05 / 04 / 2018


ECA Briefing Paper on Simplification of EU Research Programme Beyond Horizon 2020

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) has published a Briefing Paper, which was prepared for the European Parliament and the Council as input to their discussions on the successor to Horizon 2020.   Two ways of removing unnecessary complexity are distinguished in the Briefing Paper: rewriting the basic legal rules and/or creating a simpler interface adapted to researchers’ real-life circumstances.   “Horizon 2020 is complex due to its range of regulations, rules, guidelines, procedures and processes for implementation and the multitude of its funding instruments”, said Alex Brenninkmeijer, the Member of the European Court of Auditors responsible for the Briefing Paper, “and unnecessary complexity brings risk.”