The European Parliament adopted a legislative resolution on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the participation of the Union in the European Partnership on Metrology jointly undertaken by several Member States.

The proposed decision concerns the participation of the European Union in the European Partnership on Metrology undertaken by several Member States.

The Partnership aims to accelerate Europe's global leadership in metrology research by establishing autonomous European metrology networks to support and stimulate new innovative products, address societal challenges and enable the effective design and implementation of regulations and standards that underpin public policies.

The European Parliament's first reading position under the ordinary legislative procedure amends the proposal as follows:

Partnership’s objectives

The Partnership should implement:

implement its mission and objectives in a clear, simple and flexible way in order to increase its attractiveness to industry, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and other relevant stakeholders. In particular, it should:

- develop a sustainable, excellent and coordinated metrology system at European level, thereby helping to bridge the investment gap between Europe and its global competitors;

- develop new research capabilities by 2030 , to be established in new European metrology networks, with a performance at least equal to that of the leading metrology institutes outside the participating States;

- support, by 2030, sales of new innovative products and services through the use and adoption of the new metrology capabilities in key emerging and enabling technologies;

- promote and reward scientific excellence and support the uptake and systematic use of research and innovation results generated within the Union;

- ensure that the results of the actions carried out under the programme are taken up and deployed by industry, innovators and ultimately society, in all areas where technological development is linked with metrology, such as digitalisation, artificial intelligence, energy, smart health, climate, autonomous traffic and the circular economy;

- contribute to the creation and diffusion of new high-quality knowledge, skills and competences throughout the EU in the context of lifelong learning and with a view to achieving societal transformation;

- unleash the potential of metrology among end-users, including SMEs and industrial stakeholders, as an instrument which contributes to the achievement of the Union goals for the digital and green transitions.

- promote academic freedom in all of the Participating States, in particular the freedom to conduct scientific research, and promote the highest standards of scientific integrity.

Financial contribution

The EU’s financial contribution, including EEA appropriations, to the Metrology Partnership shall be up to EUR 300 million to match the contributions from the Participating States. The amount of the Union’s financial contribution may be increased by contributions from third countries

associated to Horizon Europe, provided that the total amount by which the Union’s financial contribution is increased is at least matched by contributions from the Participating States.

Financial contributions under the programmes co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, as well as the Recovery and Resilience Facility, may be considered to be contributions from a Member State that is a Participating State.

Governance

The governance bodies of the Metrology Partnership should comprise at least: (a) a Metrology Partnership Committee; (b) a Steering Group; (c) the Secretariat of the European Association of National Metrology Institutes (EURAMET). The composition of these bodies should be balanced in terms of expertise, experience, knowledge, geographical diversity and gender.

The agenda of the Metrology Partnership Committee meetings, the list of participants in these meetings and the decisions taken should be made publicly available on the EURAMET website.

The Commission should establish a Steering Group composed of 15 members. This advisory body to the Partnership should advise the Partnership on emerging priorities in European metrology research and on how to increase the impact of its research on European industry, economy and society.

All recommendations made by the Steering Group will be made publicly available.

The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy adopted the report by Maria da Graça CARVALHO (EPP, PT) on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the participation of the Union in the European Partnership on Metrology

jointly undertaken by several Member States.

The Partnership aims to accelerate Europe's global leadership in metrology research by establishing autonomous European metrology networks to support and stimulate new innovative products, address societal challenges and enable the effective design and implementation of regulations and standards that underpin public policies.

The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows:

Participation

Members would like to make it clear that the States participating in the European Partnership must respect academic freedom , in particular the freedom to undertake scientific research, and promote the highest standards of scientific integrity.

Objective

The Metrology Partnership should implement its mission and objectives in a clear, simple and flexible way . In particular, it should:

- ensure appropriate collaboration with other European Partnerships and other relevant initiatives, taking into account technological development in areas such as digitalisation and artificial intelligence, as well as civil society services, from smart health to circular economy to autonomous traffic management;

- promote and reward scientific excellence and support the uptake and systematic use of research and innovation results generated within the EU;

- strive to ensure that the results of its actions are taken up and deployed by the industry, innovators and, ultimately, in society;

- actively collaborate with academic institutions to fill the skills gap , establish skilling and re-skilling training opportunities and prepare the next generation of workers to meet the needs of the labour market that arise from the green and digital transitions;

- ensure the effective promotion of equal opportunities for all and pay particular attention to ensuring, to the extent possible, gender balance in all partnership bodies;

- increase the visibility of calls for proposals, publish them in a timely manner in the Horizon database and promote them to increase participation, geographical diversity and the involvement of new market entrants, such as start-ups and SMEs;

- enhance dialogue with society , engage in awareness-raising campaigns and promote education and dissemination activities with the participation of academic, scientific and knowledge networks, social and economic partners, media, industry, SME organisations and other stakeholders.

Alignment and synergies

According to Members, synergies and complementarities should be possible:

- with the Union's strategic priorities, in particular those related to the European Green Deal and the European Data Strategy;

- with all relevant programmes and funds, both regional (ERDF, ESF+, EAFRD) and those under the Recovery and Resilience Facility which can also be used to complement national contributions;

- with other European Partnerships in the Horizon Europe pillar and joint undertakings, missions and instruments.

All activities funded by the European Association of National Metrology Institutes (EURAMET) would be subject to the Horizon Europe rules on participation, open science and dissemination.

Steering Group

The Steering Group is an advisory body to the Metrology Partnership and should give advice to the Partnership on emerging metrology research priorities at European level.

Members proposed that the Steering Group should have 18 members, including 6 representatives of the European scientific community, appointed by the Commission through an open and transparent process.

All recommendations of the steering group should be made public.

The European Parliament should invite the Commission to present the evaluation reports and other relevant information on the activities of the Metrology Partnership to the relevant committee.

PURPOSE: to set up a European Partnership on Metrology jointly undertaken by several Member States.

PROPOSED ACT: Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.

BACKGROUND: metrology is the scientific study of measurement. It is a key enabler of economic and social activity and, as such, is a public good. Currently, metrology research programmes lack impact at EU level due to the fragmentation of activities and the duplication of effort across Member States.

Horizon Europe, the new EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027), aims to increase the EU’s research and innovation impact by combining European partnership co-investment with additional private and public sector funds in areas where the scope and scale of the research and innovation resources can help achieve the EU's Horizon Europe priorities.

Under Article 8(1)(c) of the Horizon Europe Regulation, institutionalised partnerships based on Articles 185 and 187 TFEU shall be implemented under several conditions.

Metrology was acknowledged by the co-legislators as one of the priority areas identified for possible Institutionalised European Partnerships.

CONTENT: the Commission proposal relates to the participation of the European Union in the European metrology programme undertaken by several Member States. It builds on the lessons learnt from the European metrology research programme (EMRP) and the European metrology programme on innovation and research (EMPIR).

However, the present initiative represents a new partnership to meet new challenges. It is not intended as a mere continuation of previous programmes.

The partnership aims to accelerate Europe's global lead in metrology research, establishing self-sustaining European metrology networks aimed at supporting and stimulating new innovative products, responding to societal challenges and enabling effective design and implementation of regulation and standards underpinning public policies.

Objectives

The Metrology Partnership seeks to:

- develop a sustainable coordinated metrology system on a European level;

- ensure that state-of-the-art metrology capabilities are taken up directly by innovators in their ecosystems;

- increase the impact of metrology on societal challenges in relation to the implementation of policies, standards and regulations to make them fit for purpose.

- develop by 2030 new research capabilities which are built within the framework of new European Metrology Networks and which perform in terms of calibration and measurement capabilities at least equal to the leading metrology institutes outside the Participating States;

- support, by 2030, sales of new innovative products and services through the use and adoption of the new metrology capabilities in key emerging technologies;

- contribute fully and effectively, by 2030, to the design and implementation of specific standards and regulations that underpin public policies addressing societal challenges.

Specific provisions

The proposal lays down the following specific provisions:

- geographical scope: the proposed Decision determines the current and possible future geographical scope of the partnership;

- obligations under which Member States and other participating countries can contribute to the future partnership. It clarifies that participating countries should not only match the EU contribution but also fund other relevant activities, such as future European metrology networks;

- rules of participation for which there may be a derogation to the Horizon Europe rules in duly justified cases; it also sets the minimum guarantees to ensure more openness of future calls, for instance not only national metrology institutes but also other stakeholders should be entitled to coordinate future projects under this partnership;

- future governance of the partnership: while it is mainly for EURAMET to set up this partnership, the Commission proposes setting up an external Steering Group co-chaired by the Commission and a Member State representative; the Group should offer an impetus for the new partnership to be closer to users’ needs and strengthen its impact on industry, regulation and standard setting. The Group should also include representatives from other European partnerships with private partners;

Budgetary implications

The EU’s maximum financial contribution, including EFTA appropriations, to the metrology partnership should be EUR 300 million in current prices for the duration of the Horizon Europe framework programme.

The EU's financial contribution should not be used to cover the administrative costs of the Metrology Partnership.

The provisions of the Decision and of the contribution agreement to be concluded between the Commission and the dedicated implementation structure (Euramet e.V.) should ensure that the EU’s financial interests are protected.