FP7
Presentation based on the
Commission proposal on the RP, on
the results of an informal trialogue 26
October 2006 - with a view to a first
reading agreement – and on the draft
of the documents derived by the RP
FP7 - August 2005 1
Rules of the
game
EUROPEAN COMMISSION – DG Research – 2006
1
The full legislative package
FP7 RTD
Framework
Programme
(EC)
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Framework
Programme
(EURATOM)
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The EC legislative package
Framework
Programme
(EC)
Rules for
Participation
(EC)
4 Specific
Programmes
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Approval Process (EC Treaty): FP & RP
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Where do RP come from
State Aid
Framework
for R&D&I
FP7 Needs
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Financial
Regulations
FP7 Rules for
Participation
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Rules for Participation

The Rules for Participation cover:
– Partner eligibility
– Proposal submission, evaluation and negotiation
– Legal & financial rules
– Community financial contribution
– Maximum funding rates
– Implementation and grant agreements
– Cost Reporting
– Intellectual Property Rights
– Procedures for appointment of external experts
RP do not apply to article 169 & 171
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Terminology changes
Contract

Grant Agreement
Proposer

Applicant
Instrument

Funding scheme
Financial
Guidelines

Financial Rules
INCO

ICPC

Certificate on the financial
statements
Audit Certificates
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Derived Documents (1)
4 Specific
Programmes
4 Annual
Work Progr.
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Rules for
Participation
(EC)
Grant Agreement
Forms & checklists
Guides & rules for:
Proposals …
Evaluation …
Financial …
Reporting …
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DG RTD internal workgroups
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
FP7 funding schemes
from Negotiation to Contract
from Proposal Submission to ranking
Information Technology
Legal and financial issues
Reporting
Risk Management
Unique Registration Facility
Work programmes
10) Human resources and recruitment
11) Internal and external communication
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Derived Documents (2)

Guide for Applicants, including the proposal submission forms (several
versions: generic, Marie Curie, Infrastructure actions, SME actions, ERC)

Rules for Proposals submission, Evaluation, Selection and Award
procedures (standard and ERC)

Grand agreements (special Annexes: SMEs, NoEs, Infrastructure,
Eranet+, lump sum version): three sets of documents (standard, ERC,
Marie Curie)

Rules of verification of legal status and financial viability

Modalities for lump sums for IPCP

Negotiation guidelines notes, including grand agreement preparation forms
(special Annexes: SMEs, NoEs, Infrastructure, Eranet+):

FP7 financial guidelines

Check list for consortium agreement

IPR guidelines

Reporting guidelines

Implementation modalities of guarantee fund
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Guiding principles

Continuity

Simplification

Improvement

Gradual introduction
The challenge right balance between
– Protection of Community’s financial
interests
– Simplifying the participation
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What’s new
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
Increased funding rates

Flexible funding schemes

Rationalisation of Audit Certificates

The Unique Registration Facility

The Joint Guarantee Fund

The Risk Sharing Financial Facility

Logistics and administrative tasks -> external
structures

Work Programmes & Call for Proposals adopted
at the same time each year

“Frontier research”, JTIs & ERANET+
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Who can participate?

Type of participants

Place of Establishment
– Undertakings
– Member States
– Universities
– Associated Countries
– Research Centres
– Third Countries
– International
Organisations
– Any Other legal entity
– Natural Persons
Additional Conditions may
be included in the Work
Programme
Normally, non IPCP third
countries are not eligible
for funding
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Minimum conditions for participation

General rule
– 3 independent participants from 3 different MS or AC
(Associated Countries)

Specific International Cooperation actions
– 2 participants MS or AC and 2 participants ICPC (International
Cooperation Partner Countries)

Coordination and support actions, Training of Researchers,
“Frontier” research projects
– 1 participant
 Sole participants composed of members that meet the criteria above
can participate
 Work Programme or Specific Programme can add conditions on
number or type of participant, place of establishment, etc
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Funding Schemes
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
Collaborative projects (small to medium /
large / targeted to specific groups)

Networks of Excellence

Co-ordination & support actions

“Frontier” research actions

Marie Curie actions

Joint Technology Initiatives

Joint implementation of national research
programmes (Article 169)
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Maximum funding rates

Research activities: 50% of eligible costs, except for:
– SMEs: 75%
– Non-profit public bodies: 75%
– Secondary and higher education establishments: 75%
– Research organisations (non-profit): 75%

Demonstration activities: 50% of eligible costs

“Frontier” research actions: 100%

Coordination and support actions: 100%

Training and career development of researchers actions: 100%

Other activities (management, training, etc): 100%
Receipts to be taken into account
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Forms of Grants

Three forms of grants:
– reimbursement of eligible costs (vast majority)
– lump sums financing (eg NoEs)
– flat-rate financing, including scale of unit
costs (eg. indirect costs, Marie Curie).

Different forms of grants may be used in combination.

Lump sums and flat rates will not require justification of eligible
costs

Gradual introduction of lump sums and flat rates
 FR fundamental principle: a grant cannot generate a profit
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Cost Reporting Modes

Cost reporting models (FC, AC, etc) have been
eliminated
– Participants charge direct (and indirect) costs
– For indirect costs, a flat rate is an option
– Average personnel costs may be used if they do not
differ significantly from actual costs

Audit certificates continued, but rationalised
– Now called Certificate on the financial statements
– No Certificate required for participants receiving <=
€375,000
– For projects of 2 years, if required, maximum one
Certificate per partner at the end of the project
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Indirect costs

Eligible costs = direct costs + indirect costs

Preferred solution: real indirect costs.

Flat rate always an option. 20%

For non-profit public-bodies, universities,
research centres and SMEs. Grant awarded:
– before 1st January 2010  60%
– after 1st January 2010  tbd but > 40%

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Coordination & Support Actions  7%
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Lump sums - NoEs
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
A special lump sum for NoEs

Calculated according to the number of
researchers

€23,500 / year / researcher

Max number of participants and researchers
established in Work Programme

Payments will be based on assessment of
progress
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Guarantee fund mechanism (1)
●
●
●
Replaces FP6 concept of “Collective financial
responsibility”
Participants contribute a small fraction of their EC grant to
the fund to insure against losses of a defaulting partner
Does not apply to:
● public bodies, secondary and higher education and
entities guaranteed by MS or AC
● participants in certain types of funding schemes
(training, frontier research, actions for benefit of
specific groups except SMEs)
Consequence -> Ex-ante financial viability
check only for coordinators and participants
receiving more than € 500,000
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Guarantee fund mechanism (2)
●
Commission will establish & operate the participant
guarantee fund
●
Max 5% of Commission contribution from pre-financing
●
To be returned at the end of the action
●
Interest generated by the fund will be used to cover sums
due to the Community
●
If not sufficient, Commission may deduct from amount to
be returned to participant max 1% of Community
contribution to it.
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The Project Life Cycle
Exploitation /
Dissemination
Implementation
Proposal
Evaluation
Negotiation
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Proposals

Call for proposals

Evaluation criteria established in RP and WP.


1 Specific Programme  1 Annual Work Programme  1
publication date of the calls.
Work Programme will specify:
– Topics with associated Type of funding scheme
(Collaborative projects, Networks of Excellence, Coordination
and support actions)
– Indicative budgets
– Type of evaluation procedure (one / two stage / hearings)
– Particular requirements (criteria, minimum conditions, etc)
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
Toward Electronic Submission Only

Toward a new Unique Registration Facility
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Evaluation. General Principles
Same principles than in FP6,

Quality, Transparency, Impartiality, Equal
treatment

peer review - independent experts – [hearings]
but:
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
More use of two-stage submission procedure

More use of remote evaluation

New set of evaluation criteria
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Evaluation Process

Process
– Eligibility checks (time of receipt, completeness, partnership)
– Individual reading and marking (3-5 experts)
– Consensus discussion and final marking
– Evaluation Summary Report
– Commission decision on ranking (Selected, Reserve,
Rejected)
– Start of negotiation for the selected proposals
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Evaluation Criteria

General principles in RP

Details of evaluation criteria in Annex 2 of Work
Programme & in Guide for Applicants

Interpretation of evaluation criteria is tailored to
each funding scheme

For “Ideas” only one evaluation criteria:
S&T Excellence
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Life of the project - Simplifications
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
No 18 months detailed implementation plan

Fewer audit certificates to be submitted

Negotiable number of reviews

Reporting rationalised, with significant reduction
in number. (tbc deviation reports)

IPR provisions clarified and simplified

Changes in consortium membership possible

Sub-contracting: no change from FP6
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Payment modalities

Pre-Financing (PF)

Interim payments (IP) = EC contribution in
reporting period

Final payment
Condition:

(PF +  IP ) < 90% Total EC Contribution
Part of Pre-financing will be used to
contribute to the guarantee fund
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Consortium Agreement

Compulsory, unless explicitly excluded in the text of
the call.

Commission will publish Guidelines on the
Consortium Agreement

Consortium Agreement must cover:
– Internal organisation of the consortium
– The distribution of EC financial contribution
– Specific rules of dissemination and IPR
– Rules for settlements of dispute
– Liability, indemnification and confidentiality arrangements
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Management
Increased FP budget
+
No increase in
Commission
staff
Need new structures to manage the increase
‘Externalise’ part of the FP management to
executive agencies for the first time
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Management

Commission, Executive Agencies & Special
Structures

Executive agencies for
– Frontier research projects
– Most Human Potential and SME-specific actions
– Space and Security research
– Some Transport and Energy research
– Some Logistical and administrative tasks
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Management: special structures

Ad-hoc special structures to manage
– Joint Technology Initiatives
– New infrastructure initiatives
– Joint projects with Member States (Art.169)
– Co-funding of national Human Potential schemes
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The RSFF approach: Loans for R&D
Basic
Research
Applied Research
Time
Own funds
Own funds
Grants
Grants
+
Loans
Technological
development
Prototyping
IPR
Commercialisation
Own funds
Equity
Grants
+
Loans
Own funds
Equity
+
Loans
Framework Programme
RSFF loans by EIB and its partner banks
Many R&D projects, which are currently undertaken thanks to subsidies, or
abandoned for lack of them, have a financial profile
that could give them access to loans
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RSFF The leverage effect
Risk coverage
Loans representing on
average one third of
total cost of financed
research projects
Provisioning and capital
allocation representing
15% to 25% (average 20%)
of volume of
individual loan
FP7
Contribution:
up to € 1 billion
X2
X 4 to 6
EIB loans and
guarantees:
€ 8 to 12 billions
X3
Additional private
investments in
research:
€ 24 to 36 billions
EIB
Contribution:
up to € 1 billion
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Cooperation with local banks
For loans of EUR 7.5 million or more - direct involvement of the EIB
EIB
Borrower
For all loans where borrowers wish to work with their own banks,
in particular those of less than EUR 7.5 million - sharing of RSFF benefits
with intermediaries (e.g. through guarantees)
EIB
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guarantee
Intermediary
Borrower
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Eligible projects – Some remarks
•
•
•
•
•
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RSFF is a demand-driven instrument and will provide
finance on a “first come, first served” basis (no call for
proposals)
Actions and research infrastructures supported by an FP 7
grant (JTIs, Collaborative Projects, NoE, Research for the
benefit of SMEs)
Research infrastructures needed by the European
Research Community (at least three Member States or
Associated Countries)
All other RTD European actions (whether trans-national or
not) and falling within the scope of the contributing FP 7
themes
All other R&D and Innovation projects including
commercial innovation (only with EIB’s own contribution
for risk coverage)
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Personal advise to applicants
READ MORE
WRITE LESS
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Information

EU research:
http://ec.europa.eu/research

Seventh Framework Programme:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/fp7

Information on research
programmes
and projects:
http://www.cordis.lu/

RTD info magazine:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/rtdinfo/

Information requests:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/enquiries/
FP7 - August 2005 39
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Thank you
for your
attention!
Name: Stefano Puppin
E-mail: stefano.puppin@ec.europa.eu
Phone +32 2 296.21.91
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