Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the progress made under the Seventh European Framework Programme for Research {SEC(2009) 589}
Date: 2009-04-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Treaty of Lisbon, balance sheet, climate change, demography, report, research and development, research programme

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 29.4.2009 
COM(2009) 209 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

On the progress made under the Seventh European Framework Programme for 
Research 

{SEC(2009) 589}

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1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Scientific research drives the production and exploitation of knowledge, it generates ideas and 
solutions that foster economic growth, competitiveness and employment and it helps address 
long-term  challenges,  such  as  climate  change  and  population  ageing  The  overarching 
objective  of  the  Seventh  Framework  Programme  for  Research1  (FP7)  is  to  help  build  the 
European  Research  Area,  a  European  internal  market  for  researchers,  scientific  knowledge 
and  technology  which  increases  scientific  and  technological  excellence  through  more 
competition,  more  coordination  of  research  activities,  and  more  focus  of  programmes  and 
policies  on  major  societal  challenges  With  its  scientific  and  technological  priorities  focused 
on  sustainable  development,  FP7  is  central  to  the  implementation  of  the  Lisbon  strategy,  to 
support  Europe's  sustainable  growth  in  a  globalised  economy  and  to  transform  it  into  a 
dynamic and low-carbon knowledge-based economy responding to society's needs.  

The  long-term  challenges  we  faced  before  the  crisis  have  not  disappeared,  and  the  Lisbon 
strategy goals are more valid today than ever. It is time to boost, not cut, spending on research 
and innovation, both to face these challenges and to lay the basis for recovery.  

This report assesses progress in implementing FP7 and what remains to be done to fully reach 
its  original  objectives.  It  fulfils  a  legal  obligation  of  the  EC  FP7  Decision2  and  provides  a 
basis  for  the  2010  Interim  Evaluation  of  the  programme3.  The  accompanying  Commission 
Staff Working Document provides more details on the topics covered. 

2. 

THE START OF AN AMBITIOUS AND COMPLEX ENDEAVOUR  

FP7 is considerably bigger in size and scope than the previous FP6 programme. It combines 
continuity with novelty. Well-proven elements of FP6 are continued, such as the Marie-Curie 
fellowships, support to European Research Infrastructures and EURATOM activities, and the 
funding of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) as a provider of robust and independent scientific 
and technical support for EU policies. At the same time, FP7 introduces novelties and radical 
innovations 
implementation,  which  require  simplification  and 
management changes. 

in  both  content  and 

The available evidence for 2007 and 2008 indicates that FP7 had a good start:  

•  The response of the scientific community to its calls for proposals shows a strong demand 
for Community research. Nearly 36.000 proposals were received, and over 5.500 proposals 
were selected for funding. The overall participation rate is at 21.7 %, taking into account 
two-stage application procedures. 

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now, 

Two  Seventh  Framework  Programmes  under  the  EC  and  Euratom  Treaties  (together  called  “FP7”) 
started in 2007. For information on the FP7 objectives and structure as well as on its implementation up 
to 
at 
Annual 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=reports.  
Art. 7(2) OJ L 412, 30.12.2006, p. 1. 
This Report benefits from the opinion by the European Research Advisory Board (ERAB) of February 
19, 2009, reproduced in annex to the Staff Working Document. 

Reports 

2008 

2007 

and 

e.g. 

see 

the 

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•  The quality of the evaluation process is recognised, with 91% of the evaluators stating that 
the quality of the evaluation process was similar to or better than national evaluations in 
which they participated. 

The novel approaches embodied in FP7 seem to be paying off:  

•  The  success  of  the  European  Research  Council  is  evident  from  the  more  than  11.000 
proposals  received  for  the  first  call.  Already  over  500  frontier-research  projects  have 
started in prestigious research institutions across Europe resulting from the first calls of the 
ERC Starting Grant and ERC Advanced Grant schemes. 

•  Five  large-scale  public-private  partnerships  –  Joint  Technology  Initiatives  (JTI)  –  have 
been  set  up,  each  as  an  independent  legal  entity  under  Article  171  of  the  EC  Treaty: 
Innovative  Medicines  (IMI);  Embedded  Computing  Systems  (ARTEMIS);  Clean  Sky; 
Nanoelectronics  (ENIAC)  and  the  Fuel  Cells  &  Hydrogen  (FCH)  JTI.  ARTEMIS  and 
ENIAC have launched projects from their first calls and have just published their second 
calls. The other JTIs have launched their first calls for which evaluation and selection of 
first projects are underway. 

•  Demand for the new Risk Sharing Finance Facility (RSFF) has been strong since its launch 
in  June  2007,  with  30  RSFF  operations  approved  and  the  value  of  signed  loans  reaching 
EUR 2 billion by the beginning of 2009.  

•  Two  agencies  -  the  Research  Executive  Agency  and  the  ERC  Executive  Agency  –  have 
been set up to ensure efficient management of a continuously growing FP7 budget without 
direct staff increases in the Commission. 

•  Progress  has  been  made  in  simplifying  participation  in  FP7:  A  new  Guarantee  fund  has 
made  most  ex-ante  financial  viability  checks  obsolete;  a  Unique  Registration  Facility 
allows one-off submission of legal documents, and audit certificates and ex-ante financial 
capacity checks have been reduced by a factor of ten compared to FP6.  

Some issues deserve further attention and reflection: 

•  The adjusted overall share of SMEs participation in retained proposals under the specific 
programmes  "Cooperation"  and  "Capacities"  is  around  11%  in  terms  of  requested  EC 
contribution. 

•  Below average FP7 participation rates for most new Member States are balanced by higher 
financial contributions: EU 12 participants obtained almost 5% of the total requested FP7 
contribution,  compared  with  a  2.8%  share  of  EU12  in  the  total  EU27  intramural  R&D 
expenditure.  

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3. 

PROGRESS TOWARDS ACHIEVING FP7 OBJECTIVES 

3.1 

Realising the European Research Area 

In December 2008, Member States adopted their joint vision of the European Research Area 
(ERA)  in  20204.  Through  the  "Ljubljana  process",  they  committed  to  a  process  of  working 
together to realise this vision, in mutual partnership and with the Commission. The vision of 
ERA  is  one  which  offers  the  right  conditions  and  incentives  for  high-impact  research  and 
R&D  investments,  adding  European  value  by  fostering  healthy  competition  for  excellence, 
especially between researchers; allowing researchers, scientific knowledge and technology to 
circulate freely (‘fifth freedom’), while supporting coordination between research funders and 
cooperation between industry and academia.  

FP7  acts  as  a  catalyst  in  the  efforts  towards  the  realisation  of  the  ERA  through  4  specific 
programmes with each having a specific mission: 

COOPERATION  programme:  Gaining  EU  leadership  in  key  S&T  areas  through 
supporting R&D collaboration and open innovation 

The  collaborative  research  instruments  of  the  Cooperation  programme  enable  industry  and 
academia  to  collaborate  in  an  'open  innovation'  environment,  contributing  to  the  free 
circulation of knowledge and technologies. The European added value and structuring effects 
with respect to ERA are decisive criteria for choosing the priority topics, independent of the 
size  and  scope  of  the  instrument.  While  smaller  scale  R&D  projects  may  serve  individual 
research  teams  or  specific  policy  needs,  FP7  recognised  the  need  for  a  more  strategic 
approach for gaining science and technology leadership and for structuring ERA, moving to 
larger  programmes  and  strategic  initiatives  with  wider  scope  and  critical  mass:  the  'Joint 
Technology Initiatives' (JTIs) and public-public partnerships, so-called Article 169 initiatives 
through which the EU participates in R&D programmes jointly undertaken by Member States. 

JTIs embody an innovative approach to public-private partnerships, but their establishment as 
‘community bodies’ has been long and tedious. It is too early to judge whether JTIs will have 
the  expected  impact  in  terms  of  advancing  EU technology  leadership  in  key  areas,  but  they 
seem promising for leveraging EU research investments, in a more simplified framework, in 
the future. Three new Article 169 initiatives were launched in FP7: Ambient Assisted Living 
(AAL), EUROSTARS5 and European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP). Taking into 
account  the  experience  and  lessons  learnt  with  the  first  Article  169  initiative  in  FP6,  the 
European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), and building on the 
ERA-NET  schemes,  such  common  endeavours  between  national  programmes  are  proving 
their worth, also in view of possible future initiatives to jointly implement programmes.  

IDEAS programme: Stimulating the creativity and excellence of European Research 

The European Research Council has become a highly visible and influential component of the 
European  Research  Area.  With  a  budget  of  roughly  €7.5  billion  over  a  7  years  period  it 
provides stable support to frontier research in Europe with a critical mass only achievable at 
EU level. In recognition of benefits coming from Europe-wide competition, a number of EU 

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ERA Vision 2020 adopted by the Competitiveness Council on 2 December 2008, see doc 16767/08 
The BONUS proposal to be tabled before end of 2009.  

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Member states have already decided to award national grants to non awarded high performers 
in the ERC grants evaluation process.  

At  the  core  of  the  achievement  has  been  the  establishment  of  the  independent  Scientific 
Council composed of eminent scientists. It has autonomously shaped the scientific strategy for 
frontier  research  in  Europe  and,  in  partnership  with  the  Commission,  set  up  structures  and 
mechanisms to implement investigator-driven grant schemes in all fields of research based on 
the sole criterion of excellence.  

Despite  having  coped  with  the  challenges  that  are  inherent  in  launching  an  institutional 
operation of such scale, there is no room for complacency. During 2009, the transition of the 
implementing structure into the ERC Executive Agency must be completed. An independent 
review of the ERC should objectively look into the extent of this apparent early success and 
help in identifying further improvements. This should contribute to the ERC's durable success 
as one of the most important components of a true European Research Area.  

PEOPLE  programme:  Strengthening  the  human  potential  of  European  research 
through 'brain circulation' 

Application numbers in the first calls demonstrate that the Marie-Curie fellowships offered by 
the  PEOPLE  programme  remains  as  attractive  as  ever,  contributing  to  a  balanced  "brain 
circulation"  both  at  European  and  global  levels  and  the  creation  a  high-quality  and  mobile 
European  R&D  workforce.  However,  the  use  of  industry-academia  fellowships  could  be 
improved by better communicating opportunities to industries and SMEs. 

CAPACITIES programme: Enhancing the research and innovation capacity in Europe 

All  actions  under  the  Capacities  programme  are  in  heavy  demand,  notably  those  supporting 
research for SMEs and SME associations.  

The  limiting  factor  in  building  the  44  priority  infrastructure  projects  of  strategic  European 
interest identified by the 'European Strategic Forum on Research Infrastructures' (ESFRI) are 
a  lack  of  Community  and  national  resources,  and  the  insufficient  integration  with  other 
financial  instruments  (EIB,  Structural  Funds).  The  adoption  of  new  legal  framework  for 
European  Research  Infrastructures  should  provide  a  further  boost  and  financial  planning 
security.  The  most  advanced  international  network  in  the  world,  GEANT,  implemented  an 
innovative  hybrid  networking  technology  and  a  range  of  user-focused  services,  enabling 
worldwide research collaboration. Together with GEANT, the EGEE (Enabling Grids for E-
Service)  e-Infrastructure  enables  scientists  to  access  computational  resources  all  over  the 
world.  

The  "Research  potential"  and  "Regions  of  knowledge"  activities  provide  value  in  building 
scientific  capacity  across  regions,  particularly  in  convergence  regions,  but  seem  to  lack 
budget for having a sizeable impact, in particular in the New Member States. Better and more 
targeted use of Structural Funds, which have in the period 2007-2013 earmarked for research 
and innovation  a budget of approximately the  same size as FP7, could in synergy with FP7 
objectives  and  instruments  do  much  more  to  raise  the  level  of  scientific  and  technological 
excellence across the EU. 

Efforts  to  build  a  European  level  partnership  between  research  and  society  have  been 
strengthened. A new funding scheme is enabling Civil Society Organisations to participate in 

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FP7  and  Societal  Platforms  are  developing  research  agendas,  for  example  on  issues  like 
socially cohesive urban settings.  

In  the  context  of  the  ERA,  FP7  contributes  to  the  development  of  more  coherent  and 
coordinated  research  policies  in  Europe  through  the  support  to  the  Open  Method  of 
Coordination and to the development of ERA partnerships under the Ljubljana process. 

3.2 

Contributing to sustainable development  

One of the key objectives of FP7 is to contribute to sustainable development, responding to 
the  needs  of  industry  and  society  and,  in  coherence  with  other  policies  and  instruments,  to 
bring about a low carbon knowledge-based economy.  

Responding to interdisciplinary challenges, societal needs and policy priorities … 

FP7 strongly focuses on addressing societal challenges and responding to the policy priorities 
of  the  Community.  In  the  first  two  years  of  FP7  this  resulted  in  44%  of  the  cooperation 
programme's  budget  being  allocated  to  interdisciplinary  research  supporting  the  renewed 
sustainable  development  strategy,  mainly  through  the  environment,  energy  and  food, 
agriculture and biotechnology themes, and including the "Clean Sky" and the "Hydrogen and 
Fuel Cells" JTIs as key elements. 

FP7 plays an important role in addressing environmental challenges, notably in the context 
of the Climate Action and Renewable Energy package. This includes issues like biodiversity, 
disaster reduction and earth observation. 

Responding  to  the  challenges  of  health  and  demographic  change,  FP7  has  supported  the 
development of novel tools and services to manage medical knowledge and deliver new ways 
of  healthcare  in  particular  through  the  Health  programme  (and  notably  the  Innovative 
Medicines  JTI),  the  ICT  for  Health  programme,  the  e-Health  lead  market  initiative,  the 
Ambient-Assisted-Living programme and ICT for Ageing Well. 

FP7  has  substantially  increased  its  efforts  to  address  security  challenges,  for  example  by 
funding initiatives in the field of bioterrorism, both to deliver the technologies to respond to 
incidences  but  also  to  understand  the  psychological  dimension  and  preparedness  which  are 
important elements of prevention, crisis and after-crisis management.  

FP7  is  responding  to  inter-  and  multidisciplinary  challenges  cutting  across  areas  such  as 
environment,  energy,  transport,  and  biotechnology  -  for  example  in  launching  a  cross-
thematic  call  for  proposals  on  biorefineries6  -  and  in  helping  to  establish  and  to  start 
implementing a European Strategy for Marine and Maritime Research. Efforts to gain a better 
understanding  of  the  underlying  factors  shaping  societal  and  economic  development  in 
Europe are complementing pure technological research. Support for socio-economic sciences 
and humanities produces evidence for developing new policy options (as for example in the 
case of the recent financial crisis). 

forces,  pooling 

'joint 
Joining 
programming'  is  seen  as  a  way  ahead  for  dealing  more  effectively  with  major  societal 
challenges. The Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan can serve as a model, by delivering 

resources  and  developing 

joint  strategies 

through 

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OJ 2008/C 226/06. 

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processes  and  tools  for  more  effectively  engaging  governments,  industry  and  the  research 
community, through a Steering Group of Member States, European Industrial Initiatives and 
the  establishment  of  the  European  Energy  Research  Alliance,  respectively  –  all  based  on  a 
coherent strategic European research agenda. 

…while addressing the needs of the real economy … 

FP7 has seen a renewed commitment to meeting the needs of industry, in particular through 
the cooperation with European Technology Platforms (ETPs). The 36 existing ETPs help to 
coordinate  and  pool  R&D  efforts  in  particular  in  the  thematic  areas  with  high  industry 
participation,  such  as  ICT,  Nanotechnologies,  Energy,  Transport  and  Space.  Through 
cooperation with Member States and via National Technology Platforms, ETPs bring about a 
structuring effect that goes well beyond the Framework programme7. In some cases, they have 
resulted in the establishment of JTIs.  

Progress in reaching the 15% target for SME participation has been below expectation. With 
tailor-made  SME  support  schemes,  such  as  the  newly  launched  EUROSTARS  initiative 
addressing  research-intensive  SMEs,  possibly  becoming  more  attractive,  the  usefulness  of 
targets and of the current SME instruments deserves further analysis and reflection.  

The  new  Risk  Sharing  Finance  Facility  (RSFF),  jointly  funded  by  FP7  and  the  European 
Investment  Bank  and  providing  loans  for  high-risk  R&D  investments,  experienced  strong 
demand  from  industry,  in  particular  mid-sized  companies.  Current  loan  operations  cover 
energy,  ICT,  life  sciences  and  automotive  companies  in  14  European  countries  and  will  be 
further extended in 2009. 

…  and  fully  exploiting  EU's  R&D  potential  by  optimising  coherence  and  synergy 
between policies and instruments  

In  the  face  of  competing  priorities,  it  is  more  important  than  ever  to  stress  the  value  of 
Community  research  in  attaining  the  EU's  objectives  of  sustainable  growth  and  jobs. 
Exploiting  the  full  EU  research  potential,  however,  can  only  be  achieved  through  a  better 
coherence and coordination between policies and instruments related to research, innovation 
and  education,  at  national  and  EU  level,  and  in  particular  between  the  Community  funding 
instruments, including the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP), the Education 
and  Life-Long  Learning  programmes  and  the  Structural  Funds.  Such  coordination  should 
intervene both at the phase of their design as well as during their implementation.  

Europe is still lagging behind when it comes to transforming knowledge and research results 
into  innovative  products  and  services.  Barriers  to  the  free  circulation  of  knowledge  and 
technologies and the products in which they are embedded need to be removed, and demand 
side  measures  such  as  standardisation,  public  procurement  and  regulation  can  help  the 
emergence  of  markets  for  innovative  products  that  respond  to  the  needs  of  society  ('lead 
markets')8.  

A continued challenge, particularly in the current crisis, is to balance the need for short term 
actions  that  boost  demand  with  "smart"  R&D  investments  which  reinforce  Europe's  move 
towards  a  low-carbon  knowledge-based  economy.  This  is  emphasised  in  the  context  of  the 

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ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/technology-platforms/docs/evaluation-etps.pdf 
COM(2009)116: A Strategy for ICT R&D and Innovation in Europe: Raising the Game 

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European Economic Recovery Plan9: by investing in energy efficiency to create jobs and save 
energy;  clean  technologies  to  boost  sectors  like  construction  and  automobiles  in  the  low-
carbon  markets  of  the  future;  and  infrastructure  and  inter-connection  to  promote  efficiency 
and innovation. 

3.3 

Opening EU research to the world 

Major global challenges such as climate change, poverty, infectious disease, threats to energy, 
food  and  water  supply  and  security  of  the  citizen  highlight  the  need  for  effective 
international research cooperation. FP7 aims to support joint research activities in areas of 
common  interest  that  are  of  benefit  to  both  the  EU  and  third  countries  through  a  variety  of 
new  schemes  such  as  Specific  International  Cooperation  Actions,  targeted  open  calls, 
'twinning  of  projects'  and  coordinated  calls  at  programme  level.  International  cooperation 
activities  are  thus  better  integrated  into  the  whole  programme  and  no  longer  treated  as  a 
separate activity.  

The  newly  developed  European  Strategic  Framework  for  International  S&T  Cooperation 
stresses the need for a strengthened partnership between Member States and the Community if 
we  are  to  contribute  effectively  to  stability,  security  and  prosperity  in  the  world.  The 
framework  facilitates  the  opening  of  ERA  to  the  world  by  integrating  Europe's  neighbours 
into the ERA through association to FP7, by fostering co-operation with key third countries 
through  geographic  and  thematic  targeting,  and  by  improving  the  framework  conditions  for 
international  S&T  co-operation,  such  as  for  global  research  infrastructures,  the  mobility  of 
researchers, mutual opening up of research programmes and intellectual property rights.  

Science  and  engineering  provide  many  solutions  for  poverty  reduction  and  socio-economic 
development  in  Africa.  The  Africa-EU  Partnership  on  Science,  Information  Society  and 
Space10 provides the basis for combining development and research funding from European 
and national sources around projects which respond to needs identified by the African Union 
and its member states. 

The  International  Thermonuclear  Experimental  Reactor  (ITER)  represents  a  major  step 
towards  the  demonstration  of  viability  of  provision  of  clean  and  plentiful  energy  through 
nuclear fusion technology. As a unique and truly collaborative global project it also represents 
an  important  and  challenging  test  case  for  conception,  management  and  financing  of 
international large scale scientific infrastructure.  

3.4 

Improving Management, Control and Simplification 

The fundamental management objective of FP7 must be to maximise the research impact of 
each Euro invested (performance), whilst providing assurance that research funding complies 
with  the  rules  (legality  and  regularity)  and  ensuring  that  the  financial  impact  of  errors  is 
minimised  (correction). Although  not  mutually  exclusive,  there  are  trade-offs  between  these 
objectives  and  achieving  the  right  balance  between  them  and  between  the  limited  resources 
allocated to each is critical to the success of the programme. 

Performance  of  the  programme  is  guaranteed  by  highly  competitive  calls  and  by  their 
independent  scientific  evaluation.  Management  processes,  procedures  and  tools  need  to  be 

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COM(2008)800: A European Economic Recovery Plan 
http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/EAS2007_action_plan_science_en.pdf 

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simple and effective to ensure responsible and accountable investment of Community funds 
and to avoid administrative burden. In addition to achievements outlined in section 2, progress 
towards simplification is evident:  

•  Cost  reimbursements  are  being  simplified  through  gradual  introduction  of  flat  rates  and 
lump-sums, with actual cost reporting retained where beneficiaries say that this is simpler. 

•  Average personnel costs methodologies are being progressively introduced. This is a very 
important step as personnel costs remain the principal cause of errors. However, their use 
will only be possible for a limited number of beneficiaries in a first pilot phase. 

•  Documentation  has  been  streamlined  and  harmonised  across  the  entire  programme,  and 

new electronic tools facilitate the negotiation of contracts.  

•  Frequency of reporting has been reduced and a web-based system for collecting financial 

reports has been launched.  

•  Clear  written  guidance  and  a  helpline  are  available  to  help  beneficiaries  avoid  the  most 

frequent errors. 

But  simplification  can  take  place  only  within  the  given  legal  context,  in  particular  the 
Communities'  Financial  Regulation,  and  Rules  for  participation  and  dissemination.  As  it 
cannot change these rules itself, the Commission's efforts outlined above focus on removing 
administrative  hurdles,  streamlining  procedures  and  providing  clear  guidance.  While  these 
incremental  changes  go  in  the  right  direction,  there  is  a  growing  recognition  that  real  and 
substantial simplification will require changing the rules themselves11, while keeping errors in 
transactions at an acceptable level. This will entail:  

•  Agreement of all actors concerned on the proper balance between accountability and risk-
taking. The European Research Advisory Board has called upon the European Parliament 
and the Council to enable a risk-tolerant and trust-based approach in research funding. The 
Commission  has  launched  proposals  to  achieve  this  into  inter-institutional  debate  in  its 
Communication  "Towards  a  common  understanding  of  the  concept  of  tolerable  risk  of 
error"12  and  intends  to  put  forward  a  detailed  tolerable  risk  analysis,  inter  alia,  for  the 
Research policy area in 2010 should there be sufficient encouragement from the Budgetary 
Authority. 

•  A substantial review by the legislative authorities of the Community financial rules relating 
to  framework  programmes  in  the  future.  This  should  pave  the  way  to  greater  clarity  and 
fewer burdens, but also enable effective operation of the new instruments, which provide 
the basis for a more strategic approach to research programme management.  

A  Commission  Communication  is  planned  for  2010,  which  would  be  the  occasion  for 
reflecting on these issues. 

The  EU's  research  agenda  is  increasingly  geared  towards  reaching  policy  objectives  which 
relate  to  wider  economic,  societal  and  environmental  challenges.  Alternatives  to  direct 

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Report on the Ex-post evaluation of FP6: 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/reports/2009/pdf/fp6_evaluation_final_report_en.pdf 
COM(2008)866. 

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management should therefore be considered in order to increase the leverage and structuring 
impact of EU research policy and the associated funding in support of the EU's overall policy 
objectives.  The  two  agencies  created  to  implement  parts  of  FP7  -  the  Research  Executive 
Agency (REA) and the ERC Executive Agency - have enabled the increased budget of FP7 to 
be  managed  efficiently  without  direct  staff  increases  in  the  Commission.  They  will  fully 
assume  their  responsibilities  during  2009.  Evaluations  of  these  agencies  will  contribute  to 
further optimise their operation, in order to allow for the management of far larger research 
budgets  whilst  separating  project  and  financial  management  from  policy  making.  More 
emphasis may also need to be given to approaches which aim to increase the structuring effect 
of financial support in partnership with stakeholders and Member States, such as in the case 
of joint technology initiatives and article 169 investments. 

4. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The  7th  Framework  Programme  is  adapting  to  help  the  EU  meet  its  goals  of  creating  a  low 
carbon, knowledge-based society. It seeks to increase its leverage effect on public and private 
R&D investment and to diversify its instruments in order to maximise European added value.  

FP7  remains  a  crucial  instrument  to  promote  scientific  excellence  and  technological 
development,  responding  to  EU  policy  priorities  and  the  needs  of  industry  and  society.  The 
current  adverse  economic  context  underlines  its  importance  even  more.  FP7  contributes  to 
sustained  research  efforts,  both  private  and  public,  as  exemplified  in  the  public  private 
partnership  initiatives  for  green  cars,  energy  efficient  buildings  and  factories  of  the  future 
launched as part of the European Recovery Plan.  

In order to obtain advice for further improving  and  possibly  adapting  FP7,  the  Commission 
will  be  seeking  advice  from  an  independent  expert  group,  which  will  undertake  an  Interim 
Evaluation  of  FP7.  Their  mandate  should  be  adopted  in  autumn  2009,  and  the  evaluation 
should be completed in the autumn of 2010. 

The analysis and the specific issues presented in this Communication and its accompanying 
staff  working  document  provide  a  basis  for  the  forthcoming  Interim  Evaluation  and  further 
political  discussions  in  the  Council,  the  Parliament  and  with  stakeholders.  These  should 
address the following key questions: 

•  How  can  the  impact  of  FP7  and  future  FPs  on  shaping  the  European  Research  Area  be 

improved? 

•  Are the novel measures (ERC, JTIs, Article 169, RSFF) efficient with respect to reaching 

their intended objectives?  

•  How  can  the  impact  and  added  value  of  collaborative  research  that  cuts  across  scientific 
disciplines,  industrial  sectors  and  policy  fields  be  further  enhanced  with  a  view  to  better 
address large societal challenges? 

•  Does  FP7  play  an  adequate  role  in  positioning  Europe  on  the  global  map  of  science  and 

technology? 

•  To what extent have simplification measures been effective? Will further steps create the 

desired results or do we need to consider radically new approaches?  

EN 

10 

   EN 

 
The  findings  of  this  Interim  Evaluation  will  not  only  be  relevant  for  a  possible  revision  of 
FP7, but also be of great influence on the emerging debates on future financial frameworks of 
the European Union, the post-2010 Lisbon strategy and the next Framework Programme. 

EN 

11 

   EN