WRITTEN QUESTION E-0054/99

by Barbara Weiler (PSE) to the Commission

(22 January 1999)

Subject: EU Innovation Relay Centres

1. When and where have IRCs been set up with EU assistance?

2. With what objectives were IRCs set up?

3. Since then, what funds have been paid out for IRCs, broken down according to budget year and location? How much have German Länder and local authorities contributed?

4. When has there been an evaluation of IRCs? What were the results? Is there a league table? What were the criteria for evaluation?

5. What measures have been adopted to boost IRCs which were performing less well?

6. Which IRCs have been advised by which Institutions?

7. Which IRCs have been or are threatened with closure?

Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission

(25 March 1999)

The network of 53 innovation relay centres (IRCs) was established in Autumn 1995 in the 15 Member States, Norway, Iceland and, from 1 January 1998, Israel, following a call for proposals within the framework of the Innovation programme (fourth homework programme). The objectives of the IRC network are to provide assistance to local small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) for the promotion of transnational technology transfer, as well as information for participation in Community research and technological development (RTD) programmes.

The overall Community contribution has been about [fmxeuro]53 million over 4,5 years (1 October 1995-31 March 2000), broken down annually as follows (in millions euro) between 1995: 5,5, 1996: 6,5, 1997: 13, 1998: 7, 1999 (up to now): 5, and per country as follows (in millions Euro): Belgium 2, Denmark 1, Germany 8, Greece 2,4, Spain 6, France 6,7, Ireland 1, Italy 7,3, Luxembourg 0,7, Netherlands 2,2, Austria 1,6, Portugal 2, Finland 1,3, Sweden 2, United Kingdom 7, Iceland 0,5, Israel 0,4 and Norway 0,9. German Länder are not involved as IRC partners and therefore did not contribute to their financing.

Proposals were initially evaluated by independent experts following an open call for proposals. After 16 months of operations and in view of the renewal of contracts for a second phase, a mid-term evaluation was carried out by eight external experts during spring 1997. This was based on the performance during the past operations, the plans for the second phase, a self-evaluation appraisal and the opinion of a sample of IRC clients. Its results showed that most IRCs were considered able to continue their activities, with over 50 % doing a good or very good job. However the evaluation process, classified seven IRCs (Aquitaine/Poitou-Charentes, Alsace/Lorraine, Hessen-Rheinland-Pfalz, Lombardy, Luxembourg/Trier/Saarland, Gallicia and South England) as "poor" and in need of drastic adjustments in terms of their structure, resources and the content of their activities (objectives, methodology), if they were to continue in their role. Specific initiatives have been undertaken. First of all, major structural changes have been made with the substitution of co-ordinators, the replacement of partners, and a reduction of the dimension of the consortia. Training sessions have been organised, in order to enhance their competence, and better focus the objectives of the project and the methodology to follow.

Additionally, as is normal practice in research programmes, the IRC, like the other actions of the Innovation programme, has been reviewed annually in the framework of an annual monitoring exercise.

A new open call will be published in the forthcoming months for the setting up of a new IRC network within the recently adopted "Innovation and SMEs participation" programme (fifth framework programme), from 2000 to 2004 with the initial contract running for two years. This means that all the present IRCs have to go through a new selection process and compete with other organisations, in order to continue their activity with Community contribution during the next phase. The call for proposals is expected to be launched in June.