Annexes to COM(2008)814 - Participation by the EC in a European metrology research and development programme undertaken by several Member States - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2008)814 - Participation by the EC in a European metrology research and development programme undertaken by several Member States. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2008)814  |
| date | September 16, 2009 |
Description of the Objectives and Activities of the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP)
I. OBJECTIVES
In today’s global economy, metrology makes a significant contribution to the technological and economic development of many nations in the world. Metrology research is needed to solve societal problems, and examples of such research affect areas such as space including satellite navigation, security, healthcare, the semiconductor industry and climate change. Metrology research has strong public benefits and is the main supporting activity for government regulation and standardisation. Metrology is hidden from public view yet it is essential for the facilitation of modern trade and communications. Access to markets can be hampered by the lack of uniform and accurate weights and measures. All major economic powers in the world have recognised that technology R & D in metrology is critical to an advanced nation’s long term economic growth.
Metrology research has traditionally been a high national priority in many countries. However European countries are operating their national metrology research programmes in full isolation and EU Member States have been unable to create on their own a single and truly integrated EMRP. National Metrology Institutes (NMI), supported by Designated Institutes (DI) are in charge of implementing the national metrology research programmes on the basis of institutional funding from central government agencies or ministries. The European metrology research community is a specialised community only loosely linked to research organisations or academia. It is largely fragmented and comprises a few centres of global excellence which would benefit from wide competition on an international scale. Duplication of research clearly exists.
The right for the Community to act in this field is set out in several Articles of the Treaty providing for research coordination and cooperation between Member States and the Community. Article 165 stipulates that ‘the Community and the Member States shall coordinate their research and technological development activities so as to ensure that national policies and Community policy are mutually consistent’. Article 169 invites the Community to make provision for participation in R & D programmes undertaken by several Member States. Community action seems highly justified, as Member States acting alone are unlikely to be able to address these problems.
The EMRP will integrate the national programmes of 22 participating States into a single joint research programme and support, in particular, the objectives of the European National Measurement Systems. The objectives of the EMRP are to accelerate the development, validation and exploitation of new measuring techniques, standards, processes, instruments, reference materials and knowledge aimed at driving innovative developments in industry and commerce, improving the quality of data for science, industry and policymaking and supporting the development and implementation of directives and regulations.
The EMRP will achieve these objectives in the following ways:
| (a) | pooling excellence in metrology research — by creating competitive joint research projects, namely EMRP projects, marshalling the capability of a sufficient critical mass from the networks of NMI and DI from the participating States to tackle major metrology challenges faced at European level; |
| (b) | opening of the system to the best science — by increasing participation from the wider European research community through researcher grants; |
| (c) | capacity building — by increasing the capability of the European metrology researcher community through researcher mobility grants targeting those EURAMET Member Countries with limited metrology research capability. |
The EMRP shall complement ongoing national programmes and activities aimed at addressing purely national priorities.
The EMRP initiative is aimed at aligning and integrating relevant national metrology research activities to establish a joint research programme featuring scientific, management and financial integration, making a major contribution to the European Research Area and underpinning the concepts in the Lisbon agenda of Europe as ‘the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-driven economy’. Scientific integration is achieved through the common definition and implementation of activities under the EMRP. Management integration is achieved through the use of EURAMET e.V., a non-profit association under German law, as the dedicated implementation structure subject to the detailed arrangements contained in Annex II.
Financial integration implies that the participating States effectively commit to contribute to the financing of the EMRP by providing national funding to all eligible participants in selected EMRP projects from the national earmarked EMRP budgets, if necessary by drawing on the reserve funding capability amounting to 50 % of such budgets, and by providing a ‘cash’ contribution to a common pot to fund researcher excellence and mobility grants, whilst fully funding the running costs of the EMRP. A further element of financial integration shall be the unified approach towards eligible costs, based on the rules of the Seventh Framework Programme.
II. ACTIVITIES
The EMRP shall consist of joint research and technological development activities of four types:
A. The core activity shall consist of multi-partner trans-national EMRP projects addressing research, technological development, training and dissemination activities. In view of the concentrated capacities in metrology, the core part of the EMRP projects shall be executed by NMI and DI from participating States.
B. In order to increase and diversify capacities in metrology, three grant schemes shall be set up:
B1. In order to enlarge the number of organisations with capacities closely related to metrology, researcher excellence grants shall be made available to organisations and/or individuals from the wider researcher community in the Member States and countries associated to the Seventh Framework Programme which are capable of making a substantial contribution to the research activities of the joint programme. Each selected organisation and/or individual shall be associated to an EMRP project.
B2. In order to develop the capacities of individuals in metrology through mobility, researcher mobility grants shall be made available to:
| 1. | researchers from NMI and DI of participating States, |
| 2. | researchers benefiting, either individually or through their organisation, from a researcher excellence grant, and |
| 3. | researchers from EURAMET Member Countries not participating in the EMRP, which currently have limited or no metrology research capability. |
These researcher mobility grants shall enable the researchers to stay either in an NMI or DI participating in an EMRP project or in an organisation benefiting from a researcher excellence grant.
B3. In order to ensure sustainability in the cooperation between the NMI and DI of the participating States and to prepare the next generation of experienced metrology researchers, early-stage researcher mobility grants shall be made available to early-stage researchers from the NMI and DI of participating States to enable them to stay either in an NMI or DI, in an organisation benefiting from a research excellence grant or in another organisation participating in an EMRP research project at its own costs.
These activities shall be enhanced, where appropriate by collaboration with other relevant and interested organisations, within or beyond Europe, participating on a self funding basis.
In addition, wider networking activities shall be supported to a limited extent in order to promote the EMRP and enhance its impact. These activities shall include, if necessary, maintenance and updating of the identified EMRP research areas through activities such as workshops, and contacts with other appropriate stakeholders in Europe and beyond.
III. IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTIVITIES
The selection of EMRP projects and the award of researcher excellence and researcher mobility grants shall be subject to periodic calls for proposals. As an indicative calendar, it is foreseen that calls for proposals will be launched at 12 to 18-month intervals over a maximum period of seven years. The award of early-stage researcher mobility grants shall be subject to a permanent call.
A. EMRP projects
| (a) | Call for potential research topics of EMRP projects (Stage 1): Each call for proposals of EMRP projects shall be preceded by the identification of the topics of that call following the steps set out below. Firstly, the EMRP Committee (see Annex II), in consultation with the Commission, shall identify the parts of the research activities included in the EMRP which shall be the subject of the call for proposals. Secondly, the researcher community — any interested individual or organisation — shall be invited, through a public call, to suggest potential research topics. Thirdly, the EMRP Committee shall agree on the best potential research topics received. The EMRP Committee may amend, split or merge received topics and introduce new topics in order to optimise the call for proposals in Stage 2. The EMRP Committee shall ensure that the final research topics cannot be traced back to the authors of the initial proposal and are thus anonymous; |
| (b) | Call for proposals for EMRP projects (Stage 2): Once the research topics have been selected, EURAMET e.V. shall publish the call for proposals and shall invite research teams from the NMI and DI of participating States to build consortia and submit project proposals. The call for proposals shall remain open for at least two months. EURAMET e.V. shall evaluate each proposal received with the assistance of at least three independent experts appointed by it on the basis of the criteria set out in the Rules for Participation in the Seventh Framework Programme. The experts shall establish a ranking list which shall be binding in relation to the allocation of Community and national funding. The following core evaluation criteria shall apply to the EMRP projects:
The call for proposals shall concretise the core evaluation criteria. Additional criteria may be introduced provided that they are published in the call for proposals, are non-discriminatory and do not prevail over the core evaluation criteria. Any consortium submitting a proposal for an EMRP project may include any other European or non-European entity not eligible for funding provided that this entity can realistically ensure that it has at its disposal the resources needed for its participation. A consortium may, at the stage of submitting a proposal for an EMRP project, include a proposal for a researcher excellence grant provided that it adds necessary scientific value to the project. In this case, the evaluation of the proposal for the researcher excellence grant shall be part of the global project evaluation. The selection of the project for funding shall automatically result in the award of such grant. The Research Council of EURAMET e.V., referred to in Annex II, shall issue its independent view on the overall results of the evaluation of a call for proposals for EMRP projects (Stages 1 and 2), but not on individual EMRP projects. This view shall be duly taken into account by EURAMET e.V. in following calls for proposals. |
B. Call for proposals for researcher excellence grants and researcher mobility grants (Stage 3)
The publication of the list of selected proposals of EMRP projects shall be accompanied by a call to the wider researcher community to join EMRP projects through researcher excellence and/or researcher mobility grants.
Each EMRP project consortium shall be invited (unless it has already introduced a proposal for researcher and excellence grants when submitting a proposal for an EMRP project as described in the seventh paragraph of section A.(b)) to launch, within three months of the date of entry into force of the EMRP project contract, a call for proposals to identify potential beneficiaries and propose to EURAMET e.V. to award them a researcher excellence and/or a researcher mobility grant. The indicative funding breakdown of the EMRP shall be calculated so that on average each EMRP project could be associated with at least one researcher excellence and/or researcher mobility grant. However, this is not a binding obligation and such grants shall be implemented in the most flexible manner.
The EMRP project consortium shall publish the call for proposals in at least one international journal and in national newspapers in three participating States. It shall also be responsible for advertising the call widely using specific information support, particularly on Internet sites on the Seventh Framework Programme, in the specialised press and brochures, and through the national contact points set up by Member States and countries associated to the Seventh Framework Programme. In addition, the publication and advertising of the call for proposals shall conform to any instructions and guidance notes established by EURAMET e.V.. The consortium shall inform EURAMET e.V. of the call and its content at least 30 days prior to its expected date of publication. EURAMET e.V. shall examine the conformity of the call with relevant rules, instructions and guidance notes.
The call for proposals shall remain open for at least five weeks.
The EMRP project consortium shall evaluate the proposals received with the assistance of at least two independent experts appointed by it on the basis of the Rules for Participation in the Seventh Framework Programme.
The following core evaluation criteria shall apply to the evaluation of the proposals:
| (i) | scientific and/or technological excellence; |
| (ii) | relevance to the objectives of the EMRP project; |
| (iii) | quality and implementation capacity of the applicant and his/her potential for further progress; |
| (iv) | quality of the proposed activity in scientific training and/or transfer of knowledge. |
The call for proposals shall concretise the core evaluation criteria. Additional criteria may be introduced provided that they are published in the call for proposals, are non-discriminatory and do not prevail over the core evaluation criteria.
The EMRP project consortium shall propose to EURAMET e.V. to award the grant to a beneficiary and report to it on the administration of the call for proposals, including the manner of publication and the names and affiliation of the experts involved in the evaluation. Within 45 days of the receipt of this proposal, EURAMET e.V. shall either award the grant or refuse it if the selection was not in conformity with relevant rules, instructions and guidance notes.
EURAMET e.V. shall invite European countries which have limited or no capabilities in metrology research to encourage their research institutes and universities to apply for researcher mobility grants as one means of building up their capacities in metrology research.
C. Early-stage researcher mobility grants
EURAMET e.V. shall launch a permanently open call for proposals for early-stage researcher mobility grants and publish it in at least one international journal and national newspapers in three participating States. It shall also be responsible for advertising the call for proposals widely using specific information support, particularly on Internet sites on the Seventh Framework Programme, in the specialised press and brochures and through the national contact points set up by Member States and countries associated to the Seventh Framework Programme.
The proposals shall be submitted by the researcher and by the sending and receiving organisations (NMI, DI or another organisation participating in an EMRP project). The indicative funding breakdown is calculated so that on average each EMRP project could be associated with at least one early-stage researcher mobility grant. However, this is not a binding obligation and such grants shall be implemented in the most flexible manner. EURAMET e.V. shall evaluate the proposals received.
The following core evaluation criteria shall apply:
| (i) | scientific and/or technological excellence; |
| (ii) | relevance to the objectives of the EMRP project; |
| (iii) | quality and implementation capacity of the applicant and his/her potential for further progress; |
| (iv) | quality of the proposed activity in scientific training and/or transfer of knowledge. |
The call for proposals shall concretise the core evaluation criteria. Additional criteria may be introduced provided that they are published in the call for proposals, are non-discriminatory and do not prevail over the core evaluation criteria.
EURAMET e.V. shall aim at two cut-off dates per year at which it awards these grants by a simplified procedure based on the opinion of at least two independent experts per proposal who have discussed and ranked all proposals.
D. Recapitulative table
| Types of funding | Eligible Organisations (1) | Eligible Countries | Evaluation Criteria | ||||||||||||
| NMI and DI | EMRP participating States | Article 15(1)(a) of the Rules for Participation in the Seventh Framework Programme | ||||||||||||
| From:
To: an EMRP project in NMI or DI | Member States and countries associated to the Seventh Framework Programme | Article 15(1)(b) of the Rules for Participation in the Seventh Framework Programme | ||||||||||||
| From:
To:
| Member States and countries associated to the Seventh Framework Programme | Article 15(1)(b) of the Rules for Participation in the Seventh Framework Programme | ||||||||||||
| From: NMI and DI To:
| EMRP participating States | Article 15(1)(b) of the Rules for Participation in the Seventh Framework Programme |
IV. FUNDING MECHANISM
A. Funding at Programme Level
The EMRP shall be funded by the participating States and by the Community.
Participating States shall define a multi-annual financing plan to participate in the EMRP and contribute to the funding of its activities. The national contribution may come from existing or newly created programmes, as long as they comply with the essential nature of publicly funded top-level metrology. Each participating State shall, in addition to the core funding requirement (earmarked EMRP budget), identify a reserve funding capability equal to 50 % of that requirement to ensure flexibility in the operation of the EMRP throughout its life and that the ranking list is respected. Financing of the EMRP shall involve in particular the commitment to contribute to the funding of participants in selected EMRP projects from the national earmarked EMRP budgets, and providing a ‘cash’ contribution, with quotas in proportion to the earmarked EMRP budgets, to a common pot to fund researcher grants, whilst fully funding the running costs of the EMRP.
The total Community financial contribution to the EMRP is calculated as matching the actual financial contribution from the participating States (excluding running costs exceeding EUR 16 million and the reserve funding capability), with a ceiling of EUR 200 million. As the running costs are included in the calculation of the matching contribution, they have to be justified by EURAMET e.V.
No Community financial contribution shall be used to cover the running costs of EURAMET e.V.
B. Indicative Funding Breakdown
Grand Total: EUR 400 million (+ EUR 100 million reserve funding capability)
| Activity Type | Community EUR 200 million | participating States EUR 200 million | Total EUR 400 million | |||||
| % | EUR million | % | EUR million | % | EUR million | |||
| EMRP Project Proposals — Module (Part A) | 82 % | 164 | 90 % | 180 | 86 % | 344 | ||
| Researcher Grant Proposals Module (Part B) funding up to 100 % | 18 % | 36 | 2 % | 4 | 10 % | 40 | ||
| 7,5 % | 30 | ||||||
| 1,5 % | 6 | ||||||
| 1,0 % | 4 | ||||||
| Running Costs (Part C) | — | — | 8 % | 16 (2) | 4 % | 16 | ||
| Total | 100 % | 200 | 100 % | 200 | 100 % | 400 |
C. Funding of EMRP Projects and Researcher Grants
The allocation of funding from the earmarked EMRP budgets and from the Community contribution to EMRP projects shall follow the order of the approved evaluation ranking list.
The financial contribution to the participants in these EMRP projects shall be calculated according to eligible costs as defined in the Rules for Participation in the Seventh Framework Programme. Where the earmarked EMRP budget is exhausted because of the high success rate of NMI and DI from a particular participating State, this participating State shall use the reserve funding capability of 50 % of its earmarked EMRP budget allocated to further selected proposals following the ranking list.
The Community contribution to EMRP projects shall be fixed per call for proposals as a percentage of eligible costs lower than 50 %. It shall be transferred directly from EURAMET e.V. to the EMRP project participants.
National contributions to EMRP projects shall be provided using the respective national funding mechanisms.
Community and national cash contributions used to fund researcher excellence grants, researcher mobility grants and early-stage researcher mobility grants shall be transferred to EURAMET e.V. and by it to the grant recipients.
The legality and regularity of the underlying transactions, and in particular the existence of the national contribution, its actual payment, the appropriate use of Community funding and the eligibility of the costs claimed shall be ensured under the responsibility of EURAMET e.V., and established by the independent financial auditing of EMRP projects following principles compliant with those of the Seventh Framework Programme.
Researcher excellence grants, researcher mobility grants and early-stage researcher mobility grants shall be fixed grants awarded following predefined scales. Detailed underlying expenditures shall not be subject to audit. The categories of costs covered by any such grant shall not be eligible as costs of an EMRP project. Only the actual full payment of the defined amount to the final beneficiary has to be supported by formal evidence. Payments in cash are not considered properly evidenced and are not eligible. EURAMET e.V. shall have the option of requesting matching funds from recipients of research excellence grants which are legal entities rather than individuals.
V. ARRANGEMENTS CONCERNING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
EURAMET e.V. shall adopt the intellectual property policy of the EMRP in accordance with Article 2(h) of this Decision.
(1) Joint Research Centre shall be treated like National Metrology Institutes.
(2) Unlike the other figures, this amount is a binding ceiling in the calculation of the matching funds of the participating States.
ANNEX II
Governance and Implementation of the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP)
I. INTRODUCTION
The dedicated implementation structure of the EMRP shall be EURAMET e.V. which was established in 2007 under German law as a non-profit association. It is the European regional metrology organisation. Membership of EURAMET e.V. is open to National Metrology Institutes (NMI), as Members, and to Designated Institutes (DI), as Associates, from Member States of the European Union and of the European Free Trade Association, and from other European States. The Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements of the European Commission may also be an Associate. Currently, there are Members from 32 countries, of which 22 are also participating States of the EMRP.
II. GOVERNANCE OF THE EMRP WITHIN EURAMET E.V.
The following bodies and internal structures of EURAMET e.V. shall assume roles in the implementation of the EMRP:
| 1. | The EMRP Chair and deputy are elected by the EMRP Committee. The EMRP Chair is automatically one of the two Vice-Chairpersons of EURAMET e.V. The EMRP Chair legally represents EURAMET e.V. in the matters of the EMRP. |
| 2. | The EMRP Committee is composed of EURAMET Members (that is, NMI) whose countries are participating States. The EMRP Committee is the decision-making body of the EMRP and is responsible for all matters concerning the EMRP, including the decisions on defining and updating the programme, on the planning of calls for proposals, on the budget profile, on the eligibility and selection criteria, on the pool of evaluators, on the approval of the ranking list of the EMRP projects to be funded, on the monitoring of progress of the funded EMRP projects and on the supervision of the adequate and orderly work of the Secretariat concerning the EMRP. The EMRP Committee elects an EMRP Chair (who is automatically EURAMET’s Vice-Chairperson (EMRP)) and a deputy. |
| 3. | The Research Council is composed of a balanced contingent of high-level experts drawn from industry, research and academia and from international stakeholder organisations. It provides independent strategic advice on EMRP matters and reports or comments to the EMRP Committee where necessary and upon request, but as a minimum it will give an opinion on each call for proposals and the selection cycle. |
| 4. | The Secretariat is composed of persons employed by, or seconded to, EURAMET e.V. Its structure and tasks are governed by the rules of procedure of EURAMET e.V. Part of the Secretariat responsible for the implementation of the EMRP is hosted by the National Physical Laboratory, the UK Member of EURAMET e.V. (the hosting Member). |
| 5. | The EMRP Programme Manager shall be a senior manager and, as an interim solution, may be seconded from the hosting Member. The EMRP Programme Manager shall act solely under the direct authority of EURAMET e.V. on any matters concerning the EMRP and report to its bodies. EURAMET e.V. shall establish effective procedures that ensure that no conflicts of interests exist between the EMRP Programme Manager and any applicants, participants or beneficiaries. |
III. SOLE RESPONSIBILITIES OF EURAMET E.V. AND SUBCONTRACTING OF ADMINISTRATIVE AND LOGISTICAL TASKS TO THE HOSTING MEMBER IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EMRP
EURAMET e.V. shall be solely responsible for the implementation of the EMRP. It shall manage the Community financial contribution to the EMRP. It shall also be responsible in particular for:
| (i) | updating the EMRP; |
| (ii) | defining the calls for proposals; |
| (iii) | publishing the calls for proposals; |
| (iv) | receiving the proposals for Stage 1 and Stage 2 and proposals for early-stage researcher mobility grants; |
| (v) | selecting the independent experts for the evaluation; |
| (vi) | receiving the independent experts’ individual assessments and chairing the evaluation panels; |
| (vii) | taking final selection decisions; |
| (viii) | initiating contract negotiations and concluding contracts with selected EMRP project consortia and other beneficiaries; |
| (ix) | receiving and replying to all call complaints; |
| (x) | receiving and allocating the Community financial contribution and monitoring the use thereof; |
| (xi) | executing payments to funded EMRP project participants and grant recipients; |
| (xii) | responding to the reporting requirements vis-à-vis the Commission (1). |
Whilst the above responsibilities and decision-making remain solely with EURAMET e.V., certain administrative and logistical tasks in the implementation of the EMRP may be subcontracted, at costs, to the hosting Member.
This administrative and logistical support shall consist of the following:
| (i) | providing administration and logistics for implementing the procedures of the calls for proposals, including the provision of a dedicated help line; |
| (ii) | providing drafting support to EURAMET e.V. for the development of guidelines and other documentation; |
| (iii) | providing the dedicated web capability; |
| (iv) | providing support for the contract preparation, project monitoring and follow-up of EMRP projects and researcher grants; |
| (v) | supporting the EMRP Committee and the EMRP Chair as required. |
In agreement with the Commission, additional tasks may be subcontracted to the hosting Member while EURAMET e.V. builds up its permanent Secretariat capability.
(1) The monitoring of the Community financial contribution implies all the activities of a control and audit nature, ex-ante and/or ex-post, considered necessary to carry out the executive tasks delegated by the Commission, in a satisfactory manner. These activities shall aim to gain reasonable assurance on the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions, and on the eligibility of the costs claimed.