The EU Court of Auditors on Tuesday 6 November was rather satisfied with the simplification measures introduced to reduce the administrative burden for beneficiaries in the Horizon 2020 programme.
Not all actions have produced the desired result and opportunities to improve still exist, says the report on simplification measures integrated into Horizon 2020. The EU's Eighth Framework Programme for Research and Innovation has a budget of 76.4 billion euros from 2014 to 2020, making it the largest public research and innovation programme in the world.
The Court of Auditors criticises the frequent changes in the rules, which “can cause confusion and uncertainty”.
The audit shows that attempts to simplify rules on staff costs have not produced the expected results: the rules remain complex for beneficiaries, leading to errors in cost declarations. However, staff costs are one of the main categories of costs: they amount, on average, to 45% of the total cost of research projects under Horizon 2020.
It is recommended that the Commission: - better communicate with applicants and beneficiaries; - intensify testing of lump sums; - review the conditions of remuneration of experts responsible for evaluations; - make greater use of the two-stage evaluation of proposals; - ensure that the Seal of Excellence is more widely recognised. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)