8 Joint technology initiatives
| (a)
(28672)
9884/07
SEC(07) 692
(b)
(28635)
9686/07
COM(07) 241
+ ADD 1
+ ADD 2
(c)
(28639)
9685/07
COM(07) 243
+ ADD 1
+ ADD 2
|
Commission staff working document — Joint Technology Initiatives: Background, State-of-Play and Main Features
Draft Regulation setting up the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking
Commission staff working document: impact assessment of the proposal
Commission staff working document: summary of impact assessment
Draft Regulation to establish the "ARTEMIS Joint Undertaking" to implement a Joint Technology Initiative in Embedded Computing Systems
Commission staff working document: analysis of the effects of the proposal
Commission staff working document: summary of the analysis
|
| Legal base | (a) None
(b) and (c) Article 171 EC; consultation; QMV
|
| Document originated | (All) 15 May 2007
|
| Deposited in Parliament | (a) 5 June 2007
(b) 18 May 2007
(c) 21 May 2007
|
| Department | Trade and Industry
|
| Basis of consideration | EMs of 5 June 2007
|
| Previous Committee Report | None
|
| To be discussed in Council | (All) No date set
|
| Committee's assessment | (All) Politically important
|
| Committee's decision | (All) Cleared but further information requested on documents (b) and (c)
|
Background
8.1 Article 171 of the EC Treaty authorises the Council to set
up joint undertakings for the efficient execution of Community
research and development (R&D).
8.2 The budget for the EC's 7th Framework Programme
for R&D is €51.3 billion for 2007-13.[15]
The Framework Programme comprises four specific programmes ("Cooperation",
"Ideas", "People" and "Capacities").
Both the Framework Programme and the Cooperation programme refer
to Joint Technology Initiatives. The Competition programme describes
the Initiatives as follows:
"In a limited number of cases, the scope of [an R&D]
objective and the scale of the resources involved justify setting
up long term public private partnerships in the form of Joint
Technology Initiatives. These initiatives, mainly resulting from
the work of European Technology Platforms and covering one or
a small number of selected aspects of research in their field,
will combine private sector investment and national and European
public funding, including grant funding from the Research Framework
Programme and loan finance from the European Investment Bank.
Joint Technology Initiatives will be decided on the basis of separate
proposals (eg on the basis of Article 171 of the Treaty)."[16]
8.3 Joint Technology Platforms are informal networks which are
led by industry and bring together researchers, businesses and
public authorities. They define medium- to long-term agendas for
strategic research.
Document (a)
8.4 Document (a) is a background paper on Joint Technology Initiatives
(JTIs). It describes the origin and purpose of JTIs; summarises
some of their benefits; discusses the compatibility of JTIs with
EC competition rules; and describes common features of the Initiatives.
8.5 Through the work of the Joint Technology Platforms, six areas
have been identified which appear particularly suitable for JTIs.
They are as follows:
| Name of JTI
| Total budget
(€ billions)
| Requested EC contribution (€ billions)
|
| Innovative medicines
| 2.0 | 1.0
|
| Embedded computing systems
| 2.7 | 0.42
|
| Fuel cells and hydrogen
| 0.8-0.9 | 0.4-0.45
|
| "Clean sky"
| 1.6 | 0.8
|
| Nanoelectronics
| 3.0 | 0.42-0.45
|
| Global monitoring for environment and security
| (to be confirmed) |
(to be confirmed) |
8.6 According to document (a), the following are
among the advantages of JTIs;
- Industry's financial contribution
can be higher than it is in traditional collaborative research
projects falling within the Framework Programme.
- JTIs can receive funding not
only from the Framework Programme but also from the Structural
Funds and, in some cases, from Member States, too.
- SMEs are likely to find participation
in JTIs more attractive than in traditional collaborative research
projects.
- Membership of JTIs is open
to third countries outside the European Economic Area.
8.7 The JTIs will have a number of common features.
For example, all six would be established as joint undertakings
under Article 171 of the EC Treaty. They would be classified as
Community bodies. The Community Financial Regulation would apply
to them and the Community Staff Regulation would apply to the
staff of the joint undertakings.
Document (b) — the Innovative Medicines
Initiative
8.8 In its explanatory memorandum on the draft Regulation
to establish the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking
(IMI JU), the Commission says:
"Drug development is a very long and costly
business. Having once been world leader in pharmaceutical research,
Europe is now lagging in research investment, both public and
private. The IMI JTI aims to improve this situation by a unique
collaboration in the pharmaceutical sector. For the first time,
competitor pharmaceutical companies will collaborate on research
to improve the drug development process. Participation of academia
and clinical centres, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs),
patient organisations and public authorities (including regulators)
will be essential and will lead to faster uptake of results."[17]
8.9 The draft Regulation provides for the founder
members of the IMI JU to be the European Commission and the European
Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA).
The EFPIA is a non-profit organisation representing the research-based
pharmaceutical industry in Europe. It took the lead in setting
up the European Technology Platform on Innovative Medicines. The
Technology Platform developed a Strategic Research Agenda and
the Commission proposes the Joint Undertaking as the means to
implement it. Member States, countries associated with the 7th
Framework Programme and other legal entities which support R&D
would be entitled to apply to become members of the IMI JU.
8.10 The main objectives of the IMI JU would be to:
- support pre-competitive pharmaceutical
R&D in the Member States and associated countries, overcoming
research bottlenecks in the drug development process;
- support the implementation
of the Strategic Research Agenda, notably by giving grants to
projects; and
- increase research investment
in the biopharmaceutical sector by pooling resources and fostering
collaboration between the public and private sectors.
8.11 The R&D projects supported by the Joint
Undertaking would be related to:
- safety evaluation;
- efficacy evaluation;
- knowledge management; and
- education and training.
8.12 The total budget of the IMI JU for 2008-17 would
be €2 billion, comprising a financial contribution of not
more that €1 billion from the Community and an equal amount
in kind from pharmaceutical companies which are members of the
EFPIA.
8.13 The JU would be located in Brussels. It would
be run by:
- A Board comprising representatives
of the Commission, the EFPIA and the other members. It would have
overall responsibility for the operations of the IMI JU, including
the admission of new members, the annual budget, the guidelines
for the evaluation and selection of projects for grant and the
appointment of the Executive Director.
- An Executive Office, comprising
the Executive Director and supporting staff, with day-to-day responsibility
for the management and operations of the JU.
- A Scientific Committee with
no more than 15 members who would be representative of universities,
patient organisations, industry and regulatory bodies. It would
advise on, for example, the continued relevance of the Strategic
Research Agenda and the JU's annual scientific priorities.
The Government's view on document (b)
8.14 The Minister of State for Science and Innovation
at the Department of Trade and Industry (Malcolm Wicks) tells
us that the IMI is not intended to develop new medicines but to
research new and more effective ways of predicting the safety
and efficacy of medicines. This should, for example, help the
pharmaceutical industry identify promising products early in their
development, and weed out those which are not promising, so reducing
ineffective expenditure on R&D.
8.15 The Minister adds that:
"The UK Government strongly supports the aims
of the Innovative Medicines Initiative. The UK pharmaceutical
industry is a European leader. All the world's leading pharmaceutical
companies have significant manufacturing and/or R&D operations
in the UK. Industry in the UK has discovered and developed more
leading medicines than any other country apart from the USA and
as much as the rest of Europe combined. … The strength of
the UK pharmaceutical sector and the UK science base should put
the UK in a good position to obtain substantial funding from the
IMI."
8.16 The Minister notes that the proposal would not
impose any new financial burdens on the UK Government because
Member States would not be required to make a direct financial
contribution to the IMI.
Document (c) — the Embedded Computing Systems
Initiative (ARTEMIS)
8.17 "Embedded computing systems" are microprocessors
embedded in such products as cars, mobile phones, home appliances
and medical instruments. They currently account for more that
90% of computing devices. Embedded computing systems are expected
to account for over 40% of the final value of consumer electronic
products within the next five years.
8.18 The Commission says, however, that the present
structure of industry in the EC does not provide the necessary
conditions in which to develop embedded systems and their application.
Research investment in the EC lags well behind investment in the
USA and Japan. Moreover, research funding in Europe is fragmented.
8.19 It is against this background that the ARTEMIS[18]
Technology Platform was set up in 2004 to bring together research
institutions, businesses, public authorities and others concerned
with embedded systems. The Technology Platform's work led to the
development of this proposal for a Joint Technology Initiative
on Embedded Computing Systems (the ARTEMIS JTI). The aim is to
create a single, Europe-wide R&D programme to help EC industry
achieve world leadership in embedded computing technologies.
8.20 The draft Regulation provides for the establishment
of the ARTEMIS Joint Undertaking to give effect to the JTI in
the period 2008-2017. It would be located in Brussels. Its objectives
would include:
- defining and implementing a
research agenda for embedded computing systems;
- selecting R&D projects
to be part-funded by the Joint Undertaking; and
- fostering collaboration between
the public and private sectors, pooling resources and increasing
total R&D investment in embedded computing systems.
8.21 The members of the Joint Undertaking would be
the European Commission, ARTEMISIA (an association representing
companies and other R&D organisations active in work on embedded
systems), and — if they wish and their applications are
accepted — Member States, interested third countries and
any legal entity capable of making a substantial financial contribution
to the achievement of the objectives of the Joint Undertaking.
8.22 The Joint Undertaking's running costs would
be met by financial contributions from ARTEMISIA (not exceeding
€30 million) and the Community (up to €10 million);
and contributions in kind from other members. Selected research
projects would receive financial support from the Community (up
to a total of €410 million for 2008-17) and from Member States
which are members of the Joint Undertaking. Projects would also
receive contributions in kind from R&D organisations.
The Government's view on document (c)
8.23 The Minister notes the Commission's estimate
that every Euro contributed to the JU from Community funds will
"leverage" the contribution of a total of seven Euros
from companies, research institutes, Member States and third countries.
He says that UK-based companies and higher education institutions
are likely to benefit from the ARTEMIS JTI. The Government will
consider whether to become a founding member of the JU or to join
later. The Government has some concerns about the detailed arrangements
for the governance of the JU which it will raise during the negotiations
on the draft Regulation.
Conclusion
8.24 In our view, document (a) provides a very
useful explanation of the origin and purpose of the Joint Technology
Initiatives. We are familiar with the proposals for Initiatives
on innovative medicines and embedded computing systems from our
detailed scrutiny last year of the draft Regulations to establish
the EC's 7th R&D Framework Programme and the specific
Cooperation Programme. Documents (b) and (c) are the necessary
consequence of the Council's adoption of those two Regulations.
8.25 We are grateful to the Minister for his helpful
Explanatory Memoranda. There are no questions we need put to him
at this stage and we are content to clear all three documents
from scrutiny. We should, however, be grateful if he would send
us progress reports about the negotiations on documents (b) and
(c).
15 (26581) 8087/05: see HC 34-xxx (2005-06), para 12
(24 May 2006). Back
16
(26879) 12736/07: draft Decision concerning the Specific Programme
"Cooperation", Annex I, page 25. Back
17
(28635) 9686/07, page 2, final paragraph. Back
18
"ARTEMIS": advanced research and technology for embedded
intelligence and systems. Back
| 
