COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT Accompanying the document Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (recast) and Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Strategic Innovation Agenda of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) 2021-2027: Boosting the Innovation Talent and Capacity of Europe
Date: 2019-07-11
Institutions: Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, European Commission
Subjects: European Institute of Innovation and Technology, higher education, innovation, research and development

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  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 11.7.2019  SWD(2019) 331 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT  Accompanying the document Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council  on the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (recast)  and Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Strategic Innovation Agenda of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) 2021-2027: Boosting the Innovation Talent and Capacity of Europe   {COM(2019) 330 final} - {COM(2019) 331 final} - {SEC(2019) 275 final} - {SWD(2019) 330 final}  
 
 
Executive Summary Sheet 

Impact assessment on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on 
the  European  Institute  of  Innovation  and  Technology  (recast)  and  the  Proposal  for  a  Decision  of  the 
European Parliament and of the Council on the Strategic Innovation Agenda of the European Institute 
of  Innovation  and  Technology  (EIT)  2021-2027:  Boosting  the  Innovation  Talent  and  Capacity  of 
Europe 

A. Need for action 

Why? What is the problem being addressed?  
The purpose of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is to address major societal 
challenges  by  improving  the  innovation  performance  of  the  EU  through  the  integration  of  the 
knowledge triangle of research, education and innovation.  

The EIT was established in 2008 by Regulation (EC) No 294/2008 (the “EIT Regulation”)1. The EIT 
Regulation  establishes  the  mission,  objectives  and  budget  allocated  to  the  EIT,  and  therefore  it 
needs to be in line with the applicable Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. 

The Commission proposal establishing Horizon Europe, the Framework Programme for Research and 
Innovation for the period 2021-2027, sets  out the proposed budget  for the EIT for the next  period as 
well  as  its  rationale,  added  value,  areas  of  intervention,  broad  lines  of  activity  and  performance 
indicators. In the proposal, the EIT is one of the main components of the "Innovative Europe" pillar. 

The Horizon Europe proposal itself does not provide the legal basis for continuing the EIT operations 
beyond 2020. Therefore, the EIT Regulation needs to be amended. 

Furthermore, Article 17 of the EIT Regulation requires that every seven years the Commission submits 
to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  a  proposal  for  a  Strategic  Innovation  Agenda  that  lays 
down the strategic, long-term priorities and financial needs for the EIT which needs to be in line with 
the applicable Framework Programme for Research and  Innovation. The current  Strategic  Innovation 
covers the period 2014-20202. A proposal for a new Strategic Innovation Agenda of the EIT for 2021-
2027 therefore needs to be submitted alongside the proposal to revise the EIT Regulation. 

The  present  initiative  aims  to  amend  through  a  recast  the  EIT  Regulation  and  align  the  SIA  with 
Horizon Europe. It covers the new priority fields of the EIT as well as its financial needs. It also aims 
to improve the functioning of the EIT taking into account the lessons learnt from the past years.  

In  particular,  the  initiative  focuses  on  tackling  issues  in  three  main  areas.  Firstly,  it  will  address 
challenges related to the EIT funding model, Secondly, it will propose solutions to increase the impact 
of  the  education  activities  of  the  EIT,  i.e.  enhance  the  awareness  of  the  EIT  educational  brand  and 
support entrepreneurial and innovation capabilities and skills in higher education institutions. Finally, 
the initiative will help increase the EIT’s regional outreach through better integration of KICs into local 
innovation ecosystems. The initiative will also outline the future priority fields for KICs. 

Furthermore,  the  initiative  will  address  a  number  of  technical  issues  in  order  to  increase  the 
effectiveness,  efficiency  and  coherence  of  the  EIT  operations.  This  includes  the  KICs  openness  and 
transparency, the EIT governance and the contractual provisions of the EIT staff. 

1   REGULATION (EU) No 1292/2013 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 11 December 

2013; https://eit.europa.eu/sites/default/files/Consolidated%20EIT%20Regulation.pdf. 

2   DECISION No 1312/2013/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 11 December 2013 
on the Strategic Innovation Agenda of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT): the contribution of 
the EIT to a more innovative Europe. 

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The issues identified will be addressed through an amendment to the EIT Regulation and the adoption 
of the Strategic Innovation Agenda of the EIT for 2021 – 2027. The present Impact Assessment builds 
on the Impact Assessment that was carried out for Horizon Europe. 

What is this initiative expected to achieve?  

This initiative supports the future implementation and strategic policy development of the EIT and will 
contribute  to  meeting  its  objectives  for  the  period  2021  –  2027  as  outlined  in  the  Horizon  Europe 
proposal,  i.e.  strengthen  sustainable  innovation  ecosystems  across  Europe;  bring  new  solutions  to 
global  societal  challenges  to  market  and  foster  innovation  and  entrepreneurship  through  better 
education.  Specifically, the EIT and KICs are expected 

a.  To  increase  the  impact  of  KICs  and  knowledge  triangle  integration  through  an  effective  and 

efficient EIT funding model; 

b.  To  increase  the  innovation  and  entrepreneurial  capacity  of  the  higher  education  sector  by 

promoting institutional change in HEIs in Europe; 

c.  To  increase  the  regional  outreach  of  the  EIT  in  order  to  address  regional  disparities  in 

innovation capacity across the EU. 

In  addition,  the  initiative  aims  to  increase  the  effectiveness,  efficiency  and  coherence  of  EIT’s 
operations by addressing the following issues: KICs’ openness and transparency, EIT governance and 
EIT staff contracts and their continuity of service. 

What is the value added of action at the EU level?  

The EIT has  a  unique way of building EU-wide  innovation  ecosystems  that link education, research, 
business  and  other  stakeholders.  It  fills  a  gap  in  the  system  of  innovation  support  provided  by  the 
Member States. KIC activities lead to an increased quality of innovation, the creation of cross-border, 
multidisciplinary  networks,  more  cross-sectoral  cooperation  as  well  as  wider  geographical  outreach. 
The  EIT  education  programmes  add  value  to  other  existing  programmes,  in  particular  with  their 
entrepreneurial and innovation dimension.  

B. Solutions 

What  legislative  and  non-legislative  policy  options  have  been  considered?  Is  there  a  preferred 
choice or not? Why?  

Three Options have been considered in addressing the identified challenges: 

Option  1  (the  baseline)  represents  the  continuation  of  EIT’s  activities  as  they  are  today  with 
adjustments necessary to align it with the proposal for Horizon Europe. The  EIT would comply with 
implementation,  monitoring  and  evaluation  criteria  for  European  Partnerships.  It  would  develop 
synergies with the European Innovation Council. There would be two new KICs. 

Option 2 builds on the baseline and furthermore adopts a number of measures to enhance the 
effectiveness of EIT functioning, including adapting its funding model. It introduces a new EIT action 
to support the entrepreneurial and innovation capacity development of Higher Education Institutions 
(HEIs) and strengthen its Regional Innovation Scheme. There would be two new KICs. 

Option 3 builds on the baseline and a number of measures to enhance the effectiveness of the EIT as in 
Option 2. It furthermore introduces a new activity of setting up a EIT Hub in each Member States in 
order to increase the EIT’s overall impacts. The EIT would directly implement the EIT Hubs to foster 
knowledge triangle integration via support for collaborative projects on a smaller scale than KICs. 

There would be one new KIC. 

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All three Options would have legislative implications for the amendment of the EIT Regulation and the 
new Strategic Innovation Agenda of the EIT.  

The  preferred  option  is  Option  2,  which  strikes  the  best  balance  in  achieving  the  objectives  of  the 
initiative  while  considering  the  resources  available  and  offering  the  highest  economic  and  societal 
impacts.  

Who supports which option?  

Individual  measures  foreseen  under  Option  2  found  a  high  degree  of  support  among  the  various 
stakeholders consulted, i.e. company/business  organisations, academic/research institutions as well as 
EU citizens. In particular, there is strong agreement among stakeholders when it comes to the need to 
promote the development of entrepreneurial and innovation capacity of HEIs in Europe and linking the 
EIT and KIC activities more closely to the regional and local environment and strategies.  

What are the benefits of the preferred option (if any, otherwise main ones)?  

C. Impacts of the preferred option 

The  preferred  option  would  entail  a  significant  improvement  of  the  EIT  in  the  next  programming 
period.    It  would  deepen  the  knowledge  triangle  integration,  contribute  to  strengthening  innovation 
ecosystems and increase the innovation and entrepreneurial capacity of the higher education sector. It 
would  contribute  to  reducing  skills  gaps  in  key  sectors  of  the  economy;  increase  knowledge  sharing 
and  networking  in  innovation  ecosystems;  promote  effective  and  efficient  new  business  creation; 
increase  the  quality  of  entrepreneurial  higher  education.    It  would  also  increase  the  levels  of  private 
investment in KICs in medium to long run and support them more effectively to reach the EIT financial 
sustainability objectives. Finally, it would allow the EIT to gradually improve and enhance its regional 
outreach to countries with modest and moderate innovation performance.  

What are the costs of the preferred option (if any, otherwise main ones)?  

As compared to the baseline scenario, Option 2 would mean an increase in EIT administrative costs in 
line with the overall budget increase of the EIT over the programming period, arising from staffing 
needs  and  setting  up  a  stronger  capacity  and  expertise  in  the  EIT.  Compliance  and  implementation 
costs arising from the adaptation of the funding model are expected to be higher for KICs that were 
established  in  the  early  years  of  the  EIT,  as  they  will  have  to  adjust  the  processes  and  systems  of 
operation they have already put in place. The costs are expected to be relatively low for KICs that are 
at the starting phase of their operation. 

How will businesses, SMEs and micro-enterprises be affected?  

The  preferred  Option  2  will  contribute  to  a  pool  of  highly  skilled  individuals  that  will  benefit 
businesses, SMEs and micro-enterprises. New business creation activities will be stimulated through 
increased  openness,  transparency  and  simplified  procedures  in  the  KICs  resulting  in  an  increased 
number of start-ups.  

Will there be significant impacts on national budgets and administrations?  

No. 

Will there be other significant impacts?  

No. 

When will the policy be reviewed?  

D. Follow up 

The  implementation  of  the  preferred  policy  option  will  be  monitored  and  evaluated  regularly. 

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Continuous  monitoring  of  the  operational  performance  and  output  of  the  KICs  will  be  carried  out 
annually by the EIT based on a specific impact indicator framework. The Commission will carry out 
an independent mid-term evaluation of the economic and societal impacts of the EIT in 2024, aligned 
with the mid-term evaluation of the Horizon Europe programme.  

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