10. July 2007 17:15
Statement on the Panel Report on the Final Review of the EC-ESF Contract for COST
Professor Francesco Fedi, President of the COST Committee of Senior Officials (CSO), and Dr. John Marks, Chief Executive Officer of the European Science Foundation (ESF), released the following joint preliminary Statement.
The Final Panel Report “Final Review of COST in the Sixth Framework Programme” is now available. This Report was foreseen in the FP6 contract on COST between the European Science Foundation (ESF) and the European Commission which started in July 2003.
The Review was carried out by a panel of six independent experts that was asked to assess, among others, the overall outcome and scientific impact of COST and COST Actions as well as the success of the reforms of COST. It also suggested aspects to be considered in future.
The Report appreciated the very high customer satisfaction of the current users of COST and con-cluded that the transition from the COST Action management by the European Commission to the COST Office run by the European Science Foundation was fully successful. It acknowledges a number of improvements accomplished such as the increased transparency through the introduction of the Open Call and the simplification of application and reimbursement procedures in general. The collabo-ration between, and new synergies developed by, COST and ESF is considered to be developing well and has already borne fruits.
The Report contains a series of policy-oriented as well as practical recommendations in view of COST’s unique position at the start of the FP7, its contribution to the development of the European Research Area (ERA) and the opportunities it has to liaise with European policy initiatives which support trans-national cooperation. Recommendations include changes in governance to improve clarity of decision-making and targets to be addressed in the FP7 mid term evaluation which is scheduled for 2010.
ESF as well as COST consider the Panel’s findings a valuable input into the ongoing discussions on how e.g. the Green Paper on the future orientation of the ERA or the priorities set by the Portuguese EU Presidency contribute to the achievement of the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs.
Both COST and ESF recall the agreements reached in the Addendum to the COST-ESF MoU. This Addendum was approved in October 2006 with the objective to strengthen COST and ESF as two actors fostering the ERA and to further develop the synergy between them, while maintaining a clear distinction between their individual characteristics and their complementary roles.
The European Science Foundation was invited to act as the legal entity for COST and to provide the scientific, technical and administrative secretariat to COST Domain Committees and to COST Actions during the next Seventh Framework Programme. Both COST and ESF are of the opinion that every effort should be made so that the EC-ESF contract for COST for FP7 be signed as soon as possible to allow a speedy implementation of the EU Council Decision on the Specific Programme "Cooperation".
The relevant operational recommendations will be implemented in the FP7 contract. The recommenda-tions on strategy and governance addressed to COST and ESF will be the subject of further discus-sions in the COST and ESF Governing Bodies, respectively.
Media contact:
- Mr. Thomas LauE-Mail
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