REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Annual Report on Research and Technological Development Activities of the European Union and Monitoring of Horizon 2020 in 2017
Date: 2018-06-27
Institutions: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, EU research policy, European Institute of Innovation and Technology, Framework Programme for Research and Development, Joint Research Centre, activity report, innovation, international cooperation, research and development, scientific cooperation

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 27.6.2018  COM(2018) 493 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Annual Report on Research and Technological Development Activities of the European Union and Monitoring of Horizon 2020 in 2017  
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

Annual Report on Research and Technological Development Activities of the European 
Union and Monitoring of Horizon 2020 in 2017 

1. 

BACKGROUND TO THE ANNUAL REPORT ON RTD ACTIVITIES 

The Annual Report on the European Union's (EU) Research and Technological Development 
Activities, and on the dissemination of results, is prepared pursuant to Article 190 of the Treaty 
on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and Article 7 of the Euratom Treaty. The 
purpose  of  this  report  is  to  provide  a  concise  and  non-exhaustive  overview  of  key  measures 
undertaken in the reporting year. 

Following  a  call  from  the  Council  on  30  May  2017  to  the  Commission  to  streamline  its 
reporting strategy, detailed monitoring data in relation to Horizon 2020 is publicly available at 
the new Horizon 2020 Dashboard.1  

2. 

THE BROADER POLITICAL CONTEXT IN 2017 

While in 2017 the EU faced considerable political challenges, it also made substantial progress 
in  the  Commission's  10  priorities  that  President  Juncker  set  out  at  the  beginning  of  his 
mandate.  Research  and  Innovation  continued  to  play  a  key  role  in  the  implementation  of  the 
Agenda for Jobs, Growth, Fairness and Democratic Change. 

Europe’s economy continued to gather momentum. Employment and investment returned to 
pre-financial crisis levels. The Commission's €315 billion Investment Plan for Europe, with 
the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), brought further results. By December 
2017  EFSI  was  expected  to  trigger  €256.1  billion  in  investments.  The  Horizon  2020 
Framework Programme contributed to these positive developments. Every Euro invested under 
Horizon 2020 brings an estimated GDP increase of 6 to 8.5 euros (€400 to EUR 600 billion by 
2030)2. 

The EU has also made significant progress in establishing a connected digital single market. 
The Commission put forward new rules to protect intellectual property, cultural diversity and 
personal data to facilitate the fight against terrorist propaganda and radicalisation online. The 
European  Commission  contributed  to  this  political  priority  by  allocating  €3  billion  for  2016 
and 2017 for activities related to information and communication technologies across all parts 
of  Horizon 2020.  More  than  €6  billion  is  earmarked  for  digital  R&I  in  the  programme’s  last 
phase (2018-20), of which €1.7 billion have been allocated to the Digitisation Focus Area. 

Geopolitical  events  have  kept  energy  and  climate  at  the  top  of  the  agenda  in  2017.  The 
European  Commission  continued  the  implementation  of  the  EU's  energy  and  climate 
commitments  as  a  follow-up  to  the  2015  Paris  Agreement  on  Climate  Change  as  well  in 
relation to Sustainable Development Goals. The third Report on the State of the Energy Union 
presented in November 2017 demonstrated that Europe's transition to a low-carbon society is 
becoming the new reality. These developments have been well reflected in Horizon 2020 Work 
Programme 2018-2020 which largely invests in climate action and sustainability research e.g. 
by spending an extra €3.3 billion on a focus area low-carbon, climate resilient future. 

1 http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/projectresults/index.html. 
2 Horizon 2020 Interim Evaluation, published 29 May 2017 

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3. 

POLICY FRAMEWORK  

The reporting year was marked by a successful start of the last phase of Horizon 2020 (2018-
2020)  as  well  as  by  first  actions  towards  the  design  of  the  next  Framework  Programme  for 
Research and Innovation, to start in 2021.  

On  29  May  2017,  the  Commission  published  the  Interim  Evaluation  of  Horizon  2020, 
required by Article 32 of the regulation establishing Horizon 2020. The findings of the Interim 
Evaluation  proved  that  Horizon  2020  is  a  highly  attractive  programme  that  enables  unique 
collaborations and partnerships and that is on track to contribute to jobs and growth. However, 
it also calls for a maximised impact through mission-orientation and citizen involvement.  

The  Interim  Evaluation  provided  the  evidence-base  for  the  report  and  forward-looking 
recommendations of the independent High Level Group on maximising the impact of EU R&I 
programmes,  chaired  by  Pascal  Lamy  (Lamy  High  Level  Group).  The  High  Level  Group 
report published on 3rd July  2017 formulates a vision  for future EU research and innovation 
and draws up strategic recommendations on maximizing the impact of EU's future investment 
in this area. The report has gained notable attention at high political levels, beyond the research 
and  innovation  community,  and  outside  Europe  and  has  become  a  reference  point  for 
discussion  with  stakeholders.  Both,  the  Interim  Evaluation  and  the  Lamy  report,  call  for  “an 
evolution, not a revolution”, that will set a new level of ambition for the EU's global leadership 
in science and innovation.  

The  development  of  appropriate  framework  conditions  for  research  and  innovation  was  very 
much driven by the 3 O's agenda of Commissioner Moedas: Open Innovation, Open Science, 
Open to the World. 

Open Innovation 

With a view to helping generate and scale up more breakthrough, market-creating innovations, 
and thereby achieving greater impact from Horizon 2020, the European Commission launched 
the  first  phase  of  a  European  Innovation  Council  (EIC)  under  the  2018-20  Work 
Programme. The first phase has a budget of €2.7 billion and brings together several innovation 
support  schemes:  the  SME  Instrument,  the  Fast  Track  to  Innovation  (FTI),  Future  and 
Emerging Technologies (FET) Open, and Horizon Prizes. An independent High Level expert 
group  of  innovators  has  assisted  the  European  Commission  helping  co-design  the  shape  of  a 
fully-fledged EIC and has produced a full set of recommendations in a report published on 24 
January 2018 entitled Europe is back: Accelerating breakthrough innovation3.  

As part of the Open Innovation agenda, the Commission Work Programme was screened for 
innovation-relevant legislative initiatives, in line with the Innovation Principle. 

In  2017, the Commission  continued the implementation of the pilot  phase  of the  Innovation 
Deals  (ID),  introduced  in  the  context  of  the  Circular  Economy  package,  with  the  first  ID  on 
"Sustainable wastewater treatment combining anaerobic membrane technology (AnMBR) and 
water reuse" and "From E-Mobility to recycling: The virtuous loop of electric vehicle: Reuse 
of  batteries  from  electric  cars  for  stationary  energy  storage  systems"  was  adopted  on  21 
November 2017.  

Open Science 

In 2017, the European Commission launched different components of the  European Science 
Cloud  (EOSC)  initiative  to  capitalise  on the  data revolution.  The  science  cloud  will  provide 
European  science,  industry  and  public  authorities  with  world-class  digital  infrastructure  that 

3 https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/eic_hlg_bz_web.pdf  

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brings state-of-the-art computing and data storage capacity to the fingertips of any scientist and 
engineer in the European Union.  

The  Open  Science  Policy  Platform  (OSPP)  delivered  its  first  reports  on  ‘Altmetrics’  in 
March  2017  and  ‘Open  education  and  skills,  Rewards  and  incentives’  in  July  2017.  .In 
September  2017  the  Commission  published  a  Staff  Working  Document  on  Long-Term 
Sustainability  of  Europe's  Research  Infrastructures4  calling  upon  Member  States  to 
continue to invest in these facilities which are essential for enabling our scientists to extend the 
frontiers of knowledge. 

Open to the World 

During 2017, EU international cooperation in R&I has made a significant contribution to the 
Commission  priority  on  'Europe  as  a  stronger  Global  Actor'  and  has  been  crucial  for 
delivering on the 'Open to the World' R&I policy priority. A range of Joint S&T Cooperation 
Committees  and  Regional  Policy  Dialogues  have  been  held  to  extend  opportunities  for 
cooperation.  Activities  also  included  strengthening  the  EU's  role  in  global  multilateral 
initiatives  and  involvement  of  international  partner  countries  in  joint  programmes,  a 
Ministerial  Conference  of  Strengthening  Euro-Mediterranean  Cooperation  through  R&I, 
contributions  to  the  Our  Ocean  Conference  in  Malta,  the  extension  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
Research  Alliance  through  the  'Belém  Statement'  to  countries  bordering  the  South  Atlantic, 
particularly  Brazil  and  South  Africa,  and  the  support  to  Mission  Innovation.  Another  event 
was EU-AU High Level Policy Dialogue. The EU also took the final steps for its participation 
in PRIMA (Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area), an initiative under Art. 185 
TFEU, which was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU in July 2017. 
The  budget  of  the  initiative  is  at  present  €  494  million  (of  which  €274  million  from 
Participating States and €220 million from the EU).  

Other Policy Measures  

As part of the 2017 European Semester, the Commission released the Country Reports with 
substantial  and  pertinent  R&I  content  on  22  February  2017.  A  set  of  country-specific 
recommendations5 addressing R&I issues adopted in the context of the European Semester of 
economic policy coordination. 

The  Scientific  Advice  Mechanism  High  Level  Group  (SAM  HLG)  released  several 
publications  in  2017.  A  scientific  opinion  on  "Cybersecurity  in  the  European  Digital  Single 
Market"  was  published  in  March  2017  and  formed  part  of  the  evidence  base  for  the 
September 2017 joint EC and High Representative Communication on "Resilience, deterrence 
and  defence:  building  strong  cybersecurity  for  the  EU"  which  presented  measures  to  further 
strengthen the EU's cybersecurity structures and capabilities. The SAM HLG Explanatory Note 
on  New  Techniques  in  Agricultural  Biotechnology  was  published  in  April  2017.  The  SAM 
HLG scientific opinion on Food from the Oceans was published in November 2017. 

The European Research Council (ERC) celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2017. In scope of 
this event, over 160 different celebrations took place around the world. Research institutions, 
universities,  national  governments,  science  museums,  EU  Delegations  and  other  actors 
contributed to marking this milestone.  

This year also marked the 20th anniversary of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) 
which  has  funded  more  than  100  000  researchers  and  which  in  2017 supported the  mobility, 
training and career development of around 9000 top-class researchers. Up to 14 MSCA-funded 
doctoral  candidates  supported  the  significant  detection  of  gravitational  waves  that  led  to  the 

4  https://ec.europa.eu/research/infrastructures/pdf/swd-infrastructures_323-2017.pdf 
5 https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/2017-european-semester-country-reports_en  

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2017 Nobel Prize in Physics while three laureates who were previously involved as scientists in 
charge of eight MSCA projects were awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  

In  September  2017,  the  Commission  together  with  the  High  Representative  of  the  Union  for 
Foreign Affairs and Security Policy issued a joint communication on Cybersecurity for the 
EU  to  make  the  EU  better  placed  to  face  cyber  threats.  The  Digitising  European  Industry 
initiative successfully continued its activities.  
The  Commission  joined  the  International  Forum  to  Advance  First  Responder  Innovation6  in 
2017 with the objective to ensure coherence and complementarities of EU security research in 
the  field  of  First  Responders  with  the  global  efforts  in  the  same  domain,  a  Forum  that  the 
Commission is currently chairing. The Forum has 14 members, including a number of MS and 
international partners. 

the  Commission 

the 
In  October  2017, 
intergovernmental  Group  on  Earth  Observations  (GEO)7  has  launched  the  EuroGEOSS 
initiative8. EuroGEOSS is bringing together the Copernicus programme and the Horizon 2020 
R&I  efforts  in  the  domain  of  Earth  Observation  (EO)  to  support  the  development  of 
downstream services and products.  

the  European  members  of 

together  with 

In November 2017, the Commission presented its review of the 2012 European Bioeconomy 
Strategy and Action Plan, documented as a Staff Working Document. Work was started for a 
revision of the strategy and its action plan, expected to be adopted in 2018. 

Foresight activities are carried out to specifically support the development of proposals for the 
Framework  Programme  and  its  biannual  work  programmes.  In  2017  foresight  activities 
focussed  on  supporting  the  reflection  towards  the  Framework  Programme  for  Research  and 
Innovation  (FP9).  Key  milestones  for  the  year  included  the  publication  of  three  reports:  The 
publication of the Expert Group on Strategic Foresight in EU Policy and two reports from the 
BOHEMIA  project9 which aim to  support the preparation of the Commission’s Proposals for 
future EU R&I policies. 

Also looking towards the post 2020 Framework Programme, a High-Level Strategy Group on 
industrial  technologies10  was  set  up  to  review  the  policy  approach  to  Key  Enabling 
Technologies. The report is planned for April 2018.  

4. 

IMPLEMENTATION OF HORIZON 2020 

4.1 Response to calls 

In  September  2017  Commissions  launched  the  new  Horizon  2020  Dashboard,  providing 
monitoring  data  on  projects  and  proposals  on  an  interactive  way,  some  of  which  are 
summarized hereafter.  

By the end of 201711, 457 Horizon 2020 calls were concluded, with 151 067 eligible proposals 
submitted,  requesting  a  total  EU  financial  contribution  of  €232  billion.  Of  these,  18  059 

6 Commission Decision C(2017)2564/F1 
7 http://www.earthobservations.org/ 
8 http://ec.europa.eu/research/eurogeoss 
9 https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/b2d78a84-3aae-11e7-a08e-01aa75ed71a1/language-en;  
https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/d1ea6c83-e538-11e7-9749-01aa75ed71a1/language-
en/format-PDF/source-60761593) 

10 http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/index.cfm?do=groupDetail.groupDetail&groupID=3540 
11 This information is related to the H2020 proposals and projects emanating from 2014-2017 calls, situation as of 09/02/2018 

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proposals were retained for funding, bringing the overall success rate of eligible full proposals 
in the first four years to 12%. A total of 16 514 grant agreements were signed by the end of 
December 2017, with a budget allocation of €29.8 billion in EU funding.  

In the years 2014-2017, participants from Member States received 92% of funding with the rest 
going to those from Associated and Third Countries. United States, China, Canada, Australia 
and South Africa accounted for more than 50% of the overall Third Country participation. 12.0 
% of all grant agreements include one or more partners from third countries, and €44 million 
per year is invested by third-country participants in Horizon 2020 projects.  

Universities remain in first place in terms of funding received, whereas the private sector has 
slightly overtaken them in terms of participation. The share of private sector participation in 
the calls since the beginning of the programme and until the end of the reporting year amounts 
to 34.4%. SMEs account for 24,5% share of H2020 participations with the total amount of €4.9 
billion in EU funding. 

4.2 Key features in Horizon 2020 

The launch of the Work Programme for 2018 – 2020 on 27 October 2017 started the last phase 
of Horizon 2020, with total funding during this period including that of the ERC, of more than 
€30 billion.  

Four  Focus  Areas  cut  across  thematic  boundaries  and  bring  together  contributions  from 
various programme parts to pursue a common objective and create sustained impact. They have 
a  total  budget  of  over  €  7  billion:  (i)  Building  a  low-carbon,  climate  resilient  future,  (ii) 
Connecting  economic  and  environmental  gains  –  the  Circular  Economy,  (iii)  Digitising  and 
transforming  European  industry  and  services,  and  (iv)  Boosting  the  effectiveness  of  the 
Security Union. The Work Programme will also contribute to the political priority of tackling 
migration challenges by allocating over €200 million for migration-related research in the next 
three years (calls in Societal Challenges 2,3,5,5,6,7). 

SME Instrument  

There  were  over  50.000  applications  to  the  SME  Instrument  across  the  first  four  years  of 
operation of Horizon 2020, with an increase from year to year (15.395 in 2017). The average 
success rate of full proposals in the SME instrument in the first four years was 6.9% (5.6% in 
2017). By the end of 2017, 24.94% (€4.32 billion) of the total combined budgets for Horizon 
2020's  specific  objective  Leadership  in  Enabling  and  Industrial  Technologies  (LEIT)  and 
Societal Challenges (over the first four years of implementation) had been allocated to SMEs, 
meaning that the 20% budget target that was set by EU Council and Parliament at the outset of 
the programme was surpassed by almost 25% or 5 percent points. 

Enhancing international cooperation 

Increased  support  of  international  participation  in  Horizon  2020  projects  has  been  provided 
with the launch of the 2018-20 Work Programme, with notably over 30 flagship initiatives of 
large  scale  and  scope  on  topics  dedicated  to  international  cooperation  in  areas  of  mutual 
benefit,  comprising  a  total  budget  of  over  €1  billion.  Synergies  with  EU  external  policies 
have been intensified. For instance, in May 2017 the SESAME synchrotron started operating in 
Jordan, with major EU contributions to its construction.  

The  Commission  has  remained  proactive  in  ensuring  good  framework  conditions  for 
international  R&I  cooperation.  It  has  continued  to  increase  the  scope  of  Horizon  2020  co-
funding  mechanisms,  e.g.  the  2017  EU-China  Innovation  Cooperation  Dialogue  agreed  to 
renew  the  Chinese  mechanism  for  2018-20.  In  addition  to  activities  under  MSCA,  which 
account  for  half  of  all  third-country  participations  in  Horizon  2020,  ERC  Implementing 
Arrangements  have  been  signed  with  funding  bodies  in  ten  countries  around  the  world. The 

5 

 
year 2017 also saw the launch of the first nodes of a European Network of R&I Centres and 
Hubs in USA, China and Brazil. There was e.g. cooperation with India on water challenges and 
with African countries on food security and renewable energies. 

Widening Participation 

Alongside the  Policy  Support  Facility (PSF)  and  the  Seal  of  excellence,  11  projects  received 
funding under the second phase of the Teaming instrument to create Centres of Excellence to 
help  improve  research  performance  and  increase  investment in  countries  with  lower research 
excellence rankings. The projects received between 10 and 15 million Euro each, amounting to 
almost €155 million in total. In 2017, a Teaming phase one call was also launched with almost 
€14 million of EU financial contribution, resulting in 30 funded projects. Support continued to 
be provided for COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). A pilot action in 
the  Work  Programme  2018-20  will  fund  more  than  100  researchers  of  any  nationality  to 
undertake an MSCA-inspired fellowship in a widening country. 

In 2017, The Seal of Excellence was used in 19 national schemes in 11 countries (CY (4), CZ 
(2), ES (1), HU (1), SI (2), SE (2), NO (1), PL (2),. EL (1), UK (1) and soon SK (2)) and in 10 
regional  schemes in 4 countries.( IT (6), ES (3), FR (1), CZ (1))    

Social Science and the Humanities  

In  2017  the  social  sciences  and  humanities  (SSH)  continued  to  be  integrated  across  Horizon 
2020  activities.  114  topics  across  the  Industrial  Leadership  and  Societal  Challenges  pillars 
explicitly  required  contributions  from  SSH.  Societal  Challenge  6  ‘Inclusive,  innovative  and 
reflective  societies’  (SC6)  remained  the  hub  for  challenge-based  socioeconomic  and  cultural 
R&I  in  areas  such  as  inequalities,  growth  and  inclusion  and  international  relations.  With  the 
refugee crisis still unfolding, a research agenda on migration delivered a solid evidence base in 
support of migration policies and innovative solutions for the integration of migrants. 

Gender  

Gender  equality  has  been  specifically  assessed  in  the  frame  of  Horizon  2020  Interim 
Evaluation Expert Group Report12. The positive trends in women participation in Horizon 2020 
continued  and  targets  were  met:  over  the  first  three  years  of  Horizon  2020, the  share  of 
contracts signed with women experts participating in evaluation panels was 41% and 55.2 % of 
the  members  of  advisory  groups  were  women.  An  infographic13  was  produced  to  present  the 
main trends and actions implemented for gender equality in Horizon 2020. 

Climate Action and Sustainable Development 

The Horizon 2020 Regulation sets out spending targets of 35% to climate action and 60% to 
sustainable  development  to  be  achieved  over  the  whole  duration  of  the  programme.  The 
monitoring  of  the  Horizon  2020  expenditure  shows  that  until  2017  the  target  for  sustainable 
development  was  well  on  track,  while  the  target  for  climate  action  was  not  yet  met.  The 
expenditure  tracked  until  2017  are    close  to  30%  for  climate  action  and  69%  for  sustainable 
development (in 2017 vs. 65% in Interim Evaluation of Horizon 2020). Additional efforts by 
the  whole  of  the  Commission  are  on-going  to  ensure  that  the  climate  action  mainstreaming 
target will be met by the end of Horizon 2020.  

12https://ec.europa.eu/research/swafs/pdf/pub_gender_equality/interim_evaluation_gender_long_final.pdf#view=fit&pagemode

=none  

13 https://ec.europa.eu/research/swafs/images/infographics/gender_gap_ri_2017-w920.jpg  

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Synergies with other programmes 

In July 2017, the Communication 'Strengthening Innovation in Europe's Regions: Strategies for 
resilient,  inclusive  and  sustainable  growth'  was  adopted,  emphasising  the  importance  of 
synergies and complementarities between EU policies and instruments as a key to make the 
most  of  the  growth  potential  of  EU  regions  and  Member  States.  There  are  overall  R&I  and 
regional development planning frameworks which include down-stream and up-stream actions 
to H2020 and facilitates transnational cooperation along related smart specialisation priorities. 
S3 are crucial for synergies. There is as well an Innovation Radar tool to attract investors.14 

The  implementation  of  the  Seal  of  Excellence  progressed  well  in  2017  and  an  increasing 
number  of  regional/national  schemes  to  financially  support  'Seal'  SME  Instrument  proposals 
has been put in place, including through ESIF. During the year, the Seal was extended to cover 
Teaming  actions  under  the  Widening  part  of  Horizon  2020  and  Marie  Skłodowska-Curie 
Actions while preparatory work for extending it to the Proof of Concept proposals of the ERC 
progressed. In  January 2017,  the  European  Commission  issued  the  'Explanatory  Note'  on  the 
application of  State  Aid Rules  with  the purpose  to  explain in  simple  terms how to conceive 
public support schemes in a way that 'Seal' proposals are funded at the highest possible funding 
intensity. A few months later, in June, the Seal projects were exempted from the notification 
requirement. A new  major  activity with  a focus on synergies was also kick-started under the 
Horizon  2020  Policy  Support  Facility:  the  Mutual  Learning  Exercise  on  Widening 
participation and ensuring synergies between the EU research and innovation programmes and 
Cohesion Policy. 

5.  EURATOM 

According to the Programme Statement of the Euratom Programme, progress has been made in 
terms of the specific objectives of the Programme. Most notably, in the area of nuclear safety, 
23  new  projects  (joint  research  and/or  coordinated  actions)  likely  to  lead  to  a  demonstrable 
improvement  in  nuclear  safety  practice  in  Europe  were  signed  in  2017.  Moreover,  10  new 
projects were  signed in 2017 contributing to the development of safe long-term solutions  for 
the  management  of  ultimate  nuclear  waste.  The  Euratom  2018  Work  Programme  was 
adopted  with  actions  proposed  addressing  research  challenges  important  for  nuclear  safety, 
waste  management  and  radiation  protection.  In  addition,  the  Euratom  WP  2018  places 
emphasis on research for decommissioning of nuclear installations as well as the promotion of 
training etc.15161718 

Since  the  Euratom  Treaty  only  allows  for  a  5-year  research  programme,  the  Commission 
adopted a proposal for a Council Regulation establishing the Euratom Research and Training 
Programme 2019-2020. This proposal has the same objectives and the list of activities as in the 
current  Euratom  programme  2014-2018.  The  proposal  for  extension  of  the  Euratom 
programme  was  accompanied  by  a  report  from  the  Commission  to  the  Council  and  the 
Parliament on the Interim Evaluation of the Euratom Research and Training Programme 2014-

14See in particular the compilation of good practices and examples for synergies: http://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/stairway-
to-excellence and https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/innovation-radar  
15 COM 2017 (698) final  Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION on the Research and Training Programme of the 
European Atomic Energy Community (2019-2020). 
16COM(2017) 697 final Report from the Commission on the Interim evaluation of the Euratom Research and Training 
Programme 2014-2018 
17 SWD(2017) 426 final Interim evaluation of direct actions of the Euratom research & training programme 2014-2018 
18 SWD(2017) 427 final Interim evaluation of indirect actions of the Euratom research & training programme 2014-2018 

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2018. The accompanying Commission Staff Working Documents provide a detailed evaluation 
of direct and indirect actions of the programme. 

6. JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE (JRC)  

In addition to being part of the EURATOM programme, the JRC in 2017 continued to provide 
scientific support to key policy initiatives such as digital single market, energy union, circular 
economy, taxation, agriculture, social  pillar,  migration, and security. It has  also responded to 
emerging issues, such as dual food quality.  

The JRC has made progress implementing its Strategy 2030 adopted in 2016. In 2017, the JRC 
has  further  strengthened  its  knowledge  management  capacity  for  policy-making  with  the 
launch  of  a  Knowledge  Centre  (KC)  for  bio-economy  and  a  Competence  Centre  (CC)  on 
modelling. A total of four KCs and four CCs bring together experts, competences, tools, skills, 
data and knowledge across the Commission.  

Furthermore,  the  JRC  has  contributed  to  Better  Regulation  by  supporting  the  Commission 
with methodologies for quantification and data planning. It has strengthened its support to the 
European  Semester,  through  country  knowledge-sharing  platforms  and  tax  modelling. 
Together  with  other  Commission  DGs,  the  JRC  has  developed  a  conceptual  framework  for 
resilience  that  can  be  used  in  EU  policy-making.  Close  collaboration  with  the  Commission's 
Scientific  Advice  Mechanism  (SAM)  continued  throughout  2017.  JRC  supported  regional 
innovation by expanding the thematic scope of the "Stairway to Excellence" and adding new 
tools to the "Smart Specialisation Platform" 

In 2017, the JRC launched a call for interest providing open access to several of its world-class 
research  infrastructures.  Other  new  initiatives  in  2017  include  setting  up  a  Centre  for 
Advanced  Studies.  The  JRC  also  concluded  arrangements  with  European  counterparts  in 
Estonia,  Slovenia,  France,  Denmark,  Poland,  Finland,  as  well  as  with  regional  entities  and 
international  partners.  Relations  with  African  countries  were  put  in  the  spotlight  with  the 
publication  of  a  report  "Science  for  the  AU-EU  Partnership:  building  knowledge  for 
sustainable development", prepared in the context of the 2017 AU-EU Summit. A wide range 
of  events  throughout  Europe  helped  to  build  closer  links  between  citizens,  the  scientific 
community  and  EU  policy  makers.  Such  events  include  "Science  meets  Parliaments"  and 
"Science  meets  Regions",  organized  together  with  EP  Science  &  Technology  Options 
Assessment (STOA) Panel and the Committee of Regions, respectively.  

7. EIT 

In 2017, the EIT continued to implement its Strategic Innovation Agenda (SIA). It remains the 
single EU instrument fully integrating education, research and business in its Knowledge and 
Innovation Communities (KICs) in order to tackle climate, digital, health, energy, food and raw 
materials  challenges.  Both  the  Mid-term  Evaluation  of  the  EIT  and  the  EIT  Impact  Study 
confirmed that the unique innovation model of the EIT delivers results and impact. A token of 
these  results  can  be  seen  in  the  18  entrepreneurs  from  the  EIT  Community  recognised  by 
Forbes  in  their  2017  Europe  30  under  30  list.  This  included  disruptive  innovations  ranging 
from  zero-emission  electric  planes  to  ground-breaking  energy  storage  solution  based  on 
graphene.  Total grant allocation was EUR 320 million. The EIT Regional Innovation Scheme, 
EIT’s widening scheme, is now supporting activities in 18 countries. The EIT managed the set-
up  of  EIT  Food,  ensuring  its  evolution  to  a  stable  KIC  delivering  activities  across  the  entire 
food value chain in 5 newly opened Co-location Centres in Europe.  

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8. DISSEMINATION, EXPLOITATION AND COMMUNICATION  

Two  framework  contracts  to  assist  project  consortia  in  their  dissemination  and  exploitation 
activities  were  implemented:  the  'Common  Exploitation  Booster'  that  throughout  2017  has 
provided targeted support for 195 projects and the 'Common Dissemination Booster' that will 
support 272 projects, started in Q3 2017. 

The  Commission  services  implemented  additional  measures  to  allow  tracking  the  research 
results after the completion of the projects in order to have a more comprehensive view.  

For  external  stakeholders,  CORDIS,  the  European  Commission's  primary  public  repository 
and portal to disseminate information on all EU-funded research projects, has been supported 
with €5 million. CORDIS has continued being the main tool to provide user-friendly access to 
projects data and results through faster and broader visibility of projects' outputs and improved 
search functions.  

Since 2017, the new H2020 Dashboard facilitates use a wide range of data on Horizon 2020 
projects  and  proposals  in  order  to  demonstrate  the  impact  of  the  programme  and  to  support 
evidence-based policy-making. It is complementary to the existing reporting facilities offering 
a  unified, 
to  Horizon  2020 
implementation and results data for both external and internal users.  

transparent,  user-friendly,  online,  single  access-point 

As  of  2017,  open  access  has  become  the  default  rule  in  the  work  programmes,  with  the 
possibility  for  opting  out  under  specific  conditions.  Based  on  the  signed  grant  agreements  in 
2017, by the end of 2017, around 63% of publications were open access ones. For all projects 
participating in H2020, by the end of 2017, 74.85% of all publications were open access ones.   

9. OUTLOOK   

The year 2018 will be marked by the preparation of the next Framework Programme for 
Research and Innovation (FP9) to start in 2021. The results of the Horizon 2020 Interim 
Evaluation, the recommendations of the report of the High Level Group, the results from on-
going foresight exercises and the economic rationale for public R&I funding and its impact, 
and the impact assessment itself,  will be building blocks that pave the way for the successor 
Framework Programme. The last three years of Horizon 2020 will be already testing some of 
the solutions designed to address lessons learned. There will be a new approach for blue 
growth topics. 

The  need  to  maintain  the  positive  narrative  on  science  and  innovation  will  be  a  policy 
challenge to be further addressed in the course of 2018. 

A  mission-driven  approach  will  be  designed  to  create  a  powerful  and  measurable  impact, 
with a transformative potential for science, technology, industry and society. The Commission 
will engage actively with stakeholders during the course of 2018, to  further develop this and 
other key concepts for the new programme.  

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