REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Annual Report on Research and Technological Development Activities of the European Union in 2010
Date: 2011-07-12
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, EU programme, activity report, applied research, innovation, research and development, technological change

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 12.7.2011 
COM(2011) 428 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

Annual Report on Research and Technological Development Activities of the European 
Union in 2010 

 
 
 
 
  
 
Annual Report on Research and Technological Development Activities of the European 
Union in 2010 

1. 

BACKGROUND TO THE ANNUAL REPORT ON RTD ACTIVITIES 

The  Annual  Report  on  research  and  technological  development  activities  of  the  European 
Union is prepared pursuant to Article 190 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European 
Union (TFEU). 

Although  formally  not  within  the  scope  of  this  Report,  some  information  on  research 
activities carried out under the Euratom Treaty has been included.  

THE BROADER CONTEXT IN 2010 

2. 
In June 2010, the European Council1 endorsed the Europe 2020 strategy as the EU's agenda 
for growth and jobs for the next decade. It sets out how Europe can emerge from the crisis by 
focusing  on  smart,  sustainable  and  inclusive  growth.  The  strategy  is  supported  by  seven 
flagship initiatives to catalyse progress under each priority theme. Five headline targets were 
defined to serve as landmarks of success.  

One of the cornerstones of the strategy is the need for Europe to enhance the excellence of its 
research and its capacity to innovate. A key objective was set 'to improve the conditions for 
research and development, in particular with the aim of raising the R&D intensity to 3%'.  

While the EU as a whole did not progress significantly towards the 3% target over the past 
decade2, the target did focus attention throughout the EU on the need for both the public and 
private  sectors  to  invest  more  in  R&D.  As  a  result  R&D  investment  has  increased  in  real 
terms  across  EU-273.  Nevertheless,  the  overall  R&D  intensity  in  Europe  is  only  at  2% 
(Eurostat 2009).  

In October 2010 the Commission adopted its communication 'Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative 
Innovation Union'4 which sets a strategic and integrated approach to research and innovation . 
In November the Council5 (and subsequently the February 2011 European Council) supported 
this initiative, emphasising in particular the need to create the right conditions for a globally 
competitive innovation environment in Europe. 
In  the  EU  Budget  Review6,  the  Commission  presented  its  ideas  on  the  architecture  and 
purpose  of  the  Union's  future  budget  and  set  the  scene  for  the  forthcoming  proposal  on  the 
next Multi-annual Financial Framework. Focusing on smart fiscal consolidation, the aim is to 
achieve  a  budget  for  the  future  designed  to  help  deliver  Europe  2020  and  based  on  key 
principles  such  as  delivering  key  policy  priorities,  EU  added  value,  and  driven  by  results. 
Being  at  the  centre  of  economic  policy  and  delivering  growth  and  jobs,  research  and 
innovation were recognised as one of the most sustainable engines for delivering progress.  

Most importantly, the Budget Review proposed to develop a Common Strategic Framework 
for all future EU research and innovation funding. The aim, as subsequently set out in a Green 

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http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/index_en.htm  
The European Council set in 2002 the target to increase the EU R&D intensity to approach 3% by 2010. 
An EU-27 increase by 25% between 2000 and 2009 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/innovation-union/index_en.cfm  
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/intm/118028.pdf  
http://ec.europa.eu/budget/reform/index_en.htm  

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Paper, would be to develop a coherent set of instruments providing seamless funding across 
the  whole  innovation  chain,  from  research  to  technological  development,  to  demonstration 
and market uptake.  

3. 

THE INNOVATION UNION, INCLUDING ERA POLICY ACHIEVEMENTS 

Through  Innovation  Union,  Europe  has  adopted  a  strategic  and  integrated  approach  to 
innovation  whereby  the  objectives  of  increasing  competitiveness  and  addressing  societal 
challenges  reinforce  each  other  and  the  pursuit  of  innovation  determines  policy  formulation 
and implementation in all areas.  

A key implementation feature are European Innovation Partnerships which will bring together 
all the actors of the innovation cycle and integrate European efforts to address urgent societal 
challenges whilst accelerating the market take up of new technologies and products in Europe. 

3.1.  Monitoring progress in innovation 

Following the request of the European Council in June 2010 to develop a new indicator for 
monitoring  progress  in  innovation,  a  High  Level  Panel  of  leading  business  innovators  and 
economists  examined  the  availability  and  quality  of  possible  indicators  and  their  technical 
feasibility.  The  panel  took  into  account  the  need  to  avoid  duplication  with  the  3%  R&D 
intensity target, to focus on outputs and impacts and to ensure international comparability. 

Following the panel's work and after consultation of Member States, an indicator based on the 
share of fast-growing innovative firms in the economy was proposed in Innovation Union, as 
a  means  to  focus  on  a  critical  gap  which  the  EU  will  need  to  close  if it  is  to  catch  up  with 
innovation leaders world-wide.  

3.2. 

Improving framework conditions  

One of the priority areas under Innovation Union is the drastic improvement of the business 
environment  that  underpins  private  investment  in  research  and  innovation.  This  requires 
setting in place a number of key framework conditions and the following priorities have been 
highlighted in Innovation Union and by the European Council: 

in  the  area  of  standardisation:  reforming  the  European  standardisation  system  to 
make  it  much  faster  and  more  efficient  in  delivering  interoperable  standards,  in 
particular in the ICT sector; 

in  the  area  of  public  procurement:  improving  the  application  of  current  legislation 
and developing a Small Business Innovation Research type Scheme to promote the 
take up and use of innovative products; 

in the area of intellectual property: adopting the European patent and creating an EU-
wide knowledge market to facilitate the exploitation of knowledge7. 

3.3. 

Enhancing access to finance for innovative companies 

During 2010, access to finance continued to be a major obstacle to reaching Europe's research 
and innovation investment goal.  

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The Council authorised on 10 March 2011 the launch of an enhanced cooperation among EU Member 
States for the creation of a unitary patent title.  

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The  Innovation  Union's  commitments  to  help  tackle  this  state  of  affairs  cover  developing  a 
new generation of EU-level financial instruments to overcome market gaps and attract a major 
increase  in  private  finance  for  research  and  innovation;  establishing  a  regime  to  enable 
venture capital funds established in any Member State to operate and invest freely across the 
EU; making it easier for innovative firms to match up with suitable investors, EU-wide; and 
reviewing the State aid framework for R&D and innovation in order to clarify which forms of 
innovation can be properly supported. 

The  new  generation  of  financial  instruments  will  build  on  the  striking  success  of  the  Risk-
Sharing  Finance  Facility8  (RSFF)  under  the  Seventh  Framework  Programme,  and  of  other 
EU-level schemes.  

3.4. 

Tackling societal challenges: European Innovation Partnerships 

The concept of European Innovation partnerships (EIPs) was introduced as part of Innovation 
Union together with a proposal to launch a pilot EIP on Active and Healthy Ageing. EIPs are 
aimed  at  mobilising  and  coordinating  all  relevant  supply-  and  demand-side  measures.  One 
important  aspect  concerns  addressing  regulatory  or  financial  bottlenecks  and  streamline 
existing  support  measures  to  ensure  that  innovative  products  and  solutions  reach  the 
marketplace quickly.  

Following  support  from  the  Council  in  November  20109  the  Commission  launched  a 
stakeholder  consultation  on  the  scope  and  content  of  the  pilot  EIP  and  outlined  in  a  FAQ 
paper  the  governance  arrangements  and  selection  criteria  for  the  next  EIPs.  The  European 
Council endorsed the pilot partnership on 4 February 2011.  

3.5. 

Delivering the European Research Area (ERA) 

3.5.1.  ERA Governance 

The  Ljubljana  process10  aims  through  concerted  actions  and  the  five  ERA  partnerships 
between  the  Member  States  and  the  EU  to  tackle  deficiencies  and  inefficiencies  in  the 
European  research  system  due  to  fragmentation,  a  lack  of  coherence  and  coordination,  and 
constraints on the free movement of knowledge.  

Innovation  Union  announced  that  the  Commission  will  propose  a  new  ERA  Framework  in 
2012.  This  framework  will  identify  and  address  the  key  bottlenecks  which  prevent  the 
development of a research system worthy of the knowledge economy aspirations of the EU. 
To put in place such an ERA framework, the Commission will analyse how to take advantage 
of the strengthened legal basis for ERA in the Lisbon Treaty.  

Another key step in the overall governance of ERA was the adoption of a new mandate for 
CREST, which changed its name to European Research Area Committee11 (ERAC) to better 
reflect the new emphasis given to ERA12. 

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http://ec.europa.eu/invest-in-research/funding/funding02_en.htm  
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/intm/118028.pdf  
COM(2008) 9076 
ERAC is a strategic policy advisory body to the Council and the Commission in the sphere of research 
and technological development. 
Council Resolution of 26 May 2010 (3016) 

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3.5.2.  Researchers 

The Steering Group for Human Resources and Mobility continued in 2010 to play an active 
role in the implementation of the European Partnership for Researchers. Via National Action 
Plans,  a  number  of  countries  contributed  to  progress  towards  a  more  open  and  unified  EU 
labour market for researchers. A contract to monitor the implementation of these actions was 
launched so as to produce an annual progress report for the coming three years.  

Other key actions include the design of a framework for researchers' career stages, a study to 
facilitate the creation of pan-European pension funds for researchers, a study on the mobility 
patterns and career paths of EU researchers (MORE), and the expansion of the EURAXESS-
Links with European researchers abroad to India and Singapore.  

Looking  ahead  in  2011,  a  comparable  research  career  structure  will  be  promoted,  efforts  to 
facilitate a pan-EU pension fund will be continued and the idea of a researcher's card to create 
a Europe-wide registration and information system will be tested. 

3.5.3. 

Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) 

The  Council  Conclusions  of  December  2009  launched  the  pilot  JPI  on  Neurodegenerative 
diseases  and  selected  three  more  themes  for  JPIs  on  which  the  Commission  adopted 
Commission  Recommendations:  Agriculture,  Food  Security  and  Climate  Change;  Cultural 
Heritage and Global Change; A Healthy diet for a healthy life. The Council launched the three 
JPIs in its October 2010 session. 

The High-Level Group on Joint Programming identified a second wave of six JPIs, endorsed 
by the Council in May 2010: 

(1)  More Years, Better Lives - The Potential and Challenges of Demographic Change  

(2) 

(3) 

The microbial challenge - An emerging threat to human health 

Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans 

(4)  Water Challenges for a Changing World 

(5) 

(6) 

Connecting Climate Knowledge for Europe 

Urban Europe - Global Challenges, Local Solutions 

The  November  2010  Council  Conclusions  welcomed  the  first  biennial  report  on  Joint 
Programming, including the Voluntary Guidelines on Framework Conditions, which reviews 
progress and charts the future of the JPI process.  

3.5.4.  Research Infrastructures  

The  regulation  setting  up  a  legal  framework  for  a  European  Research  Infrastructure 
Consortium  (ERIC)13  was  designed  to  facilitate  the  establishment  and  operation  of  large 
research  infrastructures  involving  several  European  countries.  However,  the  uniform  and 

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Council Regulation No 723/2009 of 25 June 2009 

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timely  implementation  of  the  ERIC  regulation  in  the  various  Member  States  remains  a 
challenge. The first  request to set up an  ERIC was  submitted in  October  2010;  the  SHARE 
ERIC (Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe) was established in March 201114. 

The  implementation  of  the  European  Strategy  Forum  for  Research  Infrastructures'  (ESFRI) 
Roadmap  significantly  progressed  in  2010,  in  particular  thanks  to  the  Preparatory  Phase 
Projects funded by the FP7 Research Infrastructure theme. In 2010, ten agreements have been 
reached and the construction phase of the projects is ongoing or imminent.  

Through its incubator role, ESFRI has been successful in starting new infrastructures and in 
developing a common ERA approach, but now the longer-term sustainability of pan-European 
research infrastructures has to be addressed. The standards of excellence must be extended to 
the operation of existing ones and contribute to evaluating and prioritising all pan-European 
research  infrastructures.  Thus,  a  working  group  has  been  set  up  to  develop  and  propose  a 
methodological frame for evaluation and priority setting by 2011. 

3.5.5.  External Dimension of ERA  

The  European  Partnership  for  International  S&T  Cooperation  aiming  at  developing  greater 
coherence between the EU and the Member States continued in 2010 to be a core element of 
the  Union's  activities  in  this  area.  The  Strategic  Forum  for  International  S&T  Cooperation 
(SFIC) ensured the progress of this partnership.  

Specific  focus  has  been  given  on  implementing the  'India  Pilot  Initiative'  on  water  and  bio-
resources  related  challenges  with  a  view  to  develop  a  EU/Member  States-India  Strategic 
Research  and  Innovation  Agenda  during  2011.  SFIC  has  also  identified  further  common 
EU/Member  States  priorities  by  initiating  coordinated  or  joint  initiatives  through  additional 
geographical "pilot initiatives" with China and the USA.  

3.5.6.  Knowledge Transfer 

The  ERAC  working  group  on  Knowledge  Transfer  promotes  and  monitor  the  Council 
Resolution  on  the  Commission's  Recommendation  and  Code  of  Practice  on  Knowledge 
Transfer15. The group facilitated mutual learning and submitted in 2010 a first report which 
the 
identified 
Recommendation.  The  working  group  progressed  on  work  to  create  guidelines  for 
stakeholders  on  knowledge  transfer  and  intellectual  property  management  for  international 
research cooperation and for indicators.  

taken  and  envisaged  at 

the  national 

implement 

initiatives 

level 

to 

In addition, the Commission launched a three-year long monitoring study on measures taken 
by  Member  States  on  the  basis  of  the  Recommendation  and  their  impact.  To  involve 
stakeholders, the Commission organised its third stakeholders' forum in November 2010. 

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http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:071:0020:0031:EN:PDF 
COM(2008) 1329 

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3.5.7.  Universities: Modernisation Agenda  

In  2010,  a  series  of  Peer  Learning  Activities  on  five  topics  which  form  part  of  the 
modernisation agenda for universities16 took place and their overall results were discussed in 
the  Belgian  Presidency  Conference  "Conditions  for  achieving  excellence  in  universities  and 
other  research  organisations"  in  October.  An  ERAC  Seminar  took  place  in  March  2011  to 
finalise the conclusions and discuss how to feed the results into the policy process. 

Meanwhile, a stakeholders' platform was launched to develop common principles for external 
competitive  research  funding.  Its  Report  is  being  used  to  feed  policy  debates,  e.g.  for  the 
preparatory  work  on  the  ERA  Framework  and  the  follow-up  Communication  on  the 
modernisation agenda of higher education. 

4. 

THE SEVENTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME 

4.1. 

Implementation of the 2010 work programmes 

63 calls for proposals were concluded in 2010 for a total indicative budget of EUR 3.9 billion. 
A total of 12,397 eligible proposals, of which 2,582 were retained for funding17 resulting in a 
success rate of 21 % on a proposal basis. 

A total of 57,315 applicants took part in all eligible proposals, for a total project cost of EUR 
23.3  billion  and  a  total  requested  EU  contribution  of  EUR  17.8  billion.  A  total  of  13,710 
applicants were in the retained proposals, for total project costs of EUR 5.2 billion and a total 
requested EU contribution of EUR 3.8 billion. The overall success rate was 24 % in terms of 
applicants 

4.2. 

The 2011 work programmes 

The 2011 work programmes were adopted on 19 July 2010 and covered calls for nearly EUR 
6.4  billion  of  EU  investment  in  research  and  innovation.  They  were  the  first  FP7  work 
programmes  following  the  publication  of  the  Europe  2020  strategy.  The  work  programmes 
included the following features:  

–  Top priority given to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME). SMEs will receive close 
to EUR 800 million and for the first time ring-fenced budgets were introduced in several 
themes; 

–  In  health,  one-third  of  the  overall  budget  for  2011  will  be  spent  on  investigator-driven 

clinical trials to get new medicines on the market quicker; 

–  Around EUR 1.1 billion of ICT funding will help deliver the Digital Agenda for Europe by 
addressing  challenges  such  as  an  ageing  society  and  a  lower-carbon  economy  through 
focusing  on  next  generation  network  and  service  infrastructures,  robotic  systems, 
electronic and photonic components, digital content technologies and the future internet. 

–  The  call  on  the  'Ocean  of  tomorrow:  joining  research  forces  to  meet  challenges  in  ocean 

management' cuts across several themes;  

16 

17 

These  include:  institutional  reform,  costing  of  research  projects,  world-class  excellence,  recruitment, 
and career of young researchers. 
Passed all evaluation thresholds and were main listed in the selection procedure  

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–  Following  the  2010  EU-Latin  America  and  Caribbean  (LAC)  Summit18,  particular 

attention was given to the participation of research entities from the LAC region;  

–  More  than  EUR  1.3  billion  was  reserved  for  the  best  creative  scientists  selected  by  the 

European Research Council; 

–  Nearly EUR 750 million were allocated to training and career development of researchers, 

including cross-border and cross-sectoral mobility, through Marie Curie actions.  

4.3. 

Related initiatives 

As  regards  Article  185  Initiatives,  the  results  of  the  interim  evaluation  of  the  Ambient 
Assisted Living (AAL) Joint Programme concluded its success in joining 23 partner countries 
towards a common goal to fund innovative projects based on ICT technologies, to the benefit 
of older people, and to support the industry in Europe. During 2010 AAL implemented a third 
call with a total budget of EUR 55 million, of which EUR 23 million was EU contribution.  

In 2010, Eurostars continued to sucessfully attract European R&D SMEs, as the fifth call saw 
a 10% rise in the number of applicants. An interim evaluation of Eurostars also took place this 
year. It was concluded that Eurostars is  a good programme  adding value  to European R&D 
performing SMEs, but that scope for further improvement remains.  

The EU invested EUR 48 million in the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP) 
initiative  covering  European  research  in  metrology.  In  its  third  year  of  implementation, 
EMRP now covers 44% of all ERA research in this area.  

The European Parliament and Council adopted the decision on the Joint Baltic Sea Research 
Programme (BONUS)19.  

Financial support for research and innovation is being provided to private companies through 
the  Risk  Sharing  Finance  Facility  (RSFF).  By  end-2010,  the  volume  of  the  RSFF  loans 
concluded amounted to EUR 6.305 billion for 67 projects.  

At mid-term (end-2010), and with a positive interim evaluation20, RSFF is well ahead of its 
planned  implementation,  and  the  level  of  demand  is  above  initial  expectations.  RSFF  has 
leveraged investments worth over 32 times the EU budget contribution. In hard figures, this 
means that despite the financial and economic crisis, EUR 500 million of EU budget led to 
EUR 16 billion of investment for the period 2007-2010. 

In 2010, a number of key milestones were achieved for ITER21 through the joint undertaking 
'Fusion  for  Energy'22.  Following  the  July  2010  ITER  Council  agreement  on  the  baseline, 
which concerns the  project's scope, schedule and cost, Euratom  have  been working  with  all 
the  other  ITER  parties  on  further  steps  for  improvement  of  management,  cost  containment 
and appropriate risk mitigation. This work will continue in 2011.  

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Madrid, 18-19 May 2010 
ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/art169/docs/art-185-bonus_en.pdf 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/evaluations/index_en.cfm  
http://www.iter.org/  
http://fusionforenergy.europa.eu/  

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4.4. 

Highlights 

4.4.1. 

FP7 Interim Evaluation  

The interim evaluation of FP7 was carried out by a group of ten independent experts which 
looked at the design, the implementation and the early achievements of the programme. Their 
work  was  based  on  a  comprehensive  set  of  studies  and  reports,  but  also  on  interviews  with 
stakeholders and Commission staff. In addition, the expert group organised over the summer 
2010 a broad and open online stakeholder consultation. 
The experts submitted their final report on 15 November 201023, and the overall key message 
is that FP7 is on course and clearly making a significant contribution to European science and 
the ERA.  

The  report  shows  that  FP7  achieved  very  positive  results  up  till  now,  but  that  significant 
challenges  remain.  These  are  detailed  in  10  recommendations  covering  issues  such  as  the 
need  to  better  integrate  the  research  base  and  at  the  same  time  secure  a  better  separation 
between the EU and national levels; maintain the level of funding at current levels; secure a 
quantum  leap  in  programme  simplification;  consider  a  moratorium  of  new  research 
instruments; and fundamentally review the strategy for international research cooperation.  
The Commission's formal response24 was adopted on 9 February 2011. The structure of this 
communication  follows  each  of  the  10  recommendations  by  the  Expert  Group.  It  provides 
detailed information on actions to be taken or proposed and directions to be followed.  

In some cases the response notes the limits to what the Commission can achieve on its own 
and  to  call  on  the  support  of  the  other  Institutions  and  the  Member  States  to  develop  joint 
approaches.  The  response  also  endorses  the  conclusions  of  the  expert  group  regarding  the 
goals and implementation of future funding programmes. It underlines that this will need to 
support  the  implementation  of  the  Europe  2020  strategy,  including  the  objectives  in  the 
Innovation Union and related flagship initiatives. 

4.4.2. 

Simplification 

2010 was an inflection point in the search for the optimal balance between simplification and 
assurance  concerns.  Despite  the  significant  progress  already  achieved,  feedback  from 
stakeholders  still  evidenced  certain  concerns  with  the  complexity  of  rules  and  the 
administrative  burden  of  the  framework  programmes.  Stakeholders  as  well  as  the  EU 
institutions  recognised  that  further  effort  was  needed  so  that  the  design,  management, 
procedures and tools would become even simpler and more effective.  

A  thorough  analysis  on  the  options  for  a  comprehensive  simplification  of  the  research 
programmes  was  conducted  by  the  Commission.  The  results  were  made  public  with  the 
Communication on simplifying the implementation of the Research Framework Programmes 
of 29 April 201025. Also, the simplification objective was duly considered in the proposal on 
the revised Financial Regulation26.  

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http://ec.europa.eu/research/evaluations/index_en.cfm 
COM(2011) 52 final 
COM(2010) 187  
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Many of the measures advanced by the Commission received overall support and in the last 
quarter of 2010 the simplification activity was focused in defining short-term measures which 
could  be  already  implemented  in  FP7.  As  a  result,  the  Commission  put  forward  a  FP7 
simplification package which was adopted on 24 January 201127. Intensive work is currently 
ongoing to tackle more profound changes in the context of the preparation of the next research 
and innovation programmes. 

4.4.3. 

Functioning of the Joint Technology Initiatives 

The  present  five  Joint  Technology  Initiatives  (JTIs)  are  based  on  Article  187  TFEU  (ex 
Article 171 TEC). JTIs were introduced in FP7 as a new mechanism for performing research 
at EU level.  

The Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking (IMI) is a partnership between the 
Commission  and  the  umbrella  organisation  of  the  European  research-based  pharmaceutical 
industry,  EFPIA,  on  improving  the  health  of  citizens  by  addressing  pre-competitive 
bottlenecks in drug development. A total volume of EUR 1 billion in-kind contribution from 
the  pharmaceutical  industry,  matched  by  an  equal  amount  of  in-cash  funding  from  the  EU 
budget is foreseen. 2010 was the first year of full operation of the Executive office of IMI.  

The first interim evaluation of IMI took place towards the end of 2010. The experts delivered 
an overall positive evaluation of IMI as the world's largest public-private partnership in health 
research. The recommendations are directed at further strengthening the functioning of IMI. 

During 2010 the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH) was consolidated with 
the  granting  of  autonomy.  An  amendment  to  the  Council  Regulation  was  also  prepared  in 
2010.  This  amendment  takes  into  account  that  the  Research  Grouping  became  the  third 
member of the FCH and proposed that in-kind contribution of the research organisations that 
participates  in  the  projects  be  counted  as  "matching"  on  equal  footing  as  the  one  of  the 
industry.  

The  first  FCH  interim  evaluation  is  currently  ongoing.  A  final  report  is  planned  for  spring 
2011. 

After  reaching  its  autonomy  in  2009,  Clean  Sky  Joint  Undertaking  (Aeronautics  and  Air 
Transport)  has  reached  a  steady  state  operation  during  2010.  5  calls  were  launched  and 
evaluated in the course of the year. Apart from this, Clean Sky has also successfully managed 
the  7  Grant  Agreements  for  Members  (named  beneficiaries),  covering  75%  of  the  research 
activities of Clean Sky.  

The  interim  evaluation  of  Clean  Sky  took  place  during  2010.  The  evaluation  was  generally 
positive, but it did contain a list of more than 40 recommendations at various levels.  

A  Commission  Communication,  covering  responses  to  the  mid-term  assessment  reports  of 
IMI, FCH and Clean Sky, is planned to be presented during 2011. 

The ARTEMIS Joint Undertaking on embedded computing systems launched the third Call 
for  proposals  in  2010.  Overall,  the  2010  R&D  activities  have  resulted  in  launching  10  new 
projects with a cost of EUR 167,5 million. 50.5 % of the project cost is covered by the project 

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participants, 32.8 % by ARTEMIS Member States and 16.7% by the Joint Undertaking. Thus, 
Union funds produce a leverage effect of 1:6.  

The  ENIAC  Joint  Undertaking  on  nanoelectronics  technologies  2020  was  granted 
autonomy in 2010. The third Call for proposals was launched during 2010. Overall, the 2010 
R&D activities have resulted in launching 10 new projects with a cost of EUR 201 million. 
56.5 % of the project cost is covered by the project participants, 26.8 % by ENIAC member 
States and 16.7% by the Joint Undertaking. Union funds therefore produce a leverage effect 
of 1:6. 

The  Commission's  report  on  the  first  interim  evaluation  of  the  ARTEMIS  and  ENIAC  was 
adopted on 16 December 201028.  

5. 

OUTLOOK FOR 2011 

With  the  Green  Paper  'From  Challenges  to  Opportunities:  Towards  a  Common  Strategic 
Framework  for  EU  Research  and  Innovation  funding'29  the  Commission  launches  a  wide 
European public debate in order to seek input on a number of key issues which should help 
develop  a  common  strategic  framework  and  determine  the  priorities  for  future  EU  research 
and innovation funding programmes in the period post 2013.  

The  discussion  includes  issues  such  as  how  to  target  funding  towards  solving  the  present 
challenges,  and  how  to  support  the  innovation  activities  of  European  businesses  more 
effectively,  while  simultaneously  strengthening  Europe's  science  base  and  the  ERA.  The 
result will be presented and discussed with the stakeholder community.  

The  Union's  next  research  and  innovation  funding  programmes  will  be  part  of  the 
Commission's  proposals  for  the  next  Multi-annual  Financial  Framework  to  be  presented  in 
June 2011. Regarding the Common Strategic Framework, legislative proposals are expected 
to be adopted by the Commission by the end of 2011.  

6. 

SOURCES OF FURTHER INFORMATION 

For further information, the following are publicly available:  

•  Annual  Monitoring  Reports 

Programmes30; 

•  Five-year assessment reports31; 

for 

the  Framework  Programme  and 

its  Specific 

•  Regular Science, Technology and Competitiveness Key Figures reports32; 

•  Statistics on science and technology in Europe (Eurostat)33; 

•  Studies and analyses published in connection with European Union research activities and 

policies34; 

28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
33 

COM(2010) 752 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/csfri/index_en.cfm  
http://ec.europa.eu/research/evaluations/index_en.cfm?pg=fp7-monitoring  
http://ec.europa.eu/research/evaluations/index_en.cfm?pg=five-year-assessment  
http://ec.europa.eu/research/era/facts/figures/key_figures_en.htm  
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat  

EN 

11 

   EN 

 
                                                 
•  Annual Activity Reports of the research Directorates-General35; 

•  The practical guide to EU funding opportunities for research and innovation36 

Most of these documents can be obtained or ordered from the following websites:  

•  The CORDIS site: http://cordis.europa.eu; 

•  The Commission's Research website: http://ec.europa.eu/research; 

•  The ERA website: http://ec.europa.eu/research/era; 

•  The Investing in European research website: http://ec.europa.eu/invest-in-research; 

•  The ERAWATCH website: http://cordis.europa.eu/erawatch.  

34 
35 
36 

http://ec.europa.eu/research/evaluations/index_en.cfm  
http://ec.europa.eu/atwork/synthesis/aar/index_en.htm  
http://cordis.europa.eu/eu-funding-guide/home_en.html 

EN 

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   EN