The new framework should help ERICs such as DESY in Germany. Image courtesy lightsource.org.
The framework sets out all the criteria that are required to qualify as a European Research Infrastructures Consortium (ERIC), giving projects the status of an international organisation, and therefore exempting them from VAT and excise duty.
Good news for Lund, Sweden
The news that there is now a single legal framework for Europe’s shared
research facilities is good news for Sweden, which last week heard it
is to host the world’s most powerful neutron source in Lund.
The €1.3 billion European Spallation Source (ESS) will be the world’s
most advanced centre for materials research, enabling the study of the
atomic and molecular structure of a huge range of materials at a level
of detail never previously achieved. The vision is that the ESS will
surpass facilities currently in operation in Japan and the US, allowing
Europe to reclaim its status as world leader in neutron science.
The chosen site in Lund beat bids from Debrecen, in Hungary, and Bilbao, in Spain.
Bob Cywinski, of Huddersfield University in the UK, a spokesman for the
EU FP7-funded ESS Preparatory Phase Project, said, “The endorsement of
Lund’s bid by the EU’s research ministers means this project now has a
mandate to move forward to the final planning stages.”
“This project has a long history and all three sites which competed to
host the ESS put forward very credible bids. On balance, the Lund site
has been chosen because it is best suited to deliver the ESS that
Europe wants.”
Peter Allenspach, Chairman of the European Neutron Scattering
Association (ENSA), said scientists in the field have been patiently
waiting for many years for an indication of some political progress
towards the construction of the facility. “This site decision is
welcomed as the first major step on the road to securing ESS for the
benefit of all of European science and technology.”
While final agreements on the funding of ESS have still to be agreed, the decision on the site will certainly smooth the way for those negotiations.
“It will bring down barriers to investments in science and research,” said the Czech Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Miroslava Kopicová, who chaired the meeting of the Competitiveness Council, where ERIC was approved last week. This was the last opportunity to seal a deal before the end of the Czech presidency. The Czechs inherited the issue from the preceding French presidency, and were keen to unblock a long-running stalemate.
The agreement is an important element of the Commission’s attempts to create the single European Research Area, furthering the cause of the European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), which has drawn up a wish list of 44 priority infrastructures it says will put Europe ahead in several aspects of physical sciences, energy research, life sciences and information and communication technology.
Research infrastructures are expensive, complex and often beyond the reach of a single member state, and yet EU nations were hindered from joining forces by the lack of common legal framework, Janez Potočnik Commissioner for Science and Research said in a press conference after the meeting.
Not only that, the agreement is also good news for Europe’s economy. “Investing today in the construction of large-scale research infrastructures can certainly contribute to the EU economic recovery and will surely reinforce our competitiveness when we get out of the recession,” Potočnik said.
The European Commission proposed the measure in June last year in response to ESFRI’s list, and the fact that would-be partners from different countries currently have to negotiate terms and conditions under a mixture of national, EU and international law, leading to frustrating delays in getting projects off the ground.
In future, Member States that want to set up research infrastructures with ERIC status will apply to the Commission, with a declaration from the country that is to host the physical infrastructure that it recognises the proposed facility as an international organisation. The European Commission will ensure eligibility, registration and compliance.
An ERIC must be made up of at least three member states, and may include qualified associated countries, other third countries and specialised intergovernmental organisations.
Research Ministers also used the Competitiveness Council meeting to stress the regional dimension of ERA and called for a, “more balanced development”, while also emphasising the importance of funding for European research infrastructures at a member state level.
They also turned their attention to the recent evaluation and impact assessment of Framework Programme 6, and the initial appraisal of Framework Programme 7, saying the EU still lacks the relevant tools for more efficient investments in science and research.
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