THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 185, and the second paragraph of Article 188, thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee,
Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,
Whereas:
(1)
In its Communication of 3 March 2010 entitled “Europe 2020 A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth” ("the Europe 2020 strategy"), the Commission emphasised the need to develop favourable conditions for investment in knowledge and innovation so as to achieve smart, sustainable and inclusive growth in the Union. Both the European Parliament and the Council have endorsed that strategy.
(2)
Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council established Horizon 2020 – The Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-2020) ("Horizon 2020"). Horizon 2020 aims at achieving a greater impact on research and innovation by contributing to the strengthening of public-public partnerships, including through Union participation in programmes undertaken by several Member States in accordance with Article 185 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
(3)
Public-public partnerships should aim to develop closer synergies, increase coordination and avoid unnecessary duplication with Union, international, national and regional research programmes, and should fully respect the Horizon 2020 general principles, in particular those relating to openness and transparency. Moreover, open access to scientific publications should be ensured.
(4)
By Decision No 912/2009/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, the Community decided to make a financial contribution to the European Metrology Research Programme (the "EMRP") matching that of the Participating States but not exceeding EUR 200 000 000, for the duration of the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007-2013) established by Decision No 1982/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.
(5)
In April 2012, the Commission communicated to the European Parliament and to the Council a report on Interim Evaluation of the European Metrology Research Programme – EMRP. That interim evaluation had been carried out by an expert panel three years after the beginning of the programme. The overall opinion of the expert panel was that EMRP is a well-managed joint European research programme that has already achieved a relatively high level of scientific, management and financial integration. However, the expert panel noted its limited industrial exploitation, limited opening to excellent science outside the metrology institutes and insufficient capacity building. The expert panel was also of the opinion that a more inclusive European metrology research area could be built by implementing the EMRP.
(6)
Pursuant to Council Decision 2013/743/EU further support may be provided to EMRP.
(7)
The European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research ("EMPIR"), aligned with the Europe 2020 strategy and its flagship initiatives, in particular ‘Innovation Union’, ‘A Digital Agenda for Europe’, ‘Resource-efficient Europe’ and ‘An Industrial Policy for the Globalisation Era’, will be a more ambitious and inclusive programme, implemented over a period of ten years (2014-2024) by 28 Participating States. As part of the improvement of the previous programme, EMPIR will include activities on innovation and industrial exploitation, on research for norms, standardisation and regulatory purposes and on capacity building.
(8)
The Participating States intend to contribute to implementing EMPIR during the period covered by it, namely 2014-2024. In order to take into account the duration of Horizon 2020, calls for proposals under EMPIR should be launched at the latest by 31 December 2020. In duly justified cases, calls for proposals may be launched by 31 December 2021.
(9)
EMPIR's activities should be in line with the objectives and research and innovation priorities of Horizon 2020 and with the general principles and conditions laid down in Article 26 of Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013.
(10)
A ceiling should be established for the Union’s financial participation in EMPIR for the duration of Horizon 2020. Within the limits of that ceiling, the Union contribution should be equal to the contribution of the States participating in EMPIR, in order to achieve a high leverage effect and ensure a stronger integration of Participating States' programmes.
(11)
In line with the objectives of Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013, any Member State and any country associated to Horizon 2020 should be entitled to participate in EMPIR.
(12)
The Union’s financial contribution should be subject to formal commitments from the Participating States to contribute to the implementation of EMPIR and to the fulfilment of those commitments. Participating States’ contributions to EMPIR should include a contribution to administrative costs, subject to a ceiling of 5 % of the budget of EMPIR. Participating States should commit to increase, if necessary, their contribution to EMPIR by a reserve funding capability of 50 % of their commitment to ensure that they are able to fund their national entities, National Metrology Institutes ("NMIs") and Designated Institutes ("DIs"), participating in the selected projects.
(13)
The joint implementation of EMPIR requires an implementation structure. The Participating States have agreed upon the implementation structure for EMRP, and in 2007 set up EURAMET e.V. ("EURAMET"), the European Regional Metrology Organisation and a non-profit association under German law. EURAMET also has tasks and obligations related to the wider European and global harmonisation of metrology. Membership of EURAMET is open to all European NMIs, as members, and to DIs, as associates. Membership of EURAMET is not conditional upon the existence of national metrology research programmes. Given that, according to the Report on Interim Evaluation of EMRP, the governance structure of EURAMET has proved to be efficient and of high quality for the implementation of the EMRP, EURAMET should also be used for the implementation of EMPIR. EURAMET should, therefore, be the recipient of the Union’s financial contribution.
(14)
In order to achieve the objectives of EMPIR, EURAMET should provide financial support mainly in the form of grants to participants in actions selected at the level of EURAMET. Those actions should be selected following calls for proposals under the responsibility of EURAMET. The ranking list should be binding as regards the selection of proposals and the allocation of funding from the Union’s financial contribution and from the contributions from Participating States for EMPIR projects.
(15)
The Union’s financial contribution should be managed in accordance with the principle of sound financial management and with the relevant rules on indirect management laid down in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012.
(16)
In order to protect the Union's financial interests, the Commission should have the right to reduce, suspend or terminate the Union’s financial contribution if EMPIR is implemented inadequately, partially or late, or if the Participating States do not contribute, or contribute partially or late, to the financing of EMPIR. Those rights should be provided for in the delegation agreement to be concluded between the Union and EURAMET.
(17)
For the purpose of simplification, administrative burdens should be reduced for all parties. Double audits and disproportionate documentation and reporting should be avoided. When audits are conducted, the specificities of the national programmes should be taken into account, as appropriate.
(18)
Audits of recipients of Union funds provided in accordance with this Decision should ensure a reduction in the administrative burden, in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013.
(19)
Participation in indirect actions funded by EMPIR is subject to Regulation (EU) No 1290/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council. However, due to specific operating needs of EMPIR, it is necessary to provide for derogations from that Regulation in accordance with Article 1(3) of that Regulation.
(20)
The contribution from Participating States mainly represents institutional funding of the NMIs and DIs participating in the selected projects. The contribution from Participating States should also include a cash contribution to the administrative costs of EMPIR. A proportion of the Union’s contribution should be allocated to entities other than NMIs and DIs participating in the selected projects. The calculation of the Union’s financial contribution for NMIs and DIs participating in EMPIR projects should ensure that the Union’s contribution to EMPIR does not exceed the contribution of the Participating States. Considering that the institutional funding of the NMIs and DIs by Participating States corresponds to the overheads allocated to the EMPIR projects not reimbursed by the Union’s contribution, the flat rate for the financing of the eligible indirect costs of the NMIs and DIs should be adapted, compared to the flat rate laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1290/2013. The flat rate for the financing of the eligible indirect costs of the NMIs and DIs should be determined on the basis of the full indirect costs declared as eligible by NMIs and DIs participating in EMRP projects, which are stable and constitute a reliable approximation of the indirect costs to be incurred by NMIs and DIs participating in EMPIR projects. Since those indirect costs amount to 140 % of the total direct eligible costs of the NMIs and DIs, excluding direct eligible costs for subcontracting and in-kind contributions free of charge not used on the premises of the beneficiaries, the flat rate for the financing of indirect costs of the NMIs and DIs should be lowered from 25 %, as laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1290/2013, to 5 %. It is therefore appropriate to provide for a derogation from Article 29 of that Regulation for the NMIs and DIs. Other entities participating in EMPIR projects should be funded in accordance with that Regulation.
(21)
Calls for proposals by EMPIR should also be published on the single portal for participants as well as through other Horizon 2020 electronic means of dissemination managed by the Commission.
(22)
The appropriateness of the funding model with regard to the matching principle between Union and non-Union funds should be re-assessed at the time of the interim evaluation of EMPIR.
(23)
The Union’s financial interests should be protected by means of proportionate measures throughout the expenditure cycle, including the prevention, detection and investigation of irregularities, the recovery of funds lost, wrongly paid or incorrectly used and, where appropriate, administrative and financial penalties in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012.
(24)
The Commission should conduct an interim evaluation assessing in particular the quality and efficiency of EMPIR, the progress made towards the objectives set and a final evaluation, and should prepare a report on those evaluations.
(25)
Upon request from the Commission, EURAMET and the Participating States should submit any information the Commission needs to include in the reports on the evaluation of EMPIR.
(26)
The objective of this Decision is the Union's participation in EMPIR, namely to support the provision of appropriate, integrated and fit-for-purpose metrology solutions and the creation of an integrated European Metrology Research system with critical mass and active engagement at regional, national, European and international level that cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States alone. The scale and complexity of metrology requirements calls for investments that go beyond the core research budgets of the NMIs and their DIs. The excellence required for research and the development of cutting-edge metrology solutions is spread across national borders and hence cannot be brought together at national level only. Since the objective can therefore be better achieved at Union level by integrating national efforts into a consistent European approach, by bringing together compartmentalised national research programmes, by helping design common research and funding strategies across national borders, and by achieving the critical mass of actors and investments required, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Decision does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective,
HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION: