Brussels, 21/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 21 November, the European Parliament approved the five regulations which form the legislative package of the framework programme of the EU for research and innovation for the years 2014-2020 (Horizon 2020), thereby enshrining the inter-institutional agreements. The Council of the EU will in turn confirm this package in early December, making it possible for Horizon 2020 to be launched in January 2014.
Commissioner for Science and Research Maire Geoghegan-Quinn immediately welcomed the outcome of the vote: “This is a vote of confidence in the power of EU research and innovation funding. It paved the way for more investment in knowledge and competitiveness in Europe. The European Parliament's support for and input to Horizon 2020 has been very important”, she said. “Horizon 2020 is not only the broadest funding programme for research and development there is, but it is also the most ambitious one the EU has ever had”, added MEP Christian Ehler (EPP, Germany), one of the parliamentary rapporteurs.
This legislative package consists of five regulations: on the establishment of the framework programme (adopted by 533 votes to 29, with 22 abstentions); the specific implementing programme (559 to 24, with 19 abstentions); the rules on participation and dissemination of results (506 to 81, with 9 abstentions); the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (516 to 22, with 62 abstentions); the strategic innovation programme of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (523 to 16 against, with 58 abstentions).
This new framework programme brings in many innovations, but stands out from its predecessor (seventh framework programme 2007-2013) and other programmes and funds dealt with in the negotiations for the forthcoming multi-annual financial framework (MFF) mainly on two points. First of all, it is one of the very few budget lines which will considerably increase for the years 2014-2020, from a total of €53 billion to €70.2 billion (in 2011 price terms), even though the EU is having to tighten its belt over the next few years. Secondly, as all interested parties agree, Horizon 2020 will respond to the greatest criticism made of its predecessor, which was often described as a mastodon of red tape and operational complexities. The keyword in the design of Horizon 2020 has therefore been, from start to finish but not without a few problems, “simplification”.
This “simplification” has been achieved on several levels, but with one and the same objective of making the framework programme as attractive as possible to participants, particularly SMEs. The FP7 and IET programmes have been brought together, with five new knowledge and innovation communities (KICs). Horizon 2020 is also based on a single legal document. Its overall architecture has moved on to include three major pillars: reinforcing scientific excellence (31.73% of the total budget); developing industrial leadership (22.09%); responding to societal challenges (38.53%). However, the greatest change refers to the rules of participation, which have become one and the same for all programmes. The introduction of a single fixed rate for indirect costs constitutes the most radical change. This gives a reimbursement formula of 100/25 (100% of direct costs and 25% of indirect costs).
Many other innovations were brought in over the course of the inter-institutional negotiations. These include: a specific instrument for SMEs, with a budget of €3 billion; the fast track to innovation, to be piloted in 2015 and which aims to get innovative products to market more quickly; the option to pass the indirect costs of broad infrastructures on to direct costs; in order to tackle the brain drain phenomenon, a bonus of €8,000 a year per researcher and per project has been brought in, together with a special budget line of 1.06% to promote groupings of research projects in less innovative regions; a greater proportion of the budget for green energy.
Although the total budget for Horizon 2020 has been increased considerably, it is less than the European Commission originally hoped for and even less than the Parliament wanted. Ehler repeated his disappointment, stating that the budget “does not live up to its ambitious goals”. “We could say that the money we have obtained will be better spent, but €70.2 billion is far from the 100 billion the Parliament had initially called for and it will not be sufficient to ensure Europe's competitiveness in a global economy that runs on innovation”, he warned. (JK/transl.fl)