European Court of Auditors' Report on the Implementation of FP7

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In June 2013, the European Court of Auditors published its special report on the implementation of the 7th Framework Programme for Research.

Before Horizon 2020, the Seventh Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities was one of the Union’s key instruments for funding research and is the EU’s contribution to the Europe 2020 strategy. It aimed to strengthen industrial competitiveness and to meet the research needs of other Union policies, thereby contributing to the creation of a knowledge-based society. It covered the period 2007–13, and its total budget amounted to more than 50 billion euro. Most of the budget was spent by the Commission Directorates General or their executive agencies in the form of grants to final beneficiaries.

In order to examine whether the Commission has ensured efficient implementation of FP7, the Court’s audit addressed the following questions:

Have the rules for participation allowed efficient implementation of FP7?

Has the Commission succeeded in streamlining the FP7 processes without compromising the quality of spending?

Did the Commission manage well the setting up of new instruments?