In its Communication of 3 March 2010 entitled ‘Europe 2020: A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth’, 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.
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By its resolutions of 28 July 2010 and 18 December 2013, the General Assembly of the United Nations recognised the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life. It also called for the progressive realisation of the human right to safe drinking water, emphasising the important role of international cooperation in that context.
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Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) established the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-2020) (‘Horizon 2020’). Horizon 2020 aims to achieve 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, with a view to sustainable development.
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Public-public partnerships should aim to develop closer synergies, increase coordination and avoid unnecessary duplication with Union, international, national and regional research and innovation programmes, and should fully respect the general principles of Horizon 2020, with the aim of strengthening research and innovation in order to contribute towards sustainable development, in particular those relating to openness and transparency.
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In accordance with Article 19(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013, research and innovation activities carried out under the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA) are to have an exclusive focus on civil applications.
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Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013 identified ‘Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy’ and ‘Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials’ as two of the priority societal challenges to be addressed by supporting investment in research and innovation. Moreover, Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013 recognises that research and innovation activities for those challenges are to be carried out at the Union level and beyond given the transnational and global nature of the climate and the environment, their scale and complexity, and the international dimension of the food and agricultural supply chain.
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Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013 acknowledges that international cooperation with third countries is necessary to address common challenges effectively. International cooperation in research and innovation is a key aspect of the Union's global commitments and has an important role to play in the Union's partnership with European Neighbourhood countries. In that respect, the Mediterranean area is strategically important for the Union from a political, economic, cultural, scientific and environmental point of view.
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In order to ensure consistency with Regulation (EU) No 1290/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4), actions which fall within the scope of this Decision should respect fundamental rights and observe the principles acknowledged in particular by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Such actions should be in conformity with any legal obligation stemming from international law, Union law, inter alia, any relevant Commission decisions such as the Commission notice of 28 June 2013 (5), as well as with ethical principles, which include avoiding any breach of research integrity.
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In its Communication of 7 June 2016 on establishing a new Partnership Framework with third countries under the European Agenda on Migration, the Commission emphasised the need for all policies, including research and innovation, to address the root causes of migration through a new cooperation model involving private investors, as well as the need to leverage limited budget resources and to focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and sustainable infrastructure.
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PRIMA aims to implement a joint programme to foster research and innovation capacities and to develop knowledge and common innovative solutions for improving the efficiency, safety, security and sustainability of agro-food systems and of integrated water provision and management in the Mediterranean area. PRIMA should contribute to the achievement of the recently agreed Sustainable Development Goals and to the forthcoming European Sustainable Development Strategy as well as to the goals of the Paris Agreement.
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Integrated water provision and management, including reuse and treatment of water, means that all the different uses of water resources are considered.
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Sustainable agro-food systems should aim to meet the requirements of citizens and the environment for safe, healthy and affordable food and to make food and feed processing, distribution and consumption more sustainable with the aim of minimising food losses and agro-food waste.
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With regard to water resources and agro-food systems, open, democratic and participatory governance is crucial to ensure that the most cost-effective solutions are implemented for the benefit of society as a whole.
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With a view to ensuring participation of the third countries not associated to Horizon 2020 in PRIMA, namely Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco, international agreements for scientific and technological cooperation between the Union and those third countries are required in order to extend to them the legal regime established by this Decision.
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In line with the objectives of Horizon 2020, any other Member State and any third country associated to Horizon 2020 should be entitled to participate in PRIMA if it commits to contributing to the financing of PRIMA and to take the legislative, regulatory, administrative and other measures necessary for protecting the Union's financial interests.
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In order to ensure the joint implementation of PRIMA, an implementation structure (‘PRIMA-IS’) should be set up. PRIMA-IS should be the recipient of the Union financial contribution and it should ensure the efficient and transparent implementation of PRIMA.
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In order to achieve the objectives of PRIMA, any other third country not associated to Horizon 2020, in particular Southern Mediterranean countries, should be able to participate if it commits to contributing to the financing of PRIMA and if PRIMA-IS approves its participation. Its participation should also be provided for by the relevant international agreement for scientific and technological cooperation between such third country and the Union.
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The Union financial contribution should be subject to formal commitments from the Participating States to contribute to the financing of PRIMA and to the fulfilment and implementation of those commitments in accordance with this Decision. Flexibility should be provided to the Participating States to contribute financially to PRIMA-IS on an optional basis with a view to funding indirect actions, thereby achieving a high degree of financial integration. Furthermore, Participating States should contribute financially or in kind to activities implemented without the Union financial contribution and to the administrative budget of PRIMA-IS not covered by the Union financial contribution. The period during which the Participating States are to provide their contribution should be clearly defined.
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A ceiling should be established for the Union financial contribution to PRIMA with funding from Horizon 2020. Under that ceiling, the Union financial contribution should be equal to the Participating States' contribution to PRIMA in order to achieve a high leverage effect and ensure a stronger integration of the Participating States' programmes. It should be possible to use a limited part of the Union financial contribution to cover the administrative costs of PRIMA-IS. An efficient administration of PRIMA should be ensured and administrative costs should be kept to a minimum.
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In order to avoid a protracted implementation of PRIMA, a deadline should be fixed for the launch of the final activities to be funded, including the final calls for proposals.
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PRIMA 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. PRIMA should take into account the definitions of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development regarding the Technological Readiness Level in the classification of technological research, product development and demonstration activities.
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PRIMA should support all types of research and innovation activities, including research, development and innovation projects, innovative demonstrators and pilot plants, capacity building, training, awareness-raising and dissemination actions, and researcher mobility, addressing a wide range of Technology Readiness Levels and ensuring an appropriate balance between small and large projects.
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In order to have a greater impact, coherence between PRIMA and other research and innovation projects under Horizon 2020, such as the European Institute of Innovation and Technology Food Knowledge and Innovation Community (‘Food KIC’), or other Union instruments, such as the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument, should be sought and possible overlaps should be avoided.
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PRIMA should be implemented on the basis of annual work plans setting out the activities to be undertaken in a given year. PRIMA-IS should monitor regularly the results of calls for proposals and the actions it funds and the extent to which scientific topics, expected impacts and oversubscription in terms of proposals above threshold that could not be funded have been adequately addressed. In justified cases, PRIMA-IS should undertake corrective actions by amending the annual work plan or in subsequent annual work plans.
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In order to achieve the objectives of PRIMA, PRIMA-IS should provide financial support mainly in the form of grants to participants, for actions funded by PRIMA-IS. Those actions should be selected following open and competitive calls for proposals under the responsibility of PRIMA-IS.
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Barriers preventing the participation of newcomers in PRIMA activities should be monitored and addressed.
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In achieving the objectives of PRIMA, and in line with the applicable rules and principles, such as the principle of scientific excellence, PRIMA-IS should aim to provide, through the annual work plan, an appropriate share of its funding, approximately 25 % of the Union financial contribution, reflecting the commitments of Mediterranean Partner Countries to PRIMA, to legal entities established in targeted third countries considered to be Participating States.
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Calls for proposals managed by PRIMA-IS 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.
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PRIMA-IS should make information on the implementation of the actions funded publicly available.
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The Union financial contribution should be managed in accordance with the principle of sound financial management and with the rules on indirect management laid down in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6) and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012 (7).
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In order to protect the Union's financial interests, the Commission should have the right to terminate, reduce or suspend the Union financial contribution if PRIMA is implemented inadequately, partially or late, or if the Participating States do not contribute, or contribute partially or late, to the financing of PRIMA.
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In line with the overall aim of Horizon 2020 of achieving greater simplification, sets of rules that are different from those of Horizon 2020 should be avoided. Therefore, participation in indirect actions funded by PRIMA-IS is subject to Regulation (EU) No 1290/2013. However, due to the unique objectives and specific operating needs of PRIMA, it is necessary to provide for a limited number of derogations in accordance with Article 1(3) of that Regulation.
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In order to account for the specificities resulting from the geographical scope of PRIMA, derogations from point (b) of Article 9(1) and from Article 9(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1290/2013 are necessary to adjust the minimum eligibility conditions for participation in indirect actions. In particular, in order to adapt to the specificities of PRIMA the minimum number of participants should, by way of derogation from point (b) of Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1290/2013, be three legal entities established in three different Participating States, fostering balanced Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. A derogation from Article 9(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1290/2013 is also necessary in order to ensure that the minimum eligibility conditions for participation in indirect actions do not discriminate against entities established in third countries that are Participating States.
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Derogations from Article 10(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) No 1290/2013 are necessary in order to ensure that, as a general rule, only legal entities established in a Participating State or created under Union law, or international European interest organisations, are eligible for funding. However, PRIMA-IS should also be able to fund beneficiaries established in a country that is not a Participating State, provided that such participation is deemed to be essential by PRIMA-IS or if funding is provided for under an international agreement or arrangement. The participation of such entities should be monitored by PRIMA-IS.
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For the purpose of simplification, the administrative burden should be strictly proportionate to the foreseeable effects on all parties. Double audits and disproportionately burdensome documentation or reporting should be avoided. When audits are conducted, the specificities of the national programmes should be taken into account, as appropriate.
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Audits of recipients of Union funds provided in accordance with this Decision should ensure a reduction of the administrative burden, in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013.
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The Union's financial interests should be protected through 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 sanctions in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012.
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The Commission, taking into account the views of the Participating States as well as the views expressed by a wide range of stakeholders, should conduct an interim evaluation assessing in particular the quality and efficiency of PRIMA and the progress made towards the objectives set, and a final evaluation, and should prepare reports on those evaluations.
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Upon request from the Commission, PRIMA-IS and the Participating States should submit any information that the Commission needs to include in the reports on the evaluation of PRIMA and, in doing so, should be encouraged to use a harmonised format.
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The objective of this Decision is to strengthen the integration and alignment of research and innovation systems and activities in Mediterranean countries in the fields of agro-food systems, to make them sustainable, and of integrated water provision and management. The scale of the research and innovation necessary to address the challenges in the Mediterranean area is immense due to the systemic character of the major bottlenecks. The scope of research and innovation is complex, multidisciplinary and requires a multi-actor and cross-border approach. A collaborative approach with a wide set of Participating States can help to increase the required scale and scope, by pooling financial and intellectual resources. Since the objective of this Decision cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States, but can rather, by integrating national efforts into a consistent Union approach, by bringing together compartmentalised national research and innovation programmes, by helping design common research and funding strategies across national borders, and by achieving the critical mass of actors and investments required, be better achieved at Union level, 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.
