COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Executive Summary of the Impact Assessment Accompanying the document Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the participation by the European Union in a European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR) undertaken by several Member States
Date: 2013-07-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, EU programme, innovation, metrology, research programme














EUR-Lex - 52013SC0250 - EN











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52013SC0250

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Executive Summary of the Impact Assessment Accompanying the document Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the participation by the European Union in a European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR) undertaken by several Member States /* SWD/2013/0250 final */









COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT
Executive Summary of the Impact Assessment
Accompanying the document
Proposal for a
DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
on the participation by the European Union in a European Metrology Programme
for Innovation and Research (EMPIR) undertaken by several Member States
This Executive Summary outlines the main
findings and conclusions of the Impact Assessment (IA) report accompanying the
Commission Proposal for a decision on the follow-up to the European Metrology
Research Programme (EMRP) undertaken by several Member States. This follow-up was
requested by the EU Member States participating in EMRP and confirmed by the
release of their draft programme ‘European Metrology Programme for Research and
Innovation (EMPIR)’ and national financial commitments of 28 countries.
Metrology is the science of measurement and
includes all theoretical and practical aspects of measurement. At the core of
metrology is the definition, realisation and dissemination of units of
measurement and their link to base units (kilogram, metre, second, kelvin,
etc.). National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) are in charge of providing the
necessary research and infrastructure and of implementing it on the basis of
institutional funding from central government agencies or ministries.
1.           Problem Definition
1.1.        Responding to the
metrology research & innovation challenge
The central nerve in the spine of our
high-tech world is metrology, the science of measurement. Every aspect of our
daily lives is affected by metrology. Increasingly precise, reliable
measurements are essential to drive innovation and economic growth in our
knowledge-based economy. Reliable, traceable measurement allows the wider
scientific community to build better instruments and to do better science. It
opens up new territory for industry, creating space and opportunity to
innovate. It crucially underpins and advances understanding and agreement in
global challenges such as health care and climate change.
Solving major societal challenges often relies
on metrology solutions. This is particularly the case in health, environment
and energy, but also applies to other areas, e.g. transport (automated guided
vehicles, emission reductions), agriculture (food safety) or secure societies
(chemical and radiation measurements, improving data security).
All governments in technologically-advanced
countries support a metrology infrastructure because of the benefits it brings
and its strong character as a public good that justifies public intervention.
Major economic powers in the world are increasing their investment in metrology
research and related infrastructures. China, for example, increased national
investment in metrology R&D between 2001 and 2007 by a factor of 25 —
albeit from a low base. The US is committed to doubling the budget for the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) by 2017. Figure 1 shows
the strong rise in investment in metrology in some major economies over recent
years.
Figure 1: Investment in metrology: comparison of change
(internal data NPL, UK)
Taking into account the level of investment
in metrology and its role in promoting scientific excellence and industrial
competitiveness, a single Member State or even a group of countries acting
together could not compete in the global context.
1.2.        Key
problems and their drivers
The result from
the Public Consultation[1] held on this issue has provided clear feedback on problems that
need to be solved both in general and for different stakeholder groups and
confirms the results of the mid-term evaluation of EMRP.
There was almost unanimous agreement (97 %)
on the importance of metrology research for addressing grand challenges;
for the European economy and industrial competitiveness; and for European
policies, standardisation and regulatory work. The majority also agreed with 15
specific underlying problems (50 % to 90 % agreed these were ‘important’
or ‘very important’).
Figure 2:
Results from the public consultation: problem statements for the European
metrology research system in order of importance
The two main problems that a future
initiative has to address can be summarised as follows:
(1)                   
Underexploited potential to have a greater
impact on growth and socio-economic challenges
·                        
Metrology needs to make a greater
contribution to economic development, through
post-research activities that reduce the barriers and risks to exploitation of
metrology research through new-to-market products.
·                        
The metrology community should enable
better and/or faster regulations and standards, by providing the often-missing
independent scientific input on measurement methods and their limitations.
·                        
Metrology research needs to become more
interdisciplinary and open to the wider science base; only further modernisation of the metrology system towards
interdisciplinary and opening to the wider science base can ensure that it will
deliver better measurement technologies for societal challenges such as health,
energy and the environment.
(2)                   
Fragmentation and structural weaknesses of the
European metrology research and innovation system
·                        
The development and exploitation of new
measurement technologies in Europe needs to be more coordinated and inclusive, to reduce unnecessary duplication and enable
the less research–intensive NMIs to reduce the knowledge gap and thus better
position themselves to support national socio-economic development priorities.
·                        
Europe needs to ensure global leadership
and develop a coordinated strategy
Europe needs to develop a coordinated strategy to
cooperate at programme level with the rest of the world on metrology research
in a way that provides broader economic advantages and enables Europe to speak
with one voice and demonstrate leadership in addressing global metrology
challenges.
1.3.        Public intervention at EU
level is fully justified
Public intervention at EU level is necessary to bring together compartmentalised national research programmes, to
help design common research and funding strategies across national borders, and
to achieve a critical mass of actors and investments required for tackling
important metrology challenges, thereby increasing the cost-effectiveness and
impact of European activities and investments in this field.
The initiative is embedded in the Treaty’s
objectives to strengthen the EU’s scientific and technology bases (Art. 179.1
TFEU), and to develop a European research area based on cooperation among
researchers across borders (Art. 179.2 TFEU), such as through the EU
participation in research and development programmes undertaken by several MS
(Art. 185 TFEU). 
The European strategy for smart,
sustainable and inclusive growth — EUROPE 2020 — sets the agenda for
European research & innovation for the coming years. Several of the
flagship initiatives of that strategy are affected by metrology research,
including ‘Innovation Union’, ‘A digital agenda for Europe’, ‘Resource
efficient Europe’ and ‘An industrial policy for the globalisation era’.
In the current initiative, EMRP Member
States and their NMIs, together with the dedicated implementation structure
EURAMET, have proved that a lightweight governance structure can deliver
efficient, effective implementation of the programme. The improved successor
programme EMPIR would also respect the subsidiarity principle, as Member States
would be responsible for developing their joint strategic work programme and
all operational aspects. 
The role of the EU is to ensure improved
coordination, to help achieving critical mass and aligning national and
European strategies, raising the efficiency of public
spending, as well as ensuring synergies with EU policies and contributing to
the priorities of Horizon 2020.
1.4.        EMRP: Key achievements and
lessons learned
The current EMRP initiative is a joint
European metrology research programme implemented by 22 NMIs. It is based on
Article 185 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),
which, in implementing the multiannual Framework Programme, makes it possible
to coordinate national research programmes. The current programme has a total
public budget of € 400 million for a duration of five years, with matching
contributions from the participating countries and the European Union. 
The interim evaluation has recognised the
value of the initiative: ‘The Panel had a common view that the Article 185
is an almost perfect instrument for joint programming within the metrology
community due to the long-term national funding commitments, the relatively
homogenous national structures and the pre-existing networking frameworks.’
The main shortcomings of EMRP are a limited
opening of the NMIs to excellent science outside the NMIs and insufficient
capacity building. Furthermore, the lack of dedicated instruments to support
innovation and regulatory/standardisation roadmaps limits industrial
exploitation, and thus the broader economic impacts.
2.           Objectives
2.1.        General
Objectives
In line with the Europe 2020 strategy, the Innovation Union flagship
initiative, Horizon 2020 and ERA, the overarching goal of the future initiative
is to address the challenges that the European Metrology Research System is
facing and to fully exploit the benefits of improved measurement solutions for
Europe. 
Thus, the general objectives are to:
(1)                   
Provide appropriate, integrated and
fit-for-purpose metrology solutions supporting
innovation and industrial competitiveness, as well as measurement technologies
addressing societal challenges such as health, environment and energy including
support to policy development and implementation (GO1)
(2)                   
Create an integrated European Metrology
Research system with critical mass and active
engagement at regional, national, European and international level (GO2)
2.2.        Specific objectives
To achieve the general objectives and to ensure
a high level of scientific, financial and managerial integration in all
relevant activities, as well as a high impact, the following specific
objectives and related benchmarks have been set:
·      Boost industrial uptake and improve standardisation:
·      At least € 400 m of European turnover from new or
significantly improved products and services that can be attributed to the
research activities of EMPIR and its predecessors;
·      At least 60 % of CEN/CENELEC /ISO/IEC Technical Committees and
equivalent standardisation bodies with potential to benefit directly from EMPIR
projects to engage with the programme.
·     
Underpin a coherent, sustainable and
integrated European metrology landscape to fully
exploit the EU potential:
·      Maintain a level of at least 50 % of dedicated national
metrology research investments in Europe being coordinated or influenced via
the programme;
·      All European NMIs and their designated institutes interact with the
programme;
·      European leadership in at least 20 % of international metrology
committees[2].
2.3.        Operational
Objectives
From the above Specific Objectives follow
six Operational Objectives:
·                        
Establish common agendas with strong
integration of basic research as well as
challenge-oriented metrology research via common priorities and joint calls
with excellence-based project selection (OO1);
·                        
Support innovation-related activities through the development of new technologies, industry-driven joint
research projects and industrial uptake.
This requires a systematic technology screening of projects and at least 20 %
industry-driven research (no dedicated module under the present EMRP) (OO2);
·                        
Increase immediate relevance for policy
makers and standardisation bodies
At least 10 % is dedicated to normative research, compared to 0 % in
EMRP (OO3);
·                        
Open the programme to the relevant scientific
communities and raise awareness and involvement of
European technology and research organisations. This means at least doubling the
participation of non-NMI/DI scientists in the programme (OO4);
·                        
Support capacity-building in developing NMIs, in particular by assisting national authorities to fully exploit
the use of structural funds and other relevant programmes. The expectation is
to increase the leverage of EU structural funds and other programmes, from 0 %
to 10 % of the co-investment in EMPIR (OO5);
·                        
Strengthen European leadership through EURAMET and foster global cooperation. This should
lead to at least two structured cooperations with major metrology actors
outside Europe (e.g. US, Canada) (OO6).
3.           Policy
Options
The following three main policy options
have been identified for a successor to EMRP:
Under Option 1, (‘No dedicated EU
action’) EU participation to EMRP would be discontinued after the end of
its current funding phase in 2013. Furthermore, no dedicated provision would be
made in EU research policies, programmes or funding to support EMRP objectives.
Option 2 (‘Business
as usual — EMRP2’) would continue with an identical initiative focused
entirely on coordination and integration of fundamental and challenge driven
research. This would include some calls on industry relevant topics.
Option 3 (‘Improved Article 185 initiative — EMPIR’ would build on
the success of the EMRP by implementing a more ambitious and inclusive Article
185 initiative that is aligned with the Europe 2020 objectives as a European
Metrology Programme for Research and Innovation (EMPIR). The
improvement from EMRP to EMPIR consists of a stronger focus on innovation and industrial
uptake, entirely new support for standardisation and dedicated capacity
building, and links to other funding sources, such as structural funds, in
order to support participating states with incomplete or emerging metrology
systems, to allow them to close the gap with established metrology systems.
4.           Comparison
of Options
The analysis of impacts on the six
operational objectives as well as the analysis of the economic, social,
environmental, and other impacts provides the basis for a comparison.
Figure
2: Comparison of
impact of the options on achieving the six Operational Objectives (OO) and on
economic, social, environmental and other impacts
   || Option 1: No dedicated EU action || Option 2: EMRP2 || Option 3: EMPIR 
 OO1 Integration || Low/Medium || Very High || High 
 OO2 Innovation || Low/Medium || Medium || High 
 OO3 Policy relevance || Low/Medium || Medium || Very High 
 OO4 Opening programme || Low || Medium || Medium/High 
 OO5 Capacity Building || Low || Low/Medium || Medium 
 OO6 Global cooperation || Low/Medium || Low/Medium || Medium/High 
 Economic Impacts || Low || Medium || Medium/High 
 Social Impacts || Medium || Medium/High || High 
 Environmental Impacts || Low || Medium/High || Medium/High 
 Impacts on European Research and Innovation Policy || Low || Medium/High || High 
 Efficiency || Very Low || High || Very High 
 Administrative burden || High || Medium || Medium 
5.           Preferred
Option 
Option 3 is clearly the preferred option,
after consideration of effectiveness in achieving the objectives, efficiency,
as well as coherence across all criteria. This is fully supported by the
results of the public consultation (93 % of all responses rate the option ‘very
suitable’ or ‘appropriate’). This option will build on the previous
achievements of EMRP, with continuity of current activities and their
implementation in the new programme, while allowing a smooth integration of
additional activities right from the start so as to addressing problems that
could not be addressed with the set-up of the current initiative. 
The actual budget allocation will be
subject to the outcome of the Horizon 2020 decision. Participating countries
have already presented financial commitments in excess of € 300 million.
With matching contributions from the EU, this would result in a € 600 million
programme with calls over seven years, corresponding to an increase of the
annual budget by 7 % (€ 85.7 million per year) compared to the
current programme EMRP.
6.           Monitoring and Evaluation
The creation of an appropriate monitoring and
evaluation system at programme and project level will enable sound assessment
of whether the EMPIR programme is on track and successfully achieving its
objectives. The evaluation framework would be composed of the following:
·                        
Annual reports on the implementation of the
programme, providing detailed information on its performance and progress
towards meeting its objectives and targets, based on predefined indicators.
·                        
A mid-term evaluation, carried out by an
independent expert panel convened by the European Commission, conducted no
later than 2018, with a specific focus on implementation to that date, the
quality of research and innovation, progress towards the objectives and targets
set, and recommendations for possible improvements.
·                        
At the end of the Union participation in EMPIR,
an independent final evaluation, reviewing the achievement of objectives,
outcomes and impacts.
A comprehensive set of indicators
underpinning the specific and operational objectives has been developed and is
presented in the IA report. 
[1]               See http://ec.europa.eu/research/consultations/pdf/empir-survey-final-report.pdf
for the full report
[2]               E.g. in the committees of the meter convention: www.bipm.org/en/committees .