Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Final evaluation of the Eurostars Joint Programme (2008-2013)

In July 2008, the European Parliament and the Council adopted a decision providing for EU participation in financing the Eurostars Joint Programme. The Eurostars Decision limited the EU financial contribution to ‘the equivalent of a maximum of one third of the effective contributions of the participating Member States and the other participating countries, within a ceiling of €100 million.’ The participation was for the duration of the Seventh Framework Programme for Research (2008-2013). Since then, the European Parliament and the Council have adopted a new Decision providing for continued participation in funding in the new Eurostars-2 joint programme from 2014 to 2020 (Eurostars-2 Decision).

Eurostars aims to provide financial support to transnational market-oriented research projects initiated and led by R&D-performing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These firms should be able to carry out the greater part of a project’s R&D work, and should be able to exploit its results commercially, thus improving their competitive position. Eurostars projects are collaborative, meaning that in any project, there should be at least two partners (autonomous legal entities) from two different participating states, with at least one being an R&D-performing SME. Projects must have a maximum duration of three years, and within two years of project completion, the product of the research should be ready for launch onto the market.

The Eurostars Decision required an interim evaluation to be carried out by the Commission two years after the start of the programme and for the results to be communicated to the European Parliament and the Council. The interim report was published on 10 December 2010 and the Commission submitted its report communicating these results in April 2011. The Eurostars Decision also required a final evaluation at the end of the programme, and for the results again to be communicated to the European Parliament and the Council.

The Makarow group, a group of independent experts chaired by Marja Makarow, vice-president of the Academy of Finland, carried out the final evaluation, which was published in November 2014. The group used qualitative and quantitative methods to assess the relevance, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the programme. Compared with the interim evaluation, the numbers of applications, applicants and funded projects are about three times greater. In contrast to the interim evaluation, the Makarow group was therefore able to make quantitative calculations and carry out extensive econometric analyses.

The main purpose of the current report is to communicate the results of the final evaluation to the European Parliament and the Council, as required by the Eurostars Decision. This report provides a short summary of the Commission’s interim evaluation and the 2011 report, followed by the Makarow group’s main findings and recommendations. In line with the 2011 report, the Commission also submits its observations on the main aspects of the final evaluation. Based on the Makarow group’s report, these observations are focused on those aspects of Eurostars that the Commission considers can be improved, in particular those that were already raised in the interim evaluation.

The Commission also takes account of the Eurostars-2 Decision and the fact that several recommendations from both the interim and final evaluation have already been taken on board in this Decision and in the new delegation agreement.

ESO: Background information: Website: Eurostars Programme http://www.europeansources.info/record/website-eurostars-programme/

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