Article 185 Initiatives*

Article 185 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)

[ex Article 169 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC)] enables the EU to participate in research programmes undertaken jointly by several Member States, including participation in the structures created for the execution of national programmes.

Article 185 (ex-Art. 169) remains equal in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), nevertheless there are some changes for Horizon 2020 compared to the 7th Framework Programme for Art. 185:

1. In the Commission proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing Horizon 2020 - The Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-2020), adopted on 30th November 2011, Article 20 spells out the needed three integration levels for using the instrument of Art. 185 . Under the 7th Framework Programme this was not explicit.
2. In the Commission Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and Council laying down the rules for the participation and dissemination in Horizon 2020, ), adopted on 30th November 2011, Article 1 states that the Rules for Participation of the FP will apply to Art. 185 initiatives (with the possibility for justified derogations). Since the start of Art. 185 initiatives under the 6th Framework Programme and under the 7th Framework Programme, Art. 185 was exempt from the Rules for Participation.

Subsequently any new proposal for an Art. 185 initiative, apart from the existing criteria (in the Horizon 2020 proposal they are listed in Art.20) will have to take into account these two additional requirements.

On 10 July 2013 the Commission adopted the Innovation Investment Package which, besides proposals for Art. 187 initiatives (PPPs), also consisted of four proposals for Art. 185 initiatives (P2Ps). The budget in the Commission Proposal of these four Public-to-Public Partnerships amounts to a total public budget of almost 3,5 billion € (Horizon 2020 and participating states funds combined). Currently, the ordinary legislative procedure (with Council and European Parliament) is ongoing.

These four Art. 185 initiatives are the successor initiatives to the currently existing Art. 185 initiatives under FP 6 and FP 7:

• European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP 2) ( 188 KB)
• Eurostars-2 ( 187 KB)
• Active and Assisted Living (AAL) ( 202 KB)
• European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR)

Objectives

The actions supported may cover subjects not directly linked to the ten themes of the FP7/H2020 'Cooperation' Specific Programme, in as far as they have a sufficient EU added value. They will also be used to enhance the complementarity and synergy between FP7/H2020 and activities carried out under intergovernmental structures such as EUREKA and COST.