Proposal for a Council Regulation setting up the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking {SEC(2007) 1272} {SEC(2007) 1273}
Date: 2007-10-09
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: energy policy, fuel cell, hydrogen, joint venture, new technology, research and development

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 9.10.2007 
COM(2007) 571 final 

2007/0211 (CNS) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

setting up the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking 

(presented by the Commission) 

{SEC(2007) 1272} 
{SEC(2007) 1273} 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1) 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

•  Grounds for and objectives of the proposal 

Joint  Technology  Initiatives  (JTIs)  are  introduced  in  the  Seventh  Framework  Programme 
(FP7)1 as a way of creating public-private partnerships in research at European level. JTIs are 
an expression of the EU's strong commitment to coordinating research efforts, strengthening 
the European Research Area and reaching Europe's competitiveness goals. 

JTIs  arise  mainly  from  the  work  of  European  Technology  Platforms  (ETPs).  In  a  small 
number of cases, ETPs have achieved such an ambitious scale and scope that they will require 
the  mobilisation  of  high  public  and  private  investments  as  well  as  substantial  research 
resources  to  implement  important  elements  of  their  Strategic  Research  Agendas.  JTIs  are 
proposed as an effective means of meeting the needs of these ETPs. 

The  "Co-operation"  Specific  Programme2  identifies  fuel  cells  and  hydrogen  as  one  of  six 
areas  where  a  JTI  could  be  particularly  relevant,  alongside  aeronautics  and  air  transport, 
innovative medicines, embedded computing systems, nanoelectronics and global monitoring 
for environment and security (GMES). 

The Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking resulting from the Technology Platform on 
Hydrogen  and  Fuel  Cells  contributes  to  the  implementation  of  the  Environmental 
Technologies Action Plan (ETAP) as foreseen in the Communication COM(2004) 38 which 
included this Technology Platform within priority actions of the ETAP. 

Fuel cells are very quiet, highly efficient, energy converters capable of delivering substantial 
cumulative  greenhouse  gases  (GHG)  and  pollutant  reductions.  They  offer  flexibility  to  the 
energy mix as they can be operated on hydrogen and other fuels such as natural gas, ethanol 
and methanol. Fuel cells using hydrogen are intrinsically clean energy converters because the 
only exhaust product is steam, while other types using natural gas and other fossil fuels also 
reduce emissions because they use less fuel owing to their higher efficiency. The introduction 
of  hydrogen  as  a  flexible  energy  carrier  can  contribute  positively  to  energy  security  and 
stabilise energy prices as it can be produced from any primary energy source, and as such can 
introduce diversity into the transport mix, which is currently 98% dependent on oil. It can be 
used  in  fuel  cells  or  it  can  be  burned  either  to  provide  heat  or  to  drive  turbines  or  internal 
combustion engines for motive and electrical power. Hydrogen can also be used as a means of 
storing  energy.  For  instance,  when  renewable  electricity  production  is  higher  than  demand, 
the excess energy could be used to produce hydrogen by electrolysis, thereby facilitating the 
integration of renewable electricity into the energy market. 

Although  significant  EU  public  funds  have  already  been  directed  to  research  into  fuel  cells 
and  hydrogen,  and  they  are  already  included  in  the  FP7  energy  and  transport  research 
technological  development  and 
portfolio  as  an 
demonstration (RTD&D) strategy, the technologies are unlikely to be commercially available 

important  component  of  research, 

1 
2 

OJ L 412, 30.12.2006, p. 1. 
OJ L 400, 30.12.2006, p. 86. 

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as quickly as is desirable. There is a danger of fuel cell and hydrogen industrial development 
stagnating and falling further behind global competitors. Contributing factors include: 

•  the research needed is often so complex that no single fuel cell company or public 

research institution can perform it alone; 

•  the absence of an agreed long-term budget plan and strategic technical and market 
objectives to encourage industry and the research community to commit more of 
their own resources; 

•  the  sub-optimal  application  of  funds  leaving  gaps  and  overlaps  in  a  fragmented 

research coverage; 

•  an  insufficient  volume  of  funds  for  an  integrated  programme  from  fundamental 

research through to large-scale EU-level demonstrations; 

•  the  European  fuel  cell  sector  is  dispersed  across  different  countries  and  activity 
areas  (academia,  new  industrial  companies,  high-tech  SMEs)  which  restricts  the 
exchange and pooling of knowledge and experience; 

•  and  technical  breakthroughs  are  needed  to  improve  performance,  materials, 
reliability  and  durability  and  reduce  system  costs  to  meet  the  expectations  of 
potential customers. 

Without a focused and coherent industrial RTD&D programme that is able to draw on public 
and private sources of RTD&D investment at European level, efforts addressing the research 
bottlenecks  and  the  search  for  technological  breakthroughs  will  continue  in  a  scattered  and 
unstructured  manner.  A  public-private  Joint  Technology  Initiative  implemented  through  a 
Joint Undertaking based on Article 171 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, 
would allow large companies and SMEs throughout the EU including the new Member States 
to collaborate between themselves and with other stakeholders towards the following shared 
objectives: 

•  to  enable  the  market  breakthrough  of  fuel  cell  and  hydrogen  technologies, 

enabling commercial market forces to drive the substantial public benefits; 

•  to place Europe at the forefront of fuel cell and hydrogen technologies worldwide; 

•  to reach the critical mass of research effort to give confidence to industry, public 
and  private  investors,  decision-makers  and  other  stakeholders  to  embark  on  a 
long-term programme; 

•  to leverage further industrial, national and regional RTD&D investment; 

•  to  build  the  European  Research  Area  through  close  cooperation  with  research 

carried out at national and regional levels - whilst respecting subsidiarity; 

•  to  integrate  research,  development  and  demonstration,  and  focus  on  achieving 
long-term  sustainability  and  industrial  competitive  targets  for  cost,  performance 
and durability and overcome critical technology bottlenecks; 

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•  to stimulate innovation and the emergence of new value chains including SMEs; 

•  to facilitate the interaction between industry, universities and research centres on 

basic research; 

•  to encourage the participation of the new Member States and candidate countries; 

•  to  perform  broadly-conceived  socio-techno-economic  research  to  assess  and 

monitor technological progress and non-technical barriers to market entry; 

•  to  perform  research  to  support  the  development  of  new,  and  review  existing 
regulations  and  standards  to  eliminate  artificial  barriers  to  market  entry  and 
support  interchangeability,  inter-operability,  cross-border  hydrogen  trading,  and 
export markets whilst ensuring safe operation and not inhibiting innovation; 

•  to provide reliable information to the general public on hydrogen safety, and the 
benefits from the new technologies to the environment, security of supply, energy 
costs, and employment. 

•  General context 

Energy  is  fundamental  to  modern  society  and  to  sustainable  development.  Any  energy 
shortage  or  insecurity  would  have  serious  implications  for  individuals,  communities  and 
business, both immediately and in their planning for the future. Recent disruptions and future 
uncertainties in the supply of oil and gas and the resulting price volatility dampen economic 
growth  and  raise  inflation  and  unemployment  and  depress  the  value  of  financial  and  other 
assets. Oil and gas resources are depleting and, in the view of some experts, peak production 
will  soon  be  reached3;  what  is  certain  is  that  the  remaining  resources  are  increasingly 
concentrated in a few countries to which political access is constrained, and security of supply 
will be an important problem for most industrialized countries and especially the EU. In the 
context of competitive and gradually integrating global transport and energy markets, energy 
demand is growing rapidly in large emerging countries. Globally, we face the major issue of 
climate  change  with  levels  of  greenhouse  gases  rising.  There  are  many  uncertainties,  but 
leading  scientific  opinion  is  agreed  that  large  reductions  in  greenhouse  gas  emissions  are 
needed immediately and must be sustained over a long time4. 

The present structure of the fuel cell and hydrogen industries in Europe is unsatisfactory and 
leads to concerns as to its ability to adapt to change. Although the EU has some world-class 
research facilities and for instance leads the world in fuel cells for large submarines and fuel 
cell membranes, the industry is in general immature and large-scale manufacturing processes 
and  infrastructure  deployment  for  refuelling  and  support  services  such  as  trained  personnel 
are not yet available. The fuel cell industry worldwide is characterised by very large corporate 
companies and very small, highly innovative SMEs. Europe has many of the latter, and it is 
crucial  that  their  innovation  potential  is  realised  as  these  companies  can  form  the  future 
backbone of an EU component supply chain.  

3 

4 

Stern  review  on 
the  economics  of  climate  change,  HM  Treasury,  2006;  http://www.hm-
treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/stern_review_economics_climate_change/sternreview_index.cfm 
Working Group III contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Fourth Assessment 
Report. Climate Change 2007: Mitigation of Climate Change. Approved at the 9th Session of Working 
Group III of the IPCC, Bangkok, Thailand, 30 April–4 May 2007. 

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The  fuel  cell  and  hydrogen  industries  are  strongly  inter-related,  but  not  wholly  inter-
dependent. The nature and degree of competition in the two industries is highly complex. The 
use of bulk hydrogen in process industries is long-standing and well-established and industrial 
enterprises see the prospect of new markets in energy and transport opening up through the 
wider adoption of fuel cell technologies on the one hand and hydrogen combustion engines on 
the other. At the same time, fuel cell manufacturers, who are very much at the start-up stage, 
are not wholly reliant on hydrogen because some fuel cells can use alternative fuels including 
natural gas, methanol and ethanol. 

Market entrants employing fuel cell and hydrogen technologies face barriers to entry erected 
by  stakeholders  with  large  economic  interests  locked  into  industries  and  physical 
infrastructures under threat from a change to the energy mix. Market entry is also made more 
difficult  by  the  lack  of  a  pricing  mechanism  to  reward  internalisation  of  externalities5  (e.g. 
carbon  value);  the  long-term  investment  needed  to  change  over  to  a  new  generation  of 
products  and  build  up  infrastructure  for  fuel  cells  and  hydrogen;  and  the  difficulties  of 
to  facilitate  global  market 
establishing  common  regulations,  codes  and  standards 
development.  An  integrated  strategy  is  required  to  maximise  the  benefits  of  transition 
technologies  with  fuel  cells  using  natural  gas,  biogas,  methanol  and  ethanol,  if  possible 
combined  with  carbon  capture  and  storage  (CCS)  in  the  pathway  and  exploiting  strategic 
niche markets in a planned and optimised framework to avoid economic disruption. 

The annual world turnover of the fuel cell industry in 2005 amounted to about 300 M€, with 
market  shares  of  52%  for  North  America,  14%  for  Japan,  12%  for  Europe  and  22% 
distributed  around  the  rest  of  the  world.  There  are  relatively  fewer  companies  in  Europe 
compared  to  North  America  and  Japan  developing  their  own  fuel  cell  stack  and  component 
technology – especially for road transport. Private RTD&D investment is estimated at about 
700 M€ per year, of which 78% is made in North America and only 10% in Europe. European 
industry  needs  additional  stimulation  to  invest  in  these  technologies  to  become  more 
competitive. Major competitors are pressing ahead with ambitious programmes of integrated 
research  and  development  designed  to  bring  products  to  market  and  establish  de  facto 
standards which latecomers will be obliged to follow. An EC study6 estimates that the EU is 5 
years behind Japan and North America on the demonstration of fuel cell vehicles. The US and 
Japanese  programmes  are  strategically  managed  in  close  co-operation  with  the  respective 
industries.  The  US  DoE  has  developed  a  'Hydrogen  Posture  Plan'7  -  the  result  of  extensive 
consultation  with  the  main  stakeholders.  The  Ministry  of  Economy,  Trade  and  Industry 
(METI) in Japan provides targeted support for basic research. In addition, Japan supports an 
ambitious  programme  for  demonstration  of  domestic  combined  heat  and  power  (CHP)  fuel 
cell  systems,  the  development  of  hydrogen  distribution  infrastructure,  and  the  testing  of  a 
range  of  hydrogen  production  options  in  their  'Fuel  Cell  Commercialisation  Conference  of 
Japan' (FCCJ)8. 

The  US  and  Japanese  programmes  thus  have  well-developed  processes  for  managing  the 
research  and  technology  validation,  which  are  difficult  to  achieve  in  the  current  nationally-
dispersed  EU  research  environment.  The  Joint  Undertaking  would  put  the  EU  on  an  equal 

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8 

ExternE – Externalities of Energy DG RTD JOULE project; see http://www.externe.info/ 
'HyLights' project DG TREN – see http://www.hylights.org/ 
Hydrogen Posture Plan – An integrated research development and demonstration plan; US Department 
of Energy and US Department of Transportation; December 2006 (update 2004 plan); see: 
http://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/pdfs/hydrogen_posture_plan_dec06.pdf 
FCCJ – Fuel Cell Commercialisation Conference of Japan; see : http://fccj.jp/index_e.html 

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footing  by  establishing  a  single  legal  entity  to  manage  all  the  JTI  funds  allocated  from  the 
public  and  private  sectors  through  research,  technological  development  and  demonstration 
contracts to develop the key technologies for fuel cells and hydrogen. 

•  Existing provisions in the area of the proposal 

There are no existing provisions in the area of the proposal. 

•  Consistency with the other policies and objectives of the Union 

As  one  of  the  initiatives  launched  in  January  2007  in  the  communication  'Energy  for  a 
Changing  World  -  An  Energy  Policy  for  Europe'9,  the  European  Commission  is  currently 
developing a European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan)10 to guide the course of 
energy  technology  innovation  over  the  coming  decades,  deliver  efficient  and  low-carbon 
technologies  including  fuel  cells  and  hydrogen,  and  arrive  at  a  more  sustainable  energy 
system. The European Parliament adopted a Written Declaration11 in May 2007 which called 
upon  the  EU  Institutions  to  support  fuel  cell  and  hydrogen  technologies  for  portable, 
stationary, and transport applications through a partnership with committed regions and cities, 
SMEs and civil society organisations. 

The  proposed  Regulation  is  consistent  with  Community  policies  in  research.  It  is  also 
consistent  with  the  renewed  Lisbon  strategy12  and  the  Barcelona  objectives  for  the  EU  to 
invest  3%  of  its  GDP  in  research  and  development  by  2010.  The  Seventh  Framework 
Programme (FP7) (2007-2013) plays an important role for Europe to meet these objectives. It 
also  reflects  a  consensus  that  Europe  must  re-double  its  efforts  to  improve  returns  from  its 
RTD&D investments in order to equip itself as a competitive and dynamic knowledge-based 
economy. 

The  proposed  initiative  is  part  of  a  broad,  ambitious  Community  strategy  aimed  at  tackling 
the  innovation  gap  which  includes  the  proposal  to  establish  a  European  Institute  of 
Technology. 

2) 

CONSULTATION OF INTERESTED PARTIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT 

•  Consultation of interested parties and use of expertise 

In the preparation of its proposals for setting up Joint Technology Initiatives, the Commission 
took  into  account  the  views  expressed  by  many  stakeholders  from  the  research  community 
and  industry  in  a  broad  consultation  involving  the  Member  States  and  the  European 
Parliament.  The  Commission  also  consulted  the  European  Hydrogen  and  Fuel  Cell 
Technology  Platform  (HFP)13  which  produced  the  Strategic  Research  Agenda,  the 
Deployment  Strategy,  and  the  Implementation  Plan  2006,  which  is  the  main  reference 

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Energy for a Changing World - An Energy Policy for Europe - COM(2007) 1, 10.1.2007. 
Towards a European Strategic Energy Technology Plan - COM(2006) 847, 10.1.2007. 
Written Declaration pursuant to Rule 116 of the Rules of Procedure on establishing a green hydrogen 
economy and a third industrial revolution in Europe through a partnership with committed regions and 
cities, SMEs and civil society organisations, European Parliament 0016/2007, May 2007. 
COM(2005) 24. 
European Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform – Strategic Research Agenda, the Development 
Strategy Implementation Plan; see https://www.hfpeurope.org/hfp/keydocs 

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document  and  which  outlines  the  "Snapshot  2020"  technical  and  market  objectives  for  fuel 
cells  and  hydrogen  technologies.  The  Implementation  Plan  sets  out  priorities  for  a 
comprehensive, integrated programme of RTD&D, with timelines and recommended budget 
allocations  over  seven  years  to  accelerate  commercialisation  of  the  new  technologies.  The 
HFP Member States Mirror Group was also consulted at all stages of the process. In addition 
to the HFP bodies, information has been widely disseminated through the HFP web-site and 
newsletters,  enabling  all  stakeholders  to  contribute  to  the  debate.  Stakeholders  included 
Original  Equipment  Manufacturers  (OEMs),  fuel  cell  and  energy  equipment  companies 
including  many  SMEs14,  utilities,  industrial  gas  companies,  energy  companies,  universities 
and research centres. 

The three-year consultation process has involved several hundred stakeholders, public internet 
consultation  on  the  above-mentioned  platform  documents,  contributions  from  EC  research 
projects,  and  studies  on  the  wide-ranging  socio-economic  and  environmental  impacts  of 
hydrogen  and  fuel  cell  technologies  and  the  economic  feasibility  of  their  deployment.  The 
Commission also organised four major conference events (three General Assemblies and the 
Technical Review Days), and workshops for regions and the research community. 

A  Peer  Review  Group  of  four  internationally-acknowledged,  independent  experts  was 
engaged to help finalise the Impact Assessment15. 

•  Impact assessment 

This proposal for a Council Regulation has been subject to a Commission Impact Assessment 
which compared the potential impact of a JTI with the alternatives, in particular the 'Business 
as Usual' FP7 plus national and regional actions. 

Its conclusions are that the Joint Technology Initiative has a number of clear advantages over 
the Business-as-Usual alternative: 

•  time to market shorter by between 2 and 5 years - the importance of being first in 
a new market cannot be over-emphasised, and pays off in reducing the cumulative 
investment,  bringing  forward  the  break-even  point,  and  strengthening  the 
competitive position of the early market entrants, of which many could be SMEs; 

•  long-term commitment and a clear-cut budget encourage confidence in public and 

private investors; 

•  additionality: the co-financing principle will leverage at least 600 M€ more than 
Business-as-Usual, corresponding to almost two and a half times as much private 
research investment; 

•  making correspondingly earlier gains on improving energy efficiency and security 

of supply and reducing greenhouse gases and pollution. 

14 

15 

Micro,  small  and  medium-sized  enterprises  or  SMEs  are  defined  by  the  European  Commission  as: 
enterprises  which  employ  fewer  than  250  persons  and  which  have  an  annual  turnover  not  exceeding 
50 M €, and/or have an annual balance sheet total less than 43 M €. 
Impact Assessment Guidelines - SEC(2005) 791, European Commission, 2005. 

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An  increase  in  RTD&D  expenditures  as  induced  by  the  JTI  compared  to  Business-as-Usual 
has the potential to reduce the time to reach the break-even point by 2–5 years and reduce the 
cumulative costs by about 20-30%. The positive effects on EU competitiveness in the short, 
medium and long term would, as indicated by model simulations, be accompanied by an order 
of  magnitude  of  tens  of  billions  of  euros  of  benefits  to  the  public  good  in  reductions  of 
greenhouse  gases  and  pollution,  improved  security  of  energy  supply,  more  sustainable 
transport,  and  higher  efficiency  and  cleaner  energy  production  and  end-use  over  the  period 
2025 to 2050. 

3) 

LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF THE PROPOSAL 

•  Summary of the proposed action 

The  proposal  consists  of  a  Council  Regulation  on  the  establishment  of  the  Fuel  Cells  and 
Hydrogen Joint Undertaking. 

•  Legal basis 

The  legal  basis  of  the  proposal  is  Article  171  of  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European 
Community. 

•  Subsidiarity and proportionality 

The  subsidiarity  principle  applies  since  the  proposal  does  not  fall  under  the  exclusive 
competence of the European Community. 

The objectives of the proposal cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States because 
the scale of the challenge exceeds the capacity of any Member State to act alone. The pooling 
and  coordination  of  research  and  development  efforts  at  EU  level  stand  a  better  chance  of 
success, given the trans-national nature of the infrastructure and technologies to be developed, 
and also the need to achieve a sufficient mass of resources. The intervention of the European 
Community will help to rationalise research programmes and  ensure  inter-operability of the 
developed  systems  not  only  through  common  pre-normative  research  to  support  the 
preparation  of  standards  but  also  through  the  de  facto  standardisation  which  will  arise  from 
the  close  research  cooperation  and 
trans-national  demonstration  projects.  This 
standardisation will open a wider market and promote competition. The scope of the proposal 
should encourage the Member States to pursue complementary initiatives at national level, in 
the spirit of reinforcing the European Research Area - indeed the very intention of the JTI is 
to leverage these national and regional programmes to make best use of the combined efforts. 

the 

In accordance with the principle of proportionality, the provisions of this regulation do not go 
beyond what is necessary to achieve its objectives. 

•  Choice of instrument 

Proposed instrument: regulation. 

Other means would not be adequate for the following reason: 

The  creation  of  an  undertaking  in  which  the  Community  participates  requires  a  Council 
regulation. 

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4) 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATION 

The  "legislative  financial  statement"  attached  to  this  draft  regulation  sets  out  the  budgetary 
implications and the human and administrative resources, and provides indicative figures for 
the period 2007-2013. 

The EC budget, totalling 470 million EUR, will come from the following FP7 "Cooperation" 
Specific  Programme  budget  lines:  Energy;  Nanosciences,  Nanotechnologies,  Materials  and 
New  Production  Technologies;  Transport  (including  Aeronautics);  and  Environment 
(including Climate Change) in DG RTD and Transport in DG TREN. 

The running costs of the FCH Joint Undertaking will be covered in equal parts (50/50) by the 
EC and the Industry Grouping (IG) from the outset. If a Research Grouping is established and 
applies to join the FCH Joint Undertaking, the Research Grouping shall have one seat in the 
Governing Board and shall then contribute 1/12 of the running costs. 

The  research  activities  shall  be  jointly  funded  by  the  EC,  the  IG  and  the  participating 
universities,  public  research  centres  etc  with  the  EC  contribution  paid  in  cash  and  the 
participants contribution paid in kind within the projects. 

5) 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

•  Transition period 

The Work Programme 2007 provides for a Coordination and Support Action as a “bridging” 
activity to make detailed preparations for the JTI during 2007-2008. 

•  Review 

The EC will present an annual report on the progress achieved by the FCH Joint Undertaking. 
The EC will also perform a mid-term review and a final review at the termination of the JTI. 

Discharge for the implementation of the budget of the FCH Joint Undertaking will be given 
by  the  European  Parliament,  upon  recommendation  of  the  Council,  taking  into  account  the 
specificities of the JTI as a public-private partnership. 

•  Review/revision/sunset clause 

The proposal includes a review clause. 

The proposal includes a sunset clause. 

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2007/0211 (CNS) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

setting up the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 
171 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission16, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament17, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee18, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

Decision  No  1982/2006/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  18 
December  2006  concerning  the  Seventh  Framework  Programme  of  the  European 
Community  for  research,  technological  development  and  demonstration  activities 
(2007-2013)19  (hereinafter  the  "Seventh  Framework  Programme"),  provides  for  a 
Community contribution for the establishment of long term public private partnerships 
in  the  form  of  Joint  Technology  Initiatives  (hereinafter  'JTI')  to  be  implemented 
through  Joint  Undertakings  within  the  meaning  of  Article  171  of  the  Treaty.  These 
JTIs  were  established  as  a  result  of  the  work  of  European  Technology  Platforms 
(hereinafter ETPs), already set up under the Sixth Framework Programme, and cover 
selected  aspects  of  research  in  their  field.  They  should  combine  private  sector 
investment  and  European  public  funding,  including  funding  from  the  Seventh 
Framework Programme. 

(2) 

Council  Decision  No  971/2006/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  (2007-2013)20,  underlines  the  need  for  ambitious  pan-European  public 

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18 
19 
20 

OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ L 412, 30.12.2006, p. 1. 
OJ L 400, 30.12.2006, p. 86. 

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(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

(8) 

(9) 

private  partnerships  to  accelerate  the  development  of  major  technologies  and  large 
research actions at Community level including, in particular, JTIs. 

The  Lisbon  Growth  and  Jobs  Agenda  underscores  the  need  to  develop  favourable 
conditions  for  investment  in  knowledge  and  innovation  in  the  Community  to  boost 
competitiveness, growth and jobs. 

In its conclusions of 3 March 2003, of 22 September 2003 and of 24 September 2004, 
the Council highlighted the importance of further developing actions following the 3% 
Action  Plan  for  research  and  the  innovation  policy21,  including  the  development  of 
new  initiatives  aimed  at  intensifying  co-operation  between  industry  and  the  public 
sector in funding research to enhance trans-national public-private links. 

In November 2003 the European Council adopted a European Initiative for Growth, as 
detailed  in  a  Communication  from  the  Commission22.  This  Initiative,  in  the  Quick-
start Programme, includes a Project Area “Hydrogen economy” with a total amount of 
2.8  b€  between  2004  and  2015  and  possible  funding  from  the  RTD&D  Framework 
Programmes and the Structural Funds. 

In May 2003 a Hydrogen and Fuel Cell High Level Group presented a vision report on 
“Hydrogen Energy and Fuel Cells – a vision of our future”, recommending, inter alia, 
the  formation  of  a  fuel  cell  and  hydrogen  technology  partnership  and  a  substantially 
increased RTD&D budget, as well as a demonstration and pilot programme to extend 
the technology validation exercises into the market development arena. 

In December 2003, the Commission facilitated the creation of the European Hydrogen 
and Fuel Cell Technology Platform, bringing together all interested stakeholders in a 
joint effort to move towards achieving the High Level Group’s vision. In March 2005, 
the said Technology Platform adopted a Strategic Research Agenda and Deployment 
Strategy,  aimed  at  accelerating  the  development  and  market  introduction  of  fuel  cell 
and hydrogen technologies in the Community. 

The  technology  challenge  facing  fuel  cells  and  hydrogen  is  of  great  complexity  and 
scale and the dispersion of technical competencies is very high. Therefore, in order to 
achieve  critical  mass  in  terms  of  scale  of  activity,  excellence,  and  potential  for 
innovation, this challenge this needs to be tackled in a focused and coherent way at EU 
level. This, and its potential contribution to Community policies, in particular energy, 
environment,  transport,  sustainable  development  and  economic  growth,  calls  for  the 
JTI approach in this sector. 

The objective of the JTI on "Fuel Cells and Hydrogen" is to implement a programme 
of research, technological development and demonstration activities in Europe in the 
fields of fuel cells and hydrogen. These should be carried out with the cooperation and 
involvement  of  stakeholders  from  industry  including  SMEs,  research  centres, 
universities, and regions. 

(10)  Taking into account the public private partnership involving major stakeholders and its 
long  term  activity,  the  generated  socio-economic  benefits  for  European  citizens,  the 

21 
22 

COM(2003) 226. 
COM(2003) 690. 

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11 

   EN 

 
                                                 
pooling of financial resources and co-financing in the field of fuel cells and hydrogen 
RTD&D  activity  provided  by  the  Commission  and  industry,  the  high  scientific  and 
technical expertise required, and the input of industrial property rights, it is vital to set 
up  a  Fuel  Cells  and  Hydrogen  Joint  Undertaking  (hereinafter  the  "FCH  Joint 
Undertaking")  under  Article  171  of  the  Treaty.  This  legal  entity  should  ensure  the 
coordinated  use  and  efficient  management  of  the  funds  assigned  to  the  JTI  on  "Fuel 
Cells and Hydrogen". To ensure the appropriate management of activities initiated but 
not concluded during the Seventh Framework Programme (2007-2013) the FCH Joint 
Undertaking should be set up for an initial period of 10 years ending on 31 December 
2017. This period may be extended.  

(11)  The objectives of the FCH Joint Undertaking should be pursued by pooling resources 
from  the  public  and  private  sectors  to  support  RTD&D  activities  with  a  view  to 
increase  the  overall  efficiency  of  European  research  efforts  and  accelerate  the 
development and deployment of fuel cell and hydrogen technologies. To that end, the 
FCH Joint Undertaking should be able to organise competitive calls for proposals for 
projects  to  implement  the  research,  technological  development  and  demonstration 
activities.  Research  activities  should  respect  fundamental  and  ethical  principles 
applicable to the Seventh Framework Programme. 

(12)  The  Founding  Members  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  should  be  the  European 
Community  and  the  European  Fuel  Cell  and  Hydrogen  Joint  Technology  Initiative 
Industry Grouping (hereinafter the 'Industry Grouping'), which represents the interests 
of  industry  and  is  open  to  private  companies.  A  Research  Grouping  may  become  a 
member of the FCH Joint Undertaking. 

(13)  The running costs of the FCH Joint Undertaking should be covered equally in cash by 
the European Community and the Industry Grouping from the outset. If the Research 
Grouping is established it should contribute to 1/12 of the running costs.  

(14)  The operational costs for RTD&D should be funded by the Community and the private 

sector. 

(15)  The FCH Joint Undertaking should be a body set up by the Community and discharge 
for the implementation of its budget should be given by the European Parliament on 
the  recommendation  of  the  Council.  However,  account  should  be  taken  of  the 
specificities resulting from the nature of the JTI as a public-private partnership and in 
particular from the private-sector contribution to the budget. 

(16)  The  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  should  adopt,  subject  to  prior  consultation  with  the 
Commission,  specific  financial  provisions  based  on  the  principles  of  the  Council 
Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation 
applicable  to  the  general  budget  of  the  European  Communities23.  Those  provisions 
should  take  into  account  its  specific  operating  needs  arising,  in  particular,  from  the 
need to combine Community and private funding.  

(17)  The rules for the organisation and operation of the FCH Joint Undertaking should be 
laid down in the Statutes of the FCH Joint Undertaking as set out in the Annex. 

23 

OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1995/2006 of 
13 December 2006 (OJ L 390, 30.12.2006, p. 1). 

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(18)  The  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  should  discharge  commitments  pursuant  to  international 
agreements.  To  this  end,  it  should  be  considered  as  an  international  body  within  the 
meaning of Article 22 of Directive 2004/17/EC of the European Parliament and of the 
Council  of  31  March  2004  coordinating  the  procurement  procedures  of  entities 
operating in the water, energy, transport and postal service sectors24, and Article 15 of 
Directive  2004/18/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  31  March 
2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public 
supply contracts and public service contracts25. 

(19)  The  intellectual  property  rights  policy  should  provide  for  rights  ownership  for  the 
participants of the projects as the owners of the industrial property created through the 
FCH Joint Technology Initiative, and should enable its proper exploitation.  

(20)  Appropriate  measures  should  be  taken  to  prevent  irregularities  and  fraud  and  the 
necessary steps should be taken to recover funds lost, wrongly paid or incorrectly used 
in  accordance  with  Council  Regulation  (EC,  Euratom)  No  2988/95  of  18  December 
1995  on  the  protection  of  the  European  Communities'  financial  interests26,  Council 
Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning on-the-spot 
checks and inspections carried out by the Commission in order to protect the European 
Communities’  financial  interests  against  fraud  and  other  irregularities27,  and 
Regulation  (EC)  No  1073/1999  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council 
concerning investigations concluded by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)28. 

(21)  As  a  body  possessing  legal  personality,  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  should  be 
accountable  for  its  actions.  When  relevant,  the  Court  of  Justice  of  the  European 
Communities should be competent for resolution of disputes arising from the activities 
of the Joint Undertaking. 

(22)  Since  the  objective  of  the  action  to  be  taken,  namely  the  establishment  of  the  FCH 
Joint Undertaking, cannot be achieved by the Member States due to the trans-national 
nature  and  magnitude  of  the  research  challenge,  which  requires  the  pooling  of 
complementary knowledge and financial resources across sectors and borders, and can 
therefore be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures, 
in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In 
accordance  with  the  principle  of  proportionality,  as  set  out  in  that  Article,  this 
Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve this objective. 

24 

25 

26 
27 
28 

OJ L 134, 30.4.2004, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 2006/97/EC (OJ L 363, 20.12.2006, 
p. 107). 
OJ  L  134,  30.4.2004,  p.  114.  Directive  as  last  amended  by  Directive  2006/97/EC  (OJ  L  363, 
20.12.2006, p. 107).  
OJ L 312,23.12.1995, p. 1. 
OJ L 295,15.11.1996, p. 2. 
OJ L 136, 31.05.1999, p. 1. 

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13 

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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 
Establishment  

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

1. 

For the implementation of the Joint Technology Initiative (hereinafter 'JTI') on 'Fuel 
Cells and Hydrogen', a Joint Undertaking (hereinafter the "FCH Joint Undertaking") 
within the meaning of Article 171 of the Treaty is hereby set up for a period ending 
on 31 December 2017. This period may be extended by a revision of this Regulation. 

The  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  shall  have  legal  personality.  In  the  Member  States,  it 
shall  enjoy  the  most  extensive  legal  capacity  accorded  to  legal  persons  under  the 
laws  of  those  States.  It  may,  in  particular,  acquire  or  dispose  of  movable  and 
immovable property and be a party to legal proceedings. 

The FCH Joint Undertaking shall be considered as an international body within the 
meaning of Article 22(c) of Directive 2004/17/EC and of Article 15(c) of Directive 
2004/18/EC. 

The FCH Joint Undertaking shall be located in Brussels, Belgium. 

The Statutes of the FCH Joint Undertaking are set out in Annex. 

Article 2 
Objectives and tasks 

The  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  shall  contribute  to  the  implementation  of  the  Seventh 
Framework  Programme  (2007-2013)  of  the  European  Community  for  research, 
technology  development  and  demonstration  and  in  particular  the  'Cooperation' 
Specific  Programme  themes  for  "Energy",  "Nanosciences,  Nanotechnologies, 
Materials  and  New  Production  Technologies",  "Environment  (including  Climate 
Change)", and "Transport (including Aeronautics)". 

2. 

It shall, in particular: 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

support  research,  technological  development  and  demonstration  (RTD&D)  in 
the  Member  States  and  Associated  countries  in  a  coordinated  manner  to 
overcome the market failure and focus on developing market applications and 
thereby  facilitate  additional  industrial  efforts  towards  a  rapid  deployment  of 
fuel cells and hydrogen technologies; 

support the implementation of the research priorities of the JTI on Fuel Cells 
and  Hydrogen,  notably  by  awarding  grants  following  competitive  calls  for 
proposals; 

aim to encourage increased public and private research investment in fuel cells 
and hydrogen technologies in the Members States and Associated countries; 

conclude service and supply contracts necessary for the functioning of the FCH 
Joint Undertaking; 

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14 

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(e) 

ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the JTI on Fuel Cells and Hydrogen. 

Article 3 
Members 

1. 

The  founding  members  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  (hereinafter  'founding 
members') shall be: 

(a) 

the European Community, represented by the Commission, and 

(b) 

the  European  Fuel  Cell  and  Hydrogen  Joint  Technology  Initiative  Industry 
Grouping  Aisbl  established  under  Belgian  law  (hereinafter  the  'Industry 
Grouping'). 

2. 

A  Research  Grouping,  representing  non-profit  research  organisations,  universities 
and  research  centres,  may  become  a  member  (hereinafter  the  "member")  provided 
that  an  entity  to  represent  the  research  community  has  been  established.  If  the 
Research Grouping is set up it shall have one seat in the Governing Board. 

Article 4 
Bodies 

1. 

Executive bodies of the FCH Joint Undertaking shall be: 

(a) 

the Governing Board, and  

(b) 

the Programme Office. 

2. 

Advisory bodies of the FCH Joint Undertaking shall be: 

(a) 

the High Level Member States Group29, and  

(b) 

the Scientific Committee. 

3. 

The  Stakeholders  General  Assembly  shall  be  a  forum  for  consultation  on  the 
progress, state of the art, future alignment and direction of the research activities.  

The  Stakeholders  General  Assembly  shall  be  open  to  all  public  and  private 
stakeholders, international interests groups from Member States as well as from third 
countries. It shall be convened once a year. 

Article 5 
Sources of financing 

The  activities  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  shall  be  jointly  funded  through 
contributions from its founding members and member. In addition, contributions to 

The High Level Member States Group will include Associated States. 

15 

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1. 

29 

EN 

 
                                                 
2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

1. 

2. 

the projects may also be accepted from Member States, Associated States, regions or 
other stakeholders sharing the objectives of the JTI. 

The running costs of the FCH Joint Undertaking shall be covered equally in cash by 
the European Community and the Industry Grouping from the outset. If the Research 
Grouping is established it shall contribute to 1/12 of the running costs. In such a case, 
the Commission contribution will decrease correspondingly.  

The  operational  costs  for  RTD&D  shall  be  jointly  funded  through  the  financial 
contribution  of  the  Community  and  through  in-kind  contributions  from  the  private 
legal entities participating in the activities, corresponding to an amount at least equal 
to the Community's contributions. 

The maximum Community contribution to the FCH Joint Undertaking running costs 
and operational costs shall be 470 million EUR. The running costs are estimated not 
to  exceed  20  million  EUR.  The  contributions  shall  come  from  the  'Cooperation' 
Specific Programme implementing the Seventh Framework Programme for research, 
technological  development  and  demonstration  (2007-2013)  implementing  the 
Community  budget  according  to  the  provisions  of  Article  54(2)(b)  of  Regulation 
(EC,  Euratom)  No  1605/2002.  The  arrangements  for  the  Community  financial 
contribution  shall  be  established  by  means  of  a  general  agreement  and  annual 
financial  agreements  to  be  concluded  between  the  Commission,  on  behalf  of  the 
Community, and the FCH Joint Undertaking. 

Unless  funding  is  provided  after  2013  (when  FP7  ends)  only  projects  for  which  a 
grant agreement has been signed at the latest by 31 December 2013 shall continue in 
the years 2014-2017. 

Article 6 
Participation in projects 

Participation in projects shall be open to legal entities and international organisations 
established in a Member State, and Associated Country or any third country once the 
minimum conditions have been satisfied. 

The  minimum  conditions  to  be  fulfilled  for  projects  funded  by  the  FCH  Joint 
Undertaking shall be the following: 

(a) 

(b) 

at least three legal entities must participate, each of which must be established 
in  a  Member  State  or  Associated  country,  and  no  two  of  which  may  be 
established in the same Member State or Associated country; 

all three legal entities must be independent of each other as defined in Article 6 
of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1906/2006  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  laying  down  the  rules  for  the  participation  of  undertakings,  research 
centres  and  universities  in  actions  under  the  Seventh  Framework  Programme 
and for the dissemination of research results (2007-2013)30; 

30 

OJ L 391, 30.12.2006, p. 1.  

EN 

16 

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3. 

4. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

(c) 

at  least  one  legal  entity  must  be  a  member  of  the  Industry  Grouping  or  the 
Research Grouping, if such Research Grouping is established. 

The  legal  entities  wishing  to  participate  in  a  project  shall  form  a  consortium  and 
appoint one of their members to act as its coordinator. Normally the coordinator shall 
be  a  member  of  the  Industry  Grouping,  or  a  member  of  the  Research  Grouping,  if 
such  Research  Grouping  is  established.  Exceptions  shall  be  approved  by  the 
Governing Board. 

The minimum condition for service and supply contracts, support actions, studies and 
training activities funded by the FCH Joint Undertaking shall be the participation of 
one legal entity. 

Article 7 
Eligibility for funding 

The  Community  contribution  to  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  for  the  funding  of  the 
RTD&D activities shall be granted following competitive calls for proposals. 

In exceptional cases the FCH Joint Undertaking may issue calls for  tenders, if it is 
deemed appropriate for the effective pursuance of the research objectives. 

Private  legal  entities  fulfilling  all  the  following  criteria  shall  be  eligible  for  such 
funding: 

(a) 

(b) 

they are established in a Member State or have their registered office, central or 
principal  place  of  business  within  a  state  that  is  a  contracting  party  to  the 
European Economic Area Agreement or which is an Associated or Candidate 
country; 

they  have  relevant  activities  in  RTD&D,  industrialization  or  deployment  for 
fuel  cells  and/or  hydrogen  and/or  concrete  plans  to  do  so  in  the  near  future 
within the European Union or the European Economic Area. 

4. 

The following shall also be eligible for funding: 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

non-profit  public  bodies  established  in  a  Member  State,  Associated  country, 
Candidate  Country  or  within  the  EEA,  including  secondary  and  higher 
education establishments;  

international  organisations,  which  have  legal  personality  under  international 
law,  as  well  as  any  specialised  agencies  set  up  by  such 
public 
intergovernmental organisations;  

legal entities from third countries, provided that the Governing Board considers 
their participation to be of particular benefit to the project. 

EN 

17 

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Article 8 
Financial provisions 

1. 

The FCH Joint Undertaking's financial provisions shall be based on the principles of 
Regulation  (EC,  Euratom)  No  1605/2002.  It  may  depart  from  Regulation  (EC, 
Euratom)  No  1605/2002  where  the  specific  operating  needs  of  the  FCH  Joint 
Undertaking so require, subject to prior consent of the Commission. 

2. 

The FCH Joint Undertaking shall have its own internal audit capability. 

Article 9 
Staff regulation 

1. 

2. 

3. 

The Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities, the Conditions of 
Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities and the rules adopted 
jointly  by  the  European  Community  institutions  for  the  purpose  of  applying  these 
Staff Regulations and Conditions of Employment shall apply to the staff of the FCH 
Joint Undertaking. 

In respect of its staff, the FCH Joint Undertaking shall exercise the powers conferred 
on  the  appointing  authority  by  the  Staff  Regulations  of  Officials  of  the  European 
Communities  and  on  the  authority  empowered  to  conclude  contracts  by  the 
Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities. 

The Governing Board shall, in agreement with the Commission, adopt the necessary 
implementing measures, in accordance with Article 110 of the Staff Regulations of 
Officials of the European Communities and the Conditions of Employment of Other 
Servants of the European Communities. 

Article 10 
Privileges and Immunities 

The Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Communities shall apply to 
the FCH Joint Undertaking and its staff. 

Article 11 
Liability 

1. 

2. 

3. 

The  contractual  liability  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  shall  be  governed  by  the 
relevant  contractual  provisions  and  by  the  law  applicable  to  the  agreement  or 
contract in question. 

In  the  case  of  non-contractual  liability,  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  shall,  in 
accordance  with  the  general  principles  common  to  the  laws  of  the  Member  States, 
make good any damage caused by its staff in the performance of their duties. 

Any payment by the FCH Joint Undertaking in respect of the liability referred to in 
paragraphs 1 and 2 and the costs and expenses incurred in connection therewith shall 

EN 

18 

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be considered as expenditure of the FCH Joint Undertaking and shall be covered by 
its resources. 

Article 12 
Jurisdiction of the Court of Justice and applicable law 

1. 

The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction concerning: 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

in any dispute between the founding members and/or member which relates to 
the subject matter of this Regulation and the Statutes referred to in Article 1(5); 

any arbitration clause contained in any agreement or contract concluded by the 
FCH Joint Undertaking; 

actions brought against the FCH Joint  Undertaking, including decisions of its 
Governing Board, under the conditions provided for in Articles 230 and 232 of 
the Treaty; 

disputes  relating  to  compensation  for  damage  caused  by  the  staff  of  the  FCH 
Joint Undertaking in the performance of their duties. 

For any matter not covered by this Regulation or by other acts of Community law, 
the  law  of  the  State  where  the  seat  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  is  located  shall 
apply. 

Article 13 
Reporting, evaluation and discharge 

The  Commission  shall  present  to  the  European  Parliament  and  to  the  Council  an 
annual report on the progress achieved by the FCH Joint Undertaking. 

Two years after the establishment of the FCH Joint Undertaking, but in any case no 
later  than  2010,  the  Commission  shall  conduct  an  interim  evaluation  of  the  FCH 
Joint  Undertaking  with  the  assistance  of  independent  experts.  This  evaluation  shall 
cover the quality and efficiency of the FCH Joint Undertaking and progress towards 
its  objectives.  The  Commission  shall  communicate  the  conclusions  thereof, 
accompanied by its observations to the European Parliament and to the Council. 

At the end of 2017, the Commission shall conduct a final evaluation of the FCH Joint 
Undertaking  with  the  assistance  of  independent  experts.  The  results  of  the  final 
evaluation shall be presented to the European Parliament and to the Council. 

Discharge for the implementation of the budget of the FCH Joint Undertaking shall 
be  given  by  the  European  Parliament,  upon  recommendation  of  the  Council,  in 
accordance with a procedure laid down by the Financial Regulation of the FCH Joint 
Undertaking. 

2. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

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19 

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Article 14 
Reviews 

1. 

The total in-kind contribution of the private organisations, whether members of the 
Industry  Grouping  or  not,  shall  be  assessed  and  reviewed  for  compliance  with  the 
requirement to at least match the level of public funding. The first assessment shall 
be  made  two  years  after  the  adoption  of  this  Regulation.  Thereafter  the  assessment 
shall be made at the end of each year. 

If the assessment establishes that the in-kind contribution from private sources does 
not  reach  the  required  level,  the  Commission  shall  reduce  its  contribution  the 
following year. 

If it is established that the in-kind contribution from private sources does not reach 
the  required  level  for  two  consecutive  years,  the  Commission  may  propose  to  the 
Council to terminate the FCH Joint Undertaking. 

2. 

The  Commission  shall  initiate  and  perform  a  mid-term  review  and  a  final  review. 
The mid-term review shall be performed not later than in 2012 and the final review 
upon the termination of the Joint Undertaking. 

Article 15 
Protection of the financial interests of the founding members and member and anti-fraud 
measures 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

The  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  shall  ensure  that  the  financial  interests  of  its  founding 
members  and  member  are  adequately  protected  by  carrying  out  or  commissioning 
appropriate internal and external controls. 

In  case  of  irregularities  committed  by  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  or  its  staff,  the 
founding members and member shall reserve the right to recover any amount unduly 
spent  or  to  reduce  or  suspend  any  subsequent  contribution  to  the  FCH  Joint 
Undertaking. 

For  the  purposes  of  combating  fraud,  corruption  and  other  illegal  acts,  Regulation 
(EC) No 1073/1999 shall apply. 

The  Commission  and/or  the  Court  of  Auditors  may,  if  necessary,  carry  out  on-the-
spot checks among the beneficiaries of the FCH Joint Undertaking's funding and the 
agents  responsible  for  its  allocation.  To  that  end,  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  shall 
ensure that grant agreements and contracts provide for the right of the Commission 
and/or the Court of Auditors to carry out, on behalf of the FCH Joint Undertaking, 
the appropriate controls and, in the event of the detection of irregularities, to impose 
dissuasive and proportionate penalties. 

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) shall enjoy the same powers in respect of 
the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  and  its  staff  as  it  enjoys  in  respect  of  Commission 
services. As soon as the FCH Joint Undertaking is established it shall accede to the 
Inter-institutional Agreement of 25 May 1999 between the European Parliament, the 

EN 

20 

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Council  and  the  Commission  regarding  internal  investigations  by  OLAF31.  The 
Governing Board shall approve that accession and adopt the necessary measures in 
order to facilitate internal investigations conducted by OLAF. 

Article 16 
Confidentiality 

The  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  shall  ensure  the  protection  of  sensitive  information  whose 
disclosure could damage the interests of its founding members and member. 

Article 17 
Intellectual property rights 

The FCH Joint Undertaking shall adopt rules governing the use and dissemination of RTD&D 
results,  including  provisions  concerning  the  exercise,  where  appropriate,  of  intellectual 
property rights generated in RTD&D activities under this Regulation. These rules shall ensure 
that RTD&D results are used and disseminated. 

Article18 
Preparatory actions 

The  founding  members  shall  take  all  necessary  preparatory  actions  for  the  setting  up  of  the 
FCH Joint Undertaking until its bodies are fully operational. 

Article 19 
Support from the host State 

A  host  agreement  shall  be  concluded  between  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  and  Belgium 
concerning  office  accommodation,  privileges  and  immunities  and  other  support  to  be 
provided by Belgium to the FCH Joint Undertaking. 

Article 20 
Entry into force 

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

31 

OJ L 136, 31.5.1999, p. 15. 

EN 

21 

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This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

EN 

22 

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STATUTES OF THE FUEL CELLS AND HYDROGEN JOINT UNDERTAKING 

ANNEX 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

1. 

Article I.1 
Name, Location, Duration and Legal Personality 

The  name  of  the  Joint  Undertaking  shall  be  the  “Fuel  Cells  and  Hydrogen  Joint 
Undertaking" (hereinafter referred to as "FCH Joint Undertaking").  

Its seat shall be located in Brussels, Belgium. 

The  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  shall  be  established  as  from  the  day  of  publication  of 
this  Regulation  in  the  Official  Journal  of  the  European  Union  for  an  initial  period 
ending on 31 December 2017. 

The  initial  period  may  be  extended  by  amending  these  Statutes  in  accordance  with 
the  provisions  of  Article  I.23,  taking  into  account  the  progress  made  towards 
achieving  the  objectives  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  and  provided  that  financial 
sustainability is ensured. 

Article I.2 
Objectives and main tasks 

The FCH Joint Undertaking shall work within the scope of FP7 towards enabling the 
market  breakthrough  of  fuel  cell  and  hydrogen  technologies,  thereby  allowing 
commercial market forces to drive the substantial potential public benefits. 

2. 

The objectives include: 

–  to place Europe at the forefront of fuel cell and hydrogen technologies worldwide; 

–  to reach the critical mass of research effort to give confidence to industry, public 
and  private  investors,  decision-makers  and  other  stakeholders  to  embark  on  a 
long-term programme; 

–  to leverage further industrial, national and regional RTD&D investment; 

–  to  build  the  European  Research  Area  through  close  cooperation  with  research 

carried out at national and regional levels - whilst respecting subsidiarity; 

–  to integrate research, technological development and demonstration, and focus on 
achieving long-term sustainability and industrial competitiveness targets for cost, 
performance and durability and overcome critical technology bottlenecks; 

–  to stimulate innovation and the emergence of new value chains including SMEs; 

–  to  facilitate  the  interaction  between  industry,  universities  and  research  centres 

including on basic research; 

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–  to encourage the participation of institutions from all, including the new Member 

States and Candidate countries; 

–  to  perform  broadly-conceived  socio-techno-economic  research  to  assess  and 

monitor technological progress and non-technical barriers to market entry; 

–  to  perform  research  to  support  the  development  of  new,  and  review  existing 
regulations  and  standards  to  eliminate  artificial  barriers  to  market  entry  and 
support  interchangeability,  inter-operability,  cross-border  hydrogen  trading,  and 
export markets whilst ensuring safe operation and not inhibiting innovation; 

–  to provide reliable information to improve the public awareness and create public 
acceptance  concerning  hydrogen  safety,  and  the  benefits  from  the  new 
technologies 
the  environment,  security  of  supply,  energy  costs,  and 
employment. 

to 

3. 

The  main  tasks  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  shall  be  to  ensure  the  establishment 
and  the  efficient  management  of  the  Joint  Technology  Initiative  on  Fuel  Cells  and 
Hydrogen. 

4. 

This includes: 

–  to establish and implement a multi-annual research activity plan; 

–  to  commit  the  Community  funding  and  mobilise  the  private-sector  and  other 

public-sector resources needed to implement its RTD&D activities; 

–  to  ensure  the  sound  operation  of  the  RTD&D  activities  and  sound  financial 

management of the resources; 

–  to cooperate with and consult with the High Level Member States Group;  

–  to cooperate with and consult with the Scientific Committee;  

–  to organise annual meetings of the Stakeholders’ General Assembly; 

–  to communicate and disseminate information on the projects, including the names 
of the participants, the results from the RTD&D activities, and the amount of the 
financial contribution from the FCH Joint Undertaking; 

–  to notify the legal entities that have concluded a Grant Agreement with the FCH 
Joint  Undertaking  of  the  potential  borrowing  opportunities  from  the  European 
Investment Bank, in particular the Risk Sharing Finance Facility set up under the 
Seventh Framework Programme; 

–  to  ensure  a  high  level  of  transparency  and  fair  competition  under  equal  access 
conditions  for  all  applicants  to  the  research  and  demonstration  activities  of  the 
FCH  Joint  Undertaking,  whether  or  not  they  are  members  of  the  Research 
Grouping  or  the  Industry  Grouping,  (in  particular  small  and  medium-sized 
enterprises); 

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–  to  follow  the  international  developments  in  the  area  and  engage  in  international 

cooperation when appropriate. 

Article I.3 
Members and interest groups 

1. 

The  founding  members  (hereinafter  referred  to  as  the  "Founding  Members")  of  the 
FCH Joint Undertaking shall be: 

–  the European Community, represented by the European Commission, and 

–  the  European  Fuel  Cell  and  Hydrogen  Joint  Technology  Initiative  Industry 
Grouping  Aisbl  established  under  Belgian  law  (hereinafter  referred  to  as  the 
"Industry Grouping"). 

2. 

The Industry Grouping: 

–  is  a  non-profit  organisation  whose  purpose  is  to  contribute  to  achieving  the 

objectives of the FCH Joint Undertaking; 

–  is  legally  established  under  Belgian  law,  and  operating  under  its  registered  by-

laws duly adopted to pertain to the Joint Technology Initiative; 

–  shall  ensure  that  its  contribution  to  the  resources  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking, 
according  to  Article  5  of  this  Regulation  is  provided  in  advance  as  a  cash 
contribution to cover 50% of the running costs of the FCH Joint Undertaking and 
transferred  to  the  budget  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  before  the  start  of  each 
financial year; 

–  shall  ensure  that  industry’s  contribution  to  the  achievement  of  the  RTD&D 
activities funded by the FCH Joint Undertaking is provided in kind and covers a 
minimum of 50% of the total project costs, calculated on a yearly basis; 

–  is open to membership by any private legal entity (including small and medium-
sized  enterprises),  formed  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  a  Member  State, 
Associated  country  or  EEA  state  and  having  its  registered  office,  central 
administration or principal place of business within the above area, provided it is 
active  in  the  field  of  fuel  cells  and  hydrogen  in  Europe,  and  is  committed  to 
contribute to the objectives and resources of the FCH Joint Undertaking. 

3. 

A  Research  Grouping,  representing  non-profit  research  organisations,  universities 
and  research  centres,  may  become  a  member,  after  the  establishment  of  the  FCH 
Joint Undertaking, provided an entity to represent the research community has been 
established.  The  application  from  the  Research  Grouping  shall  be  addressed  to  and 
decided upon by the Governing Board. 

4. 

The Research Grouping shall: 

–  be  a  non-profit  organisation  whose  purpose  is  to  contribute  to  achieving  the 

objectives of the FCH Joint Undertaking; 

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25 

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–  be legally established under Belgian law and operate under its registered by-laws 

duly adopted to pertain to the Joint Technology Initiative; 

–  ensure  that  its  contribution  to  the  resources  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  is 
provided in advance as a cash contribution to cover 1/12 of the running costs of 
the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  and  transferred  to  the  budget  of  the  FCH  Joint 
Undertaking before the start of each financial year; 

–  be  open  to  membership  by  any  non-profit  research  organisation,  university  or 
research  centre  established  in  a  Member  State,  an  Associated  country  or 
Candidate country. 

5. 

6. 

A Founding Member may terminate its membership of the FCH Joint Undertaking. 
The FCH Joint Undertaking shall then be wound up as provided for in Article I.22. 

The  Research  Grouping  may  terminate  its  membership  of  the  FCH  Joint 
Undertaking.  The  termination  shall  become  effective  and  irrevocable  six  months 
after  notification  to  the  Founding  members  following  which  the  leaving  Member 
shall be discharged from any obligations other than those approved by the FCH Joint 
Undertaking prior to the membership termination. 

Article I.4 
Bodies 

The  executive  bodies  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  shall  be  the  Governing  Board  and  the 
Programme  Office.  The  advisory  bodies  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  shall  be  the  High 
Level  Member  States  Group32,  the  Stakeholder's  General  Assembly  and  the  Scientific 
Committee. 

Article I.5 
Governing Board 

The  Governing  Board  shall  be  composed  of  six  representatives  appointed  by  the 
Industry Grouping and of six representatives appointed by the Commission. 

The Commission shall, in case the Research Grouping is established transfer one seat 
to its representative. 

At least one of the representatives appointed by the Industry Grouping shall represent 
small and medium-sized enterprises. 

The Governing Board shall elect its chairperson. The chairperson shall be elected for 
2 years. 

The Governing Board shall hold its ordinary meeting twice a year. It may hold any 
extraordinary  meeting  at  the  request  of  the  Commission  or  a  majority  of  the 
representatives  of  the  Industry  Grouping  or  at  the  request  of  the  chairperson.  The 

The High Level Members States Group will include Associated States. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

32 

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26 

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meetings shall normally take place at the Head Office of the FCH Joint Undertaking. 
The meetings of the Governing Board shall be convened by its Chairperson.  

The chairperson shall convene the Stakeholders' General Assembly. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Governing  Board  shall  be  the  Executive  Director.  The 
Executive Director shall take part in the deliberations, but shall have no voting rights. 

The Governing Board may invite observers on a case by case basis, without voting 
rights,  to  attend  their  meetings,  in  particular  representatives  of  the  regions  and  of 
regulatory bodies. 

Each  seat  in  the  Governing  Board  gives  one  voting  right.  The  members  shall  use 
their best efforts to achieve consensus. Failing consensus, the Governing Board shall 
take its decisions by a three-quarters majority.  

The Community shall hold a veto right on all decisions taken by this Board relating 
to  the  use  of  its  financial  contribution,  the  methodology  for  assessing  the  in-kind 
contributions, any amendments to these Statutes and the Financial Regulation of the 
FCH  Joint  Undertaking  and  on  the  issue  of  coherence  of  the  multi-annual  research 
activity plans with FP7. 

The  representatives  of  the  Founding  Members  and  the  Member  shall  not  be 
personally  liable  for  actions  undertaken  in  their  capacity  as  representatives  on  the 
Governing Board. 

The Governing Board shall adopt its rules of procedure. 

The  role  of  the  Governing  Board  shall  be  to  take  overall  responsibility  for  the 
operations of the FCH Joint Undertaking. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

10. 

11. 

12. 

13. 

14. 

This includes: 

–  to  take  responsibility  for  the  implementation  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking 

RTD&D activities;  

–  to  take  responsibility  for  the  appropriate  provision  of  the  function  entrusted  by 
Article 185(3) of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 to  the Commission’s 
internal auditor. 

15. 

The Governing Board shall in particular: 

–  approve 

the  annual  and  multi-annual  research  activities  plan  and 

the 
corresponding expenditure estimates, as recommended by the Executive Director 
after  having  consulted  the  High  Level  Member  States  Group  and  the  Scientific 
Committee; 

–  approve the annual budget, including the staff establishment plan; 

–  approve the annual activity report, including the corresponding expenditure; 

–  approve the annual accounts and the balance-sheet; 

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27 

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–  arrange  for  the  establishment  of  the  internal  audit  capabilities  of  the  FCH  Joint 

Undertaking;  

–  justify  and  approve  any  deviation  to  the  Financial  Regulation  of  the  FCH  Joint 

Undertaking in accordance with Article 8; 

–  justify and adopt, in agreement with the Commission, the implementing measures 

of the Staff Regulation of the FCH Joint Undertaking;  

–  appoint  the  Executive  Director,  provide  guidance  and  direction  to  the  Executive 
Director, monitor the Executive Director’s performance and, if necessary, replace 
the Executive Director;  

–  approve the organisational structure of the Programme Office as proposed by the 

Executive Director; 

–  approve the methodology for assessing the in-kind contributions; 

–  approve  the  guidelines  on  evaluation  and  selection  of  project  proposals  as 

proposed by the Executive Director; 

–  approve the list of project proposals selected for funding; 

–  approve the model Grant Agreement; 

–  approve service and supply contracts; 

–  approve  the  annual  independent  assessment  of  the  level  of  in-kind  contribution 

before it is presented to the Commission; 

–  agree  on  proposed  amendments  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking’s  Statutes  in 

accordance with Article I.23; 

–  assign any task which is not specifically allocated to one of the bodies of the FCH 

Joint Undertaking; 

–  approve  procedures  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking,  including  the  Intellectual 

Property Rights policy. 

Article I.6 
Programme Office 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

The Programme Office shall be composed of an Executive Director and supporting 
staff. 

The  Programme  Office  shall,  under  the  responsibility  of  the  Executive  Director, 
execute all responsibilities of the FCH Joint Undertaking. 

The  Programme  Office  shall  be  responsible  for  the  operational,  budgetary  and 
financial aspects of the FCH Joint Undertaking. 

The Programme Office shall in particular: 

EN 

28 

   EN 

 
–  manage  the  launch  of  the  calls  for  project  proposals  as  foreseen  in  the  annual 
research activities plan, the evaluation and selection of the project proposals, the 
negotiation of the selected project proposals, and the follow-up and administration 
of the Grant Agreements, including their co-ordination; 

–  be in charge of the establishment and management of the appropriate accounting 
system  for  the  calculation  of  the  actual  public  and  private  contributions  to  the 
projects; 

–  provide  the  Governing  Board  and  all  other  subsidiary  bodies  with  relevant 

documentation and logistical support; 

–  prepare 

the  multi-annual  research  activities  plan  and 

the  corresponding 

expenditure estimates; 

–  prepare the annual budget proposal, including the staff establishment plan; 

–  prepare the annual activity report, including the corresponding expenditure; 

–  prepare the annual accounts and the balance-sheet; 

–  prepare all documents necessary for the mid-term and final review; 

–  manage  calls  for  tenders  for  goods  and  services  according  to  the  Financial 

Regulation of the FCH Joint Undertaking;  

–  perform any other tasks entrusted or delegated to it by the Governing Board. 

The  Executive  Director  shall  be  the  chief  executive  responsible  for  the  day-to-day 
management of the FCH Joint Undertaking in accordance with the decisions of the 
Governing Board. In that context, he/she shall regularly inform as well as respond to 
any specific ad hoc requests for information from the Governing Board. 

The  Executive  Director  shall  be  the  legal  representative  of  the  FCH  Joint 
Undertaking.  He/she  shall  perform  his/her  tasks  with  independence,  and  shall  be 
accountable to the Governing Board. 

The Executive Director shall exercise, in respect of the staff, the powers laid down in 
Article 9 of this Regulation setting up the FCH Joint Undertaking.  

The  Executive  Director  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Governing  Board,  from  a  list  of 
candidates proposed by the Commission, for a maximum initial period of three years. 
After  an  evaluation  of  the  Executive  Director's  performance,  the  Governing  Board 
may extend the term of office once for a further period of not more than four years. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

The Executive Director shall in particular:  

–  submit  to  the  Governing  Board  the  annual  and  multi-annual  research  activities 

plan and the corresponding expenditure estimates; 

–  submit  to  the  Governing  Board  the  annual  budget  proposal,  including  the  staff 

establishment plan; 

EN 

29 

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–  submit  to  the  Governing  Board  the  annual  activity  report,  including  the 

corresponding expenditure;  

–  submit to the Governing Board the annual accounts and the balance-sheet; 

–  submit for the approval of the Governing Board, the arrangements and guidelines 
for  evaluation  and  selection  of  project  proposals,  including  procedures  for  the 
dissemination of research results; 

–  supervise the management of the calls for project proposals; 

–  submit  for  the  approval  of  the  Governing  Board  the  list  of  project  proposals 

selected for funding; 

–  submit for the approval of the Governing Board the list of Grant Agreements to be 

concluded; 

–  approve  and  sign  the  individual  Grant  Agreements  established  in  line  with  the 
Model  Grant  Agreement.  Grant  Agreements  with  provisions  that  do  not  fully 
correspond  to  the  Model  Grant  Agreement  shall  be  submitted  to  the  Governing 
Board for approval; 

–  submit for the approval of the Governing Board the service and supply contracts 

to be concluded; 

–  submit  to  the  Governing  Board  his/her  proposal(s)  concerning  the  organisation 
structure of the Programme Office and organise, direct and supervise the staff of 
the FCH Joint Undertaking; 

–  convene meetings of the Governing Board; 

–  ensure the secretariat for the Stakeholders' General Assembly; 

–  attend as appropriate the meetings of the Scientific Committee as observer;  

–  if appropriate, set up ad hoc expert groups, as decided by the Governing Board, to 

gather advice from experts; 

–  monitor public and private financing and have the responsibility to propose to the 
Governing  Board  any  corrective  action  necessary  to  maintain  the  50/50  funding 
balance; 

–  initiate an annual independent assessment of the level of in-kind contribution (the 
first  one  at  the  end  of  the  second  financial  year  after  the  start  of  the  FCH  Joint 
Undertaking), and take responsibility for the assessment results being approved by 
the Governing Board and presented to the Commission within 4 months of the end 
of each financial year; 

–  provide to the Governing Board any other information that may be requested; 

–  provide the Commission with any information and service necessary for the mid-

term and final reviews; 

EN 

30 

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–  be responsible for risk assessment and risk management; 

–  propose to the Governing Board any insurance that may be necessary for the FCH 

Joint Undertaking to take out in order to meet its obligations; 

–  be  responsible  for  preparing,  negotiating  and  concluding  Grant  Agreements  for 
the  implementation  of  the  RTD&D  activities,  and  service  and  supply  contracts 
necessary for the operations of the FCH Joint Undertaking; 

–  be responsible for the annual discharge from the European Parliament. 

Article I.7 
Scientific Committee 

1. 

2. 

3. 

The Scientific Committee is an advisory body to the Governing Board. The Scientific 
Committee shall conduct its activities with the support of the Programme Office. 

The Scientific Committee shall have a chair and [8] members. The chair is member 
of the Governing Board, normally the one representing the Research Grouping. 

The Governing Board shall establish the specific criteria and selection process for the 
members  of  the  Scientific  Committee.  The  Governing  Board  shall  appoint  the 
members  on  the  proposal  of  the  Executive  Director.  The  members  shall  reflect  a 
balanced representation of expertise. Collectively, the Scientific Committee members 
shall have the necessary scientific competence, professional knowledge and expertise 
in  fuel  cells  and  hydrogen  technology,  and  related  social  and  economic  issues,  in 
order to make strategic scientifically-based recommendations for the implementation 
of the FCH Joint Technology Initiative. 

4. 

The Scientific Committee shall perform the following tasks: 

–  give  its  opinion  on  the  relevance  and  progress  of  the  annual  RTD&D  activities 

and recommend any amendments; 

–  give its opinion on the scientific priorities for the multi-annual RTD&D activities 

plan; 

–  advise the Governing Board on the scientific achievements described in the annual 

activity report. 

5. 

6. 

The Scientific Committee shall meet at least once a year.  

The Scientific Committee may invite observers, without voting rights, to attend their 
meetings. 

EN 

31 

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Article I.8 
Sources of financing 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

The total contribution from the Community to the FCH Joint Undertaking covering 
running  costs  and  operational  costs  for  RTD&D  activities  shall  not  exceed  470 
million  EUR  from  the  Seventh  Framework  Programme.  The  running  costs  are 
expected not to exceed 20 million EUR. 

All resources of the FCH Joint Undertaking and its activities shall be devoted to the 
objectives and main tasks provided for in Article I.2. 

Any other extraordinary financial contribution in cash, resources and revenues, may 
be accepted after the approval of the Governing Board. 

The  evaluation  and  selection  process  shall  ensure  that  allocation  of  the  FCH  Joint 
Undertaking's public funding follows the principles of excellence and competition33. 

Any  interest  yielded  by  the  contributions  once  received  by  the  FCH  Joint 
Undertaking shall be considered to be its revenue. 

Any interest generated on the advance payment of grants paid out by the FCH Joint 
Undertaking shall be considered to be a receipt to the project consortium. 

The  private  sector,  in  particular  the  members  of  the  Industry  Grouping,  shall 
contribute in kind to the operational costs of the projects. The in-kind contributions 
shall  as  a  minimum  match  the  public  funding.  The  total  level  of  the  in-kind 
contributions,  calculated  on  a  yearly  basis,  shall  be  assessed  once  a  year.  The  first 
assessment shall be initiated at the end of the second financial year after the start of 
the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking.  The  assessment  shall  thereafter  be  performed  each 
financial  year  by  an  independent  entity.  The  results  of  the  assessment  shall  be 
presented to the Commission within 4 months of the end of each financial year. 

8. 

The FCH Joint Undertaking shall own all assets generated by it or transferred to it for 
the fulfilment of its objectives provided for in Article I.2. 

1. 

2. 

33 

Article I.9 
Participation in projects 

Participation in projects shall be open to legal entities and international organisations 
established  in  a  Member  State  or  any  third  country  once  the  minimum  conditions 
have been satisfied. 

The  minimum  conditions  to  be  fulfilled  for  projects  funded  by  the  FCH  Joint 
Undertaking shall be the following: 

In particular, the evaluation and selection of projects should be consistent with the criteria spelled out in 
the  Community  Framework  for  State  aid  for  Research  and  Development  and  Innovation  (OJ  C  323, 
30.12.2006, p. 1) and the Guidelines on the applicability of Article 81 of the EC Treaty to horizontal 
cooperation agreements (OJ C 3, 6.1.2001, p. 2). 

EN 

32 

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(a) 

(b) 

at least three legal entities must participate, each of which must be established 
in  a  Member  State  or  Associated  country,  and  no  two  of  which  may  be 
established in the same Member State or Associated country; 

all three legal entities must be independent of each other as defined in Article 6 
of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1906/2006  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  laying  down  the  rules  for  the  participation  of  undertakings,  research 
centres  and  universities  in  actions  under  the  Seventh  Framework  Programme 
and for the dissemination of research results (2007-2013)34; 

(c) 

at  least  one  legal  entity  must  be  a  member  of  the  Industry  Grouping  or  the 
Research Grouping. 

The  legal  entities  wishing  to  participate  in  a  project  shall  form  a  consortium  and 
appoint one of their members to act as its coordinator. Normally the coordinator shall 
be  a  member  of  the  Industry  Grouping  or,  a  member  of  the  Research  Grouping,  if 
such  Research  Grouping  is  established.  Exceptions  shall  be  approved  by  the 
Governing Board. 

The minimum condition for service and supply contracts, support actions, studies and 
training activities funded by the FCH Joint Undertaking shall be the participation of 
one legal entity. 

Article I.10 
Eligibility for funding 

The Community contribution to the FCH Joint Undertaking shall be used for funding 
the RTD&D activities following competitive calls for proposals. 

In exceptional cases the FCH Joint Undertaking may  issue calls  for  tenders, if  it is 
deemed necessary for the effective pursuance of the research objectives. 

Private  legal  entities  fulfilling  all  the  following  criteria  shall  be  eligible  for  such 
funding: 

(a) 

they are established in a Member State or have their registered office, central or 
principal  place  of  business  within  a  state  that  is  a  contracting  party  to  the 
European Economic Area Agreement or which is an Associated or Candidate 
country; 

(b) 

they  have  relevant  activities  in  RTD&D,  industrialization  or  deployment  for 
fuel  cells  and/or  hydrogen  and/or  concrete  plans  to  do  so  in  the  near  future 
within the European Union or the European Economic Area. 

3. 

4. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

34 

OJ L 391, 30.12.2006, p. 1. 

EN 

33 

   EN 

 
                                                 
4. 

The following shall also be eligible for funding: 

(a) 

(b) 

non-profit  public  bodies  established  in  a  Member  State,  Associated  country, 
Candidate  Country  or  within  the  EEA,  including  secondary  and  higher 
education establishments;  

international  organisations,  which  have  legal  personality  under  international 
public 
law,  as  well  as  any  specialised  agencies  set  up  by  such 
intergovernmental organisations;  

(c) 

legal entities from third countries, provided that the Governing Board considers 
their participation to be of particular benefit to the project. 

Article I.11 
Financial provisions 

1. 

The FCH Joint Undertaking's financial provisions shall be based on the principles of 
Regulation  (EC,  Euratom)  No  1605/2002.  It  may  depart  from  Regulation  (EC, 
Euratom)  No  1605/2002  where  the  specific  operating  needs  of  the  FCH  Joint 
Undertaking so require, subject to prior consent of the Commission. 

2. 

The FCH Joint Undertaking shall have its own internal audit capability. 

Article I.12 
Financial commitments 

1. 

2. 

Financial commitments of the FCH Joint Undertaking shall not exceed the amount of 
resources at its disposal. 

Unless funding will be provided after 2013 (when FP7 ends) only projects for which 
a  Grant  Agreement  has  been  signed  at  the  latest  31  on  December  2013  will  be 
continued in the years 2014-2017. 

Article I.13 
Financial year 

The financial year shall correspond to the calendar year. 

Article I.14 
Financial reporting and discharge 

1. 

Each year, the Executive Director shall present to the Governing Board a preliminary 
draft budget, which shall include a forecast of annual expenditure for the following 
two years. Within this forecast, the estimates of revenue and expenditure for the first 
of those two financial years shall be drawn up in such detail as is necessary for the 
internal  budgetary  procedure  of  each  Founding  Member  and  Member  regarding  its 
financial  contributions  to  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking.  The  Executive  Director  shall 

EN 

34 

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supply  the  Governing  Board  with  all  supplementary  information  needed  for  this 
purpose. 

The  Governing  Board  shall  forthwith  communicate  to  the  Executive  Director  its 
comments  on  the  preliminary  draft  budget  and  in  particular  on  the  estimates  of 
resources and expenditure for the following year. 

Taking  into  account  the  comments  received  from  the  Governing  Board,  the 
Executive  Director  shall  prepare  the  draft  budget  for  the  following  year.  Before 
September 1 of each year, the Executive Director shall submit the annual budget to 
the Governing Board for approval. 

Within two months after the closure of each financial year, the annual accounts and 
balance sheets for the preceding year shall be submitted by the Executive Director to 
the Governing Board for approval. 

Within  two  months  after  the  end  of  each  financial  year  the  provisional  accounts  of 
the  Joint  Undertaking  shall  be  submitted  to  the  Commission  and  the  Court  of 
Auditors  of  the  European  Communities  (‘the  Court  of  Auditors’).  The  Court  of 
Auditors shall, by 15 June after the end of each financial year, make its observations 
on  the  provisional  accounts  of  the  Joint  Undertaking.The  annual  accounts  for  the 
financial  year  shall  be  sent  in  the  following  year  to  the  Commission's  Accounting 
Officer according to the deadlines fixed by the Framework Financial Regulation so 
that the Commission's Accounting Officer can consolidate these into the EC annual 
accounts. The Joint Undertaking's annual accounts have to be prepared and audited 
following  the  EC  Accounting  Rules  as  adopted  by  the  Commission's  Accounting 
Officer. 

Discharge  for  the  implementation  of  the  budget  shall  be  given  by  the  European 
Parliament,  upon  recommendation  of  the  Council,  in  accordance  with  a  procedure 
provided for by the Financial Regulation of the FCH Joint Undertaking. 

Article I.15 
Annual planning and reporting 

The  multi-annual  research  activities  plan  shall  describe  the  rolling  programme  of 
RTD&D  activities  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking.  The  plan  of  annual  research 
activities  shall  include  a  detailed  plan  of  the  RTD&D  activities  and  corresponding 
expenditure estimates for the coming year. 

An  annual  activity  report  shall  describe  the  RTD&D  activities  and  other  activities 
performed during the previous year and the corresponding expenditure. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

1. 

2. 

EN 

35 

   EN 

 
Article I.16 
Staff 

1. 

2. 

The staff resources shall be determined in the establishment plan to be set out in the 
annual budget. 

The  members  of  the  staff  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  shall  be  temporary  agents 
and  contract  agents  and  shall  have  fixed-term  contracts,  extendable  once  up  to  a 
maximum total period of seven years. 

3. 

The staff expenditure shall be borne by the FCH Joint Undertaking. 

Article I.17 
Liability and Insurance 

1. 

2. 

3. 

The FCH Joint Undertaking shall be solely responsible for meeting its obligations. 

The  financial  liability  of  the  Founding  Members  and  Member  for  the  debts  of  the 
FCH Joint Undertaking shall be limited to their due contribution to the running costs. 

The FCH Joint Undertaking shall take out and maintain appropriate insurance. 

Article I.18 
Conflict of Interest 

The  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  and  its  bodies  shall  avoid  any  conflict  of  interest  in  the 
implementation of their activities.  

In particular care must be taken where a conflict of interest may occur for the representatives 
serving in the Governing Board. 

Article I.19 
Grant Agreement and Consortium Agreement 

1. 

2. 

3. 

The  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  shall  support  RTD&D  activities  following  competitive 
calls for proposals, independent evaluation, and the conclusion for each project of a 
Grant Agreement and a Consortium Agreement. 

The  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  shall  define  the  procedures  and  mechanisms  for  the 
implementation, supervision and control of Grant Agreements. 

The Grant Agreement shall: 

–  provide for the appropriate arrangements for the implementation of the RTD&D 

activities; 

EN 

36 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
–  provide  for  the  appropriate  financial  arrangements  and  the  rules  relating  to 
intellectual property rights on the basis of the principles as set out in Article I.24; 

–  govern  the  relationship  between  the  project  consortium  and  the  FCH  Joint 

Undertaking. 

4. 

The Consortium agreement shall: 

–  be  concluded  by  the  project  participants  prior  to  the  conclusion  of  the  Grant 

Agreement; 

–  provide  for  the  appropriate  arrangements  for  the  implementation  of  the  Grant 

Agreement; 

–  govern  the  relationship  between  the  participants  in  a  project,  in  particular  the 

Intellectual Property Rights provisions. 

Article I.20 
Service and supply contracts 

The  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  shall  set  up  all  the  procedures  and  mechanisms  for  the 
implementation,  supervision  and  control  of  service  and  supply  contracts  necessary  for  the 
operations  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking,  according  to  the  provisions  of  its  Financial 
Regulation. 

Article I.21 
Protection of financial interests 

1. 

2. 

3. 

The  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  shall  carry  out  on-the-spot  checks  and  financial  audits 
among the recipients of the FCH Joint Undertaking’s public funding.  

The Commission or the European Court of Auditors may, as necessary, carry out on-
the-spot checks among the recipients of the FCH Joint Undertaking's funding. To that 
end, the FCH Joint Undertaking shall ensure that its grant agreements and contracts 
provide for the right of the Commission and of the Court of Auditors to carry out the 
appropriate  controls  and,  in  the  event  of  detection  of  irregularities,  to  impose 
dissuasive and proportionate penalties. 

The  European  Anti-Fraud  Office  (OLAF)  set  up  by  Commission  Decision 
1999/352/EC,  ECSC,  Euratom  shall  enjoy  the  same  powers  in  respect  of  the  Joint 
Undertaking and its staff as it enjoys in respect of Commission departments. As soon 
as  the  Joint  Undertaking  is  established,  it  shall  accede  to  the  Interinstitutional 
Agreement of 25 May 1999 between the European Parliament, the Council and the 
Commission  concerning  internal  investigations  by  OLAF.  The  Governing  Board 
shall  approve  that  accession  and  adopt  the  necessary  measures  needed  to  facilitate 
internal investigations conducted by OLAF. 

EN 

37 

   EN 

 
 
Article I.22 
Winding up 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

At  the  end  of  the  period  provided  for  in  Article  I.1,  or  following  a  decision  by  the 
Council, the FCH Joint Undertaking shall be wound up.  

The  winding-up  procedure  shall  be  automatically  initiated  if  one  of  the  Founding 
Members  terminates  its  membership,  unless  the  request  for  termination  is 
accompanied by a proposal for the transfer of the membership to a legal entity that 
can be accepted by the remaining Founding Member.  

For  the  purpose  of  winding  up  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking,  the  Governing  Board 
shall  appoint  one  or  more  liquidators,  who  shall  comply  with  the  decisions  of  the 
Governing Board. 

When the FCH Joint Undertaking is being wound up, it shall return to the host state 
[Belgium]  any  item  of  physical  support  made  available  by  the  host  state  in 
accordance with the host agreement. 

When any item of physical support has been dealt with as provided in paragraph 4 of 
this Article, any further assets shall be used to cover the liabilities of the FCH Joint 
Undertaking and the  expenditures relating to its winding-up. Any surplus or deficit 
shall  be  distributed  among  or  met  by  the  Founding  Members  in  proportion  to  their 
actual contribution to the FCH Joint Undertaking.  

Remaining assets, debts or liabilities shall be distributed to the Founding Members in 
proportion to their actual contribution to the FCH Joint Undertaking. 

An  ad  hoc  procedure  shall  be  set  up  to  ensure  the  appropriate  management  of  any 
Grant Agreement referred to in Article I.19 and service and supply contract referred 
to  in  Article  I.20,  with  duration  longer  than  the  duration  of  the  FCH  Joint 
Undertaking.  

Article I.23 
Amending the Statutes 

Any  Founding  Member  or  Member  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  may  make  a 
proposal to the Governing Board for the amendment of these Statutes. 

Proposals for amendments to the Statutes shall be approved by the Governing Board 
according  to  the  provisions  of  Article  I.5  and  submitted  to  the  Commission  for 
decision. 

Notwithstanding paragraph 2, any amendment proposed to Article I.1, or Article I.8 
or  Article  I.21  shall  be  considered  as  an  essential  aspect  and  therefore  subject  to  a 
revision of the Council Regulation setting up the FCH Joint Undertaking. 

EN 

38 

   EN 

 
 
 
Article I.24 
Intellectual property rights policy 

1. 

2. 

The  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  shall  adopt  general  rules  governing  its  Intellectual 
Property Rights policy and these will be incorporated into the Grant Agreements and 
Consortium Agreements. 

Without prejudice to the competition rules35 the objective of the Intellectual Property 
Rights  policy  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  is  to  generate  foreground  information, 
promote  its  exploitation,  use  and  dissemination  for  rapid  development  towards 
commercial results, to achieve fair allocation of rights, to reward innovation, and to 
achieve a broad participation of private and public entities in projects. 

3. 

The Intellectual Property Rights policy shall reflect the following principles: 

–  Each  participant  in  a  project  shall  remain  the  owner  of  the  background  it 
introduces  into  a  project,  and  shall  remain  the  owner  of  the  foreground  it 
generates  in  a  project,  unless  otherwise  mutually  agreed  by  the  participants  in  a 
project. The terms and conditions of access rights and licenses with regard to the 
background  or  foreground,  shall  be  defined  in  the  Grant  Agreement  and  the 
Consortium Agreement of the project concerned. 

–  The participants in a project shall undertake to disseminate and allow the use of 
foreground  under  terms  and  conditions  defined  in  the  Grant  Agreement  and  the 
Consortium  Agreement,  taking  into  account  the  protection  of  their  intellectual 
property rights, confidentiality obligations and, in particular the specific nature of 
the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking  as  a  public-private  partnership  whose  private-sector 
participants have provided a large share of the funding and who have a legitimate 
interest in protecting their commercial interests.  

Article I.25 
Applicable Law 

In any matter not covered by these Statutes or by acts of Community law, the law of Belgium 
shall apply. 

35 

Community  Framework  for  State  aid  for  Research  and  Development  and  Innovation  (OJ  C  323, 
30.12.2006, p. 1). 

EN 

39 

   EN 

 
 
 
                                                 
LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT 

1. 

NAME OF THE PROPOSAL: 

Proposal  for  a  Council  Regulation  setting  up  the  Fuel  Cells  and  Hydrogen  (FCH) 
Joint Undertaking. 

2. 

ABM / ABB FRAMEWORK 

Policy Area(s) concerned and associated Activity/Activities: 

Research  and  Technological  Development:  7th  Framework  Programme,  Specific 
Programme  "Cooperation":  themes  for  Energy,  Nanosciences,  Nanotechnologies, 
Materials  and  New  Production  Technologies  (NMP),  Transport  (including 
Aeronautics), and Environment (including Climate Change) in DG Research and the 
themes Energy and Transport in DG Energy and Transport. 

3. 

BUDGET LINES: 

3.1. 

Budget  lines  (operational  lines  and  related  technical  and  administrative 
assistance lines including headings: 

08.01 04 20 Joint Undertaking – administrative36 

08.05 01 10 Energy – RTD – operational (181.9 M€) 

08.04 01 10 NMP - RTD – operational (47.9 M€) 

08.07 01 30 Transport - RTD – operational (67.0 M€) 

08.06 01 10 Environment - RTD – operational (19.1 M€) 

06.06 01 10 Energy – TREN – operational (119.7 M€) 

06.06 02 10 Transport – TREN – operational (14.4 M€)  

The total administrative costs will be distributed on each budget line in proportion to 
the total contribution. 

Theme 

Estimated administrative cost, M€ 

Energy – RTD 

NMP – RTD 

8.1 

2.1 

36 

This amount will not be taken into account under the ceiling of the administrative expenditures of the 
7th Framework Programme (6%). 

EN 

40 

   EN 

 
                                                 
Transport – RTD 

Environment - RTD 

Energy – TREN 

Transport – TREN 

3.0 

0.9 

5.3 

0.6 

3.2. 

Duration of the action and of the financial impact: 

The  Fuel  Cells  and  Hydrogen  Joint  Undertaking  is  expected  to  be  established  by  a 
Council  Regulation  early  2008  for  a  period  up  to  31  December  2017.  Its  financial 
impact on the EU budget will cease after 2013. 

3.3. 

Budgetary characteristics: 

Budget line 

Type of 
expenditure 

New 

YES 

YES 

YES 

Diff 

Non-diff  

Diff 

Diff 

YES 

Diff 

YES 

Diff 

YES 

Diff 

YES 

EFTA 
contribution 

Contributions 
from applicant 
countries 

Heading in 
financial 
perspective 

YES 

YES 

YES 

YES 

YES 

YES 

YES 

YES 

No 1A 

YES 

No 1A 

YES 

No 1A 

YES 

No 1A 

YES 

No 1A 

YES 

No 1A 

YES 

No 1A 

08.05 01 10 

08.01 04 20 

08.04 01 10 

08.07 01 30 

08.06 01 10 

06.06 01 10 

06.06 02 10 

Non-
comp 

Non-
comp 

Non-
comp 

Non-
comp 

Non-
comp 

Non-
comp 

Non-
comp 

EN 

41 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. 

SUMMARY OF RESOURCES 

4.1. 

Financial Resources 

4.1.1. 

Summary of commitment appropriations (CA) and payment appropriations (PA) 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

Expenditure type 

Section 
no. 

Operational expenditure37 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 

Total 

Commitment 
Appropriations38(CA) 

Payment 
Appropriations (PA) 

8.1 

a 

28.100 

70.300 

90.100 

106.800 

73.800 

80.900 

450.000 

b 

28.100 

70.300 

90.100 

106.800 

73.800 

80.900 

450.000 

Administrative expenditure within reference amount 

Technical 
& 
administrative  assistance 
(NDA)  Personnel  costs  + 
50% 

8.2.4 

c 

1.900 

2.700 

3.400 

4.190 

3.705 

4.105 

20.000 

TTOOTTAALL  RREEFFEERREENNCCEE  AAMMOOUUNNTT 

Commitment 
Appropriations 

Payment appropriations 

a+c 

b+c 

30.000 

73.000 

93.500 

110.990 

77.505 

85.005 

470.000 

30.000 

73.000 

93.500 

110.990 

77.505 

85.005 

470.000 

Administrative expenditure not included in the reference amount 

Human resources and 
associated expenditure 
(NDA) 

Administrative costs, other 
than human resources and 
associated costs, not 
included in reference amount 
(NDA) 

8.2.5 

d 

0.117 

0.234 

0.234 

0.234 

0.234 

0.234 

1.287 

8.2.6 

e 

0 

0.200 

0.200 

0 

0.200 

0.200 

0.800 

37 
38 

Expenditure that does not fall under Chapter xx 01 of the Title xx concerned. 
It  is  expected  that  Commitment  Appropriations  and  Payment  Appropriations  from  the  Commission 
point  of  view  are  the  same  the  same  year,  as  the  payments  on  operational/project  level  will  be  made 
from the Joint Undertaking's budget. 

EN 

42 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Total indicative financial cost of intervention 

TOTAL  CA 
including 
cost of Human Resources 

TOTAL  PA 
including 
cost of Human Resources 

a+
c+
d+
e 

b+
c+
d+
e 

30.117 

73.434 

93.934 

111.224 

77.939 

85.439 

472.087 

30.117 

73.434 

93.934 

111.224 

77.939 

85.439 

472.087 

Co-financing details 

The founding members of the FCH JU are: 

–  The European Community, represented by the Commission, and 

–  The European Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative Industry Grouping (IG) 

established as a non-profit association under Belgian law. 

The  IG  shall  share  the  running  costs  of  the  Programme  Office  on  a  50/50  basis  with  the 
Commission (contributed in cash), as well as to cover a minimum of 50% of the operational 
costs of the Joint Undertaking's research activities (as in-kind contribution).  

The running costs are estimated not to exceed 4.5 % of the total costs. 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

Co-financing body 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

Total 

2013  

Industry  Grouping 
for the Fuel Cells and 
Hydrogen JTI 

f 

TOTAL 
including 

co-financing 

CA 

a+c
+d+
e+f 

30.117 

73.434 

93.934 

111.224 

77.939 

85.439 

472.087 

60.234 

146.868 

187.868 

222.448 

155.878 

170.878 

944.174 

4.1.2.  Compatibility with Financial Programming 

(cid:58) 

Proposal is compatible with existing financial programming. 

4.1.3.  Financial impact on Revenue 

(cid:58) 

Proposal has no financial implications on revenue 

EN 

43 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4.2. 

Human Resources FTE (including officials, temporary and external staff) – see 
detail under point 8.2.1. 

Annual requirements 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013  

Total  number  of  human  resources 
AD/AST 

11 

20 

20 

20 

20 

20 

5. 

CHARACTERISTICS AND OBJECTIVES 

5.1. 

Need to be met in the short or long term 

The needs are to:  

–  set up the FCH Joint Undertaking, as a new structure of partnership between the 

Commission and industry for research funding;  

–  organise  competitive  calls  for  proposals,  evaluation  and  selection  of  projects 
where industry will co-fund the selected collaborative research projects performed 
in  a  Member  State,  a  Candidate  country  or  a  country  associated  to  the  Seventh 
Framework  Programme,  together  with  the  funds  coming  from  the  FCH  Joint 
Undertaking;  

–  monitor  and  follow-up  financial  and  scientific  aspects  of  projects  having 

concluded a grant agreement with the FCH Joint Undertaking; 

–  organise  the  calls  for  tender  necessary  to  the  operations  of  FCH  Joint 

Undertaking, 

–  set  up  and  implement  all  procedures  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking,  including 

financial auditing; 

–  organise the dissemination activities of the FCH Joint Undertaking;  

–  organise the communication activities of the FCH Joint Undertaking; 

–  organise any other activity linked to the FCH Joint Undertaking 

5.2. 

Value-added  of  Community  involvement  and  coherence  of  the  proposal  with 
other financial instruments and possible synergy 

These issues are addressed in the Impact Assessment document attached to this proposal. The 
Impact  Assessment  is  based  on  a  socio-economic  study,  a  Commission  staff  working 
document, as well as on a "Keys to success" contribution provided by the Industry Grouping. 
The  Impact  Assessment  has  been  reviewed  by  a  panel  of  4  external  independent  high  level 
experts. 

EN 

44 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5.3. 

Objectives, expected results and related indicators of the proposal in the context 
of the ABM framework 

The overall objective is to establish an EU-level policy framework to stimulate an integrated 
research,  technological  development  and  demonstration  effort  in  fuel  cell  and  hydrogen 
technologies of sufficient critical mass to contribute significantly to European energy public 
policy  objectives.  The  detailed  objectives  and  substantiation  are  to  be  found  in  the  Impact 
Assessment. 

Some  of  the  specific  objectives  are  to  enable  the  market  breakthrough  of  fuel  cell  and 
hydrogen  technologies,  enabling  commercial  market  forces  to  drive  the  substantial  public 
benefits, to reach the critical mass of research effort to give confidence to industry, public and 
private  investors,  decision-makers  and  other  stakeholders  to  embark  on  a  long-term 
programme, to facilitate the interaction between industry, universities and research centres on 
basic  research  and  to  encourage  the  participation  of  the  new  Member  States  and  candidate 
countries; 

Pre-defined  budget  of  sufficient  critical  mass  and  6-year  time  horizon  raises  confidence  in 
private sector investors and allows industry to make long-term investment plans and manage 
its cash flows. 

The expected results will be  

–  a  significant  increase  in  private  research  investment  compared  to  “business-as-usual” 

levels; 

–  a continuously updated strategic research agenda to ensure funding is used in an optimal 

way; 

–  a shorter time-to-market by 2 to 5 years; 

–  a broad participation by SMEs and legal entities from the new Member States.  

A set of quantitative and qualitative performance indicators will be established to follow the 
implementation of the FCH JTI. These performance indicators will measure the impact of the 
JTI  on  EU  competitiveness  and  the  research  environment  for  fuel  cells  and  hydrogen.  The 
quantitative  indicators  will  be  measured  on  a  large  scale  in  a  comparative  and  systematic 
manner,  while  the  qualitative  approach  will  include  case  studies  and  technical  audits.  The 
indicators should be assessed against the baseline of the state of affairs in the years prior to 
the start of the JTI to help assess additionality effects during its lifetime.  

The progress of the JTI will be continuously monitored against a set of objectively verifiable 
indicators including: 

–  monitoring of public (EC and other) and private funding  

–  follow-up of additionality; 

–  selection of projects and allocation of funding; 

–  technical monitoring against well-defined specific programme milestones; 

–  adherence to time schedule; 

–  quantified monitoring of market penetration in target sectors; 

EN 

45 

   EN 

 
–  level of SME participation and of participation from the newer Member States; 

–  sustainability indicators. 

At mid-term, the JTI will be evaluated by independent experts on behalf of the Commission. 
This evaluation will cover the quality and efficiency of the Joint Undertaking and its progress 
towards  its  objectives  and  make  recommendations  for  any  necessary  re-adjustment  of  the 
programme  and  if  applicable,  consideration  of  an  exit  strategy.  The  Commission  will 
communicate  the  conclusions  to  the  Council.  At  the  end  of  2017,  the  Commission  will 
conduct  a  final  evaluation and  the  results  will  be  presented  to  the  European  Parliament  and 
the Council. 

5.4.  Method of Implementation (indicative) 

(cid:58)  Centralised Management 

(cid:58) 

indirectly by delegation to: 

(cid:58) 

bodies set up by the Communities as referred to in Article 185 of 
the Financial Regulation  

6. 

MONITORING AND EVALUATION 

6.1.  Monitoring system 

The Joint Undertaking will be monitored as provided in its Statutes. 

6.2. 

Evaluation 

6.2.1.  Ex-ante evaluation 

These  issues  are  addressed  in  the  impact  assessment  document.  It  is  based  on  a 
socio-economic study completed to an impact assessment with extensive input from 
the "Keys to success" document provided by the industry. It provides the information 
required  by  an  ex-ante  evaluation  for  the  establishment  of  the  FCH  Joint 
Undertaking.  

6.2.2.  Measures  taken following an intermediate/ex-post evaluation (lessons learned from 

similar experiences in the past) 

Not applicable. 

6.2.3.  Terms and frequency of future evaluation 

Described under Article 19 of the proposed Regulation. 

7. 

ANTI-FRAUD MEASURES  

Described under Article 21 of the proposed Regulation. 

EN 

46 

   EN 

 
8. 

DETAILS OF RESOURCES 

8.1. 

Objectives of the proposal in terms of their financial cost 

(Headings of Objectives, actions and 
outputs should be provided) 

Budget line 

Av. Cost 
for the 
EC 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013  

TOTAL 

No. 
outputs 

Total 
cost 

No. 
outputs 

Total 
cost 

No. 
outputs 

Total 
cost 

No. 
outputs 

Total 
cost 

No. 
outputs 

Total 
cost 

No. 
outputs 

Total 
cost 

No. 
outputs 

Total 
cost 

Commitment appropriations in EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

OPERATIONAL  OBJECTIVE39  -  Set 
up  of  the  Fuel  Cells  and  Hydrogen 
Joint Undertaking and implementing its 
Research Agenda 

Action 1 -  

-Output 1 (*) 

(**) 

TOTAL COST 

08.05 01 10  

08.04 01 10  

08.07 01 30 

08.06 01 10  

06.06 01 10  

06.06 02 10  

of 
Funding 
research  projects 
after  calls 
for 
proposals 

28.1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

30.9 

9.6 

4.8 

2.9 

19.2 

2.9 

50.2 

9.6 

4.8 

3.4 

19.2 

2.9 

52.1 

9.6 

14.4 

3.8 

24 

2.9 

9.6 

9.6 

19.0 

4.3 

28.4 

2.9 

11.0 

9.5 

24 

4.7 

28.9 

2.8 

181.9 

47.9 

67.0 

19.1 

119.7 

14.4 

28.1 

70.3 

90.1 

106.8 

73.8 

80.9 

450.0 

(*) 50% is funded by the FCH Joint Undertaking and minimum 50% comes as in kind contributions from industry. “Total cost” is the part funded via the EC budget. (See table in Annex). The projects are presumed to have an 
average lifetime of 3 years. 

(**) Contributions from the 6 mentioned budget lines will constitute one single budget in the FCH Joint Undertaking and is not dependent on covered area for a specific project.  

39 

As described under Section 5.3. 

EN 

47 

EN 

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
8.1.1.  The estimated distribution of the administrative costs from the budget contributions 

from DG RTD and DG TREN: 

Budget source 

2008  2009  2010  2011  2012  2013  TOTAL 

Energy, RTD 

NMP, RTD 

Transport, RTD 

Environment, RTD 

Energy, TREN 

Transport, TREN 

TOTAL, M€ 

1.900  1.100 1.800 1.900 0.400 1.000 8.100 

0.000  0.400 0.400 0.400 0.400 0.500 2.100 

0.000  0.200 0.200 0.600 1.000 1.000 3.000 

0.000  0.100 0.100 0.200 0.200 0.300 0.900 

0.000  0.780 0.780 0.970 1.585 1.185 5.300 

0.000  0.120 0.120 0.120 0.120 0.120 0.600 

1.900  2.700 3.400 4.190 3.705 4.105 20.000 

8.2. 

Administrative Expenditure 

8.2.1.  Number and type of human resources 

Types of post 

Staff to be assigned to management of the action using existing and/or 
additional resources (number of posts/FTEs) 

Year 
2008 

Year 
2009 

Year 
2010 

Year 
2011 

Year 
2012 

Year 
2013 

Officials or temporary 
staff40(XX 01 01) 

("Service 
Commission") 

from 

the 

A*/A
D 

B*, 
C*/ 
AST 

Staff financed5 by art. XX 01 02 

Other  staff5  financed 
by art. XX 01 04/05(At 
the JU) 

AD 

AST 

extern
al 

TOTAL 

½ 

½ 

6 

3 

2 

12 

1 

1 

11 

7 

2 

22 

1 

1 

11 

7 

2 

22 

1 

1 

11 

7 

2 

22 

1 

1 

11 

7 

2 

22 

1 

1 

11 

7 

2 

22 

Year 
2014 and 
later 

(1) 

(1) 

(11) 

(7) 

(2) 

(22)41 

40 
41 

Cost of which is NOT covered by the reference amount. 
Any administrative expenditures beyond 2013 are only estimates. 

EN 

48 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
8.2.2.  Description of tasks deriving from the action 

The tasks of the FCH Joint Undertaking are described under Article I.2 of the Statutes. The 
specific tasks of the Executive Director and the Programme office are described under Article 
I.6 of the Statutes. 

8.2.3. 

Sources of human resources (statutory) 

(cid:58)  No new posts will be required from the Commission.  

8.2.4.  Other Administrative expenditure included in reference amount 

(XX 01 04/05 – Expenditure on administrative management): 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

2008 

 2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

TOTAL 

2013 

Budget line 

(number and heading) 

1  Technical  and  administrative 
assistance  (including  related  staff 
costs) 

FCH Joint Undertaking 

1.900 

2.700 

3.400 

4.190 

3.705 

4.105 

Total Technical and administrative 
assistance 

1.900 

2.700 

3.400 

4.190 

3.705 

4.105 

20.000 

20.000 

Calculation– (for the duration of the FCH Joint Undertaking) 

The indicative costs referred to in the table above concerns the Community contribution to the 
running  costs  of  the  FCH  Joint  Undertaking.  This  contribution  represents  50  %  of  the  total 
running costs. 

Staff:  average  cost  of  €  117,000  per  FTE  per  year  for  AD/AST,  and  €  63,000  per  FTE  per 
year for external. 

Other  running  expenditure  includes:  evaluation  by  external  experts,  monitoring  of  projects, 
communication  activities,  organisation  of  meetings,  travel  and  subsistence,  IT  development, 
auditing of projects, etc. These expenditures have been estimated to approximately 50% of the 
human resources costs. 

EN 

49 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8.2.5.  Financial cost of human resources and associated costs not included in the reference 

amount: 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

Type of human resources 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 

Officials  and  temporary 
staff  

Staff financed by Art XX 
01  02  (auxiliary,  END, 
contract staff, etc.) 

(specify budget line) 

Total cost of Human 
Resources and 
associated costs (NOT 
in reference amount) 

0.117 

0.234 

0.234 

0.234 

0.234 

0.234 

0.117 

0.234 

0.234 

0.234 

0.234 

0.234 

Calculation– Officials and Temporary agents 

The  human  resources  of  section  8.2.1  are  calculated  as  117,000  euros  per  post  FTE  for 
AD/AST, and € 63,000 per FTE per year for external. 

Calculation– Staff financed under art. XX 01 02 

Reference should be made to Point 8.2.1, if applicable 

It  is  foreseen  that  the  detailed  staffing  of  the  JU  and  long  term/short  term  budgets  will  be 
prepared in a Coordination and Support Action during 2007-2008. However, the setting up of 
the FCH Joint Undertaking and phasing in will require support from within the Commission. 
After  the  establishment  of  the  JU  the  coordination  of  the  Commission’s  interests,  research 
topics,  coordination  with  FP7  etc  the  equivalent  of  1  FTE  AD  posts  and  1  AST  post  is 
estimated to be required. 

The  FCH  JU  shall  also  be  audited  by  the  Commission's  Internal  Auditing  Service  in 
accordance with Article 185 of the  Community  Financial  Regulation. However, no separate 
post for this need can be provided for in this LFS. 

EN 

50 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0.200 

0.200 

0 

0 

0.200 

0.200 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0.200 

0.200 

0 

0 

0.200 

0.200 

 Missions 

Meetings & Conferences 

Committees42  

Studies & consultations 

Information systems 

 2 Total Other Management Expenditure  

3  Other  expenditure  of  an  administrative 

nature 

Total Administrative expenditure, other 
than human resources and associated 
costs (NOT included in reference amount)

0 

0.200 

0.200 

0 

0.200 

0.200 

Calculation - Other administrative expenditure not included in reference amount 

Consultations/evaluations/reviews 

The Commission shall initiate two evaluations of the FCH Joint Undertaking by independent 
experts and make two reviews. 

Amount budgeted for the year concerned: 

[…] 

5. 

OTHER REMARKS 

[…] 

42 

Specify the type of committee and the group to which it belongs. 

EN 

51 

   EN