities

Social sciences and humanities research will be fully integrated into each of the general objectives of Horizon 2020. This will include ample opportunities for supporting such research through the European Research Council, the Marie Curie actions or the Research Infrastructures specific objective.

Social sciences and humanities are also mainstreamed as an essential element of the activities needed to tackle each of the societal challenges to enhance their impact. This includes: understanding the determinants of health and optimising the effectiveness of healthcare systems, support to policies empowering rural areas and promoting informed consumer choices, robust decision making on energy policy and in ensuring a consumer friendly European electricity grid, supporting evidence based transport policy and foresight, support to climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, resource efficiency initiatives and measures towards a green and sustainable economy.

In addition, the specific objective 'Inclusive, innovative and secure societies' will support social sciences and humanities research into issues of a horizontal nature such as the creation of smart and sustainable growth, social transformations in European societies, social innovation, innovation in the public sector or the position of Europe as a global actor.

1.3. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

Horizon 2020 will encourage and support the participation of SMEs in an integrated way across all specific objectives.

In accordance with Article 18 of Horizon 2020, dedicated measures as set out in the specific objective 'Innovation in SMEs' (dedicated SME instrument) shall be applied in the specific objective 'Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies' and Part III 'Societal challenges'. This integrated approach is expected to lead to around 15 % of their total combined budgets going to SMEs.

1.4. Access to risk finance

Horizon 2020 will help companies and other types of organisation gain access to loans, guarantees and equity finance via two facilities.

The debt facility will provide loans to single beneficiaries for investment in research and innovation; guarantees to financial beneficiaries making loans to beneficiaries; combinations of loans and guarantees, and guarantees or counter-guarantees for national and regional debt-financing schemes. It will include an SME window targeting R&I-driven SMEs with loan amounts that complement finance to SMEs by the Loan Guarantee Facility under the Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs.

The equity facility will provide venture and/or mezzanine capital to individual enterprises in the early stage (start-up window). The facility will also have the possibility to make expansion and growth-stage investments in conjunction with the Equity Facility for Growth under the Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs, including in funds-of-funds.

These facilities will be central to the specific objective 'Access to risk finance' but may, where relevant, also be used across all other specific objectives of Horizon 2020.

The equity facility and the SME window of the debt facility will be implemented as part of two EU Financial Instruments that provide equity and debt to support SMEs' R&I and growth, in conjunction with the equity and debt facilities under the Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and and SMEs.

1.5. Communication and dissemination

A key added value of research and innovation funded at the Union level is the possibility to disseminate and communicate results on a continent wide scale to enhance their impact. Horizon 2020 will therefore include, under all of its specific objectives, dedicated support to dissemination (including through open access to research results), communication and dialogue actions, with a strong emphasis on communicating results to end-users, citizens, civil society organisations, industry and policy makers. To this extent, Horizon 2020 may make use of networks for information transfer. Communication activities undertaken in the context of Horizon 2020 will also seek to raise public awareness on the importance of research and innovation by means of publications, events, knowledge repositories, databases, websites or a targeted use of social media.

2. International cooperation

International cooperation with partners in third countries is necessary to address effectively many specific objectives defined in Horizon 2020, in particular those relating to Union external policies and international commitments. This is the case for all the societal challenges addressed by Horizon 2020, which are global in nature. International cooperation is also essential for frontier and basic research in order to capture the benefits from emerging science and technology opportunities. Promoting researchers and innovation staff mobility at an international scale is therefore crucial to enhance this global cooperation. Activities at the international level are equally important to enhance the competitiveness of European industry by promoting the take-up and trade of novel technologies, for instance through the development of worldwide standards and interoperability guidelines, and by promoting the acceptance and deployment of European solutions outside Europe.

The focus of international cooperation in Horizon 2020 will be on cooperation with three major country groupings:

(1) industrialised and emerging economies;

(2) enlargement and neighbourhood countries; and

(3) developing countries.

Where appropriate, Horizon 2020 will promote cooperation at regional or multilateral level. International cooperation in research and innovation is a key aspect of the Union’s global commitments and has an important role to play in the Union’s partnership with developing countries, such as progressing towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

Article 21 of Horizon 2020 sets out the general principles for participation of organisations from third countries and international organisations. As research and innovation in general benefit largely from an openness towards third countries, Horizon 2020 will continue with the principle of general openness, while encouraging reciprocal access to third country programmes. For a number of areas, however, a more cautious approach may be advisable to safeguard European interest.

In addition, a range of targeted actions will be implemented taking a strategic approach to international cooperation on the basis of common interest and mutual benefit and promoting coordination and synergies with Member States activities. This will include a mechanism for supporting joint calls and the possibility of co-funding programmes together with third countries or international organisations.

Examples of areas where such strategic international cooperation may be developed are:

(a) The continuation of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP2) on clinical trials for medical interventions against HIV, malaria and tuberculosis;

(b) Support by way of an annual subscription to the Human Science Frontier Programme (HSFP) to allow non-G7 Member States of the Union to fully benefit from the funding provided by the HSFP;

(c) International consortium on rare diseases, with a number of Union Member States and third countries. The aim of this initiative is to develop by 2020, diagnostic tests for most rare diseases and 200 new therapies for rare diseases;

(d) Support to the activities of the International Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy Forum and the EU-US Task Force on Biotechnology Research as well as collaborative links with relevant international organisations and initiatives (such as global research alliances on agricultural greenhouse gases and on animal health) ;

(e) Contribution to multilateral processes and initiatives, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), and the Group on Earth Observations (GEO);

(f) The Space Dialogues between the Union and the United States of America and Russia, the two major space faring nations, is an extremely valuable one and forms the basis for the establishment of strategic cooperation in space partnerships such as the International Space Station or launchers, and collaboration in cutting edge space RTD projects.

3. Complementarities and cross-cutting actions

Horizon 2020 is structured around the objectives defined for its three major parts: generating excellent science, creating industrial leadership and tackling societal challenges. Particular attention will be paid to ensuring adequate coordination between these parts and fully exploiting the synergies generated between all specific objectives to maximise their combined impact on the higher level policy objectives of the Union. The objectives of Horizon 2020 will therefore be addressed through a strong emphasis on finding efficient solutions, going well beyond an approach based simply on traditional scientific and technological disciplines and economic sectors.

Cross-cutting actions will be promoted between Part I 'Excellent science' and the societal challenges and the enabling and industrial technologies to develop jointly new knowledge, future and emerging technologies, research infrastructures and key competences. Research infrastructures will also be leveraged for broader usage in society, for example in public services, promotion of science, civil security and culture. Furthermore, priority setting during implementation for the direct actions of the Joint Research Centre and the activities of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) will be adequately coordinated with the other parts of Horizon 2020.

Furthermore, in many cases, contributing effectively to the objectives of Europe 2020 and the Innovation Union will require solutions to be developed which are interdisciplinary in nature and therefore cut across multiple specific objectives of Horizon 2020. Particular attention will be given to responsible research and innovation. Gender will be addressed as a cross-cutting issue in order to rectify imbalances between women and men, and to integrate a gender dimension in research and innovation programming and content. Horizon 2020 includes specific provisions to incentivise such cross-cutting actions, including by an efficient bundling of budgets. This includes also for instance the possibility for the societal challenges and enabling and industrial technologies to make use of the provisions for financial instruments and the dedicated SME instrument.

Cross-cutting action will also be vital in stimulating the interactions between the societal challenges and the enabling and industrial technologies needed to generate major technological breakthroughs. Examples of where such interactions may be developed are: the domain of eHealth, smart grids, intelligent transport systems, mainstreaming of climate actions, nanomedicine, advanced materials for lightweight vehicles or the development of bio-based industrial processes and products. Strong synergies will therefore be fostered between the societal challenges and the development of generic enabling and industrial technologies. This will be explicitly taken into account in developing the multi-annual strategies and the priority setting for each of these specific objectives. It will require that stakeholders representing the different perspectives are fully involved in the implementation and in many cases, it will also require actions which bring together funding from the enabling and industrial technologies and the societal challenges concerned.

Particular attention will also be paid to the coordination of activities funded through Horizon 2020 with those supported under other Union funding programmes, such as the Common Agricultural Policy, the Common Fisheries Policy or the Erasmus For All: the Union's programme for Education, Training, Youth and Sport or the Health for Growth Programme. This includes an appropriate articulation with the Cohesion policy funds, where support to capacity building for research and innovation at regional level may act as a 'stairway to excellence', the establishment of regional centres of excellence may help close the innovation divide in Europe or support to large-scale demonstration and pilot line projects may aid in achieving the objective of generating industrial leadership in Europe.

4. Partnering

For achieving sustainable growth in Europe, the contribution of public and private players must be optimised. This is essential for consolidating the European Research Area and for delivering on the Innovation Union, the Digital Agenda and other Europe 2020 flagship initiatives. Furthermore, responsible research and innovation requires that best solutions be derived from interactions between partners having various perspectives but common interests.

Horizon 2020 includes scope and a clear set of criteria for setting up public-public and public-private partnerships. Public-private partnerships can be based on a contractual arrangement between public and private actors and can in limited cases be institutionalised public-private partnerships (such as Joint Technology Initiatives and other Joint Undertakings).

Existing public-public and public-private partnerships may receive support from Horizon 2020, provided they address Horizon 2020 objectives, they meet the criteria laid down in Horizon 2020 and they have shown to make significant progress under the Seventh Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration (FP7).

Initiatives under Article 185 of the Treaty supported under FP6 and/or FP7 for which further support may be provided under the above conditions include: the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), Ambient Assisted Living (AAL), Baltic Sea Research and Development Programme (BONUS), Eurostars and the European Metrology Research Programme. Further support may also be provided to the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) established under the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan).

Joint Undertakings established in FP7 under Article 187 of the Treaty, for which further support may be provided under the above conditions are: the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), Clean Sky, Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR), Fuel Cells and Hydrogen (FCH), and Embedded computing systems (ARTEMIS) and Nanoelectronics (ENIAC). The latter two may be combined into a single initiative.

Other public-private partnerships supported under FP7 for which further support may be provided under the above conditions are: Factories of the Future, Energy-efficient Buildings, European Green Cars Initiative, Future Internet. Further support may also be provided to the European Industrial Initiatives (EIIs) established under the SET Plan.

Further public-public partnerships and public-private partnerships may be launched under Horizon 2020 where they meet the defined criteria. This may include partnerships on Information and Communication Technologies in the areas of Photonics and Robotics, on sustainable process industries, on bio-based industries and on security technologies for maritime border surveillance.

Part I

Excellent Science

1. European Research Council

The European Research Council (ERC) will promote world class frontier research. Research at and beyond the frontiers of current understanding is both of critical importance to economic and social welfare, and an intrinsically risky venture, progressing on new and most challenging research areas and characterised by an absence of disciplinary boundaries.

In order to stimulate substantial advances at the frontiers of knowledge, the ERC will support individual teams to carry out research in any field of basic scientific and technological research which falls within the scope of Horizon 2020, including engineering, social sciences and the humanities. As appropriate, specific research topics or target groups (e.g. new generation researchers/emerging teams) may be taken into account, following the objectives of the ERC and needs for efficient implementation. Particular attention will be paid to emerging and fast-growing areas at the frontier of knowledge, and at the interface between disciplines.

Independent researchers of any age, including starting researchers making the transition to being independent research leaders in their own right, from any country in the world will be supported to carry out their research in Europe.

An "investigator-driven" approach will be followed. This means that the ERC will support projects carried out by researchers on subjects of their choice within the scope of calls for proposals. Proposals will be evaluated on the sole criterion of excellence as judged by peer review, taking account of excellence in new groups, new generation researchers, as well as established teams, and paying particular attention to proposals which are highly pioneering and involve correspondingly high scientific risks.

The ERC will operate as a science-led funding body consisting of an independent Scientific Council, supported by a lean and cost-effective dedicated implementation structure.

The ERC Scientific Council will establish the overall scientific strategy and will have full authority over decisions on the type of research to be funded.

The Scientific Council will establish the work programme to meet the ERC's objectives based on its scientific strategy as below. It will establish the necessary international cooperation initiatives in line with its scientific strategy, including outreach activities to increase the visibility of the ERC for the best researchers from the rest of the world.

The Scientific Council will continuously monitor the operation of the ERC and consider how best to achieve its broader objectives. It will develop the ERC's mix of support measures as necessary to respond to emerging needs.

The ERC will aim for excellence in its own operations. The administrative and staffing costs for the ERC relating to the Scientific Council and dedicated implementation structure will be consistent with lean and cost-effective management. Administrative expenditure will be kept to a minimum, consistent with ensuring the resources necessary for world class implementation, in order to maximise funding for frontier research.

ERC awards will be made and grants operated according to simple procedures that maintain the focus on excellence, encourage initiative and combine flexibility with accountability. The ERC will continuously look for further ways to simplify and improve its procedures in order to ensure that these principles are met.

Given the unique structure and role of the ERC as a science-led funding body the implementation and management of the activities of the ERC will be reviewed and evaluated on an ongoing basis with the full involvement of the Scientific Council to assess its achievements and to adjust and improve procedures and structures on the basis of experience.

1.1. The Scientific Council

In order to carry out its tasks, as set out in Article 7, the Scientific Council will:

(1) Scientific strategy:

– establish the overall scientific strategy for the ERC, in the light of scientific opportunities and European scientific needs;

– on a permanent basis, in accordance with the scientific strategy, ensure the establishment of the work programme and necessary modifications, including calls for proposals and criteria and, as may be required, the definition of specific topics or target groups (e.g. starting /emerging teams);

(2) Scientific management, monitoring and quality control:

– as appropriate, from a scientific perspective, establish positions on implementation and management of calls for proposals, evaluation criteria, peer review processes including the selection of experts, the methods for peer review and proposal evaluation and the necessary implementing rules and guidelines, on the basis of which the proposal to be funded will be determined under the supervision of the Scientific Council; as well as any other matter affecting the achievements and impact of the ERC's activities, and the quality of the research carried out, including the principal provisions of the ERC Model Grant Agreement;

– monitor quality of operations and evaluate implementation and achievements and make recommendations for corrective or future actions.

(3) Communication and dissemination:

– assure communication with the scientific community and key stakeholders on the ERC's activities and achievements;

– regularly report to the Commission on its own activities.

The Scientific Council has full authority over decisions on the type of research to be funded and is the guarantor of the quality of the activity from the scientific perspective.

Where appropriate, the Scientific Council shall consult with the scientific, engineering and scholarly Community.

The members of the Scientific Council shall be compensated for the tasks they perform by means of an honorarium and, where appropriate, reimbursement of travel and subsistence expenses.

The ERC President will reside in Brussels for the duration of the appointment and devote most of his/her time[17] to ERC business. He/she will be remunerated at a level commensurate with the Commission's top management.

The Scientific Council shall elect from amongst its members three Vice-Chairs who shall assist the President in its representation and the organisation of its work. They may also hold the title of Vice-President of the European Research Council.

Support will be provided to the three Vice Chairs to ensure adequate local administrative assistance at their home institutes.

1.2. Dedicated implementation structure

The dedicated implementation structure will be responsible for all aspects of administrative implementation and programme execution, as provided for in the work programme. It will, in particular, implement the evaluation procedures, peer review and selection process in accordance with the strategy established by the Scientific Council and will ensure the financial and scientific management of the grants.

The dedicated implementation structure will support the Scientific Council in the conduct of all of its tasks as set out above, provide access to the necessary documents and data in its possession, and keep the Scientific Council informed of its activities.

In order to ensure an effective liaison with the dedicated implementation structure on strategy and operational matters, the leadership of the Scientific Council and the Director of the dedicated implementation structure will hold regular coordination meetings.

The management of the ERC will be carried out by staff recruited for that purpose, including where necessary, officials from Union institutions, and will cover only the real administrative needs in order to assure the stability and continuity necessary for an effective administration.

1.3. Role of the Commission

In order to fulfil its responsibilities as set out in Articles 6, 7 and 8 the Commission will:

– ensure the continuity and renewal of the Scientific Council and provide support for a standing Identification Committee for the identification of future Scientific Council members;

– ensure the continuity of the dedicated implementation structure and the delegation of tasks and responsibilities to it taking into account the views of the Scientific Council;

– appoint the Director and the Senior Staff of the dedicated implementation structure taking into account the views of the Scientific Council;

– ensure the timely adoption of the work programme, the positions regarding implementing methodology and the necessary implementing rules as provided by the ERC Rules of Submission and the ERC Model Grant Agreement, taking into account the positions of the Scientific Council;

– regularly inform the programme committee on the implementation of the ERC activities.

2. Future and Emerging Technologies

Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) activities will concretise different logics of intervention, from completely open to varying degrees of structuring of topics, communities and funding, structured around three pillars:

2.1. FET Open: fostering novel ideas

Supporting a large set of embryonic, high risk visionary science and technology collaborative research projects is necessary for the successful exploration of new foundations for radically new future technologies. By being explicitly non–topical and non-prescriptive, this activity allows for new ideas, whenever they arise and wherever they come from, within the broadest spectrum of themes and disciplines. Nurturing such fragile ideas requires an agile, risk-friendly and highly interdisciplinary research approach, going well beyond the strictly technological realms. Attracting and stimulating the participation of new high-potential actors in research and innovation, such as young researchers and high-tech SMEs is also important for nurturing the scientific and industrial leaders of the future.

2.2. FET Proactive: nurturing emerging themes and communities

Novel areas and themes need to be matured, by working towards structuring emerging communities and supporting the design and development of transformative research themes. The main benefits of this structuring yet explorative approach are emerging novel areas that are not yet ready for inclusion in industry research roadmaps, and building up and structuring of research communities around them. It makes the step from collaborations between a small number of researchers, to a cluster of projects that each address aspects of a research theme and exchange results.

2.3. FET Flagships: tackling grand interdisciplinary science and technology challenges

Research initiatives within this challenge are science-driven, large-scale, multidisciplinary and built around a visionary unifying goal. They tackle grand science and technology challenges requiring cooperation among a range of disciplines, communities and programmes. The scientific advance should provide a strong and broad basis for future technological innovation and economic exploitation, as well as novel benefits for society. The overarching nature and magnitude implies that they can only be realised through a federated and sustained effort (in the order of 10 years duration).

Activities in the three FET pillars are complemented, by a wide range of networking and community-based activities for creating a fertile and vibrant European base for science-driven research towards future technologies. They will support the future developments of the FET activities, foster the debate on implications of new technologies, and accelerate impact.

2.4. Specific implementation aspects

A FET Advisory Board will provide stakeholder input on the overall scientific strategy, including the definition of the work programme.

FET will continue to be science-led supported by a light and efficient implementation structure. Simple administrative procedures will be adopted to maintain the focus on excellence in science-driven technological innovation, encourage initiative and combine flexibility with accountability. The most appropriate approaches will be used for probing the FET research landscape (e.g., for portfolio analysis) and for involving communities of stakeholders (e.g., for consultations). The aim will be for continuous improvement, and the search for further ways to simplify and improve procedures in order to ensure that these principles are met. Assessments of the effectiveness and impact of the FET activities will be carried out, complementing those at programme level.

Given its mission of fostering science-driven research towards future technologies, FET strives to bring together actors from science, technology and innovation. FET should therefore play an active and catalytic role in stimulating new thinking, new practices and new collaborations.

FET-Open groups activities for an entirely bottom up search for promising new ideas. The high-risk implied by each such idea is countered by exploring many of them. Efficiency in terms of time and resources, low opportunity cost for the proposers, and undisputable openness to non-conventional and interdisciplinary ideas are the key characteristics for these activities. Light-and-fast continuously open submission schemes will seek for high-risk promising new research ideas and will include tracks for new and high potential innovation actors such as young researchers and high tech SMEs. It will be complemented with activities to actively stimulate creative out-of-the-box thinking.

FET proactive: this activity regularly opens calls on several high-risk, high-potential innovative themes, funded at such a level that several projects can be selected. These projects will be supported by community building actions that foster activities such as joint events, development of new curricula and research roadmaps. The selection of themes will take into account excellence in science-driven research towards future technologies, potential for creating a critical mass and impact on science and technology.

A number of large scale focused initiatives (FET Flagships) will be implemented. They will be based on partnerships that enable combining Union, national and private contributions, with a balanced governance that allows programme owners to have appropriate influence, as well as a large degree of autonomy and flexibility in the implementation, enabling the flagship to follow closely a broadly supported research roadmap. The selection will take into account the unifying goal, the impact, integration of stakeholders and resources under a cohesive research roadmap and support from stakeholders and national/regional research programmes

3. Marie Curie actions

3.1. Fostering new skills by means of excellent initial training of researchers

Europe needs a strong and creative human resource base, mobile across countries and sectors, with the right combination of skills to innovate and to convert knowledge and ideas into products and services for economic and social benefit.

This will be achieved in particular by structuring and raising excellence in a substantial share of the high-quality initial training of early stage researchers and doctoral candidates throughout Member states and associated countries. By equipping early stage researchers with a diversity of skills that will allow them to face current and future challenges, the next generation of researchers will benefit from enhanced career perspectives in both public and private sectors, thereby enhancing also the attraction of young people to research careers.

The action will be implemented through support to Union-wide competitively selected research training programmes implemented by partnerships of universities, research institutions, businesses, SMEs and other socio-economic actors from different countries across Europe and beyond. Single institutions able to provide the same enriching environment will also be supported. Flexibility in the implementation of the objectives will have to be ensured in order to address the different needs. Typically, successful partnerships will take the form of research training networks or industrial doctorates, while single institutions will usually be involved in innovative doctoral programmes. In this frame, support is foreseen for the best early stage researchers from any country to join these excellent programmes.

These training programmes will address the development and broadening of core research competences, while equipping researchers with a creative mind, an entrepreneurial outlook and innovation skills that will match the future needs of the labour market. The programmes will also provide training in transferable competences such as team-work, risk-taking, project management, standardisation, entrepreneurship, ethics, IPR, communication and societal outreach which are essential for the generation, development, commercialisation and diffusion of innovation.

3.2. Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility

Europe has to be attractive for the best researchers, European and non-European. This will be achieved in particular by supporting attractive career opportunities for experienced researchers in both public and private sectors, and encouraging them to move between countries, sectors and disciplines to enhance their creative and innovative potential.

Funding will be given to the best or most promising experienced researchers, regardless of their nationality, who want to develop their skills through a trans-national or international mobility experience. They can be supported along all the different stages of their career, including the most junior ones just after their doctoral degree or equivalent experience. These researchers will receive funding on the condition that they move from one country to another to broaden or deepen their competences in universities, research institutions, businesses, SMEs or other socio-economic actors of their choice, working on research and innovation projects fitting their personal needs and interests. They will also be encouraged to move from public to private sector or vice-versa through the support of temporary postings. Part-time opportunities allowing combined positions in both public and private sectors will also be supported to enhance the transfer of knowledge between sectors and also encourage the creation of start-ups. Such tailor-made research opportunities will help promising researchers to become fully independent and to facilitate career moves between public and private sectors.

In order to fully exploit the existing potential of researchers, possibilities to restart a research career after a break will also be supported.

3.3. Stimulating innovation by means of cross-fertilisation of knowledge

Societal challenges are becoming more and more global and cross-border and cross-sector collaborations are crucial to successfully face them. Sharing of knowledge and ideas from research to market is therefore vital and can only be achieved through the connection of people. This will be promoted through the support of flexible exchanges of highly skilled research and innovation staff between sectors, countries and disciplines.

European funding will support short term exchanges of research and innovation staff within partnerships of universities, research institutions, businesses, SMEs and other socio-economic actors among Europe, as well as between Europe and third countries to reinforce international cooperation. It will be open to research and innovation staff at all career levels, from the most junior (post-graduate) to the most senior (management), including also administrative and technical staff.

3.4. Increasing structural impact by co-funding the activities

Stimulating regional, national or international programmes to foster excellence and spread best practices of Marie Curie Actions in terms of European-wide mobility possibilities for researchers training, career development and staff exchange will increase the numerical and structural impact of Marie Curie Actions. This will also enhance the attractiveness of centres of excellence across Europe.

This will be achieved by co-funding new or existing regional, national, private and international programmes to open-up to and provide for international, intersectoral and interdicisplinary research training, as well as cross-border and cross-sector mobility of researchers and innovation staff at all stages of their career.

This will allow the exploitation of synergies between Union actions and those at regional and national level, combating fragmentation in terms of objectives, evaluation methods and working conditions of researchers.

3.5. Specific support and policy actions

To efficiently meet the challenge it will be essential to monitor progress. The programme will support the development of indicators and the analysis of data related to researchers' mobility, skills and careers with a view to identifying gaps in the Marie Curie actions and to increasing the impact of these actions. These activities will be implemented seeking synergies and close coordination with the policy support actions on researchers, their employers and funders carried out under 'Inclusive, innovative and secure societies'. Specific actions will be funded to support initiatives to raise awareness on the importance of the research career, and to disseminate research and innovation results emanating from work supported by Marie Curie actions.

To further increase the impact of the Marie Curie actions, the networking between Marie Curie researchers (current and past) will be enhanced through a strategy of alumni services. These will range from supporting a forum for contact and exchange between the researchers, providing possibilities for exploring collaborations and job opportunities, to the organisation of joint events and the involvement of the fellows in outreach activities as ambassadors for Marie Curie actions and for the European Research Area.

3.6. Specific implementation aspects

The Marie Curie actions will be open to training and career development activities within all domains of research and innovation addressed under the Treaty, from basic research up to market take-up and innovation services. Research and innovation fields as well as sectors will be chosen freely by the applicants.

To benefit from the worldwide knowledge base, the Marie Curie Actions will be open to researchers and innovation staff, as well as to universities, research institutions, businesses and other socio-economic actors from all countries, including third countries under the conditions defined in Regulation (EU) XX/2012 (Rules for Participation).

Throughout all the activities described above, attention will be paid to encourage a strong participation of enterprises, in particular SMEs, as well as other socio-economic actors for the successful implementation and impact of the Marcie Curie actions. A long-term collaboration between higher education, research organisations and the private sector, taking into account the protection of intellectual property rights, is promoted throughout all the Marie Curie actions.

The possibility is retained, if specific needs arise, to target certain activities under the programme regarding specific societal challenges, types of research and innovation institutions, or geographical locations in order to respond to the evolution of Europe's requirements in terms of skills, research training, career development and knowledge sharing.

In order to be open to all sources of talent, general measures to overcome any distortions in the access to the grants will be ensured, for example by encouraging equal opportunities in all Marie Curie actions and by benchmarking gender participation. In addition, the Marie Curie actions will support researchers to get established on a more stable career path and to ensure that they can achieve an appropriate work/life balance, taking into account their family situation, and to contribute to facilitate resuming a research career after a break. The principles of the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers promoting open recruitment and attractive working conditions will have to be endorsed and applied by all the funded participants.

To further enhance dissemination and public engagement, beneficiaries of the Marie Curie actions will be required to plan suitable outreach activities to the general public. This plan will be assessed during the evaluation process as well as during the project follow-up.

4. Research Infrastructures

The activities will aim at developing the European research infrastructures for 2020 and beyond, fostering their innovation potential and human capital and reinforcing European policy. Coordination with the cohesion funding sources will be pursued to ensure synergies and a coherent approach for the development of the research infrastructures.

4.1. Developing the European research infrastructures for 2020 and beyond

4.1.1. Developing new world-class research infrastructures[18]

The aim is to ensure the implementation, long-term sustainability and efficient operation of the research infrastructures identified by the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) and other world-class research infrastructures, which will help Europe to respond to grand challenges in science, industry and society. This objective will address specifically those infrastructures that are setting up or that have set up their governance, e.g. on the basis of the European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) or any equivalent structure at European or international level.

The Union funding will contribute to, as appropriate:

(a) the preparatory phase of future infrastructures (e.g. detailed construction plans, legal arrangements, multiannual planning);

(b) the implementation phase (e.g. R&D and engineering work jointly with industry and users, development of regional partner facilities aiming at a more balanced development of the European Research Area); and/or

(c) the operation phase (e.g. access, data handling, outreach, training and international cooperation activities).

This activity will also support design studies for new research infrastructures through a bottom-up approach.

4.1.2. Integrating and opening existing national research infrastructures of pan-European interest

The aim is to open up key national research infrastructures to all European researchers, from both academia and industry, and to ensure their optimal use and joint development.

The Union will support networks that bring together and integrate, on European scale, key national research infrastructures. Funding will be provided to support, in particular, the trans-national and virtual access of researchers and the harmonisation and improvement of the services the infrastructures provide. Around one hundred networks of infrastructures in all fields of science and technology would require such support, with up to twenty thousands researchers per year benefitting from access to these facilities.

4.1.3. Development, deployment and operation of ICT-based e-infrastructures[19]

The aim is to achieve by 2020 a single and open European space for online research where researchers enjoy leading-edge, ubiquitous and reliable services for networking and computing, and seamless and open access to e-Science environments and global data resources.

To achieve this goal, support will be given to: global research and education networks providing advanced, standardised and scalable inter-domain services on-demand; grid and cloud infrastructures providing virtually unlimited computational and data processing capacity; an ecosystem of supercomputing facilities, advancing towards exa-scale; a software and service infrastructure, e.g. for simulation and visualisation; real-time collaborative tools; and an interoperable, open and trusted scientific data infrastructure.

4.2. Fostering the innovation potential of research infrastructures and their human capital

4.2.1. Exploiting the innovation potential of research infrastructures

The goal is to stimulate innovation both in the infrastructures themselves and in their supplier and user industry.

To this end, support will be provided to

(a) R&D partnerships with industry to develop Union capacities and industrial supply in high-tech areas such as scientific instrumentation or ICT;

(b) pre-commercial procurement by research infrastructure actors to drive forward innovation and act as early adopters of technologies;

(c) stimulate the use of research infrastructures by industry, e.g. as experimental test facilities or knowledge-based centres; and

(d) encourage the integration of research infrastructures into local, regional and global innovation ecosystems

The Union actions will also leverage the use of research infrastructures, in particular e-infrastructures, for public services, social innovation, culture and education.

4.2.2. Strengthening the human capital of research infrastructures

The complexity of research infrastructures and the exploitation of their full potential require adequate skills for their managers, engineers and technicians, as well as users.

The Union funding will support the training of staff managing and operating research infrastructures of pan-European interest, the exchange of staff and best practices between facilities, and the adequate supply of human resources in key disciplines, including the emergence of specific education curricula.

4.3. Reinforcing European research infrastructure policy and international cooperation

4.3.1. Reinforcing European policy for research infrastructures

The aims are to exploit synergies between national and Union initiatives by setting up partnerships between relevant policy makers and funding bodies (e.g. ESFRI, e-Infrastructure Reflection Group (e-IRG), EIROforum organisations, national public authorities), to develop complementarities and cooperation between research infrastructures and activities implementing other Union policies (such as regional, cohesion, industrial, health, employment, or development policy), and to ensure coordination between different Union funding sources. Union actions will also support survey, monitoring and assessment of research infrastructures at Union level, as well as relevant policy studies and communication tasks.

4.3.2. Facilitate strategic international cooperation

The aim is to facilitate the development of global research infrastructures i.e. research infrastructures that require funding and agreements on a global scale. The aim is also to facilitate the cooperation of European research infrastructures with their non-European counterparts, ensuring their global interoperability and reach, and to pursue international agreements on the reciprocal use, openness or co-financing of infrastructures. In this respect due account will be taken of the recommendations of the Carnegie Group of Senior Officials on Global Research Infrastructures. Attention will also be given to ensure adequate Union participation in coordination with international bodies such as the UN or the OECD.

4.4. Specific implementation aspects

During implementation independent expert groups will be consulted, as well as stakeholders and advisory bodies, such as ESFRI and the e-IRG.

The implementation will follow a three-pronged approach: bottom-up where the exact content and partnership of projects are not known; targeted where the specific research infrastructures and/or communities addressed are well-defined; and named beneficiaries, for example where a contribution to operational costs is provided to (a consortium of) infrastructure operator(s).

The objectives under the last two activities will be pursued through their own specific actions and, whenever appropriate, through the actions under the first activity.

Part II

Industrial Leadership

1. Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies

General

The successful mastering and deployment of enabling technologies by European industry is a key factor in strengthening Europe's productivity and innovation capacity and ensuring Europe has an advanced, sustainable and competitive economy, global leadership in high-tech application sectors and the ability to develop unique solutions for societal challenges.Innovation activities will be combined with R&D, as an integral part of the funding.

An integrated approach to Key Enabling Technologies

A major component of 'Leadership in Enabling and Industrial Technologies' are Key Enabling Technologies (KETs), defined as micro- and nanoelectronics, photonics, nanotechnology, biotechnology, advanced materials and advanced manufacturing systems[20]. Many innovative products incorporate several of these technologies simultaneously, as single or integrated parts. While each technology offers technological innovation, the accumulated benefit from combining a number of enabling technologies can also lead to technological leaps. Tapping into cross-cutting key enabling technologies will enhance product competitiveness and impact. The numerous interactions of these technologies will therefore be exploited. Dedicated support will be provided for larger-scale pilot line and demonstrator projects.

This will include cross-cutting activities that bring together and integrate various individual technologies, resulting in technology validation in an industrial environment to a complete and qualified system, ready for the market. Strong private sector involvement in such activities will be a prerequisite and implementation will therefore notably be through public private partnerships. To this extent and through a dedicated governance structure, a joint work programme for cross-cutting KETs activities will be developed. Taking into account market needs and the requirements of the societal challenges, it will aim at providing generic KETs building blocks for different application areas, including societal challenges.

Specific implementation aspects

Innovation activities will include the integration of individual technologies; demonstrations of capacities to make and deliver innovative products and services; user and customer pilots to prove feasibility and added value; and large-scale demonstrators to facilitate market take-up of the research results.

Various individual technologies will be integrated, resulting in technology validation in an industrial environment to a complete and qualified system, ready for the market. Strong private sector involvement in such activities will be a prerequisite, notably through public-private partnerships.

Demand-side actions will complement the technology push of the research and innovation initiatives. These include making the best use of public procurement of innovation; developing appropriate technical standards; private demand and engaging users to create more innovation-friendly markets.

For nanotechnology and biotechnology in particular, engagement with stakeholders and the general public will aim to raise the awareness of benefits and risks. Safety assessment and the management of overall risks in the deployment of these technologies will be systematically addressed.

These activities will complement support for research and innovation in enabling technologies, which may be provided by national or regional authorities under the Cohesion Policy funds, within the framework of smart specialisation strategies.

Strategic international cooperation initiatives will be pursued in areas of mutual interest and benefit with leading partner countries. Of particular, but not exclusive, interest for enabling and industrial technologies are

– the development of global standards;

– removing bottlenecks in industrial exploitation and conditions for trade;

– the safety of nanotechnology-based and biotechnology-based products;

– the development of materials and methods to reduce energy and resource consumption;

– industry-led, collaborative international initiatives within the manufacturing community; and

– the interoperability of systems.

1.1. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

A number of activity lines will target ICT industrial and technological leadership challenges and cover generic ICT research and innovation agendas, including notably:

1.1.1. A new generation of components and systems: engineering of advanced and smart embedded components and systems

The objective is to maintain and reinforce European leadership in technologies related to smart embedded components and systems. It also includes micro-nano-bio systems, organic electronics, large area integration, underlying technologies for the Internet of Things (IoT)[21] including platforms to support the delivery of advanced services, smart integrated systems, systems of systems and complex systems engineering.

1.1.2. Next generation computing: advanced computing systems and technologies

The objective is to leverage European assets in processor and system architecture, interconnect and data localisation technologies, cloud computing, parallel computing and simulation software for all market segments of computing.

1.1.3. Future Internet: infrastructures, technologies and services

The objective is to reinforce the competitiveness of European industry in developing, mastering and shaping the next generation Internet that will gradually replace the current Web, fixed and mobile networks and service infrastructures, and enable the interconnection of trillions of devices (IoT) across multiple operators and domains that will change the way we communicate, access and use knowledge. This includes R&I on networks, software and services, cyber security, privacy and trust, wireless[22] communication and all optical networks, immersive interactive multimedia and on the connected enterprise of the future.

1.1.4. Content technologies and information management: ICT for digital content and creativity

The objective is to provide professionals and citizens with new tools to create, exploit and preserve all forms of digital content in any language and to model, analyse, and visualise vast amounts of data, including linked data. This includes new technologies for language, learning, interaction, digital preservation, content access and analytics; intelligent information management systems based on advanced data mining, machine learning, statistical analysis and visual computing technologies.

1.1.5. Advanced interfaces and robots: robotics and smart spaces

The objective is to reinforce European scientific and industrial leadership in industrial and service robotics, cognitive systems, advanced interfaces and smart spaces, and sentient machines, building on increases in computing and networking performance and progress in the ability to build systems that can learn, adapt and react.

1.1.6. Micro- and nanoelectronics and photonics

The objective is to take advantage of the excellence of Europe in this key enabling technology and support the competitiveness and market leadership of its industry. Activities will also include research and innovation on design, advanced processes, pilot lines for fabrication, related production technologies and demonstration actions to validate technology developments and innovative business models.

These six major activity lines are expected to cover the full range of needs. These would include industrial leadership in generic ICT-based solutions, products and services needed to tackle major societal challenges as well as application-driven ICT research and innovation agendas which will be supported together with the relevant societal challenge.

Included under each of the six big activity lines are also ICT-specific research infrastructures such as living labs for large-scale experimentation and infrastructures for underlying key enabling technologies and their integration in advanced products and innovative smart systems, including equipment, tools, support services, clean rooms and access to foundries for prototyping.

1.2. Nanotechnologies

1.2.1. Developing next generation nanomaterials, nanodevices and nanosystems

Development and integration of knowledge at the cross-roads of different scientific disciplines, aiming at fundamentally new products enabling sustainable solutions in a wide range of sectors.

1.2.2. Ensuring the safe development and application of nanotechnologies

Advancing scientific knowledge of their potential impact on health or on the environment for pro-active, science-based governance of nanotechnologies, and providing validated scientific tools and platforms for hazard, exposure and risk assessment and management along the entire life cycle of nanomaterials and nanosystems.

1.2.3. Developing the societal dimension of nanotechnology

Addressing the human and physical infrastructure needs of nanotechnology deployment and focussing on governance of nanotechnology for societal benefit.

1.2.4. Efficient synthesis and manufacturing of nanomaterials, components and systems

Focusing on new flexible, scalable and repeatable unit operations, smart integration of new and existing processes, as well as up-scaling to achieve mass production of products and multi-purpose plants that ensures the efficient transfer of knowledge into industrial innovation.

1.2.5. Developing capacity-enhancing techniques, measuring methods and equipment

Focusing on the underpinning technologies, supporting the development and market introduction of complex nanomaterials and nanosystems, including characterising and manipulating matter at the nano-scale, modelling, computational design and advanced engineering at the atomic level.

1.3. Advanced materials

1.3.1 Cross-cutting and enabling materials technologies

Research on functional materials, multifunctional materials such as self-repairing or biocompatible materials and structural materials, for innovation in all industrial sectors particularly for high value markets.

1.3.2. Materials development and transformation

Research and development to ensure efficient and sustainable scale up to enable industrial manufacturing of future products e.g. in the metal or chemical industries.

1.3.3. Management of materials components

Research and development for new and innovative techniques and systems, joining, adhesion, separation, assembly, self-assembly and disassembling, decomposition and deconstruction.

1.3.4. Materials for a sustainable industry

Developing new products and applications and consumer behaviour that reduce energy demand and facilitate low-carbon production, as well as process intensification, recycling, depollution and high added-value materials from waste and remanufacture.

1.3.5. Materials for creative industries

Applying design and the development of converging technologies to create new business opportunities, including the preservation of Europe's materials with historical or cultural value.

1.3.6. Metrology, characterisation, standardisation and quality control

Promoting technologies such as characterisation, non-destructive evaluation and predictive modelling of performance for progress in materials science and engineering.

1.3.7. Optimisation of the use of materials

Research and development to investigate alternatives to the use of materials and innovative business model approaches.

1.4. Biotechnology

1.4.1. Boosting cutting-edge biotechnologies as future innovation drivers

The objective is to lay the foundations for the European industry to stay at the front line of innovation, also in the medium and long term. It encompasses the development of emerging tools such as synthetic biology, bioinformatics, systems biology and exploiting the convergence with other enabling technologies such as nanotechnology (e.g. bionanotechnology) and ICT (e.g. bioelectronics). These and other cutting-edge fields deserve appropriate measu