The Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union sent the delegations of the Member States, on Tuesday 2 April, a third set of draft conclusions concerning the ex-post evaluation of the European Framework Programme for research and innovation (R&I) for the period 2014-2020, Horizon 2020, and, more broadly, the Future Outlook of R&I framework programmes.
This evaluation, which was overall positive, was published by the European Commission on 29 January (see EUROPE 13338/6). Following this, the Belgian Presidency submitted an initial draft on 16 February (see EUROPE 13354/8), followed by a second draft on 11 March (see EUROPE 13369/15).
This third text will be examined by the Research Working Party on Tuesday 9 April. It introduces a number of changes to refine the wording.
In addition, the new text proposes to emphasise more explicitly the added value of involving end-users at an early stage in the design and structuring of R&I projects.
In terms of synergies, the new text proposes to emphasise the need to establish more effective access routes within the Framework Programmes between European sectoral programmes and national and regional programmes, in order to make better use of the R&I results generated by the Framework Programmes.
While the previous version of the text already insisted on the need to open up the Framework Programmes to international cooperation, the new version proposes to invite the Commission to take account of changes in the geopolitical context by reconciling the openness and freedom of scientific research with the need to strengthen the security of research.
In addition, the Presidency proposes to affirm that sustainable change requires continuous national investment and targeted reforms in national R&I systems.
As far as implementation is concerned, the Commission is invited to study other possibilities for reducing error rates in operational expenditure and staff costs, in the context of actions supported by the Framework Programmes.
Finally, the new text also proposes, in particular, to insist on gender mainstreaming in R&I.
Link to the project: https://aeur.eu/f/blf (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)