Publicly funded automotive research in EU.pdf - EAGAR

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EAGAR – Publicly funded automotive research by the European Commission 3 Discussion and Conclusion The automotive industry is essential for the European economy and its products are crucial for the European life and mobility. In Europe the most cars and automotive parts are manufactured worldwide. It is home to some of the largest, most innovative, and most profitable automotive companies in the world. More than 1.8 % (€ 228 billion) of the GDP were invested in R&D by the EU in 2007. This underlines the high importance of the automotive sector in Europe. Besides the European funding the automotive industry invested more than € 35 billion in R&D being the largest private investor in the EU. In the EAGAR project 26 RTD calls regarding the automotive sector could be identified in the time frame 2006-2009. More than € 900 million were available for these calls to finance projects. A rising number of initiatives can be seen in 2009, partly due to the battle against the financial crisis and the fight against CO 2 emissions considered as one of the grand challenges. Another reason was the introduction of 3 JTIs launching first calls in 2008 and 2009. The main instrument for funding research projects in Europe are the Framework Programmes financed by the Member States and associated countries. The available funds are distributed to the applicants by the European Commission via several directorates, for automotive RTD notably DG RE- SEARCH, DG MOVE, DG INFSO, and the legal entities of three Joint Technology Initiatives. A high dedication to topics linked to the reduction of CO 2 emissions in the road transport in Europe can be observed. This high commitment can be seen in the various targets and visions aiming at improving the European automotive market in the field of GHG emissions and fuel efficiency. This category along with the reduction of pollution and noise are the main challenges for the market in the next years. A vision for six main areas has been published to address the current problems of the automotive industry and to give an outline for the next 10-20 years to improve the competitiveness of the European automotive market. In the most cases the funded topics are considered as highly relevant and directly meet the industrial needs. One of the main strengths of the European funding system is the international cooperation and a high level of international integration is always given. Furthermore collaborations with international (non European) partners are in general no problem due to the various co-operation agreements with other countries. The European Commission has established a comprehensive consultation process for its research programmes. The Directorates are supported by a combination of public consultations as well as dedicated ad-hoc groups and advisory groups and councils such as ERTRAC with the objective to involve all stakeholders in order to identifying and assess new technologies and fields of interest. However, there is usually only one call for proposals per year and due to long lasting evaluation and negotiation processes significant lead times have to be considered. 18 months from proposal submission until start of project are not unusual. Combined with average success rates of 25% in particular private companies (and not only SME) abstain from preparing project proposals. In the field of openness and transparency the European system is exemplary. All information on the existence of a call and the requirements can be found on the corresponding website. Moreover, the publication of the results in the form of a final report, which is accessible publicly, in most cases, shows the openness of the system. The assessment of the applications by an independent group of experts underlines the claim of providing a transparent and open process and system. 20/57
EAGAR – Publicly funded automotive research by the European Commission 4 References European Commission, Europe in figures, Eurostat Yearbook 2009, ISSN 1681-4789 European Commission, CARS 21 A Competitive Automotive Regulatory System for the 21st century, Final Report, Brussels, 2006 European Commission, EU energy and transport in figures, statistical pocketbook 2009, ISSN1725- 1095, Belgium, 2009. http://ec.europa.eu/transport/publications/statistics/doc/2009_energy_transport_figures.pdf Loire Patrick et al, Comprehensive Analysis of the Evolution of the European Automotive industry, Executive Summary, Paris, 2008 European Commission, Joint Research Centre Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, The 2009 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, Luxembourg, 2009, http://iri.jrc.ec.europa.eu/research/scoreboard_2009.htm ERTRAC Vision 2020 and Challenges, 2004, www.ertrac.org European Parliament and Council, Regulation (EC) No 443/2009 setting emission performance standards for new passenger cars as part of the Community's integrated approach to reduce CO2 emissions from light-duty vehicles, Brussels, 2009 European Parliament and Council, European Directive 2003/30/CE on the promotion of the use of biofuels or other renewable fuels for transport, Brussels, 2003 European Commission, Limiting Global Climate Change to 2 degrees Celsius, The way ahead for 2020 and beyond, Brussels, 2007 European Commission, Cordis, http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/dc/index.cfm, December 2009. European Research Council, http://erc.europa.eu, April 2010 European Commission, New public private partnerships for research in the manufacturing, construction, and automotive sectors, Information brochure European Commission, EU road safety – trends and figures 2009, Brussels 2009 Interrogation of about 30 research managers about their experience with European Framework Programmes, January to March 2010. European Commission, Guidelines of the Framework programme European Commission: Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council, Setting emission performance standards for new passenger cars as part of the Community's integrated approach to reduce CO2 emissions from light-duty vehicles, COM(2007) 856 final, Brussels, 2007 21/57
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