Commission Decision of 12 December 2013 establishing the European Research Council

20.12.2013 EN Official Journal of the European Union C 373/23
COMMISSION DECISION
of 12 December 2013
establishing the European Research Council
2013/C 373/09
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Decision 2013/743/EU of 3 December 2013 establishing the specific programme implementing horizon 2020 — The Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-2020) (1), and in particular Article 6(1) and (2) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) In order to ensure continuity with the actions and activities conducted under Council Decision 2006/972/EC (2), the European Research Council (‘ERC’) to be established under Decision 2013/743/EU should replace and succeed the ERC established by Commission Decision 2007/134/EC (3).
(2) Article 6(2) of Decision 2013/743/EU provides that the ERC shall be composed of an independent Scientific Council and a dedicated implementation structure. The dedicated implementation structure should be set up as an external structure in the form of an executive agency to be established by a separate act in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 (4).
(3) The Scientific Council should be composed of scientists, engineers and scholars of the highest repute. Its members should be independent of extraneous interests and should be appointed in a manner to ensure the continuity of the work of the Scientific Council.
(4) In order to ensure timely implementation of the specific programme, the Scientific Council of the ERC set up by Decision 2007/134/EC has already established preliminary positions in anticipation of the measures to be adopted in accordance with Article 7 of Decision 2013/743/EU. Those preliminary positions should be endorsed or rejected by the Scientific Council established by this Decision.
(5) The necessary provisions for the operation of the Scientific Council should be laid down.
(6) Provisions should be made to ensure a smooth cooperation between the Scientific Council and the dedicated implementation structure of the ERC.
(7) The Scientific Council should have access to the documents and data necessary for its work in compliance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5).
(8) Decision 2013/743/EU provides for the compensation of the members of the Scientific Council for the tasks they perform and rules should be laid down for that purpose.
(9) Decision 2007/134/EC should be repealed,