The European Commission is considering ways to improve the financial management of some of the largest research partnerships.
In this regard, Science | Business cites a confidential Commission document which states that multi-partner R&D projects have been the subject of some financial problems deriving from their complex structure. The paper proposes to discuss possible reforms with the Member States that co-finance the projects, considering that the problem concerns thousands of companies, universities and other organizations participating in the projects.
One of the key problems identified is cash flow. The Joint Undertaking is managed in the context of two articles of the European treaties that allow the Commission to set up organizations to manage money coming from multiple funding bodies at the same time – the Commission itself, the Member States and other bodies.
These organizations grant grants through call for proposals during the year. The money to finance the subsidies is paid by the different organizations at different times and this implies that often the Commission has had to intervene to fill the differences. The proposed solution involves the early definition of a plan for Member States for multi-year payments.
The paper highlights other problems. For example, the Joint Undertaking should provide subsidies respecting a common set of European standards. Funding from individual states is however defined on the basis of national budget lines, and therefore of national rules that do not always match those of Europe.
To simplify the situation, in June 2018 the Commission proposed to reduce the number of partnership projects from the current 120 to 44.
(Source: FIRST)