PURPOSE: to amend Council Regulation (EU) No 560/2014 establishing the Bio-base Industries Joint Undertaking, in order to enable members of the Bio-based Industries Consortium to fulfil their obligation to contribute financially.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Regulation.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the Council shall adopt the act after consulting the European Parliament but without being obliged to follow the opinion of the European Parliament.
BACKGROUND: The Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) was established by Council Regulation (EU) No 560/2014 for the implementation of the Joint Technology Initiative on Bio-based Industries (the BBI JU initiative) until 31 December 2024. The BBI JU is a body responsible for the implementation of a public-private partnership whose members are, on the one hand, the Union, represented by the Commission, and, on the other hand, the Bio-based Industries consortium.
The statutes of the Bio-based industries Joint Undertaking stipulate that the financial contribution to operational costs of the members of the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking, other than the Union, shall be at least EUR 182 500 000 up to 31 December 2024.
The Bio-based Industries Consortium recognises its obligation to pay a financial contribution of at least EUR 182 500 000 before 31 December 2024, but it has found difficulties with the delivery mode.
Many members of the Bio-based Industries consortium believe that it is not commercially viable to make a financial contribution at the programme level because this method does not guarantee any profits in return and that this could benefit competitors participating in projects funded by the Bio-based Industries JU. As a result, the Bio-based Industries consortium proposed a different method of payment of the financial contribution, namely the possibility for its members to pay directly at the project level.
After assessing the Bio-based Industries Consortium’s proposal, the Commission intends to adjust Council Regulation (EU) No 560/2014 in order to remedy the difficulties faced by the consortium in paying its financial contribution under the current arrangements. The proposed change would not affect the original objectives.
CONTENT: the Commission proposes to amend the Statutes of the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking by introducing a new method of payment of the financial contribution in addition to the existing method of payment.
Concretely, the proposal:
This solution is similar to that agreed for the IMI2 Joint Undertaking (Innovative Medicines Initiative), in which members other than the Union may make financial contributions either at the programme or project level.