A report of ECA positively evaluates the European JUs for the financial year 2023 but indicates the need of more contributions by private partners.
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) presented a report of European Joint Undertakings (JUs) under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe of the 2023 financial year. The ECA, as an eternal auditor of the EU’s finances, aims to improve the EU’s financial management. In this capacity, as part of the ECA’s mandate, the annual accounts of the EU JUs are examined. JUs are partnerships between the European Commission, industry and research, and sometimes, intergovernmental organisations and participating states. Considering the JUs’ objectives to foster the transformation of scientific knowledge into marketable breakthrough innovations, they are seen in general as suitable instruments to enhance European competitiveness. The JUs are funded from the EU’s research and innovation programmes, for instance, Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, and the Digital Europe programmes, reaching a total of €17 billion of EU funding. Additionally, it is expected that the JU’s complement EU funding with additional in-kind or other financial contributions of €21.1 billion from partners to implement projects of around a total of €31.8 billion.
Regarding the establishment of the evaluated JUs it is essential to indicate that in November 2021, the Council adopted nine JUs under Horizon Europe with the Single Basic Act, out of which seven JUs already operating under Horizon 2020 (SESAR, ECSEL, IMI2, Clean Sky 2, FCH2, Shift2Rail, BBI) have continued under the Horizon Europe programme as new legal entities with new names, while two JUs were newly established (Smart Networks and Services and the Global Health EDCTP3). In 2023, these two latter JUs became financially autonomous and were audited in this report for the first time. In addition, in July 2021, the Council adopted a new regulation for the European High Performance Computing JU (EuroHPC) under the Multiannual financial framework 2021-2027 (MFF), extending its lifetime to 2033. The JU now receives more funding from the Horizon Europe, Digital Europe, and Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programmes for the development and deployment of high-performance supercomputing and quantum computing, and to expand the use of supercomputing infrastructure in Europe. Moreover, in September 2023, the European Chips Act, amending the Single Basic Act, entered into force and converted the Key Digital Technologies (KDT) JU into the Chips JU. The aim is to enhance the development of innovative next-generation semiconductor technologies and the European chip-production capability with funding from the Digital Europe programme.
Considering the ECA report, it can be said that overall, the report provides a positive assessment. Nonetheless, it highlights some areas in which improvements are needed, such as securing contributions from private partners. It is especially indicated in the case of Circular Bio-Based Europe (CBE) and European High-Performance Computing (EuroHPC) under Horizon 2020. A particular concern is raised regarding the ‘Fusion for Energy’ Joint Undertaking responsible for the European contribution to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project. This is because the revision of the ITER project milestones comes with significant needs and technical changes, leading to cost increases, which will have a considerable impact on completing delivery obligations, now estimated at €21.2 billion. Another challenge highlighted is that the Joint Undertakings of Clean Aviation, Chips and EuroHPC requested supplementary EU contributions. This is problematic since, due to the shifts of money, EU funds are no longer available for other activities, showing poor cash management of these JUs.
Finally, it has to be mentioned that the presented audit is especially relevant in the context of the ongoing assessments of collaborative projects under Pillar II of the current research and innovation framework programme Horizon Europe, following the recommendations of the Letta, Draghi and Heitor Expert Group reports. All these reports gave inputs to the second term political guidelines 2024-2029 of the European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen, the mission letters of the Commissioners, and are feeding into the upcoming mid-term evaluation of Horizon Europe, and the ongoing planning of the future framework programme FP10. The contribution of European Partnerships to European competitiveness will surely be further discussed during the European Partnership Stakeholder Forum in Brussels to be held on 4 and 5 December 2024, which will shed light on the past 20 years of European Partnerships, and how they will be shaped in the future.