In accordance with Council Regulation (Euratom) No 1314/2013, the Commission presented a report on the interim evaluation of the research and training programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2014-2018).
Direct and indirect actions are the subject of separate evaluations. For this reason, two Commission groups of independent experts (CEG), one for indirect and another for direct actions, were set up in 2016. They submitted their reports to the Commission in May 2017. The present Commission report sets out the findings and recommendations of these groups and the Commission’s observations.
The interim evaluation concluded that the Euratom programme is highly relevant across the full scope of activities, including nuclear safety, security and safeguards, radioactive waste management, radiation protection and fusion energy. Action at EU level continues to be instrumental in addressing challenges faced by all Member States in these areas.
The Euratom programme ensures that public financing is used in an optimal manner by avoiding unnecessary duplication while providing the required EU-added value, economies of scale, coordination and harmonisation. In this respect, the Euratom programme remains a key part of the European nuclear research landscape.
The Euratom programme enables a Europe-wide approach to improving nuclear safety and radiation protection in all areas of application, which complements implementation of the Euratom Directives on nuclear safety, radioactive waste management and basic safety standards. Possible areas of improvement include the need to exploit synergies with other thematic areas of Horizon 2020 in order to address cross-cutting aspects such as health and energy systems. The Commission also notes the need to seek synergies in application of some Horizon 2020 instruments in nuclear field.
A key part of the added value of indirect actions is the Euratom’s ability to mobilise a wider pool of excellence, expertise and multi-disciplinarity in nuclear research, than is possible at the level of individual Member States.
This is demonstrated by a diverse portfolio of 22 projects launched in 2014-2017 addressing important aspects of nuclear safety (for example accident tolerant fuels, core monitoring techniques, assessment of structural integrity of NPP elements, ageing management etc.) as well the launch of the European Joint Programmes in fusion and radiation protection research.
Given the research results achieved so far there is no need to revise the current programme’s activities or mode of implementation for the two years 2019-2020 during which the programme is extended.
Therefore, the Commission proposal for a Council Regulation which will extend the Euratom research and training programme to 2019-2020, adopted together with this report, is continuing with the same scope and objectives as in the current Euratom programme (2014-2018).