Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2008)110 - Report on the Commission action plan towards an integrated internal control framework - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2008)110 - Report on the Commission action plan towards an integrated internal control framework. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2008)110  |
| date | 27-02-2008 |
The Protocol, annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community (EC) on the financial consequences of the expiry of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) Treaty and on the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, transferred all the assets of the ECSC to the EC and assigned research in the sectors relating to the coal and steel industry to the EC. The revenue from these assets is to be used exclusively for research in these sectors carried out outside the framework programme.
Council Decision 2003/78/EC of 1 February 2003 laying down medium-term technical guidelines for the Research Programme of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel i sets out the procedures for implementing that research programme.
The programme provides financial assistance for allowable projects, accompanying measures and other actions as defined in point 1.5 of the Annex to Council Decision 2003/78/EC of 1 February 2003 laying down guidelines for the Fund, by promoting cooperation between undertakings, research centres and universities. The programme covers production processes, the utilisation and conservation of resources, environmental improvements and safety at work in sectors related to the coal and steel industry.
The budget for the Research Programme of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel averaged out at 57 million euros a year over the period 2003-2006. 27.2% of this budget is earmarked for coal research and 72.8% for steel research. The budget comes from the interest generated by the capital (approximately 1.6 billion euros) remaining following the expiry of the European Coal and Steel Community Treaty in 2002. The financial and technical management of this Research Programme was assigned to a Unit set up for this purpose within the Directorate-General for Research in 2003. After three years of operation, the management of the Fund is efficient and its performance can be compared with that of other DG Research activities. In 2006 the time between the submission of a research proposal and the signature of the corresponding contract was reduced to 9 months Payments were made within 10 days, on average.
The aim of the proposal for a Decision annexed hereto is to review Council Decision 2003/78/EC of 1 February 2003 laying down multiannual technical guidelines for the Research Programme of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) after a period of five years of operation of the Decision, as provided for in Article 2 thereof.
This review also takes into account the Commission's commitment to re-examine the definition of steel, in accordance with Statement No 4 of the Decision 2002/234/ECSC of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council of 27 February 2002.[2]
The review proposals have been discussed with the Coal and Steel Advisory Groups and with the Coal and Steel Programme Committee. They also take into account the conclusions of the monitoring report by independent experts who were recently asked to carry out a critical analysis of the operation of the programme, as provided for in point 4 of the Annex to Council Decision 2003/78/CE, as well as the comments on this report from the Coal and Steel Advisory Groups. In line with the usual practice for the Research Framework Programme as regards communicating the findings of programme monitoring exercises to third parties, this report and comments on it from the Coal and Steel Advisory Groups have been published on the Cordis website at: www.cordis.lu/coal-steel-rtd/home.
The general approach is to maintain the established procedures which have proved to be effective while making a limited number of necessary adjustments and administrative simplifications.
Contents
The Research Programme for the Research Fund for Coal and Steel has been restructured and redrafted in order to apply the rules set out in the Joint Practical Guide of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission for persons involved in the drafting of legislation within the Community Institutions. To make it easier to examine the texts, the main grounds for maintaining or amending the content of the 2003 Decision are given below.
The enlargement of the EU to include new Member States means that the rules governing membership of the Coal and Steel Advisory Committees need to be adjusted. The proposal is to leave unchanged the maximum number of experts on these Advisory Committees, as laid down in Decision 2003/78/CE, primarily so as not to increase the cost of meetings and make them more unwieldy. The principle of having at least one representative per Member State concerned should therefore be abandoned and replaced by the concept of ensuring the widest possible geographical representation. In addition, the Treaty on the accession of Estonia (OJ L 236 of 23 September 2003, p. 589), necessitates the inclusion of oil shales in the definition of 'coal' (Article 3 of the new Decision and Appendix A to the old technical guidelines).
The Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007-2013) and the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the rules for the participation of undertakings, research centres and universities in actions under the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community and for the dissemination of research results (2007 to 2013) influence the revision of the multiannual guidelines for the Research Programme of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, since the Research Programme of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel is designed to complement the actions undertaken in the Member States under existing Community Programmes such as the Framework Programme. This complementarity applies at different levels, e.g. research topics, the type of instrument involved in the programmes, and their budgets, etc.
Firstly, the Commission examined the need to revise the definition of 'steel' in accordance with its Statement accompanying Decision 2002/234/ECSC. In light of the research topics likely to receive funding under the Seventh Framework Programme, it came to the conclusion that this definition did not need to be changed (Article 3 i, formerly Appendix A, Paragraph 2 of the multiannual technical guidelines for the Research Programme for the RFCS).
In addition, some of the accompanying measures for the Fund (organisation of conferences and research fellowships) have been deleted since they are already covered by the Seventh Framework Programme (Specific Programme 'People').
Furthermore, it is proposed that the role of the Member States in the Coal and Steel Programme Committee should be aligned to their role as defined for the Specific Programmes under the Seventh Framework Programme.
The same applies to the frequency of monitoring of the RFCS Programme, which it is proposed should be increased from 5 to 7 years.
Lastly, it is proposed that the procedures for the appointment of experts laid down in Article 17 of Regulation No 1906/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the rules for the participation of undertakings, research centres and universities in actions under the Seventh Framework Programme i should be followed mutatis mutandis .
The discussions held by the Heads of State at Hampton Court, the March 2007 European Summit, the adoption by the Commission of the Energy Green Paper in the first half of 2006 and the Commission's January 2007 communication on energy clearly indicate the following policy priorities for the Member States: the security of Europe's energy supplies, the competitiveness of European industry, and controlling the environmental impact of the various European policies.
Consequently, it is proposed that the research objectives for coal and steel (formerly set out in Appendices B and C to the technical guidelines for the Research Programme for the Fund and constituting Sections 3 and 4 of the new Decision (Articles 4 to 10)) should be maintained. These research objectives identify the following priorities:
- improving the competitive position of Community coal;
- efficient protection of the environment, improving the use of coal as a clean energy source, reducing CO2 emissions from coal utilisation, including through the capture and storage of this greenhouse gas;
- management of external dependence as regards energy supply
- reducing emissions, energy consumption and environmental impact in relation to steelmaking;
- conservation of resources and preservation of the ecosystem in relation to steelmaking;
- control and protection of the environment in and around steelworks.
In order to enhance the complementarity between the Framework Programme and the Research Fund and/or concentrate the funding on selected topics, it is proposed that the Commission should be given the possibility of launching specific calls for research proposals in the context of these research objectives.
These specific calls will be formulated taking into account the Work Programmes that will be published for the Seventh Framework Programme and, where appropriate, the strategic agendas for technology platforms of relevance to the programme, namely ESTEP (the European Steel Technology Platform), ZEP (the Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants Platform) and SMR (the Sustainable Minerals Resource Platform), etc.).
The revised technical guidelines for the Research Programme take account of the 'horizontal' rules adopted by the Commission with which all research programmes administered by the Commission must comply, including the Commission Decision of 19 June 2000 relating to gender balance within the committees and expert groups established by it.[4]
Given the favourable views of the beneficiaries under the Research Programmes of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel and of the experts given the task of monitoring these Programmes (in particular the members of the Coal and Steel Advisory Groups), it is proposed that the basic principles governing the financial aspects of the research grants should be maintained
For example, it is proposed that the structure of allowable costs, as defined in Directive 2003/78/CE laying down the technical guidelines, i.e. the definition of categories of allowable costs and the use of flat-rate funding to cover indirect costs (re-assessed at 35% of eligible staff costs) should be maintained. Simulations carried out on the basis of the research contracts signed since 2002 have demonstrated that the proposed increase from 30 to 35% covers travelling expenses, which disappear from the list of categories of eligible costs. These simulations also show that indirect costs calculated on the basis of 35% of eligible staff costs are comparable to those that would be calculated using the flat rate of 20% of total direct costs, excluding contract costs, as used for the research programmes funded under the Sixth and Seventh Framework Programmes
On the basis of experience of the first five years of operation of the Fund, a more precise definition of operating cost categories is proposed.
In addition, in order to encourage research proposals relating to pilot or demonstration projects, it is proposed that the maximum financial contribution should be increased from 40 to 50% of the admissible costs. For the other actions, the maximum financial contributions remain unchanged.
All other provisions remain unchanged.