madam president honourable members i would like to thank you for this opportunity to address all of you before the final vote on the fp seven interim evaluation report in plenary tomorrow morning
the implementation of the seventh framework programme and in turn the progression towards what is proposed as a common strategic framework for research and innovation is marked by a long series of individual but nonetheless significant steps
i believe that this debate today marks one of those significant steps
leading up to the discussions today are the months of painstaking work by mr audy the shadow rapporteurs the other members of the committee on industry research and energy as well as the members of the committee on budgets
evaluation is nothing if the results are not presented discussed questioned and indeed either accepted or sometimes rejected by the very stakeholders that it aims to serve and of course parliament plays a vital role in this process not only bringing to bear a broad cross-section of experience from political and public life but just as importantly from the many fields of deep knowledge held by members
let me make a few brief introductory remarks on the report itself
first this is a rich and comprehensive report that deals in a constructive way with the key issues raised in the fp seven interim evaluation
it is most encouraging to see that the interim evaluation report triggered very substantive responses from the institutions and that these responses although putting the emphasis sometimes on different issues basically agree with the main findings and recommendations made by the independent evaluation experts
the commission is pleased to see that the quality of this evaluation work is acknowledged by parliament
the commission notes that the main points raised in the present report coincide with the key issues addressed in the commission's response to the evaluation report
even though there might not be full agreement on every detail it is important to note that there exists a core common understanding on the big ticketed items notably the need for a comprehensive strategy to boost research and innovation in the context of the europe twenty twenty strategy the need to make the programme more accessible to the wide range of possible contributors throughout europe and the need to further simplify procedures to allow all participants to focus on creativity rather than bureaucracy
the commission underlines its intention to take concrete measures in the remaining years of the fp seven to implement a maximum number of the concise suggestions made by the evaluators
as an example as mr audy reminded us we have already implemented three concrete simplification measures for fp seven more use of average personnel costs easier procedures for owner-managers of smes and a clearing committee to ensure a common interpretation of the rules
at the same time the recommendations and views expressed in this interim evaluation are of course of paramount importance for the preparation of future activities in the field of research and innovation
this will include the necessary quantum leap in simplification which will be made possible by a common strategic framework new rules for participation and with your help a revised user-friendly financial regulation
the commission looks forward to continuing this debate through the forthcoming discussions
against this background your comments today and the questions that you raise will help to sharpen our understanding still further
