EUA calls for further simplification in EU Framework Programme

With a view to the presentation of the Commission‘s proposal for FP9, universities call for effective simplification of EU funding management. According to the European University association (EUA)  this primarily involves reducing the incompatibilities between EU funding requirements and institutional financial management systems. EUA recommends a trust-based approach that can support a greater alignment between European, national and regional programmes. This would be best achieved by improving acceptance of institutional accounting practices, and EUA proposes to make it operational by providing beneficiaries with the following options:

• Elaborating an adequate, functional procedure for certifying national and institutional accounting methodologies at the beginning of the Horizon Europe programme;
• Developing improved rules based on current Horizon 2020 procedures.