On 28 April 2017, the European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) and the European Economic Social Committee (EESC) organized a joint event in Brussels to present and discuss the results of the stakeholders’ consultation on the Horizon 2020 programme.
In this regards COMAC Medical was invited to present the point of view of the business during the panel session: “The views of civil society organisations”, moderated by Christophe Lefevre, Member of the Employees’ Group, EESC. COMAC was represented by Monika Panayotova and as a panelist she based her presentation on the three main questions: what are the two issues which worked well in Horizon 2020 and two which need further improvements?; how could the EU funding landscape for R&I be further rationalised?; how could the societal relevance of EU R&I programmes be boosted?
On the one hand she focused on the positive steps undertaken by the European commission to simplify the rules for participation by introducing a number of administrative and financial simplifications, which decreases the administrative burden on beneficiaries and facilitates their access to Horizon 2020.
On the other hand she emphasized on the need of:
- attracting more young researchers, entrepreneurs and innovators in order to keep the talents in EU;
- Equal payment for the scientists under Horizon 2020 in order to create an open and attractive European labor market with a flexible mobility not only from the new Member states towards the old ones but the other way around as well;
- better feedback from the evaluators, of a reasoned and detailed description what has to be improved by the applicants which will generate better success rate.
She welcomed the approach of the European commission and European Economic and Social Committee to talk WITH, not TO people. Ms Panayotova underlined that each stakeholder contributes to the overall success of the European economy’s full innovative potential, giving the example of COMAC where the cost of investment in scientific research and experimental development activities in 2016 represent 80% of its net revenues from sales.
There was a very constructive discussion with Gonçalo Lobo Xavier, Vice-President of the EESC, Kurt Vandenberghe, Director, Directorate General for Research and Innovation, European Commission, Rosalinde Van der Vlies, Head of Unit Evaluation, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, Ulrich Samm, rapporteur of the EESC Opinion on the Mid-term evaluation of Horizon 2020 as well as with the different representatives of the innovative, research and entrepreneurial ecosystem in Europe.
Download: Presentation of the results of the stakeholder consultation (28 April), Monika Panayotova
