Ref. Ares(2018)6245040 - 05/12/2018
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR RESEARCH & INNOVATION
Deputy Director-General responsible for Directorates E, F and J
Brussels,
RTD.F.2/JL rtd.ddg1 f.2(2018)6658515
NOTE FOR THE ATTENTION OF MR
,
OF THE BIOBASED
INDUSTRIES CONSORTIUM AND
OF THE BIO-BASED INDUSTRIES JOINT
UNDERTAKING GOVERNING BOARD
Subject:
Reduction in the Union contribution to the Bio-based Industries
Joint Undertaking operational costs for 2020
Under Article 4(1) of Council Regulation (EU) No 560/2014 establishing the Bio-based
Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU), the total contribution to the BBI JU by the
member other than the Union, i.e. the Biobased Industries Consortium (BIC) and its
constituent entities, should be at least EUR 2 730 million. This amount should inter alia
consist of at least EUR 182.5 million of cash contribution at operational level.
Looking at current data from the BBI JU Annual Activity Report 2017, it becomes clear
that BIC’s cash contribution to date is almost non-existent.
The Council Regulation had been amended to assist BIC by allowing cash contributions
delivered at project level to be counted towards the minimum legal target as well.
However, as you are aware, despite the amendment, BIC has come forward with only
EUR 0.46 million in Call 2018 proposals, which amounts to a mere 3% of the initially
expected amount. The Commission does not expect BIC to be able to deliver any
significant amount neither at programme nor at project level in the last two BBI JU calls
(2019-2020). This can also be deduced from the total absence of a financial contribution
by BIC at programme level in the Draft Annual Work Plan 2019.
By virtue of Article 4(5) of the Council Regulation, the Commission may terminate,
proportionally reduce or suspend the Union's financial contribution to the BBI JU or
trigger the winding-up procedure if BIC does not contribute, contributes only partially or
contributes late with regard to the above-mentioned contributions.
The most appropriate and proportionate action appears to be the reduction of the Union
contribution to the BBI JU by EUR 140 million in 2020. Such a cut falls within the range
of the estimated gap in BIC’s cash contribution. At the same time, this approach
prioritises the political importance of continuing investment in this sector in view of
Horizon Europe, and still allows for a final BBI JU call in 2020 with a Union
contribution of EUR 65 million, hence permitting to complete the mandate of the BBI
JU.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË — Tel. +32 22991111
Office: CDMA
— Tel. direct line +32 229
@ec.europa.eu
Through this note, I would thus like to inform you that, in accordance with Article 4(5)
of Council Regulation (EU) No 560/2014 establishing the BBI JU, the Commission has
decided to take the necessary steps to proportionally reduce the planned Union
contribution to the BBI JU operational costs in 2020 of EUR 205 million by EUR 140
million, leading to a contribution in 2020 of EUR 65 million (commitment
appropriations, excl. EFTA). This decision will be reflected in the Commission’s
proposal for a draft budget 2020.
e-signed
Wolfgang Burtscher
c.c.:
J. E. Paquet, P. Child, J. Bell, P. Dröll, P. Fernández-Cañadas,
,
,
,
,
2
Electronically signed on 05/12/2018 13:30 (UTC+01) in accordance with article 4 2 (Validity of electronic documents) of Commission Decision 2004/563