Framework Partnership Agreement supporting Joint Actions towards the demonstration and validation of innovative energy solutions

Date de clôture : 8 sept. 2016  
APPEL À PROJET CLÔTURÉ

Topic Description

The EU needs to accelerate the transformation of its energy system by bridging the gap between research and the market with innovative solutions to obstacles in the development of low carbon technologies.

Bridging this gap often requires substantial volumes of investment which cannot be allocated by individual countries or by the European Commission on their own. European Union funding is only a limited part of the total funding available across Europe. In such cases, mobilising the necessary investment can only be achieved by pooling together financial resources from multiple countries, the Commission, and the private sector. This is a challenge because the funding landscape is complex.

One of the objectives of the SET Plan is to create funding synergies on such a big scale by organising joint programming actions between the entities responsible for public funding programmes and the Commission. ERA-NETs are the main instrument for joint programming actions within the SET Plan, and they also contribute to achieving the objectives of the European Research Area (ERA). In addition, they can play a key role in achieving the goal of the Energy Union of moving away from a fragmented system characterised by uncoordinated national policies and towards a new European R&I approach which accelerates the transformation of the energy system. It is therefore politically important to support ERA-NETs and to facilitate their existence as much as possible.

The purpose of this call is to create a single[[This is in line with the objective of transnational coordination of national/regional programmes, with a maximum number of countries participating in the resulting joint actions.]] Framework Partnership Agreement to strengthen and simplify cooperation between the European Commission and Member States'/Associated Countries' programme managers and programme owners in the field of energy. This will allow Member States/Associated Countries to develop and implement a long-term action plan addressing this specific challenge with a set of ERA-NET Cofund actions. It is expected that the proposal submitted to this call will provide a broad coverage of countries and their different programme managers and owners in the energy sector.

The Commission will subsequently invite submission of proposals[[The resulting ERA-NET Cofund actions are actions with specific characteristics that require a particular type of legal entity (programme managers and programme owners).]] for Specific Grant Agreements under this Framework Partnership Agreement as grants to identified beneficiaries.

The simplification of ERA-NET Cofund actions is an important milestone in stepping up long-term collaboration with and between Member States/Associated Countries. The following benefits are expected:

• Increased involvement of programme managers and programme owners in ERA-NET Cofund actions.
• Establishment of long-lasting joint programming research efforts between Member States/Associated Countries in areas of common interest.
• Increased involvement of the Commission in the preparatory phase of joint programming initiatives.
• Acceleration of the time to market of innovative, affordable, cost-effective and resource-efficient technology solutions which decarbonise the energy system in a sustainable way.
• Simplification of ERA-NET administrative arrangements: proposal submission, evaluation and grant preparation.
• Drastic reduction of the time between identifying research areas which could benefit from an ERA-NET and the launch of co-funded calls in those areas.
• Measurable contribution to the political objectives of the Energy Union, the SET Plan, and the European Research Area.

The Framework Partnership Agreement will cover the remaining duration of Horizon 2020. The proposal submitted to this call should include all legal entities that intend to participate in future energy ERA-NET co-funding actions during that period. Participants in the Framework Partnership Agreement for ERA-NET Cofund actions are not required to conclude a consortium agreement.

This activity directly aimed at supporting public-public partnerships with Member States and Associated Countries, technology platforms with industrial partners is excluded from the delegation to INEA and will be implemented by the Commission services.