Meeting with members of EU-LIFE research centres alliance, CAB Room,
04 December, 2019 16.00 - 17.00
Meeting with members of EU-LIFE research centres alliance
Scene setter
You will meet with representatives from EU-LIFE, an alliance of research centres
whose mission is to support and strengthen European research excellence. EU-LIFE
members are leading research institutes in their countries and internationally renowned
for producing excellent research, widely transferring knowledge and nurturing talent.
Since its foundation in 2013, EU-LIFE has become a relevant stakeholder in European
policy participating regularly in the EC policy dialogue.
In September, EU-LIFE released an open letter urging the EU Council and European
Parliament to prioritise Research & Innovation by committing a budget of € 150 Billion
for Horizon Europe. EU-LIFE institutes are deeply concerned about the growing trend
at the political level to reduce support for discovery research and innovation at
European level.
The aim of the meeting is to exchange views on priorities in your upcoming mandate
for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.
Objective(s)
• Courtesy meeting and opportunity to have a first exchange on your new mandate
and on the state of play of Horizon Europe.
• In view of your new portfolio, solicit their feedback on policy needs and actions
under Horizon Europe and other programmes.
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Meeting with members of EU-LIFE research centres alliance, CAB Room,
04 December, 2019 16.00 - 17.00
Line to take
On EU-LIFE
• We consider alliances of research institutes like EU-LIFE to be true game changers
in Europe, operating from the centre of research and innovation;
• As producers of scientific knowledge and key actors in innovation ecosystems,
alliances of research institutes have become instrumental to build a society based
on knowledge creation and sharing;
• I would like to thank you for your contribution in support of research and innovation
in the next multiannual financial framework as well as for your open letter with
recommendations to focus on collaborative and long-term impact research as far as
the Health Cluster of Horizon Europe is concerned.
On Horizon Europe
a) Missions
• As you are probably aware, Missions are a key feature of the future Horizon Europe
Programme for which Research and Innovation will set the direction and provide
the stimulus to address major challenges which go far wider than the fields of the
R&I itself;
• To be successful, Missions must resonate with and be well understood by citizens.
Missions should be identified and implemented using approaches that encourage
and enable citizens to get involved.
• Further still, the development of missions gives the opportunity to build tools and
mechanisms for empowering citizens in the processes for decision-making on EU
activities.
• Five mission areas have been identified and dedicated boards have been created
and are now fully operational.
b) Mission on Cancer
• Among the five mission areas proposed, one addresses
cancer, a disease with a
tremendous burden for society affecting everyone. Cancer is one of the leading
causes of death worldwide, and the number one killer for men in a growing number
of Member States and elsewhere.
• The Cancer Mission Board is preparing a mission outline with a comprehensive
approach focusing its discussions on four main themes: understanding, prevention,
treatment and survivorship/quality of life.
• The mission Board on cancer consists of 15 top-level experts. The chair is Walter
Ricciardi, who is a Professor of Hygiene and Public Health at the Catholic
University of the Sacred Heart in Rome.
• For a mission to be successful, citizens need to feel involved. An important part of
the board's work is to engage with citizens and stakeholders as well as with the
European Parliament.
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Meeting with members of EU-LIFE research centres alliance, CAB Room,
04 December, 2019 16.00 - 17.00
• In fact, Member States have been asked to organise citizen engagement activities
including conferences and large-scale events, to help in particular with the task of
identifying Missions.
• Let me emphasise that a mission on cancer must aim to deliver results that are
meaningful to citizens within seven to ten years. You and many others rightly have
high expectations for this mission to be a success.
• Let me also emphasise therefore that for the cancer mission, we would like
European citizens, cancer patients and survivors to engage in this endeavour as
much as possible and as early as possible.
• Therefore, I invite EU-Life to contribute to this process, especially since members of
your alliance are active in oncology and biomedical research.
European Research Area
• As part of my mandate I am keen on developing policy actions that help us deliver
on our ambitions and wider objectives. The key to success is to ensure
engagement and fruitful cooperation with major stakeholders, such as EU-LIFE.
Therefore, I am keen on continuing our exchanges in the future;
• We believe that alliances like EU-LIFE have the potential to further structure around
global challenges, across languages, borders and disciplines, pushing the barriers
of science, mobilising innovation ecosystems, providing the necessary environment
for the emergence of innovative initiatives and enterprises, empowering engaged
and active citizens.
• Europe will achieve its ambitious R&I objectives only if we all join forces and
cooperate better across borders. This is at the core of the European Research
Area: it is all about creating an attractive and fully open research space, where all
actors can cooperate, reinforce each other and together ensure that research and
innovation set the path on our transition towards a fair, sustainable and prosperous
society.
• Since the Commission launched its latest initiative on ERA in 2012, the context in
which R&I operates has dramatically changed: digitalisation is pervasive,
globalisation and multilaterialism are under threat and our policy focus has shifted
significantly with a much stronger focus on achieving the transition towards a
sustainable society, with the SDGs as the reference framework.
• The ambition of the new College is to revitalise the European Research Area, both
to make it fit for purpose in a globally changed environment and to tackle its
longstanding challenges.
• This will include redefining the objectives of ERA and reconsidering some of the
key principles and priorities that underpin ERA. We need to decide together
whether they continue to be relevant or rather new priorities should be established
(e.g. inclusiveness, freedom of science, research integrity) and how we can better
ensure their implementation.
• In this perspective, I want to work with your organisation, Member States and with
all stakeholders in the coming months on a modern, forward-looking vision for ERA.
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Meeting with members of EU-LIFE research centres alliance, CAB Room,
04 December, 2019 16.00 - 17.00
Defensive points
What is the state of play of the Horizon Europe
negotiations and when will the budget allocation be
determined?
• The Common Understanding reached between the
Council and the Parliament which has allowed the
Commission to start the preparations of the
implementation of the programmes, including strategic
planning, preparations for missions and partnerships.
• Horizon Europe, with an overall budget of €100 billion,
aims to keep the EU at the forefront of global research
and innovation with a number of Missions and ambitious
initiatives aiming to have a transformative impact on the
challenges that European citizens face.
• Besides, making synergies happen in practice is a priority
for us, in particular as regards synergies between
Horizon Europe and the structural funds, and with
Erasmus+/ European universities.
• To address all of these priorities, the Commission has
proposed a budget of € 100 billion for the next 7 years.
During the negotiations, the European Parliament had
called for an increase of the Horizon Europe budget to
€120 billion. However, this will depend on the overall
MFF negotiations that will resume in the next months.
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Meeting with members of EU-LIFE research centres alliance, CAB Room,
04 December, 2019 16.00 - 17.00
Missions – State of Play
Five Mission Boards have been created to provide independent advice. There is one
Mission Board for each
Mission Area and all are now fully operational:
-
Adaptation to Climate Change including Societal Transformation
-
Cancer
-
Healthy oceans, Seas, Coastal and inland Waters
-
Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities
-
Soil health and Food
Board Meetings
• All Missions Boards have now met at least twice; ‘Cities’ and ‘Cancer’ have
already held their fourth Board meetings.
Engagement with stakeholders
• Each Board participated in a dedicated interactive session at the R&I days on
25 September, the feedback from which was very positive.
• The ‘Ocean’ Mission Board has engaged collectively with stakeholders at the
Paris Peace Forum on 11-12 November. Similarly, initial consultation of
stakeholders have started for the ‘Cities’ mission (e.g. EuroCities, Smart
Regions Conference, etc.)
Member States
• Five sub groups, one for each Mission Area, of the Strategic Configuration of
the Shadow Programme Committee have been created. These are composed
of experts, one proposed by each Member State.
• These groups met for a one hour meeting each during the R&I days. Further
meetings will take place, aligned with the meetings of the Mission Boards.
Interactions with the European Parliament
• Mission Boards have been asked to designate one of the members as link to
the European Parliament to support an extensive dialogue with the EP on future
Missions, as was agreed during the negotiations on Horizon Europe.
• A public hearing of the European Parliament on Missions is under consideration
for January/February 2020.
Citizen engagement
• An extensive programme of citizen engagement is being prepared, including
possibly 10 events in Jan/Feb 2020 organised by Member States.
• A training event or series of events on citizens’ engagement is being organised
with support of DG JRC and HR, for Mission Board Members (+ MS experts
and Commission officials), for early January 2020.
Mission Assemblies
• The assemblies were created to provide a source of additional expertise and to
support the reflections of the Mission Boards.
• Several Mission Boards have signalled their intention to meet with the
Assemblies, or members of the Assemblies, back-to-back with Mission Board
meetings.
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Meeting with members of EU-LIFE research centres alliance, CAB Room,
04 December, 2019 16.00 - 17.00
Cancer Mission
The Mission on Cancer1 aims at addressing sectors, policies and systemic,
transformative solutions (governance, technological, non-technological, services,
behaviour changes, investments), for the entire health continuum of the disease.
Citizen engagement will be an important contributing process in the design,
implementation and review of the mission on cancer.
The Commission appointed the members of the five mission Boards in July 2019. The
Chair of the cancer mission Board is Professor Walter Ricciardi, who led the Italian
National Institute of Health. The former Chair, Professor Harald zur Hausen and Nobel
prize winner had to step down for personal reasons
2. The vice-Chair is Professor
Christine Chomienne, known for her leading role at the French National Cancer
Institute INCa.
The cancer mission Board consists of 15 members bringing expertise from cancer
research, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care, oncology, epidemiology,
toxicology, radiology, law, cancer charity funding, communication, public health policy,
patient representation, health pharmaceutical industry.
In addition, the Commission established an Assembly, which is composed of 26 top-
level experts and chaired by Walter Ricciardi. The Assembly will support the board in
developing the mission on cancer and engage with citizen representatives.
So far, the Board has agreed to focus its reflections around four main themes:
understanding, prevention, treatment and survivorship. In 2019, four Board meetings
took place (3 September, 25-26 September, 21-22 October, 19-20 November). The
next one, scheduled for 12-13 December, will include a meeting with Member States
representatives.
The mission letter to the Health Commissioner-designate proposes the adoption of a
European Action Plan against Cancer to support Member States in improving cancer
control and care. This plan will be closely linked to the mission on cancer.
The Cancer Plan responds to a call from MEP Manfred Weber who proposed a
“European Masterplan to join our forces to fight against cancer”, as part of this election
campaign.
The Parliament closely follows the work on the Cancer Plan, providing early input
through a first plenary debate on 18 September and dedicated events/workshops in
preparation.
1 https://ec.europa.eu/info/horizon-europe-next-research-and-innovation-framework-
programme/mission-area-cancer en
2 https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/professor-harald-zur-hausen-step-down-chair-horizon-europe-
cancer-mission-board-2019-oct-08 en
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Meeting with members of EU-LIFE research centres alliance, CAB Room,
04 December, 2019 16.00 - 17.00
Annex I: EU-LIFE Open letter to the EU Council and EP to prioritise R&I by
committing an appropriate budget for Horizon Europe (Barcelona 23 September 2019)
Europe is at a critical crossroads. While new major societal challenges emerge, the EU
is at the same time called to revisit its founding values and questioned on its role in
Europe and the World. Therefore, refocusing on real beacons of the EU ideal is needed
to secure and nurture the EU added value for citizens. In this context, European R&I
emerges not only as a true success, but also as a real pillar of the EU ideal. Few other
fields illustrate so clearly how crucial it is to have a strong EU that leverages local
potential while guiding national and regional policies. It is clear from studies on
previous Framework Programmes that every Euro spent on Research & Innovation will
generate roughly five-fold the investment in economic benefit, as well as improving
social, health and environmental standards. However, R&I represents less than 10% of
the total EU budget. Consequently, it is time that the EU promotes R&I to a higher
ranking on its list of priorities. This must be reflected in the EU’s Multi-Annual Financial
Framework through an increase in the Horizon Europe budget as recommended by
the Lamy report and in an earlier EU-LIFE position paper. We therefore urge the
European Parliament and the EU Council to provide Horizon Europe with 5 key assets:
1.
An appropriate budget: To achieve high impacts, Horizon Europe needs a
commensurate budget. We were the first organisation to publicly support the
recommendations in Lamy’s report to double Horizon Europe’s budget
compared to H2020, to 150 Billion Euros. We stand by this and maintain our
recommendation to double the budget of Europe’s Research & Innovation
framework programme in order to realise its impact and global challenges.
2.
A balanced programme: the impact of tomorrow depends on the discoveries
of today and the highest value over time comes from high-risk, open-ended
excellent research. This should be the main priority of public funding such as
Horizon Europe. The investment in close to the market stages will then follow
from the private sector. Therefore, we recommend to double the budget for
discovery research (Pillar 1), including the European Research Council (ERC)
and Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA).
3.
Making the European Research Area (ERA) a reality: Realising ERA and
advancing in open science including gender equality cannot fall solely on the
shoulders of individual researchers, innovators or projects. Excellent R&I needs
a healthy R&I ecosystem that in turn needs strong institutions with international
standards. EU-LIFE strongly supports the policy that European framework
programmes should not substitute national or regional investment and
measures should be adopted to incentivise prioritisation of R&I in Member
States’ budgets aiming at 3% GDP at least.
4.
Addressing knowledge transfer: Building a proper research ecosystem that
efficiently catalyses translation of knowledge is essential since the path to
innovation is not linear and includes several feedback loops. The true challenge
is to actively assist researchers with identifying and enabling commercial and/or
social use of their findings.
5.
Realistic impact and collaborative approaches: Innovation provides
solutions based on knowledge. Solutions without new knowledge are not
innovation; they are merely implementation. The role of open-ended research
within multi-sectoral collaboration must be nurtured. Therefore, expected timing
of impact of research outputs in Horizon Europe should be realistically adjusted
to a longer timescale and its definition broadened beyond economic
competitiveness to include wider social impact.
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Meeting with members of EU-LIFE research centres alliance, CAB Room,
04 December, 2019 16.00 - 17.00
Annex II: EU-LIFE recommendations for collaborative research in the Health
Cluster of Horizon Europe
• Re-balance public funding in the Health Cluster towards collaborative, long-term
impact research and leave the investment in short-term research (at higher TRLs)
to the private sector. Whereas the less risky, close-to-market stages are
amenable to private funding, lower TRLs that encapsulate longer-term impact are
higher risk and therefore not fundable by industry or the private sector - this
should be the main responsibility of public funding in Horizon Europe.
• Define major challenges for specific disease areas and include calls for proposals
on “understanding mechanisms of” to ensure collaborative approaches regarding
the fundamental understanding of mechanisms that form the knowledge base of
disease and treatment.
• Build a more realistic definition of impact. Impact in the current calls requires
heavy speculation as to what might happen often ending in hand waiving and the
description of “impact unicorns”. EU-LIFE recommends a shift towards explaining
how the current research environment facilitates further development and
exploitation to enable research impact.
• Use a wider and modular definition of “expected impacts” by taking into account
what is more commonly the result of discovery research in the area of the call,
and by including “fundamental understandings” as expected impact. Value the
collaborative aspect of the project as a measure of impact. Brief officers and
evaluators to appreciate the impact of research for the area and TRL in question.
• Remove the - direct or indirect - pressure to cover too many and too high TRLs in
a single project by introducing several stages for a research theme: the first stage
starting at lower TRLs and if successful progressing to higher TRLs.
• Implement a retrospective model of evaluation for collaborative research: Rather
than evaluating “unicorns”, evaluate a track record of generating impact. Look
back at what research has achieved following funding at the portfolio or
programme level.
Contact(s):
(DG RTD G2), tel.:
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