Earto, the European Association of Research and Technology Organisations, says that the reimbursement model proposed by the European Commission under Horizon 2020 will undermine industry participation. The Commission has proposed using a single flat rate to reimburse the costs linked to a research project, in which overhead costs would be calculated as 20 per cent of direct costs. But in a statement published on 15 May, Earto slams the Commission’s rationale, saying that its analysis is “fundamentally flawed” because it fails to consider the effects on large individual beneficiaries, such as research organisations with high overhead costs. In addition, Earto says that “when major research and technology organisations participate in FP7 projects, industry participation markedly increases”. Therefore, the cost model’s negative effects on research organisation participation in Horizon 2020 could snowball and decrease industry participation, too. Out of 20 research organisations surveyed by Earto, 15 have spoken out against the proposal, including the Fraunhofer society in Germany, CSIC in Spain, and TNO in the Netherlands. Link