Regulation 2009/723 - EC legal framework for a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 206/1

Pursuant to Article 171 of the Treaty the Community may set up joint undertakings or any other structure necessary for the efficient execution of Community research, technological development and demonstration programmes.

The support and development of research infrastructures in Europe has been an ongoing objective of the Community, as last reflected in Decision 1982/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) (4) and in particular in Council Decision 2006/974/EC of 19 December 2006 on the specific programme ‘Capacities’ (5).

While traditional support for the use and development of European research infrastructures has essentially taken the form of grants in favour of established research infrastructures in the Member States, the need for additional efforts has become apparent in recent years in order to stimulate the development of new structures by creating an appropriate legal framework which should facilitate their establishment and operation at the level of the Community.

This need has been expressed on numerous occasions both at political level by the Member States and the Community institutions, and by the various actors within the European research community such as undertakings, research centres and universities and, in particular, the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI).

While the central role of world-class scientific research infrastructures for the attainment of the Community’s RTD objectives set out in Article 163 of the Treaty has thus long been recognised under Community RTD Framework Programmes, the rules governing establishment, financing and operation of these structures are still fragmented and regionalised. Considering that European research infrastructures are in competition with those of the Community’s global partners which are and will be strongly investing in modern large-scale research infrastructures, and that these infrastructures are becoming increasingly complex and expensive, often placing them beyond the reach of a single Member State or even continent, it is now necessary to exploit and develop the full potential of Article 171 of the Treaty by establishing a framework containing the procedures and conditions for the setting-up and operation of European Research Infrastructures at Community level which are necessary for the efficient execution of the Community’s RTD programmes. This new legal framework would complement other legal forms existing under national, international or Community law.

In contrast to Joint Technology Initiatives (JTI) constituted as Joint Undertakings of which the Community is a member and to which it makes financial contributions, a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (hereinafter referred to as ‘ERIC’) should not be conceived as a Community body within the meaning of Article 185 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of...