There had been signs in the run up to the mid-term review of FP7 that the Commission would seek to significantly reduce the flat rate recovery for FP7, prompting the EUA to lobby on behalf of its 850 member universities, together with other public research organisations, for the current flat rate to be retained. EUA said that any reduction could threaten the financial sustainability of universities.
Whilst it welcomed the flat rate decision, EUA said it is vital for the Commission to continue to simplify the procedural rules of the 7th Framework Programme (and all other European funding schemes) to reduce the excessive administrative burdens on universities, in particular in terms of the financial and reporting procedures.
EUA is also calling on the Commission to apply this flat rate to funding through its Joint Technology Initiatives (JTI). In the first JTI (the Innovative Medicines Initiative) the Commission announced that universities could only claim 20 per cent of indirect costs.
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