Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251(2) of the EC Treaty concerning the Common Position of the Council on the adoption of a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council establishing the European Institute of Innovation and Technology
Date: 2008-01-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU office or agency, financing, innovation, legal status, operation of the Institutions, research and development, research body, technology park

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 29.1.2008 
COM(2008) 52 final 

2006/0197 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251(2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

Common Position of the Council on the adoption of a proposal for a Regulation of the 
European Parliament and the Council establishing the European Institute of Innovation 
and Technology  

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2006/0197 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251(2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

Common Position of the Council on the adoption of a proposal for a Regulation of the 
European Parliament and the Council establishing the European Institute of Innovation 
and Technology  

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
the Council [(COM/2006/604/Final 2006/0197/COD)]: 

20 October 2006 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee: 2007/C 161/06 

14 March 2007 

Date of adoption of a General Approach (doc.11058/07) 

25 June 2007 

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament, first reading: 

26 September 2007 

Date of adoption of a Political Agreement  

Date of adoption of the Common Position: 

23 November 2007 

21 January 2008 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

In  the  context  of  the  Lisbon  Strategy,  the  EIT  is  a  new  initiative  intended  to  reinforce  the 
innovation capacity of the Union and the Member States, by bringing together the best actors 
operating  in  the  knowledge  triangle.  The  Institute  will  be  a  flagship  for  excellence  in 
innovation and a reference model in the way it combines the worlds of academia, research and 
business  so  as  to  enable  Europe  to  face  the  challenges  of  a  globalising,  knowledge-based 
world  economy  more  effectively.  It  will  be  organised  on  the  basis  of  ‘Knowledge  and 
Innovation Communities’ (partnerships of universities, research organisations, companies and 
other  stakeholders  in  the  innovation  process).  These  will  be  steered,  coordinated  and 
evaluated  by  a  Governing  Board,  composed  of  high  calibre  people  from  the  business, 
academic  and  research  communities.  The  involvement  of  business  at  all  strategic  and 
operational levels will be a keystone of the initiative. 

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3. 

COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION  

3.1 

General Comment on Common Position 

The  text  of  the  Common  Position  is,  in  substance  and  to  a  large  extent,  in  line  with  the 
Commission's proposal and therefore can be supported fully.  

3.2 

Agreement at Common Position Stage  

The  Common  Position  is  the  result  of  intense  inter-institutional  negotiations,  following  the 
Commission's proposal on the revision of the financial framework of 19 September 2007, as 
well as, the adoption of a resolution on the EIT by the EP on 26 September 2007.  

Within this context, informal and technical meetings have pinpointed avenues for compromise 
on a number of outstanding legislative issues. In parallel, discussions on the financing of the 
EIT (and Galileo) have been conducted within the Council's Budget Committee and between 
the two branches of the budget authority in the context of the 2008 budget procedure. 

On  20  November  2007  the  chairwoman  of  the  ITRE  Committee,  Ms  Angelika  Niebler, 
confirmed Parliament's agreement to the text agreed by Coreper on 14 November 2007 and to 
the  Commission's  Declaration  (subject  to  an  agreement  on  the  financing  of  the  EIT  –  see 
below). 

The Competitiveness Council reached a political agreement on Friday 23 November 2007 on 
the establishment of the EIT. The same day, the Council and the European Parliament reached 
an agreement on the financing of Galileo and the EIT, with EUR 309 million earmarked for 
the EIT for the period 2008-2013. 

The main subjects of negotiation on which accord has been reached are: 

The educational dimension: A consensus has emerged on the definition of higher education 
institutions and on degrees and diplomas.  

The participation of KICs in Community programmes (recital 17 and Article 14) 

The  text  of  Article  14  has  been  re-drafted  to  avoid  creating  the  expectation  that  all  the 
administrative  costs  of  the  KICs,  which  could  be  significant,  would  necessarily  be  funded 
through the Community budget.  

The  definition  of  Participating  States  (Article  2  definitions):  The  word  "European"  has 
been  deleted  by  common  agreement  in  response  to  the  EP  proposal,  while  the  European 
dimension has been reinforced in Article 7(3).  

The EIT label (recital 12 and Article 8): A compromise has been reached between the EP's 
and the Council's position (compulsory versus voluntary use).  

The concept of a "pilot phase" (recital 24 and Article 19): replaced by "initial phase". 

The fields of first KICs (recital 24): The Council agreed, in response to Parliament's request, 
to add "renewable energy" and the "next generation of ICTs" in recital 24.  

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The period for the selection of the first KICs (recital 24 and Article 18) has been shortened to 
18 months (from 24) in response to the EP's request. 

Evaluation and Commission's review of the proposal (Article 16(3)): It was agreed that the 
reference to the Commission's capacity to review the regulation "where appropriate" would 
be linked to the evaluation of the EIT.  

Establishment of the support structure (Article 6 of the Annex): During the negotiations, 
the  need  emerged  for  a  provision  in  the  Regulation  to  prepare  the  support  structure.  The 
Commission has, with the co-legislators' agreement, looked at various options and considers 
that the  best  way to  proceed would be to include a new article  in  the Statutes which would 
allow it temporarily to take legal and financial decisions on behalf of the EIT until a Director 
is appointed by the Board. 

The Identification Committee (Article 1 of the Statutes): To emphasize the "ad-hoc" basis 
of an Identification Committee it has been agreed that it be used only for the appointment of 
the first Board members. 

In  response  to  Parliament's  request  for  a  more  open  and  informative  identification  process 
(vis-à-vis the Parliament and Council), the following Declaration of the Commission has been 
added to the minutes of the Council: 

The Commission will inform the Council and the EP about the nomination of the members of 
the Identification Committee and its mandate. 

The  Commission  will  inform  the  Council  and  the  EP  about  the  selection  criteria  that  the 
Identification Committee will use for the selection of the first members of the Board, following 
an open consultation process. 

The Commission will without any delay inform the EP and the Council about the outcome of 
the  selection  process  carried  out  by  the  Identification  Committee  for  appointing  the  first 
members  of  the  Governing  Board  and  by  the  Governing  Board  for  appointing  subsequent 
members. 

The Commission will grant the EP and the Council a period of one month to take cognisance 
of the outcome of the selection process. Following this, the Commission will then appoint the 
members of the Governing Board. 

The  Commission  will  inform  the  Council  and  the  EP  about  the  Chairperson  elected  by  the 
Governing  Board.  An  exchange  of  views  with  the  Chairperson  may  take  place  following 
his/her election before he/she takes office. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The Common Position meets the aims of the Commission's initial proposal. The Commission 
therefore supports the text. 

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