Synergies FP7- SFs for Research Infrastructures Agnès Robin European Commission Directorate-General for Research & Innovation, Unit Research Infrastructures With material from Christos Profilis, Research Infrastructures, DG R&I, and Pierre Godin, Cohesion Policy, DG REGIO. The future of the 21st century ocean Marine Sciences and European Research Infrastructures Brest, France 28 June 1 July 2011
Rationales: Framework Programme 7 (FP7) Structural Funds (SFs) FP7 2007-2013: SFs 2007-2013: Provides funds for R&D Funds for regional strategies projects (including Research (supporting programmes & related Infrastructures) on the basis projects), to strengthen the of scientific excellence capacity to respond to challenges of less advanced regions, on the basis of socioeconomic impactreturn Contributes consequently to creation of knowledgetechnology-exploitation Therefore, R&D-RIs are a core element for the implementation of EUROPE 2020 Contribute consequently to creation of growth and employment (including regional R&D capacities) Therefore core element for implementation of EUROPE 2020
FP7 SF In Practical Terms FP7 2007-2013 based on: SFs 2007-2013 based on: Rules for Participation Specific Programmes Work Programmes (individual activities) Strategic Guidelines on Cohesion (Commission) National Strategic Reference Frameworks (NSRF), (MS: national strategic priorities) National Sectoral Operational Programmes (SOP) and Regional Operational Programmes (ROP), (MS: detailed priorities)
Introduction to Cohesion Policy Reducing regional disparities Promoting competitiveness, growth and employment Addressing sustainability issues 2 Structural Funds (SF): ERDF: European Regional Development Fund (DG REGIO) ESF: European Social Fund (e.g. for human capital) (DG EMPL) RTD-I crucial to regions economic performance
Cohesion Policy Approach to RIs Current situation Regional disparities: RIs concentrated in few leading regions Towards a balanced distribution of RIs No spread of money / Not building the same RIs in all regions Fostering existing centres of excellence Enabling new ones to emerge in regions with greatest needs European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) Linking regional RIs to other interested regions / remote access Dissemination of good practice across EU (Interreg / Regions for Economic Change) EGTC: a new legal instrument to facilitate cooperation Impact assessment of RIs on regional development Cost / benefit analysis for major projects (JASPERS: tech. Assist.) Impact assessment studies at regional level innovative businesses: start-ups, spin-offs, SMEs (incubators, clusters)
SF Allocation to RTD-I for RIs 86 billion (i.e. 25% of total SFs), allocated to RTD-I (2007-2013), of which: Code 02: "Research and development Infrastructures and centres of competence in a specific technology" 9.74 billion (i.e. 11.4% of total RTD-I), allocated to RIs: Exclusively from DG REGIO, broken down: 75.8%, in favour of Convergence regions 22.9%, in favour of Competitiveness and Employment regions 1.3% for exploiting RIs across borders, i.e. European Territorial Cooperation
SF Allocation to RTD-I for Human Potential of RIs Code 74: Developing human potential in the field of research and innovation, in particular through postgraduate studies... 4.93 billion, i.e. about 5.77% of the total RTD-I, consisting of: 4.36 billion (21% of total-dg EMPL-ESF) and 572 million (0.88% of total-dg REGIO-ERDF) Mainly Convergence, less Competitiveness & Employment, few European Territorial Cooperation
SF Eligibility rules for RIs Limits imposed by EU rules (Reg.) + national rules (MAs): consult Practical guide for EU funding (check with MAs) Eligible beneficiaries: virtually all R&I actors Geographical eligibility of RIs: priority in Convergence Eligibility of activities / investments related to RIs: preparatory activities, construction and equipment Eligibility period related to RIs: not beyond 31/12/2015 Eligible types of financial support for RIs: grants, loans, Other important eligibility issues: project generating income; real cost principle; specific rules for in kind contribution, depreciation and overheads, Rules concerning the regularity of expenditure: public procurement, environment, sustainable operational costs, availability of public co-financing, advertising.
COMPETITIVE EUROPEAN REGIONS THROUGH RESEARCH AND INNOVATION PRACTICAL GUIDE TO EU FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu./pub/fp7/docs/practical-guiderev-2_en.pdf
SF payment rules SF support not directly paid to the beneficiaries Support paid by MS to beneficiaries MS reimbursed by the EC (certified expenditure) Pre-financing payment from Commission to MS for OPs: at the beginning of the period to speed up payments to beneficiaries MS send annual provisional forecasts for payment claim Interim payments and payments of final balance: based on the payment claim (certified expenditure) and co-financing rates laid down in the decision on the OPs, No payment before the control system is accepted Procedure interrupted in case of deficiency / irregularity.
ATTENTION! It is critical, in discussions between the Managing Authorities and RI owners/managers: to explore and assess the impact of facilities (RIs) on the economy of the region, in particular in terms of creation and development of innovative businesses (including spin-offs, start-ups, etc). For example: identification of industrial partners via letters of interest from companies.
Role of national / regional authorities implementing the different EU policies Exploiting the potential for synergies Fostering co-ordinated access to the EU funds: possible support of ESFRI projects under SF (e.g. ELI), to be explored with MAs (ad hoc template) Ensuring communication & information Updating a database of projects Preventing financial irregularities Publicise & use the practical guide
Consequent Bottlenecks in RI SF links Two different Policies (FP Cohesion Policy) Different selection criteria (scientific excellence socioeconomic impact/return) Limited understanding/knowledge of the above, both inside and outside EC Nonetheless, COMMON ULTIMATE AIM: EUROPE 2020 Synergies possible!
Reinforcing RI SFs links: HOW? Build bridges between two different policies Establish a vision of combined strategies (not only combined funds) BY USING THE OPEN METHOD OF CORDINATION + GOOD PRACTICES
How to coordinate in PRACTICE FP7 (RIs) and SF Actions? National R&D-RI priorities to be included in NSRFs (then in SOPs / ROPs) so that SFs are properly & timely earmarked by DG REGIO (MS-Regions) Inform candidate RI applicants of availability and/or complementarity of FP-SF funds; how and where to apply (MS-Regions-EC) Assist candidate RI applicants in understanding the rules (MS- Regions-EC) Ensure appropriate awareness campaign, communication & information exchanges (MS-Regions-EC-CoR)
What has been done to date in practice? For the 34 running 1 st ESFRI Roadmap PP Projects: Mapping of RIs-SFs Identification, on a project by project basis, of individual participants eligible to apply for SFs DG RTD-REGIO common consultation and cross check of findings
Findings for possible Convergence support to ESFRI Project RIs 66 different participating organisations, located in 29 cities/regions, in 16 MS involved, in 25/34 ESFRI Roadmap projects, are potentially eligible to receive Convergence funds under "Research and development Infrastructures and centres of competence in a specific technology" of DG REGIO (Code 02) The total amount "available" for this category under Convergence (in competition with any other research related activities), amounts to 7.340.337.206
Findings for possible Competitiveness & Employment support to ESFRI Project RIs 260 different participating organisations, located in 128 cities/regions, in 17 MS involved, in the 34 ESFRI Roadmap projects, are potentially eligible to receive Competitiveness and Employment funds under "Research and development Infrastructures and centres of competence in a specific technology" of DG REGIO (Code 02) The total amount "available" for this category under Competitiveness and Employment (in competition with any other research related activities), amounts to 2.230.019.518
Findings for possible European Territorial Cooperation support to ESFRI Project RIs 131 different participating organisations, located in 59 cities/regions, in 19 MS involved, in 27/34 ESFRI Roadmap projects, are potentially eligible to receive European Territorial Cooperation funds under "Research and development Infrastructures and centres of competence in a specific technology" of DG REGIO (Code 02) The total amount "available" for this category under European Territorial Cooperation (in competition with any other research related activities), amounts to 42.114.392
Conclusions of the Mapping Exercise There is real potential for any of the three types of DG REGIO funding under the category "R&D Infrastructures & centres of competence in a specific technology (Code 02: about 10 Bio ), for practically all ESFRI Roadmap Projects RIs (more than 300 organisations) For most ESFRI Projects, there are actually simultaneous possibilities for two or even 3 types, i.e.: Convergence, Competitiveness and Employment and European Territorial Cooperation, because of the number and/or variety of the cities/regions participating in the same project
Follow-up resulting from the Mapping exercise to date The following ESFRI PP projects are being thoroughly scrutinized: BBMRI (ES), LIFEWATCH (HU), Neutron ESS (ES), SPIRAL2 (HU) and ELI (CZ-HU-RO-ES) ELI pilot exercise? meeting National Authorities / DG RTD- REGIO in December 2009; April 2011: 1st large project of the Operational Programme 'Research and Development for Innovation' to be approved. The EU financial contribution will amount to 236 million for CZ Joint (RTD-REGIO) Template document for information on RI applying for Structural Funds Support: to facilitate the relevant interactions between stakeholders concerned (RI owners/managers and National-regional Managing Authorities).
Suggested additional Actions (1) 1. For ESFRI projects for which construction/implementation phase is foreseen now - 2012, applicability of possible DG REGIO funding for the period (2007-2013) needs to be verified (Action: ESFRI PP COOR-MS-Regions-EC): verification of the content of the respective National Sectoral and Regional Operational Programmes; may require modifications to become applicable to RIs (e.g. ELI: CZ; HU; RO or EATRIS: DE); explore the interest of Managing Authorities (MS, EC), to use Structural Funds for these projects or relevant ideas stemming from these projects. 2. For those ESFRI projects for which the implementation phase is anticipated after 2013, may be useful to stimulate the Managing Authorities to possibly include them in future NSOP and/or ROPs (Action: ESFRI Regional WG)
Suggested additional Actions (2) 3. Awareness Campaigns and Dissemination of relevant information to all possible stakeholders (below) to allow them exploring possible interests/benefits, from Structural Funds investments in Regional Research Infrastructures: a) RI Project Coordinators, participants, owners, managers (Action: e.g. Event 28/05/2010); b) National/regional public authorities; c) the RI PC members (Action: e.g. 2/07/2010 meeting); d) the Research Infrastructures NCPs; e) ESFRI representatives (including ESFRI Reg WG); f) the Committee of Regions (Action: e.g. October 2010 Open Days event, REGIO-CoR); g) the European Parliament.
Regional Policy SFs links Visit the EU specific websites Practical Guide on EU funding opportunities for research & innovation: http://cordis.europa.eu/eu-funding guide/home_en.html FP7: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/home_en.html CIP: http://ec.europa.eu/cip/index_en.htm ERDF: Managing Authorities for the Operational Programmes http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/atlas2007/index_en.htm ESF: Managing Authorities for the Operational Programmes http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/esf/index_en.htm Contact the information centres & the MAs in the MS EEN Enterprise Europe Network: for FP7 and CIP NCP National Contact points: for FP7; for CIP (energy & ICT) SF Managing Authorities: contacts & OPs summaries in web-sites; funding depends on their budget planning, timing and procedures.
Merci Grazie Danke Bedankt Gracias Hvala Kiitos Tack Obrigado Ευχαριστω Köszönöm Teşekkür ederim СПАСІБO Va multumesc ありがとう Thank you! Contact EC, DG Research and Innovation: Christos PROFILIS Tel: +32/(0)2/295.97.35 Christos.profilis@ec.europa.eu