Annexes to COM(2007)514 - Participation by the EC in a research and development programme aimed at supporting research and development performing SMEs undertaken by several Member States - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2007)514 - Participation by the EC in a research and development programme aimed at supporting research and development performing SMEs ... |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2007)514  |
| date | July 9, 2008 |
DESCRIPTION OF THE OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES OF THE EUROSTARS JOINT PROGRAMME
I. Objectives
The objective of this initiative put forward by the Eureka Member Countries is to establish the Eurostars Joint Programme targeting R & D performing SMEs. These SMEs are knowledge-intensive, technology/innovation-based companies, playing a key role in the innovation process. They are characterised by strong customer or market orientation, aiming to achieve a strong international position by leading highly innovative, market-oriented projects. Based on their own R & D capacity, they are able to develop products, processes or services that have a clear innovative or technological advantage. Companies may vary in size and in scope of activities, being e.g. established businesses with a track record of performing application-oriented, cuttingedge R & D, or highpotential start-ups. R & D constitutes a key element in their corporate strategy and business plans. These companies should be SMEs within the meaning of Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (1) and should dedicate a notable part of their activity to R & D. Detailed thresholds of this activity shall be clarified in accordance with Annex II.
The Eurostars Joint Programme aims to support such R & D performing SMEs by:
| 1. | creating an easily accessible and sustainable European R & D support mechanism for them; |
| 2. | encouraging them to create new economic activities based on R & D results and bring new products, processes and services to the market faster than would otherwise be possible; |
| 3. | promoting their technological and business development and internationalisation. |
The Eurostars Joint Programme shall complement existing national and European Union programmes aimed at supporting R & D performing SMEs in their innovation process.
It shall contribute to European competitiveness, innovation, employment, economic change, sustainable development and environmental protection, and help to achieve the Lisbon and Barcelona objectives. It shall support, through its bottom-up approach, research, development and demonstration activities carried out by trans-national consortia driven by R & D performing SMEs and cooperating where appropriate with research organisations and/or large enterprises.
The Eurostars Joint Programme is aimed at aligning and synchronising the relevant national research and innovation programmes to establish a joint programme, featuring scientific, management and financial integration, marking an important contribution towards the realisation of the ERA. Scientific integration is achieved through the common definition and implementation of activities under the Eurostars Joint Programme. Management integration is achieved via the use of the Eureka Secretariat as the dedicated implementation structure. Its role is to manage the Eurostars Joint Programme and to monitor its execution, as further detailed in Annex II. Financial integration implies that the participating Member States and the other participating countries effectively contribute to the financing of the Eurostars Joint Programme, involving in particular the commitment to fund the participants in selected Eurostars projects from the national budgets earmarked for the Eurostars Joint Programme.
In the longer term, this initiative should strive to develop tighter forms of scientific, management and financial integration. The participating Member States and the other participating countries should further strengthen such integration and remove existing national legal and administrative barriers to international cooperation as part of the initiative.
II. Activities
The main activity in the Eurostars Joint Programme consists of R & D activities driven by one or more R & D performing SMEs established in the participating Member States or the other participating countries. Research organisations, universities, other SMEs and large companies may also participate in the Programme. The R & D activities can be carried out in the entire field of science and technology and are:
| 1. | implemented via multi-partner transnational projects involving at least two independent participants from different participating Member States and other participating countries addressing research, technological development, demonstration, training and dissemination activities; |
| 2. | executed for their core part by the R & D performing SME(s). For each selected Eurostars project, the R & D performing SMEs should collectively contribute the larger part of the overall costs relating to the R & D activities of all participants. Minor subcontracting may be allowed, if necessary for the project; |
| 3. | targeted at market-oriented R & D, and should be of short to medium term duration and address challenging R & D work; SMEs should demonstrate the capability to exploit the project results within a realistic time frame; |
| 4. | led and coordinated by a participating R & D performing SME, the ‘leading SME’. |
In addition, brokerage, programme promotion and networking activities shall be supported to a limited extent in order to promote the Eurostars Joint Programme and enhance its impact. These shall include the organisation of workshops and the establishment of contacts with other stakeholders such as investors and knowledge management providers.
III. Deliverables expected from the implementation of the Programme
The Eurostars Joint Programme’s main deliverable is a new joint European research and development programme for R & D performing SMEs, which is bottom-up, based on Eureka and co-funded by the contributing national R & D programmes and the Community.
An annual report shall be provided by the dedicated implementation structure, which shall give a detailed overview of the implementation of the Programme (evaluation and selection process, statistics on the composition of the evaluator group, number of projects submitted and selected for funding, use of the Community funding, distribution of national funds, type of participants, country statistics, brokerage events and dissemination activities, etc.) and the progress towards further integration. An ex post evaluation of the Programme’s impact shall be conducted by the dedicated implementation structure at the end of the Eurostars Joint Programme.
IV. Programme implementation
The Eurostars Joint Programme shall be managed by the dedicated implementation structure. Proposals are submitted centrally to the dedicated implementation structure by applicants (single entry point), following a central and common yearly call for proposals, with several cut-off dates. Project proposals shall be evaluated and selected centrally on the basis of transparent and common eligibility and evaluation criteria following a two-step procedure. In the first step, proposals shall be assessed by at least two independent experts, who review both technical and market aspects of the proposal. These experts may act remotely. The ranking of proposals is performed in the second step, by an international evaluation panel, composed of independent experts. The ranking list, approved centrally, shall be binding for the allocation of funding from the Community contribution and from the national budgets earmarked for Eurostars projects. The dedicated implementation structure shall be responsible for monitoring projects and common operational procedures to manage the full project cycle shall be in place. The dedicated implementation structure shall take appropriate measures to encourage recognition of the Community contribution to the Eurostars Joint Programme, both to the Programme itself and to individual projects. It should promote appropriate visibility for such contribution through the use of the Community logo in all published material, including printed and electronic publications, relating to the Eurostars Joint Programme. Project participants in selected Eurostars projects shall be handled administratively by their respective national programmes.
V. Funding Mechanism
The Eurostars Joint Programme is co-funded by the participating Member States, the other participating countries and the Community. The participating Member States and the other participating countries define a multi-annual financing plan to participate in the Eurostars Joint Programme and contribute to the co-funding of its activities. The national contributions may come out of existing or from newly created national programmes, as long as they comply with the bottom-up character of the Eurostars Joint Programme. Any participating Member State or other participating country is free to increase its national funding earmarked for the Eurostars Joint Programme, at any time during the Programme.
Funding at Programme level
The Community contribution to the Eurostars Joint Programme, which shall be managed by the dedicated implementation structure, is calculated as a maximum of one third of the effective financial contributions from the participating Member States and the other participating countries, with a ceiling of EUR 100 million.
A maximum of 4,5 % of the Community financial contribution shall be used by the dedicated implementation structure to contribute to the overall operational costs of the Eurostars Joint Programme.
The Community financial contribution to selected Eurostars projects shall be transferred by the dedicated implementation structure to the national funding bodies designated by the participating Member States and the other participating countries, on the basis of an agreement concluded between the national funding bodies and the dedicated implementation structure. The national funding bodies shall finance the national participants whose proposals are selected centrally and shall also channel the Community financial contribution from the dedicated implementation structure.
Funding of Eurostars projects
The allocation of funding from the Community contribution and national budgets earmarked for selected Eurostars projects shall follow the order of the ranking list. The financial contribution to the participants in these projects is calculated according to the funding rules of the participating national programmes.
In the case of loans, a standard calculation for gross grant equivalence shall apply, taking into account the interest subsidy intensity and the average failure rate of the underlying national programme.
VI. Intellectual property rights arrangements
The dedicated implementation structure shall adopt the intellectual property policy of the Eurostars Joint Programme, in accordance with the requirements of Article 4 of this Decision. The objective of the intellectual property policy of the Eurostars Joint Programme is to promote knowledge creation, together with the exploitation and dissemination of the project results in favour of the target group of R & D performing SMEs. In this context, the approach taken under Regulation (EC) No 1906/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 laying down the rules for the participation of undertakings, research centres and universities in actions under the Seventh Framework Programme and for the dissemination of research results (2007-2013) (2) should serve as a model.
(1) OJ L 124, 20.5.2003, p. 36.
(2) OJ L 391, 30.12.2006, p. 1.
ANNEX II
GOVERNANCE OF THE EUROSTARS JOINT PROGRAMME
The governance system of the Eurostars Joint Programme involves four main bodies:
| 1. | The ‘Eureka High Level Group’ (Eureka HLG) is composed of the persons appointed by the States which are members of Eureka as High Level Representatives, and a representative from the Commission. It is responsible for the admission of non-participating Member States or other non-participating countries into the Eurostars Joint Programme, in accordance with the requirements of Articles 10 and 11 of this Decision. |
| 2. | The ‘Eurostars High Level Group’ (Eurostars HLG) is composed of the Eureka High Level Representatives of the participating Member States and other participating countries. The Commission as well as Member States not participating in the Eurostars Joint Programme retain the option to send representatives to its meetings as observers. It is competent to supervise the implementation of the Eurostars Joint Programme, and in particular for the appointment of the members of the Eurostars Advisory Group, the approval of the operational procedures for running the Eurostars Joint Programme, the approval of the call planning and call budget, and the approval of the ranking list of Eurostars projects to be funded. |
| 3. | The ‘Eurostars Advisory Group’ is composed of Eureka National Project Coordinators from the participating Member States and other participating countries and is chaired by the Head of the Eureka Secretariat (ESE). The Eurostars Advisory Group shall advise the ESE on the execution of the Eurostars Joint Programme and shall provide advice on the arrangements for its implementation, such as funding procedures, the evaluation and selection process, synchronisation between the central and national procedures, and project monitoring. It shall advise on the planning for the cut-off dates of the yearly call for proposals. It shall also advise on progress in the execution of the joint programme, including progress towards further integration. |
| 4. | The ESE shall act as the dedicated implementation structure of the Eurostars Joint Programme. The Head of the ESE shall act as legal representative of the Eurostars Programme. The ESE is in charge of the execution of the Eurostars Joint Programme, and is responsible in particular for:
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