Article 185 Initiatives

02INTRODUCTION

Article 185 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) 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. Initiatives based on Article 185 are therefore Public-Public Partnerships between Member States (and Associated States) and the EU. They are established in areas where the cooperation between member states in funding and performing research has reached a high level of integration, including common structures. During FP7, five Article 185 Initiatives were launched and have been implemented. At least four of these Initiatives continue under Horizon 2020. Thus a considerable amount of money from the Framework Programme (several 100 million euro) is invested to support joint activities of member states and associated states, also establishing an incentive for this kind of cooperation.