2008/46/EC: Commission Decision of 14 December 2007 setting up the Research Executive Agency for the management of certain areas of the specific Community programmes People, Capacities and Cooperation in the field of research in application of Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 (Text with EEA relevance )
Date: 2007-12-14
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU action, EU office or agency, EU programme, management, research programme, scientific cooperation, scientific profession, scientific research

15.1.2008

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Official Journal of the European Union

L 11/9

COMMISSION

COMMISSION DECISION

of 14 December 2007
setting up the ‘Research Executive Agency’ for the management of certain areas of the specific
Community programmes People, Capacities and Cooperation in the field of research in application
of Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2008/46/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(4)

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 of 19
December 2002 laying down the statute for executive agencies
to be entrusted with certain tasks in the management of
Community programmes (1), and in particular Article 3(1)
thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 empowers the Commission
to set up executive agencies in accordance with the
general statute laid down by that Regulation and to
entrust them with certain management tasks relating to
one or more Community programmes.

The purpose of empowering the Commission to set up
executive agencies is to allow it to focus on core activities
and functions which cannot be outsourced, without relin-
quishing control over, or ultimate responsibility for,
activities managed by the said executive agencies.

research,

demonstration

Programme of

Decision No 1982/2006/EC of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the
Seventh Framework
European
the
technological development
Community for
2013) (2)
to
activities
and
involves implementation of research, technological devel-
opment
the
framework of the specific programmes People, Capacities
and Cooperation which does not entail political decision-
making and requires a high level of
technical and
financial expertise throughout the project cycle.

projects within

demonstration

(2007

and

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

Grant agreements made under the Seventh Framework
programme may run for several years with significant
numbers of grants entering into force in 2014 and
remaining under active management
in 2017 and
beyond.

The delegation, to an executive agency, of tasks related to
programme implementation is possible with a clear
separation between the programming stage, which will
be carried out by the Commission, and project imple-
mentation, which will be entrusted to the executive
agency.

The People Specific Programme and the Research for the
Benefit of
Specific
Programme are characterised by projects which generate
a large number of small operations.

SMEs part of

the Capacities

Security and Space
from the Cooperation Specific
Programme are new areas for which the Commission
has not already a significant
in-house expertise and
which could serve as a pilot for the implementation by
an executive agency of more complex collaborative
research projects.

An executive agency could also perform centrally admin-
istrative and logistical support tasks across other areas of
the Framework Programme.

The Agency should implement its operating budget in
accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No
1653/2004 of 21 September 2004 which establishes a
standard financial regulation for the executive agencies
pursuant
to Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003
laying down the statute for executive agencies to be
entrusted with certain tasks
in the management of
Community programmes (3).

(1) OJ L 11, 16.1.2003, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 412, 30.12.2006, p. 1.

(3) OJ L 297, 22.9.2004, p. 6. Regulation as amended by Regulation

(EC) No 1821/2005 (OJ L 293, 9.11.2005, p. 10).

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(10) A cost-benefit analysis carried out

that purpose
showed that
the creation of an executive agency for
research would be advantageous both in financial and
non-financial terms.

for

(11)

The measures provided for by this Decision are in
accordance with the opinion of
the Committee for
Executive Agencies,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Establishment of the Agency

An executive agency (hereinafter

1.
Agency)
Community activity in the field of research,
governed by Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003.

the
the management of
its statute being

established for

referred to as

is hereby

The name of the Agency shall be the ‘Research Executive

2.
Agency’.

Article 2

Location

The Agency shall be located in Brussels.

Article 3

Term

The Agency is hereby established for a period beginning on
1 January 2008 and ending on 31 December 2017.

Article 4

Objectives and tasks

Framework
research,

The Agency is hereby entrusted, within the framework of
European
Programme
of
Seventh
and
technological development
established by
referred to as the

1.
the
Community
demonstration activities
Decision No 1982/2006/EC (hereinafter
Framework Programme), with the following tasks:

(2007 to 2013)

the

for

(b) management of phases in the lifetime of specific projects in
the context of
implementing the schemes within the
Research for the Benefit of SMEs part of the Capacities
Specific Programme on the basis of Council Decision
2006/974/EC (2) and the work programme adopted by the
Commission, as well as the necessary checks to that end,
adopting the relevant decisions where the Commission has
empowered it to do so;

(c) management of phases in the lifetime of specific projects in
the context of implementing certain areas within the Space
and Security themes of the Cooperation Specific Programme
on the basis of Council Decision 2006/971/EC (3) and the
work programme adopted by the Commission, as well as
the necessary checks to that end, adopting the relevant
decisions where the Commission has empowered it to do
so;

(d) adoption of

the instruments of budget execution for
revenue and expenditure and carrying out, where the
Commission has empowered it to do so, all the operations
necessary
the Community
programme parts mentioned under points (a), (b) and (c),
in particular those linked to the award of grants and
contracts;

the management

for

of

(e) gathering, analysing and passing on to the Commission all
the information needed to guide the implementation of the
Community programme parts mentioned above in points
(a), (b) and (c);

(f) provision of

logistical and administrative support to the
Capacities, Cooperation and People Specific Programmes
particularly in the areas of call publication, proposal
reception
evaluators,
preparation of evaluator payments and financial viability
checking.

contracting

evaluation,

and

of

2.
The Agency may be empowered by the Commission, after
receiving the opinion of the Committee for Executive Agencies
established under Article 24 of Regulation (EC) No 58/2003, to
carry out
the Framework
Programme, other than those referred to in paragraph 1.

the same type under

tasks of

(a) management of phases in the lifetime of specific projects in
the context of implementing certain areas of the People
Specific Programme on the basis of Council Decision
2006/973/EC (1) and the work programme adopted by the
Commission, as well as the necessary checks to that end,
adopting the relevant decisions where the Commission has
empowered it to do so;

3.
The Commission Decision delegating authority to the
Agency shall set out in detail all the tasks entrusted to it and
shall be amended should any additional tasks be entrusted to
the Agency. It shall be forwarded, for information purposes, to
the Committee for Executive Agencies.

(1) OJ L 400, 30.12.2006, p. 272.

(2) OJ L 400, 30.12.2006, p. 299.
(3) OJ L 400, 30.12.2006, p. 86.

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Article 5

Article 7

Organisational structure

Supervision and reporting

The Agency shall be managed by a Steering Committee

1.
and a Director appointed by the Commission.

2.
The members of
appointed for two years.

the Steering Committee

shall be

The Agency shall be subject to supervision by the Commission
and shall report regularly on progress in implementing the
programmes for which it is responsible in accordance with
the arrangements and at
stipulated in the
the
instrument of delegation.

intervals

The Director of the Agency shall be appointed for four

Article 8

3.
years.

Implementation of the operating budget

The appointments of members of the Steering Committee

4.
and the Director may be renewed.

The Agency shall implement its operating budget in accordance
with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1653/2004.

Article 6

Grants

Done at Brussels, 14 December 2007.

The Agency shall receive grants entered in the general budget of
the European Communities taken from the funds allocated to
the programmes referred to in Article 4(1) and, where appro-
priate, from the funds allocated to other parts of the Framework
Programme the implementation of which has been entrusted to
the Agency by virtue of Article 4(2).

For the Commission

Janez POTOČNIK
Member of the Commission