Commission pushes for more research, less red tape
In an effort to cut red tape and focus on research results, the European Commission has recently adopted two major initiatives that will see changes to the financial regulations and a simplification of the procedures surrounding the EU's research Framework Programmes. As well as making it easier for researchers to gain access to EU funds, the new rules would also help fuse more public and private funding, giving investment a stronger punch. Ultimately, the changes would get new EU programmes off the ground and running. Europe's research community has long been campaigning for these kinds of changes, as evidenced by the thousands of researchers in Europe and elsewhere who have signed the 'Trust Researchers' Declaration, a petition recently presented to Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn and the European Parliament that raises a critical voice for change. According to Janusz Lewandowski, the European Commissioner for Budget and Financial Programming, the revised financial regulation will facilitate access to funding, resulting in more innovation and stronger growth. 'My main goal is for EU funding to stimulate innovation and growth by making it more accessible to European business, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), researchers and other beneficiaries,' he said. 'The Commission is proposing measures that will reduce their costs and workload caused by excessively heavy procedures. In the short term, simple solutions such as scrapping the obligation to open separate bank accounts and pay back interest on upfront payments will lighten the administrative burden for the beneficiaries involved.' Eventually, EU funding should 'shift from just reimbursing bills to rewarding performance', he added. Changes that the European Commission has proposed include raising the ceiling under which grants entail simpler administrative procedures from the current EUR 25,000 to EUR 50,000. Beneficiaries should also be allowed to use their grant to pay other project partners. In terms of simplification measures, businesses are targeted. For example, the European Commission accepts the one-off submission of legal documents via the Unique Registration Facility (URF) rather than requesting them for each subsequent application. The European Commission has also proposed a reduction in various funding rules across the different programmes and amendments concerning pre-financing interest claims. Time recording for personnel cost accounting is perceived as particularly burdensome by some beneficiaries. Such a requirement could only be dropped if lump sums for personnel per beneficiary, based on an ex ante estimation of the personnel costs per beneficiary for the project, were to be established during grant negotiations. The changes would help streamline measures and guarantee effective control of taxpayers' money, resulting in a solid balance between the two. In the long run, the European Commission hopes these changes will help shift the emphasis of the grant system from reimbursing cost claims to paying for the delivery of results. The proposals must be adopted by the Council and the European Parliament. Meanwhile, Dr Olivier Küttel, the co-founder of the Trust Researchers Initiative, and the Swiss National Contact Point for the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) and Director of Euresearch Head Office in Bern, has said that a restructuring of Europe's funding programmes is needed if they are to be effective. Too often, researchers rifle through mountains of paperwork when applying for EU research funding. Dr Sabine Herlitschka, an initiator of Trust Researchers, and the Austrian National Contact Point for FP7 and Director of the Division European & International Programmes at the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) in Austria, noted that the majority of the researchers are not against the rules but what they want are the right rules. The Declaration outlines five key principles: mutual trust; focused on research; consistency; reliability; and risk taking. On mutual trust, the researchers note that the funding of research in Europe should be based on mutual trust and responsible partnering. For her part, Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn agrees with the message put forward by the Trust Researchers initiative, and even referred to it when she presented the European Commission's Communication on Simplification on 29 April of this year. 'I want researchers to spend more time in the lab and less time in the office,' Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said. 'Our proposals aim to minimise administrative burdens in Europe's research programmes. We need to get the best researchers and most innovative companies taking part and we need to enable them to concentrate on results, not red tape.' The Communication has not fallen on deaf ears; the European Parliament recognises the need for simplification. Researchers are also pleased with the Communication. Dr Herlitschka said: 'I think it's really courageous and it's a good move in the right direction.'