EU research and innovation funding – immediate changes to cut red tape for researchers and SMEs

Published: 24 January 2011 y., Monday

Today the European Commission has adopted measures to make participation in the EU's current Seventh Framework Programme for Research more attractive and more accessible to the best researchers and most innovative companies, especially Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). Based on the simplification plan unveiled by the Commission in April 2010, these measures will take effect at once.

Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said: "Today's measures will allow the many thousands of excellent people we fund to save time and effort on paperwork and concentrate on what they do best - working to boost growth and jobs and improve our quality of life in Europe through world class research and innovation. We want to attract even more and better applicants, including dynamic small businesses which can't cope with reams of red tape. This is only the start: the Commission has already proposed big changes to the overall financial rules governing all EU funding programmes, and if the Parliament and Council agree with those, we will put forward more radical simplification measures for the successor programme to FP7."

Three concrete measures

The Commission adopted three concrete measures with immediate effect on the management of EU research grants in the current EU research programme (FP7). Each of these steps responds to concerns repeatedly expressed by participants and would-be participants in FP7:

  • - Allowing more flexibility in how personnel costs are calculated so that EU research grant-holders can apply their usual accounting methods when requesting reimbursement for average personnel costs. They will no longer need to set up entire parallel accounting systems just for this purpose;

  • - SME owners whose salaries are not formally registered in their accounts can now be reimbursed, through flat-rate payments, for their contribution to work on research projects.

  • - A new steering group of senior officials from all the Commission departments and agencies involved will remove inconsistencies in the application of the rules on research funding.

Next steps

The Commission considers simplification as one of the basic design principles for the next EU research and innovation programme, and it will continue to push for substantive improvement. The Commission will present its legislative proposals for the next EU research and innovation programme by the end of this year, following an open consultation to be launched in the early spring.

Background

The current EU research programme, FP7, has attracted more than 40,000 proposals from the research community since 2007, and almost 8,000 projects have so far been funded. Nearly all European universities participate, and about 15% of the participants are SMEs.

Several concrete steps have already been taken towards simplifying procedures both before and after the launch of FP7.

In April 2010, the Commission adopted a Communication presenting further simplification options which apply to the existing legal framework and, in the longer term, to a possible revision of the EU Financial Regulations. This Communication triggered a broad debate among the EU institutions and with many other research and innovation stakeholders. In this context it is also recalled that the Commission's proposal on the revised EU financial regulation offers simplification still to be applied to FP7, such as the abolition of the interest bearing accounts, and proposes measures which will set the basis for a more radical simplification of the next framework programme. It is now under the responsibility of the Council and the European Parliament to adopt these measures.

The measures adopted in the present Commission Decision are based on a broad consensus in this debate, and are also in line with the recommendations of the Expert Group carrying out the Interim Evaluation of FP7.

Šaltinis: europa.eu
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

Related videos

05/02/2014

Padėkime augti

Nokia offers augmented reality job search

Mobile phone giant Nokia is enlisting Britain’s young entrepreneurs to build new businesses using its career services app, JobLens. Launched in June, JobLens is a Windows Phone 8 app that helps users search for jobs in their local area. more »

Antarctic ice-flow map reveals clues to climate change

A new map of Antarctica illustrates for the first time how ice moves across the continent. more »

Experimental plane reaches 13,000 mph

The US Department of Defense's innovations arm, known as DARPA, has released test-flight video of its experimental hypersonic aircraft travelling at a speed of Mach 20, about 13,000 miles per hour. more »

Scientists develop new weapon against bird-strike at airports

New Zealand scientists have developed a designed to reduce the number of bird strikes at airports. more »

Taiwanese researchers introduce first erasable electronic paper

Taiwanese researchers are taking recycling to a new level with "i2r e-Paper", a rewritable electronic paper that can be re-used up to 260 times. The developers say their e-paper will soon replace the conventional paper used for signs and posters. more »

Wireless car technology promises charge-free future for motorists

Wireless car technology promises charge-free future for motorists While electric-powered cars are rapidly gaining momentum as a viable alternative to conventional petrol-driven vehicles, there are now moves afoot to produce cars that can be charged wirelessly. The technology behind wireless electric cars could herald an idyllic future for motorists in which they can drive as far as they like without ever worrying about recharging. more »

Transplant patient takes heart from pioneering surgery

A British man is preparing to leave hospital after pioneering surgery to install an artificial heart implant. The implant is powered by a portable driver worn in a shoulder bag and is designed to keep Matthew Green alive while he waits for a heart transplant. more »

20 million year-old fossil found

A twenty million year-old fossil, thought to be from a distant cousin of modern apes, is discovered in Uganda. more »

Virtual reality helps ready surgeons for the operating

Forget scrubbing up, a new virtual surgery simulator uses the latest computer technology to train surgeons for laproscopic surgery, dramatically decreasing the need for practice on human patients. more »

Scientists warn of Planet of the Apes science

A group of British scientists have expressed concerns that experiments on primates could give rise to a 'Planet of the Apes' type scenario. more »