Establishing the Joint Undertakings under Horizon Europe

EESC opinion: Establishing the Joint Undertakings under Horizon Europe

Key points

The EESC :

  • Considers that the end results of the joint undertakings' (JUs) activity are of utmost importance for the future of the European economy;
  • Estimates that interaction and collaborations with other European partnerships should focus on strategic and impact-driven results;
  • Considers that the principles of open participation and transparency should govern the activity of all joint undertakings;
  • Calls for permanent civil society dialogue within existing JU advisory groups and the inclusion of relevant social partners and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the Stakeholder Groups of the JUs;
  • Is worried about the limited number of organisations called for as private founders for several undertakings and calls for openness and transparency in the selection of the associated members;
  • Is in favour of dedicating a part of the JUs' budget to SME activities ;
  • Calls for an exact explanation of the procedure to set up the work programme for each JU;
  • Highly appreciates the proposal to eliminate the obligation for partners to report on non-eligible costs and the intention to avoid double auditing;
  • Clearly points out that the results of the research by the joint undertakings should be put to good use industrially in the EU using European technology;
  • Welcomes the monitoring obligations for SME inclusion, geographical composition and the co-funding rate.

For more information please contact the INT Section Secretariat