While the new programme is up and running, EU institutions remain busy finalising key elements, such as European Partnerships, association, and Missions.
Two important topics that await action this autumn are the finalisation of the legal basis of the institutionalised European Partnerships and the association of Third Countries to the new EU programmes. However, both topics will still require weeks or months to come to completion. In addition, on a more strategic level, the European Commission (EC) and the Member States – together with the research community – will continue their ongoing work on the new European Research Area (ERA) during the current Slovenian Presidency (see SwissCore article).
The EC’s proposal for a Council Regulation establishing the public-private institutional partnerships according to Art. 187 TFEU, also known as Joint Undertakings, under Horizon Europe (Single Basic Act) is currently being discussed by the Council and expected to be adopted this autumn, after consulting the European Parliament. With a view to implementing the next generation of European Partnerships, the European Association for Research & Technology Organisations (EARTO) offered detailed input in a position paper from 23 August and concrete proposals for changes to some articles of the Single Basic Act. EARTO’s input also covers the Memoranda of Understanding for Co-Programmed Partnerships. Among others, EARTO makes the point that non-profit entities, such as research and technology organisations or universities should be treated differently from private companies when it comes to eligible costs. Costs based on usual cost accounting practices should be accounted for as ‘in-kind contributions to operational activities’ for non-profit organisations – “in continuity with the rules of participation for public private partnerships under Horizon2020” as EARTO notes.
The association of Third Countries to Horizon Europe has also been in the making for some months. Technical talks for most of the interested countries started already in spring and negotiations are under way. In the case of the UK, negotiations took place even earlier and the basis of the country’s association to Horizon Europe is part of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement from December 2020 (see SwissCore article). Agreements with other interested countries will be finalised in the coming months. At the same time, the EU is not yet ready to start negotiations with Switzerland (see SwissCore article). Against this backdrop, more than 30 research organisations on national and European level signed an Open Letter to call for Switzerland’s association to Horizon Europe. In the meantime, Switzerland’s status as Third Country still allows for participation in collaborative projects and replacement measures will be put in place. It remains the goal of the Swiss Government to fully associate Switzerland to Horizon Europe.
Another important topic that will keep EU institutions busy this autumn is the EU’s 2022 budget. While the Council is in favour of cuts to the EC’s 2022 draft budget, including to education, research, and innovation, Members of the European Parliament are advocating to uphold the spending level. The Council foresees cuts of €316 million to Horizon Europe’s 2022 commitment appropriations, taking the position that the budget level put forward by the EC is not realistic at this time: “In order to avoid bigger increases compared to 2021 and to ensure a realistic capacity to absorb funds, it proposes to back-load part of the financing of some budget lines to the second part of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) period.”
While the EU institutions will be busy with these last legal and financial issues during autumn, further implementation topics related to the new framework programme will also remain at the forefront during the second half of 2021. The five new ‘Missions’ still require more conceptual clarity and also more substance for their implementation. The respective Work Programmes will have to be updated. The EC will also publish implementation plans and renew the 2019 Mission Boards. A new call for expressions of interest for Mission Board members is planned for autumn.
Other topics that were discussed in detail over the course of the past years will now have to be implemented in practice and fine-tuned. These topics include the implementation of new synergies between Horizon Europe and other EU programmes, such as Erasmus+, the new Digital Europe Programme (DEP), and European Structural and Investment Funds. Additional topics that gained in importance in the new R&I framework programme are Open Science and Gender Equality. Furthermore, the EC implements a new feature that helps raise awareness of the European Green Deal objective in Horizon Europe. According to the ‘do-no-significant-harm’ (DNSH) principle, R&I activities should not be causing significant harm to environmental objectives. While compliance is only mandatory when explicitly stated, its main goal is to raise awareness in the future-oriented sector of science.