Commission staff working document - Accompanying document to the Proposal for a Council Regulation on the Community legal framework for a European Research Infrastructure (ERI) - Summary of the impact assessment {COM(2008) 467 final} {SEC(2008) 2278}
Date: 2008-07-15
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU research policy, drafting of EU law, industrial infrastructure, research and development

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 25.7.2008 
SEC(2008) 2279 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

Accompanying document to the 

Proposal for a  

COUNCIL REGULATION  

on the Community legal framework for a European Research Infrastructure (ERI) 

SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT  

{COM(2008) 467 final} 
{SEC(2008) 2278} 

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SUMMARY 

This  Impact  Assessment  accompanies  the  proposal  for  a  "REGULATION  on  the 
Community  legal  framework  for  a  European  Research  Infrastructure  (ERI)",  which  is 
included in the Commission Legislative and Work Programme 2008 as one of the priority 
initiatives.  

Since the Communication of the EU Commission Towards a European Research Area of 
January 2000 the idea of a common European Research Area (ERA) has been the guiding 
principle  for  all  Community  R&D  measures  and  a  central  pillar  in  realising  the  research 
goals  of  the  Lisbon  Strategy  for  growth,  jobs  and  a  dynamic  and  knowledge-based 
European  economy.  In  the  2007  ERA  Green  Paper  The  European  Research  Area:  New 
Perspectives  a  number  of  key  areas  have  been  identified  where  effective  action  in 
partnerships between Member States would have the potential to deliver significant gains 
for  Europe's  research  system  and  help  to  create  a  "fifth  freedom"  in  Europe  -  the  free 
movement of knowledge. In this context, "Developing world class research infrastructures" 
is put forward as one of the pillars of an ambitious ERA vision. 

Research  infrastructures  play  an  increasing  role  in  the  advancement  of  knowledge  and 
technology. For example, irradiation facilities, data banks in  genomics  and  data  banks  in 
social science, observatories for environmental sciences, imaging systems or clean rooms 
for  nano-electronics,  are  at  the  core  of  research  and  innovation  processes.  By  offering 
unique  research  services  to  users  from  different  countries,  by  attracting  young  people  to 
science  and  through  networking  of  facilities,  research  infrastructures  help  structuring  the 
scientific  community  and  play  therefore  a  key  role  in  the  construction  of  an  efficient 
research and innovation environment. Because of their ability to assemble a ‘critical mass’ 
of  people  and  investment,  they  contribute  to  national,  regional  and  European  economic 
development.  They  are  therefore  at  the  core  of  the  knowledge  triangle  of  research, 
education and innovation.  

As  the  frontiers  of  research  evolve  and  become  more  advanced  and  as  our  technologies 
progress, research infrastructures are becoming increasingly complex and more expensive, 
often  placing  them  beyond  the  reach  of  a  single  research  group,  region,  nation  or  even 
continent. The fragmentation in Europe does not help in facing these challenges.  

This  was  recognised  by  the  Competitiveness  Councils  of  1-3  July  2004  and  of  25-26 
November  2004  when  Ministers  agreed  that,  within  the  framework  of  the  further 
development  of  the  ERA,  the  reinforcement  of  competitive  research,  prevention  of 
fragmentation,  and  cooperation  in  the  field  of  research  infrastructures  are  required. 
Ministers emphasized the need for the development of a European strategy in the field of 
research infrastructures, which should imply greater coordination at European level as well 
as  different  approaches  depending  on  the  size  and  scope  of  the  research  facilities 
concerned.  The  Ministers  mandated  ESFRI,  the  European  Strategy  Forum  for  Research 
Infrastructure  to  develop  a  strategic  roadmap  for  Europe  for  the  next  generation  of 
Research Infrastructures. 

Following  the  release  of  the  ESFRI  roadmap,  in  October  2006,  several  Competitiveness 
Councils, as well as the European Council, invited Member States to participate actively in 
the  implementation  of  Research  Infrastructures  of  pan-European  interest,  and  recognised 
the important role of the European Commission in this process. 

However,  a  major  difficulty  for  setting  up  new  European  research  infrastructures,  apart 
from scarcity of resources and the complexity of technical and organisational issues, is the 

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lack of an adequate legal framework allowing the creation of appropriate partnership with 
partners from different countries. Recent work carried out under the auspices of ESFRI has 
recognised the limitations of existing legal instruments and identified a need to develop a 
new  dedicated  Community 
research 
framework 
infrastructures involving several Member States.  

for  setting-up  European 

legal 

It  is  in  that  context  that  the  Commission  has  included  in  its  2008  Legislative  and  Work 
Programme,  as  a  Priority  Initiative,  a  proposal  to  develop  a  "REGULATION  on  the 
Community legal framework for a European Research Infrastructure (ERI)".  

A  wide-ranging  consultation  of  interested  parties  has  been  carried  out  to  prepare  this 
initiative. The impact assessment has drawn information coming from a variety of sources 
i) analysis conducted by experts; ii) consultation of stakeholders and iii) contributions from 
an  inter-service  group  and  from  an  independent  "sounding  board"  specifically  set  up  to 
follow this initiative.  

Four policy options have been considered:  

•  Option  1:  The  "no  specific  EU  action"  option  corresponds  to  the  present  situation, 
where,  each  consortium,  through  an  ad  hoc  process,  tries  to  identify  among  existing 
legal forms the one which could be the most appropriate for their project;  

•  Option 2 corresponds to a "light" form of intervention from the European Commission, 
helping  those  involved  in  building  European  infrastructures  to  identify  problems  and 
needs, to exchange information about how to tackle these problems and to establish best 
practices.  

•  Option  3  corresponds  to  the  setting-up  of  Joint  Undertakings  by  the  Community, 
according to Article 171 of the EC-Treaty, on case by case basis, every time that a need 
for such setting-up occurs;  

•  Option  4  is  a  more  direct  response  to  the  problem  at  hand.  It  proposes  a  legislative 
action  to  provide  a  new  legal  instrument  adapted  to  the  need  of  European  research 
infrastructures,  complementing  existing  forms  at  national  and  European  level;  it  also 
considers  the  empowerment  from  the  legislator  to  the  European  Commission  for 
conferring the "European Research Infrastructure" status.  

A comparative assessment of the different policy options clearly identifies Option 4 as the 
most effective and efficient to achieve the policy objectives of the proposal. 

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Policy objectives 

Option 1 

Option 2 

Option 
3 

Option 
4 

Ease and speed-up the process of setting-up 
new European research infrastructures 

 Generally 
Low 

Generally Low  Moderate 

High 

Increase the number of European research 
infrastructures  

Contribute to the further development of a 
European policy for research infrastructures 

Provide a cost efficient procedure for setting-up 
new European research infrastructures 

Very Low 

Moderate 

Moderate 

High 

Very Low 

Moderate 

Moderate 

High 

Generally Low  Generally Low 

Low 

High 

Provide all the features that a legal form should 
have for European research infrastructures  

Depends on 
scheme 

Depends on 
scheme 

Moderate  

High 

Increased EU positive image at international level 
through the reinforcement of ERA 

Contribute to achievement of socio-economic, 
environmental and societal impacts 

Very Low 

Moderate 

Moderate 

High 

Generally Low 

Moderate 

Moderate 

High 

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