Luxemburgstraat 3 rue du Luxembourg
1000-Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 502 86 98 - Fax: +32 2 502 86 93
e-mail: - internet:
Why Join EARTO?
Because EARTO is the only European Trade Association which promotes and defends the specific interests of Research and Technology Organisations
Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs) are specialised knowledge organisations dedicated to the development and transfer of science and technology to the benefit of the economy and society. RTOs occupy the middle ground between academic research and practical application.
RTOs are technology service providers and must successfully sell their services in the market-place in order to survive and prosper. The interests of RTOs are thus different to those of universities and public laboratories, which typically enjoy much higher levels of government funding.
EARTO represents some 300 RTOs from across Europe, with over 100,000 researchers, engineers and technicians, and turningover in excess of €10 billion annually. They include most of the major “national RTOs” – such as CEA, DTI, FhG, Sintef, VTT – but also very many smaller specialised RTOs. Most RTOs have some public core funding; all have a substantial commercial activity.
EARTO defends the interests of RTOs by monitoring European policy developments and by intervening where necessary with well-reasoned arguments. It is only since the creation of EARTO in 1999 that European decision-makers have become properly aware of the importance of the RTO sector, and of the distinctiveness of RTOs as compared with the other principal players in European R&D: universities and public laboratories, on the one hand, and companies, on the other.
It is a measure of EARTO’s success in promoting RTOs’ interests that among the 45members of the prestigious European Research Advisory Body (EURAB) established to advise the European Commissioner responsible for research, there are three RTO representatives from EARTO members, among them the former President of EARTO, who also serves as a Vice-Chairman of EURAB.
/ Professor Erkki KM Leppävuori,President of VTT, President of EARTO
“Recognition of the important role of RTOs in European R&D and innovation has increased greatly since the creation of EARTO.
All RTOs benefit from EARTO’s important work in improving European policy andall can benefit from its support services to its members.
I invite all RTOs who are not yet members of EARTO to joinnow. Together we are stronger!”
Join EARTO to better promote and defend RTO interests in Europe
/ European Association of Research and Technology OrganisationsLuxemburgstraat 3 rue du Luxembourg
1000-Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 502 86 98 - Fax: +32 2 502 86 93
e-mail: - internet:
What has EARTO achieved for RTOs?
- Some Examples -
Full cost reimbursement of overhead costs
In June, 2002 the Commission decided to abolish the full-cost reimbursement of overhead costs in FP6. EARTO immediately responded with arguments based on a survey of RTO overhead costs. We were able to argue convincingly that, whereas the Commission was proposing in the future to re-imburse overhead costs at a flat rate of 80% of gross labour costs, real average RTO overheads were 120% and, in many individual cases, substantially higher.
EARTO proposed to the Commission that it should convene a round table meeting of 6FP stakeholders to find an equitable solution. This proposal was accepted. The meeting took place on 24th June 2002 and at the meeting the Commission finally declared that full-cost re-imbursement would be retained in FP6.
Without EARTO’s intervention, this reversal would almost certainly not have happened. Universities and public laboratories were content with the ‘Additional Cost’ model which was available to them at that time, while industry was ambivalent[1].
Reimbursement of Non-invoiceable Days
EARTO has consistently argued that the Commission must not simply reimburse actual time worked on projects but also a corresponding proportion of “non-invoiceable” days, i.e. the time which RTO staff spends on internal management tasks, equipment maintenance, training, etc. These tasks are essential to the proper functioning of the RTO and since they must be covered out of earned income the Commission should accept to reimburse them proportionately.
The Commission finally accepted EARTO’s argument in FP6 by agreeing that the cost-reimbursement basis would be each contractor’s normal charging practice (“usual accounting principles”). This has been retained and reinforcedin FP7: “usual management and accounting principles and practices”.
SME Collective Research
The Collective Research programme first introduced experimentally at the end of FP5 can be traced back directly to proposals which FEICRO, one of the EARTO predecessor organisations,had made to the Commission some three years earlier.
SME Measures in FP7
In 2004 EARTO instituted a series of regular meetings between several European trade associations established in Brussels to exchange information and views about the Framework Programme. A principal objective was to prepare for FP7.
In parallel, the EARTO President in his capacity as a member of EURAB instituted a EURAB Working Group on SMEs in the European Research Area. During the life of the Working Group there were detailed discussions with the Commission which showed that it was considering not to continue SME support measures in FP7.
The EURAB Working Group consequently proposed, successfully, that two high-level policy conferences should be organised to consider the role of SMEs in the European Research Area and to prepare for FP7. These took place as official EU Presidency conferences in Ireland (June, 2004) and the Netherlands (October,2004).
As a direct consequence of these several efforts, the SME-specific measures were not only saved in FP7, the budget for them was also substantially increased compared with FP6.
Expert Advisory Group on SMEs
In FP6,DG Research instituted a high-level expert group on SMEs to act as a sounding board for SME issues relevant to the Framework Programme, in particular the CRAFT and Collective Research schemes. EARTO successfully nominated five of the 20 members of the Group.
A similar group continues in FP7, renamed the Expert Advisory Group on SMEs.Its members include the present Secretary General of EARTO, who was elected to serve as its chairman.
Audit Certificates
FP6 contractors are required to furnish audit certificates for all of their claimed costs, generally once per year. In many larger projects, and for smaller participants, audit certificates cause costs out of proportion to the benefit received and which it is not possible to cover out of the fully reimbursed management budget of 7% of the EU contribution.
EARTO proposed an alternative arrangement whereby costs might be cumulated over several reporting periods and an audit certificate furnished only when the cumulated total costs exceeded a certain threshold. The Commission introduced a proposal along these lines as a Special Clause in the Model Contract. In FP7, a further relaxation of audit certificate requirements has been achieved.
Sounding Board for Smaller Actors
This initiative, taken at the instigation of EU Research Commissioner Janez Potočnik, is a group of approximately 20 representatives of SMEs, small research performers, small countries etc. Its job is to advise the Commission and the Commissioner on FP7 proposals from the point of view of small players. It has been especially influential because it is the first such consultation body established by the Commission for FP7. There are three RTO representatives on the Sounding Board, including the Secretary General of EARTO.
Financial Liability in FP7
In FP6 consortia assumed more responsibility for the management of their projects than previously. This led the Commission to insist on collective liability and to examine with particular care the financial viability of the project co-ordinator.
Collective financial liability and the opaque nature of the financial viability assessments were universally disliked and dissuaded some potential FP participants from joining the Framework Programme.
EARTO, through its membership of the Sounding Board (see above), successfully proposed the establishment of an FP Guarantee Fund which would allow the Commission to dispense entirely with collective financial responsibility.
75% Funding for non-profit Research Organisations in FP7
FP7 offers funding of up to 75% for R&D performed by public organisations, secondary and higher education establishments, SMEs and (non-profit) research organisations.
The Commission’s original proposals did not include research organisations in this category. EARTO intervened successfully with the argument that RTOs should not be equated with enterprises (which qualify for funding up to 50%) because, unlike them, RTOs do not exploit the results of research in the form of profit-making new or improved goods or services. As a result of this intervention, the Commission included non-profit research organisations in the category of those qualifying for up to 75% funding.
EARTO has since proposed to the European Commission a definition of “non-profit” intended to ensure the widest reasonable coverage of non-profit-distributing research organisations. We estimate that 80% of EARTO members wil benefit from the new 75% funding regime.
Raising the Political Profile of RTOs
The RTO members of EURAB successfully initiated a EURAB Working Group to examine the role of RTOs in the European Research Area. This Working Group has recommended that the role of RTOs in European R&D must receive greater recognition and that European policy instruments must be better adapted to the needs of RTOs.
As a result of the EURAB report, DG Research has offered EARTO a privileged, regular high-level dialogue on both current and strategic issues.
EARTO is now preparing its own follow-up report on The Role of RTOs in European Research, which will include a detailed analysis of the RTO participation in FP6.
The2007 EARTO annual conference, hosted by Fraunhofer Gesellschaft in Munich,was organised under the auspices of the German EU Presidency, in the presence of Commissioner Potočnik,and served to showcase the distinctive role of RTOs in Europe.
Model Consortium Agreements
Consortium Agreements are made between the partners of an FP-funded R&D project to regulate critical matters not defined in the contract between the Commission and the project partners, including issues of consortium governance, project management, financial management, intellectual property arrangements etc.
Consortium Agreements are mandatory for most projects. To facilitate the preparation of these complex documents, EARTO joined with other trade associations in FP6 to prepare model Consortium Agreements for Integrated Projects and Networks of Excellence.
In FP7, we have again teamed up with other associations and organisations to develop a comprehensive and simplified model Consortium Agreement, entitled DESCA:
Join EARTO to better promote and defend RTO interests in Europe
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/ European Association of Research and Technology OrganisationsLuxemburgstraat 3 rue du Luxembourg
1000-Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 502 86 98 - Fax: +32 2 502 86 93
e-mail: - internet:
Why Join EARTO?
Because EARTO is a Service Organisation which helps its members
- exchange Professional Experience,
- profit from European Programme Opportunities, and
- explore Possibilities for Joint Projects and other Activities
EARTO organises Working Groupsthrough which interested members can exchange professional experience and benchmark their operational practices. An EARTO Working Group has a defined subject and generally meets several times over a period of six or twelve months. Subjects of recent Working Groups include:
- Quality and Excellence, which has explored RTOs’ quality management and knowledge management models and procedures.
- Technology Licensing, which focussed on RTOs’ third-party licensing strategies
- RTO Financing, which benchmarked RTOs’ public and private income streams
- Spin-offs, which examined how RTOs promote spin-offs, manage their spin-off portfolios, exit strategies, etc., and which has engaged discussions with the European Innovation Fund with a view to improving the opportunities for securing very early-stage risk capital.
- FP Project Management, which comparedpractices and experience among members with regard to how they manage their FP projects: procedures, tools, relations with the Commission, etc.
- RTO Development Strategies, which provided a platform for members to benchmark their long-term corporate development strategies.
EARTOInterest Groupshave a longer term focus. They provide a forum in which members with distinct interests meet to discuss issues of common concern and to undertake specific activities.
- EUROTECH is an EARTO Interest Group of large, multi-technology, multi-site RTOs. It is a meeting place for their Chief Executive Officers and senior directors. There are generally two meetings per year, in the spring and autumn. EUROTECH also launches occasional Working Groups - e.g. recently on IPR, State Aid for R&D – and maintains special-interest sub-groups, e.g. on security research.
- EARPA is a sectoral group of RTOs which provide technology services to the automotive industry.
- SAFE groups several RTOs with interests in food safety.
Both EARPA and SAFE are now constituted as independent organisations, having established themselves, with EARTO’s assistance as Belgian non-profit organisations and having offices in the same building as EARTO.
EARTO Task Forces bring together groups of experts from EARTO members to help formulate policy positions on important European issues. Recent and current Task Forces have worked on the following issues:
- The revised Community Framework for State Aid for R&D
- The Green Paper on the European Research Area
- Intellectual Property issues in Framework Programme contracts
EARTO provides further opportunities for its members to explore European funding opportunities and participate in European programmes:
- Training courses on FP7 Proposal Writing and FP7 Project Management, in association with Hyperion Ltd (Dr. Sean McCarthy)
- An FP7 proposal Preparation and review service, offered through four carefully selected, expert external service providers
- Occasional information events to introduce members to new European funding opportunities, recent examples being: Introduction to the New Structural Funds (December, 2006) and the New SME-specific Measures Funding Regime in FP7 and the Scope for RTOs to Retain IP Title (May, 2007).
EARTONews is an electronic newsletter for EARTO members, published approximately once a month, with up to the minute news on European research issues and FP developments.
EARTO in Brussels
EARTO maintains a permanently staffed office located in the heart of the Brussels European district (just three minutes walk from DG Research) and easily reached by public transport.
Desk space is available to members visiting Brussels.
The EARTO first-floor meeting room is available for meetings of up to 16 participants. Bigger meetings can be accommodated in a large, modern meeting room on the 5th floor of our building. Members are also welcome to use a second, smaller room suitable for up to five people. This room is available free of charge to EARTO members. For further information, please contact Birgitte Malz at the EARTO Secretariat: +32-2-5028698 or at
The EARTO Secretariat is always available to help members “understand” Brussels, to make contacts in the Commission and other European institutions, to obtain official documents, etc. We are pleased to give individual assistance.
Annual Subscriptions
EARTO exists above all to defend the interests of its members and so takes care to ensure its financial independence. Its costs are almost entirely covered by the members’ annual subscriptions.
Subscriptions are based on members’ staff numbers, calculated at the rate of €25 per employee (full-time equivalent) per year, with an upper limit of €30,000 and a lower limit of €750.
RTOs from eastern and central European countries enjoy special conditions during the period 2007 and 2010.
EARTO is the only European trade association which promotes and
defends the specific interests of RTOs
EARTO is entirely dependent on its members’ financial contributions
All RTOs in Europe benefit from EARTO’s work on behalf of RTOs.
They are all invited to join their Association
Join EARTO to better promote and defend RTO interests in Europe
[1] Probably because many large companies do not account separately for their R&D, treating it as a general operating expense.