Brussels, 04/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - Although the text provides for a number of conditions, the draft revision of the financial regulation approved by the European Commission on 2 May (EUROPE 8941) paves the way for the simplification of the management of the 7th framework-programme for research and technological development (FPRD). The simplification of the management and procedures, to be made more “user friendly”, is one of the priority objectives of Commissioner Janez Potocnik. Over the next few months, it will also be one of the main sources for controversy in the Parliament and the Council. In either case, the first debates have shown that grand discourse on simplification is very quickly torn to pieces by the insistence of the Member States and the MEPs on strict controls on everything. This is what led to the complexity of the procedures, the administrative burdens and the delays facing researchers. To remedy this, the Commission plans to cease the practice of putting all plans on the table of the management committee where all the Member States are represented, but the first opposition did not take long to raise its head. Another idea is the derogation of the principle of an annual budget and credit allocation, as is already the case with the structural funds, to boost flexibility.
In a working document on simplification, the services of Commissioner Potocnik explain that the implementation of the 7th FPRD will be based on three principles: 1) flexibility, putting into place the tools needed effectively to achieve the targeted objectives; 2) rationalisation- on the basis of better balance between risks and checks, to avoid procedures, rules and requirements which have no added value and to reduce delays; 3) coherence, by clarifying the rules and improving communication on rights, obligations and procedures. The working document, which list ten measures, makes particular reference to effort to be made to guarantee the protection of the Community's financial interests without imposing a disproportionate burden on participants and by reducing controls to a bare minimum.