REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Annual Report on Research and Technological Development Activities of the European Union in 2011
Date: 2012-06-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, EU programme, applied research, financing method, innovation, research and development, scientific cooperation

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 6.6.2012  
COM(2012) 279 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 2011 

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   EN 

 
 
 
 
  
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

Annual Report on Research and Technological Development Activities of the European 
Union in 2011 

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  related  to  the 
Euratom Treaty has been included.  

2. 

THE BROADER POLITICAL CONTEXT IN 2011 

At the 4 February European Council meeting, the heads of state and government showed their 
commitment to put research and innovation at the top of the political agenda for growth and 
jobs. During tough economic times support for research and innovation is crucial for boosting 
job-creating  investments.  The  EU  leaders  took  a  collective  decision  to  maintain  or  increase 
investment in research and innovation at both national and EU levels.  

The  European  Council  also  called  for  the  need  to  rapidly  address  remaining  obstacles  to 
ensure a unified research area in Europe to attract talent and investment. The completion of 
the European Research Area by 2014 would mean the creation of a genuine single market for 
knowledge, research and innovation.  

In addition, the heads of state and government supported the concept of a Common Strategic 
Framework for EU research and innovation funding to ensure that the full range of research 
and innovation financing instruments work together and to improve the efficiency of research 
and innovation funding in the EU1.  
In  its  communication  'A  Budget  for  Europe  2020'2  from  29  June  2011,  the  Commission 
presented  its  proposal  on  the  next  Multi-annual  Financial  Framework  (MFF)  for  the  period 
2014-2020. The programmes and instruments included in the proposal had been redesigned to 
ensure that their outputs and impacts would push forward the key policy priorities of the EU. 

Regarding  research  and  innovation,  the  Commission  proposed  to  set  up  a  single  Common 
strategic Framework covering the areas of the present Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) 
and  the  innovation  part  of  the  Competitiveness  and  Innovation  Framework  Programme,  as 
well  as  the  European  Institute  of  Innovation  and  Technology  (EIT).  This  in  order  to 
systematically address the significant innovation gap the EU is facing and in order to serve the 
Europe 2020 strategy target of raising spending on research and development to 3 % of GDP 
by 2020.  

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EUCO 2/1/11 
COM(2011)500 

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The concept of a common strategic framework was subsequently supported by the European 
Parliament in its resolution of 27 September 20113.  

3. 

HORIZON  2020  –  THE  FRAMEWORK  PROGRAMME  FOR  RESEARCH  AND 
INNOVATION  

On 30 November 2011 the Commission adopted the Horizon 2020 package4 with a budget of 
EUR 80 billion5 investment in research and innovation to help boost new growth and jobs in 
Europe.  Drawn  up  fully  in  line  with  the  MFF-proposal,  Horizon  2020  wholly  supports  the 
Europe 2020 strategy, which identified research and innovation as key drivers to achieve the 
objectives of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The programme would run from 2014 
to 2020.  

Bringing  together  for  the  first  time  all  EU  research  and  innovation  funding  under  a  single 
programme, Horizon 2020 will focus funds on three key objectives. It will: 

• 

• 

• 

Strengthen the EU's position as a world leader in science. This will provide a boost to 
top-level  research  in  Europe,  including  a  significant  increase  in  funding  for  the 
European Research Council (ERC); 

Strengthen industrial leadership in innovation. This includes major investment in key 
technologies, greater access to capital and support for SMEs; 

Help address major concerns shared by all Europeans, across six key themes: Health, 
demographic  change  and  well-being;  Food  security,  sustainable  agriculture,  marine 
and  maritime  research  and  the  bio-economy;  Secure,  clean  and  efficient  energy; 
Smart,  green  and  integrated  transport;  Climate  action,  resource  efficiency  and  raw 
materials; and Inclusive, innovative and secure societies.  

Through  a  full  range  of  support  that  is  integrated  across  the  research  and  innovation  cycle, 
Horizon  2020  will  be  the  key  instrument  implementing  the  Innovation  Union,  the  Europe 
2020  flagship  initiative  aimed  at  securing  Europe's  global  competitiveness.  Support  will  be 
provided  to  all  stages  in  the  innovation  chain,  especially  activities  closer  to  the  market, 
including  innovative  financial  instruments,  as  well  as  non-technological  and  social 
innovation,  and  aims  to  ensure  the  widest  possible  use  and  dissemination  of  knowledge 
generated by the supported activities up to its commercial exploitation.  

In addition, a number of concrete measures will encourage the strong participation by SMEs 
in  Horizon  2020.  This  includes  a  new  SME  instrument,  building  on  the  Small  Business 
Innovation  Research  model,  allowing  SMEs  to  put  forward  their  most  innovative  ideas  and 
making it easier for SMEs to access the programme.  

International cooperation will also be further promoted in Horizon 2020, and the programme 
will be complemented by further measures to complete the European Research Area by 2014.  

Major  simplification  is  another  key  element.  Horizon  2020  funding  will  be  easier  to  access 
due to the simple programme architecture, a single set of rules and less red tape. In practical 
terms,  the  simplification  measures  have  been  designed  to  reduce  the  administrative  costs  of 
the participants, to accelerate all processes of proposal and grant management and to decrease 

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P7 TA(2011)0401 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/horizon2020/index_en.cfm?pg=home  
In constant 2011 prices 

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the risk of error. These simple funding rules and a revised control strategy will achieve a new 
balance between trust and control, as called for by all stakeholders, the European Parliament 
and the European Council.  

With the aim of achieving the greatest possible impact of Union funding, Horizon 2020 is to 
develop close  synergies  with  other Union programmes such  as Cohesion Policy  funds, with 
national and regional research and innovation programmes, as well as with the private sector 
in key areas to the benefit of Europe.  

3.1. 

Preparing Horizon 2020 

The  preparation  of  the  Horizon  2020  package  took  full  account  of  the  responses  to  an 
extensive  public  consultation  based  on  a  Green  Paper,  "From  challenges  to  opportunities: 
towards  a  common  strategic  framework  for  EU  research  and  innovation  funding"6.  Views 
were  expressed  by  the  Member  States  and  a  wide  range  of  stakeholders  from  industry, 
academia and civil society during the course of Spring 2011.  

The  set  of  proposals  also  rely  on  two  in-depth  impact  assessments  highlighting  that  the 
Horizon  2020  option  would  bring  more  clarity  of  focus,  best  achieve  the  necessary  critical 
mass,  and  lead  to  greatest  impact  on  the  policy  objectives  and  downstream  economic, 
competitiveness, and social benefits, while at the same time helping to simplify matters.  

4. 

THE INNOVATION UNION, INCLUDING ERA POLICY ACHIEVEMENTS 

Launched  by  the  Commission  in  October  2010,  the  Innovation  Union  aims  to  improve 
conditions  and  access  to  finance  for  research  and  innovation  in  Europe  to  ensure  that 
innovative ideas can be turned into products and services that create growth and jobs.  

4.1.  Monitoring progress in innovation 

The  first  year  of  Innovation  Union  has  seen  economic  and  financial  crisis  reaching  a  new 
phase  with  recovery  at  risk,  public  confidence  deteriorating  and  high  pressure  to  cut 
investments in future sources of economic growth. 

At the same time, the shift in economic power from West to East is accelerating. The message 
from  both  the  Innovation  Union  Scoreboard  and  the  Innovation  Union  Competitiveness 
Report is clear. Europe's research and innovation performance has declined over recent years 
causing  a  broadening  of  the  already  sizeable  innovation  gap  vis-à-vis  the  U.S.  and  Japan, 
while countries like China, India and Brazil are rapidly catching up with the EU. Moreover, 
the innovation divide within the EU is also increasing. Against this backdrop, achieving the 
Innovation Union objectives has thus become even more important and urgent.  

There  was  good  progress  in  2011  with  30  out  of  the  34  Innovation  Union  commitments 
launched.  A  comprehensive  progress  report  was  issued  by  the  Commission  in  December 
20117.  

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COM(2011)48 
COM(2011)849  –  for  the  state  of  play  of  all  34  commitments,  see  the  Innovation  Union  Information 
and Intelligence System: http://i3s.ec.europa.eu/home.html. 

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4.2. 

Improving framework conditions  

There  have  also  been  important  measures  put  forward  to  create  the  conditions  that  will 
smooth  the  path  from  idea  to  market  and  help  boost  private  investments  in  research  and 
innovation: 

– 

– 

– 

– 

In  April  2011,  the  Commission  tabled  legislative  proposals  for  a  unitary  patent 
protection which will reduce translation and related costs of patents in Europe by up 
to 80%; 

In  June  2011,  the  Commission  presented  a  standardisation  package  aiming  to 
modernise  European  standard-setting  in  the  face  of  present  and  future  challenges. 
The target is to speed up standard-setting processes by 50% by 2020; 

In December 2011, the Commission proposed a new regime for venture capital funds 
so  that  capital  can  be  more  easily  raised  across  Europe.  In  addition,  new  concrete 
measures  to  facilitate  innovation  in  the  context  of  the  revision  of  the  EU  public 
procurement legislation was put forward. These include a new procedure for buying 
innovative products and services and facilitating joint procurements across borders;  

Looking ahead, the Commission has investigated options to enhance exploitation of 
intellectual property rights and will discuss in 2012 the way forward. 

4.3. 

Enhancing access to finance 

In December 2011, the Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) responded to 
the European Council's and European Parliament's requests to develop and improve the Risk-
Sharing  Finance  Facility  (RSFF).  With  the  objective  to  provide  loans  to  public  and  private 
sector promoters of any size and ownership, the RSFF agreement was amended, thus allowing 
the  facility  to  assume  a  higher  risk  for  a  higher  multiplying  effect  of  its  contribution.  The 
Risk-Sharing  Instrument  for  SMEs,  a  new  guarantee  facility  for  SMEs  to  help  them  access 
finance  from  banks,  was  also  launched.  With  a  budget  of  EUR  120  million,  the  aim  of  this 
new instrument is to reach up to 500 beneficiaries with a total loan volume of at least EUR 1 
billion. 

Innovative  financial  instruments  will  be  further  developed  for  Horizon  2020  to  improve 
access  to  risk  finance  for  research  and  innovation,  in  particular  for  innovative  SMEs.  They 
will include equity and debt-financing instruments, set up in conjunction with the Programme 
for  the  Competitiveness  of  Enterprises  and  SMEs.  This  will  build  on  current  achievements, 
notably on the success of the RSFF.  

4.4. 

Tackling societal challenges: European Innovation Partnerships 

The  Commission  has  piloted  the  first  European  Innovation  Partnership  (EIP)  in  the  area  of 
Active and Healthy Ageing with the aim of adding two years of healthy life for the average 
European  citizen  by  2020.  The  Strategic  Implementation  Plan  of  the  pilot  partnership  was 
presented in November 2011.  

EIP  is  a  novel  concept  to  speed  up  innovations  addressing  a  well-defined  target  within  a 
specific societal challenge. It provides a platform mobilising stakeholders across policy areas, 
sectors and borders to commit and contribute to supply and demand side measures across the 

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research and innovation cycle. The experienced gained in setting up the pilot partnership will 
pave the way for others.  

4.5. 

Promoting the European Institute of Innovation and technology (EIT) 

In  November  2011,  the  Commission  adopted  a  proposal  for  the  EIT's  Strategic  Innovation 
Agenda  which  defines  the  framework  for  the  Institute's  operations  in  the  years  to  come.  It 
focuses on consolidating the three existing  Knowledge  and Innovation Communities  (KICs) 
and gradually setting up new ones  with  the aim to address major  societal  challenges in line 
with the Horizon 2020 objectives.  

4.6. 

Related initiatives 

Key  milestones  have  been  reached  on  many  other  Innovation  Union  commitments  during 
2011.  The  Social  Innovation  Europe  initiative  was  launched  in  March  and  "The  Smart 
Specialisation Platform" was released in June. A European Design Leadership Board has been 
set up and a pilot project for Knowledge Alliances between business and academia has been 
launched. The Commission has also piloted a EU-level support for public procurers through 
collaborative projects on procurement for innovative products and services.  

2011  also  saw  the  first  Innovation  Convention,  a  major  innovation-related  event  in  Europe, 
take place on 5-6 December in Brussels. At this convention, the first EU Women Innovators 
Prizes were awarded with the aim to raise public awareness of the need for more innovation 
and more women innovators.  

4.7. 

Delivering the European Research Area 

Research activities and policies in Europe still suffer from fragmentation, sub-optimal levels 
of  coherence  and  coordination  and  constraints  on  the  free  movement  of  knowledge.  The 
completion  of  the  European  Research  Area  (ERA)  aims  to  overcome  these  deficiencies.  As 
one  of  the  activities  under  the  Innovation  Union  initiative  detailed  preparation  of  the  ERA 
communication was one of the key tasks in 2011. 

4.7.1.  Researchers 

While  continuing  the  implementation  of  the  European  Partnership  for  Researchers,  the 
Steering  Group  for  Human  Resources  and  Mobility also  contributed  to  the  preparation  of 
building-blocks  for  the  ERA  communication  in  the  areas  of  research  career,  training  and 
mobility.  In  May  2011,  it  also  adopted  a  European  Framework  for  Research  Careers  as  a 
voluntary  transparency  instrument  to  facilitate  mobility  and  comparability  on  career 
development.  

Other  key  actions were  the  setting  up  of an  expert  group  on  the research  profession looking 
into  open  recruitment  issues  and  the  launch  of  a  feasibility  study about  a future  European 
Researchers' information and data infrastructure.  

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4.7.2. 

Joint Programming  

In its 2011 Communication on Partnering in Research and Innovation8, the Commission drew 
the  lessons  learnt  to  date  with  regard  to  Public-Public  Partnering9  and  Public-Private 
Partnering10 and defined the way forward in further developing those partnerships.  

The main conclusions acknowledged that partnering activities have proved their potential to 
contribute  to  the  objectives  of  Europe  2020  and  will  therefore  continue  to  be  an  important 
element of future European research and innovation policy. At the same time, there is a need 
for  increased  long-term  commitment  to  partnering  from  all  stakeholders,  including  Member 
States and industry, and the partnering instrument landscape needs to be simplified.  

Commission  Recommendations  and  related  Council  Conclusions  were  adopted  in  2011 
launching six more Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs). Altogether, 10 JPIs are now up and 
running. 

4.7.3.  Research Infrastructures  

In May 2011, the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) published its 
Strategy Report and Roadmap Update. The roadmap contains six new infrastructure projects 
in fields such as energy supply, health, climate change, and food supplies. ESFRI intends to 
embark  on  an  ambitious  programme,  by  striving  to  implement  as  many  of  the  research 
infrastructures on the Roadmap as possible. To this purpose, ESFRI set up an Implementation 
Working Group in June 2011 that will play a vital role in easing the implementation process. 

The  regulation  setting  up  a  legal  framework  for  a  European  Research  Infrastructure 
Consortium  (ERIC)  was  designed  to  facilitate  the  establishment  and  operation  of  large 
research  infrastructures  involving  several  European  countries.  Although  the  uniform  and 
timely  implementation  of  this  regulation  in  the various  Member  States  remains  a  challenge, 
the first ERIC, the SHARE ERIC (Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe), was 
established in March 2011 and since then the CLARIN, ECRIN, and EURO-ARGO projects 
have all applied to be set up as ERICs. 

4.7.4.  External Dimension of ERA  

The  European  Partnership  for  International  Science  &  Technology  Cooperation  aims  to 
develop  greater  coherence  between  the  EU  and  the  Member  States  activities.  Progress  was 
ensured  by  the  Strategic  Forum  for  International  S&T  Cooperation  (SFIC)  in  the  following 
areas: 

– 

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The 'India Pilot Initiative' was significantly advanced by developing a Strategic EU-
MS  Research  &  Innovation  Agenda  which  identifies  common  challenges,  shared 
objectives, priority areas and instruments  of cooperation  between Europe and India 
for the years to come. Five strategic areas have been selected: water, bio-resources, 
energy, health and ICT; 

COM(2011)572 
ERA-NETs, Article 185 initiatives, Joint Programming Initiatives, etc.  
Joint Technology Initiatives, Recovery Plan PPPs, etc.  

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– 

– 

The  'China  Pilot  Initiative'  was  also  further  developed,  notably  through  two 
workshops; 

Under the 'U.S. Pilot Initiative', two information and outreach events were prepared 
in 2011.  

4.7.5.  Knowledge Transfer 

During  2011,  the  European  Research  Area  Committee  Working  Group  on  Knowledge 
Transfer  produced  a  stakeholder  guide  on  intellectual  property  and  knowledge  transfer 
management for cooperation with third countries. It provided guidance and feedback for the 
study  tracking  the  progress  of  the  implementation  of  the  Commission's  intellectual  property 
recommendation  from  2008,  a  study  which  has  continued  in  2011  and  has  recorded  good 
progress.  Additionally,  an  expert  report  on  international  knowledge  transfer  was  published, 
presenting an overview of European practices.  

4.7.6.  Universities: Modernisation Agenda  

A  feasibility  study  was  launched  on  a  European  accreditation  mechanism  for  good  human 
resources management in Universities and public research institutions basing their policy on 
the  principles  of  the  European  Charter  for  Researchers  and  the  Code  for  their  Recruitment. 
Another feasibility study was completed on Innovative Doctoral schools, to progress towards 
a  common  approach  across  ERA  which  would  encourage  institutions  to  fulfil  certain 
principles  such  as:  research  excellence,  interdisciplinary  research,  industry  exposure, 
excellent working conditions and career development including gender issues. 

5. 

THE SEVENTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME 

5.1. 

Implementation of the 2011 work programmes 

46 calls for proposals were concluded in 2011 for a total indicative budget of EUR 4.4 billion. 
A total of 14,567 eligible proposals, of which 2,813 were retained for funding11 resulting in a 
success rate of 19.3 % on a proposal basis. 

A total of 59,955 applicants took part in all eligible proposals, for a total project cost of EUR 
23.1  billion  and  a  total  requested  EU  contribution  of  EUR  17.9  billion.  A  total  of  12,932 
applicants were in the retained proposals, for total project costs of EUR 4.9 billion and a total 
requested EU contribution of EUR 3.7 billion. The overall success rate was 21.6 % in terms of 
applicants 

5.2. 

The 2012 work programmes 

Adopted  in  July  2011,  the  2012  calls  for  proposals  worth  nearly  EUR  7  billion  were  the 
Commission's biggest funding package to date to boost research and innovation. These calls 
for proposals were also the first tailored to fully fit the new policy framework set out with the 
Innovation Union initiative. The work programmes include some of the following features: 

– 

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EUR 220 million of the EUR 656 million available for health research and EUR 192 
million of the EUR 1.1 billion in funding for ICT will be allocated to work aimed at 

Passed all evaluation thresholds and were main listed in the selection procedure  

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tackling the challenge of providing for an ageing population and thus supporting the 
pilot EIP on active and healthy ageing;  

The  ERC  will  award  close  to  EUR  1.6  billion  to  the  best  senior  and  young 
researchers  working  in  Europe.  To  help  bridge  the  gap  between  frontier  research 
results  and  commercialisation,  a  small  'Proof  of  Concept'  initiative  has  been 
introduced; 

Around  EUR  900  million  in  support  for  researchers'  mobility  and  careers  will  be 
'Marie  Curie  Actions'  for  around  10,000  highly-qualified 
provided  through 
researchers. This will include a pilot project to fund European Industrial Doctorates, 
to stimulate entrepreneurship and cooperation between academia and industry; 

In  addition  to  newly  simplified  rules,  the  investment  package  of  almost  EUR  1 
billiong for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) provides special incentives 
for SMEs to participate;  

In  response  to  the  increasing  demand  for  safer,  healthier  food  and  sustainable  bio-
resources,  EUR 307  million will be  invested in building a strong bio-economy that 
will improve production methods, create new industries and jobs;  

EUR  365  million  has  been  earmarked  for  three  challenge-driven  public  private 
partnerships:  The  European  Green  Cars  Initiative,  Factories  of  the  Future,  and 
Energy Efficient Buildings;  

EUR  40  million  will  be  spent  on  the  'Smart  Cities  Initiative'  to  help  find  more 
efficient ways to use energy and provide urban transport.  

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

5.3. 

Related initiatives 

In  October  2011,  Europe's  five  Joint  Technology  Initiatives  –  ARTEMIS  (embedded 
computing systems), Clean Sky (aeronautics and air transport), ENIAC JU (nano-electronics), 
FCH JU (fuel cells and hydrogen) and IMI (innovative medicines) – jointly presented the first 
achievements  of  their EUR 10 billion  research and innovation programmes in the European 
Parliament.  Of  the  total  budget,  around  one  third  comes  from  the  Union  to  support  these 
public-private partnerships aimed at pooling public and private talent and investment.  

Another important achievement was the adoption by the Council on 19 December 2011 of the 
Euratom  Framework  Programme  for  nuclear  research  and  training  activities  for  the  years 
2012-2013,  which  includes  the  supplementary  funding  for  ITER  of  EUR  1.3  billion.  The 
Commission proposed to fund ITER outside the next Multi-annual Financial Framework for 
the period 2014-2020 through a Supplementary Research Programme.  

Information on the direct actions of FP7 for the year 2011 can be found in the annual report of 
the Commission's Joint Research Centre12. 

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5.4. 

Highlights 

5.4.1. 

Innovation  

The 2012 work programmes strengthen many aspects of innovation, in particular the market 
uptake of innovation, and promote actions for a smooth transition towards Horizon 2020.  

Several  themes  under  the  Cooperation  Specific  Programme  place  increasing  emphasis  on 
activities like prototyping, testing and demonstrating. A number of themes have accentuated 
application-orientation, up-scaling and pilots, not only through the selection of priority topics, 
but also through earmarked budgets.  

Some  themes  pay  particular  attention  to  the  translation  of  funded  project  results  into 
innovative  applications,  and  some  have  included  support  actions  for  promoting  technology 
transfer and intellectual property management. More support is also being placed on demand-
driven measures that will help the uptake of innovation in public and private markets, notably 
through standardisation related activities and more support to pre-commercial procurements. 

New  approaches  for  stimulating  and  speeding-up  innovations  are  also  introduced.  An 
inducement prize is launched by the Health theme to encourage the development of a novel 
alternative 
formulation,  preservation  and 
transportation.  

to  cold-chain 

for  vaccine 

technologies 

In  general,  the  2012  work  programmes  apply  a  broader  approach  to  innovation.  Besides 
research  and  technology  and  product  innovation,  service  innovation  including  process  and 
organisational innovation is also being supported. Other types  of innovation are included as 
well, notably social innovation, exploration of new business models, and innovation in design 
with close user involvement. 

A  number  of  Cooperation  themes  encourage  more  industry  and  in  particular  SME 
participation. Some are implementing this through earmarked budgets, others make it part of 
the evaluation criteria, and a few themes apply a bottom-up approach to increase the scope for 
SMEs to propose  solutions of their own choice. The Health theme supports a specific SME 
scheme addressing small close-to-market technology development projects with SMEs in the 
lead.  

5.4.2.  Dissemination 

The  dissemination  of  results  of  EU-funded  research  plays  a  pivotal  role  in  delivering  the 
European Research Area, promoting openness and capitalising on Europe's creative potential. 
The Commission supports the dissemination of research results by providing funding within 
the  projects  to  actively  disseminate  the  results.  The  Commission  also  actively  raises  public 
awareness  of  the  funded  research  results  and  provides  on-line  access  to  the  results  via 
CORDIS13, the Commission's Community R&D Information Service, and the Joint Research 
Centre's Publications Repository14.  

In  August  2008,  the  Commission  launched  the  Open  Access  Pilot  in  FP7,  covering  seven 
research areas representing nearly 20% of the total FP7 budget. This in order to increase the 
dissemination of research results via free-of-charge access. According to the 2011 survey on 

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http://cordis.europa.eu/ 
http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/ 

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the pilot, the majority of respondents find it easy to comply with the open access requirements 
and  three  quarters  of  the  respondents  would  agree  with  an  open  access  mandate  for  data  in 
their research area.  

In  addition,  the  Commission  is  investigating  to  go  beyond  current  activities  and  further 
improve  the  dissemination,  communication  and  exploitation  of  the  EU-funded  research 
results. 

5.4.3. 

Simplification 

Activities  in  2011  have  built  on  the  impetus  given  by  the  April  2010  Communication  on 
simplification15 and the ensuing debate. A series of measures receiving overall support were 
implemented  in  practice.  Among  these,  a  package  of  three  measures  was  adopted  by 
Commission Decision on 24 January16, comprising: 

– 

– 

– 

The  possibility  to  use  average  personnel  costs,  without  prior  certification,  for  all 
beneficiaries where this is their usual accounting practice; 

The  possibility  for  owner-managers  of  SMEs,  and  natural  persons  not  paying 
themselves a salary, to charge personnel costs to FP7 projects on the basis of a scale 
of unit costs; 

The  creation  of  a  research  clearing  committee  between  the  Directorates-General 
managing FP7 grants, to assure a consistent interpretation and implementation of the 
FP7 rules. 

The development of the Research and Innovation Participant Portal was further pursued with 
deployment of new services for participants and further improvements to the user-friendliness 
of the system. 

The  outcome  of  the  simplification  debate  has  also  fed  into  discussions  on  revising  the 
Financial Regulation. Funding provisions for EU grants are being clarified and simplified, and 
would allow, once the legislator adopts the new  Regulation for a broad acceptance of usual 
accounting  practices  of  beneficiaries,  subject  to  minimum  boundary  conditions.  This  would 
also include: 

– 

– 

Revised  rules  related  to  the  eligibility  of  VAT.  This  would  simplify  the  financial 
management of research and innovation grants e.g. for universities and other public 
research bodies; 

The  abolition  of  the  obligation  to  create  and  report  interests.  This  obligation  exists 
today,  and  has  created  considerable  administrative  effort  and  costs  in  terms  of 
opening and managing separate accounts, and for managing a register of exceptions 
for  organisations  that  due  to  national  legislation  cannot  open  interest-bearing 
accounts.  

6. 

OUTLOOK FOR 2012 

Following the Commission's adoption and presentation of Horizon 2020, the package is to be 
discussed by the Council and the European Parliament during 2012 and onwards, with a view 
to adoption before the end of 2013. The negotiations are taking place during one of the most 

15 
16 

COM(2010)187 
COM(2011)174 

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difficult periods the EU has ever faced. While slowly recovering from the downturn, Europe 
is  now  faced  with  a  public  debt  crisis  and  fears  of  a  new  recession.  European  leaders  and 
public authorities therefore need to act decisively to ensure sustainable growth and new jobs 
which is what Horizon 2020 is all about. At the same time, the proposal for the overall EU 
budget is being negotiated, including the overall amount for research and innovation. As well 
as supporting the negotiations, the Commission will be working hard to put in place all of the 
arrangements necessary for a smooth start and implementation of the programme. 

In 2012, the Commission will continue to deliver on the Innovation Union actions, notably by 
presenting  two  of  the  remaining  initiatives:  the  communication  on  the  ERA,  which 
completion  by  2014  was  called  for  by  the  2012  Spring  European  Council,  and  the  new 
innovation headline indicator. In addition, it will continue to push forward innovation in other 
societal  challenges  by  tabling  proposals  for  EIPs  on  "Agricutural  Productivity  and 
Sustainability", "Raw Materials", "Water", and possibly "Smart Cities".  

With  the  coming  2013  work  programmes,  the  final  years  of  FP7  implementation  have  also 
been  reached.  Aligned  with  the  Europe  2020  growth  and  job  creation  strategy,  these  work 
programmes  will  be  the  Commission's  biggest  ever  funding  package  to  boost  research  and 
innovation, and at the same time, they will provide for a smooth transition towards Horizon 
2020.  

7. 

SOURCES OF FURTHER INFORMATION 

For further information, the following are publicly available:  

•  Annual  Monitoring  Reports 

Programmes17; 

for 

the  Framework  Programme  and 

its  Specific 

•  Regular Science, Technology and Competitiveness Key Figures reports18; 

•  Statistics on science and technology in Europe19; 

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

policies20; 

•  Annual Activity Reports of the research Directorates-General21; 

•  State of the Innovation Union22; 

• 

Innovation Union Competitiveness report23; 

•  The Innovation Union scoreboard24; 

17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 

23 

http://ec.europa.eu/research/evaluations/index_en.cfm?pg=fp7-monitoring  
http://ec.europa.eu/research/era/facts/figures/key_figures_en.htm  
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/science_technology_innovation/introduction  
http://ec.europa.eu/research/evaluations/index_en.cfm  
http://ec.europa.eu/atwork/synthesis/aar/index_en.htm  
http://ec.europa.eu/research/innovation-union/pdf/state-of-the-
union/2011/state_of_the_innovation_union_2011_en.pdf 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/innovation-union/index_en.cfm?section=competitiveness-
report&year=2011 

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•  Commission  report  on  the  evaluation  of  the  Union's  finances  based  on  the  results 

achieved25 

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

•  The Commission's Research and innovation 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://erawatch.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ 

24 
25 

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/files/ius-2011_en.pdf 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2012:0040:FIN:EN:PDF  

EN 

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