Brussels, 09/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - Due to the lack of a compromise at COREPER level, the demands from a group of 12 member states on rules for participation in the next research and innovation framework programme, 'Horizon 2020', will be moved to the meeting of ministers responsible for research on Wednesday 10 October in Luxembourg. The Council agenda will include the adoption of a partial general orientation but the debates could prove laborious because the most recent countries that joined the EU do not want to keep the grants system as initially proposed by the European Commission.
When the draft regulation setting other modalities and conditions for participating in research projects funded under the “Horizon 2020” was presented, it provoked a lot of positive reactions from member states. Simplification of procedures for benefiting from subsidies was welcomed as significant progress in comparison to the seventh framework programme. Nonetheless, a group of 12 member states recently mobilised to demand readjustments so that their researchers could also benefit (see EUROPE 10693).
Today, following an initial political initiative by the Polish minister for science and higher education Barbara Kudrycka and the Hungarian minister of state for the economy, Zoltan Csefalvay, at the end of September, followed by negotiations within Council workgroups over the past two weeks, a glaring observation has been made, no compromise that is satisfactory to all parties can be found. However, the result of the next public debate at the Council also remains uncertain because according to one European source, the group of countries in question does not exactly share the same demands and has not demonstrated the same determination to block adoption of a general orientation.
The second point on the agenda involves the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). The Council might find an agreement on a partial general orientation partly amending the regulation on setting this institute up. Although the amount that is supposed to be allocated under the “Horizon 2020” framework for the 2014-2020 period, namely €31 billion for priority, is known, the priority action areas still need to be worked out by way of a separate decision at the Council and European Parliament.
Non-legislative matters to be discussed by ministers meeting in Luxembourg will involve an orientation debate on the resources to be deployed for completing the European Research Area (ERA), which has a cut-off date of the end of 2014. Following the presentation of three Commission communications, ministers will be invited to discuss three issues: Will the setting up of the ERA be effective if it is located within new economic governance procedures (the European semester)? What priorities should the ERA have? Will it be necessary to adopt the principle of open access for publications? (JK/trans.fl)