1.

The Union policy on the environment shall contribute to preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment; protecting human health; prudent and rational utilisation of natural resources; promoting measures at international level to deal with regional or worldwide environmental problems, and in particular combating climate change.

(Article 191 TFEU)

2.

The Union policy on industry shall ensure that the conditions necessary for the competitiveness of the Union’s industry exist by speeding up the adjustment of industry to structural changes, encouraging an environment favourable to initiative and to the development of and cooperation between undertakings, fostering better exploitation of the industrial potential of policies of innovation, research and technological development. The Member States shall consult each other in liaison with the Commission and, where necessary, shall coordinate their action. The Commission may take any useful initiative to promote such coordination, in particular initiatives aiming at the establishment of guidelines and indicators, the organisation of exchange of best practice, and the preparation of the necessary elements for periodic monitoring and evaluation. The European Parliament shall be kept fully informed.

(Article 173 TFEU)

3.

Union policy on energy shall aim to ensure the functioning of the energy market; ensure security of energy supply in the Union; promote energy efficiency and energy saving and the development of new and renewable forms of energy; promote the interconnection of energy networks.

(Article 194(1) TFEU)

4.

The Union shall have the objective of strengthening its scientific and technological bases by achieving a European research area in which researchers, scientific knowledge and technology circulate freely, and encouraging it to become more competitive, including in its industry. […] For this purpose the Union shall […] encourage undertakings, including small and medium-sized undertakings, research centres and universities in their research and technological development activities of high quality; it shall support their efforts to cooperate with one another, aiming, notably, at permitting researchers to cooperate freely across borders and at enabling undertakings to exploit the internal market potential to the full, in particular through […] the definition of common standards and the removal of legal and fiscal obstacles to that cooperation. […]

In pursuing these objectives, the Union shall carry out the following activities, complementing the activities carried out in the Member States: (a) implementation of research, technological development and demonstration programmes, by promoting cooperation with and between undertakings, research centres and universities; (b) promotion of cooperation in the field of Union research, technological development and demonstration with third countries and international organisations; (c) dissemination and optimisation of the results of activities in Union research, technological development and demonstration; (d) stimulation of the training and mobility of researchers in the Union.

(Article 179 and 180 TFEU)

5.

The European Parliament and the Council, acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and after consulting the Economic and Social Committee, shall establish […] the other provisions necessary for the pursuit of the objectives of the […] the common fisheries policy.

(Article 43(2) TFEU).

(a)

programme for the competitiveness of enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (COSME) 2014-2020;

(b)

programme for the environment and climate action (LIFE) 2014-2020;

(c)

European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) including the integrated maritime policy (IMP), control and scientific advice and knowledge;

(d)

The framework programme for research and innovation 2014-2020 (Horizon 2020) — parts of ‘Part II — Industrial Leadership’ and ‘Part III Societal challenges’.

(a)

managing some or all stages of programme implementation and some or all phases in the lifetime of specific projects on the basis of the relevant work programmes adopted by the Commission, where the Commission has empowered it to do so in the instrument of delegation;

(b)

adopting the instruments of budget execution for revenue and expenditure and carrying out all the operations necessary for the management of the programme, where the Commission has empowered it to do so in the instrument of delegation;

(c)

providing support in programme implementation where the Commission has empowered it to do so in the instrument of delegation.

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for COSME 95,0 million euro,

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for H2020 695,7 million euro,

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for EMFF 34,6 million euro,

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for LIFE 229,9 million euro,

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for IEE 1,3(91,9) million euro,

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for EIP-Eco-innovation 0 (33,1) million euro,

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for EIP-Networks 0 (51,2) million euro,

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for MP 0 (66,8) million euro.

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Total staff: 308 posts planned, of which 283 occupied (163 posts planned, 161 occupied),

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TA posts: 77 planned, of which 61 occupied (37 planned, 35 occupied),

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contract staff: 231 posts planned, of which 222 occupied (126 planned, 126 occupied).

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competitiveness of enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (COSME)

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programme for research and innovation (Horizon 2020) in the following fields: energy, environment and resources

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programme for the environment and climate action (LIFE)

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European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF)

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The following parts of the competitiveness and innovation framework programme: ‘Intelligent energy Europe’ (IEE) and eco-innovation programmes.

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COSME was one of the new programmes delegated to the EASME in 2014.

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Communication and dissemination activities are at the core of the COSME activities. As an example, EASME organised in collaboration with the Turin Chamber of Commerce (partner of the network) an annual conference which attracted more than 700 participants and, as a result of the 2  000 informal and formal business meetings, 192 potential business opportunities were identified.

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In 2014 EASME published four calls for proposals under H2020 Innovation ‘Innovation in SMEs’ and two other calls ‘Capitalising the full potential of online collaboration’ and ‘Cluster-facilitated projects for new industrial chains’ with deadlines in March and April in 2015.

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Launch of the new SME instrument, which is a continuously open call, was a great success as the Agency received more than 8  000 applications for four cut-off dates. The selected business ideas aim to introduce new products, processes and services.

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The programme provides for coaching for the beneficiaries. The coaching mission was defined and the methodology starter kits were produced. The Key Account Managers help SME instrument beneficiaries to define their coaching priorities and propose one or more coaches for them. By the end of the year, 39 SMEs had defined their needs and chosen their coaches and the Agency had contracted 21 coaches.

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Two out of three topics related to the contractual public private partnership (PPP) on energy efficient buildings. The third related to PPP on process industry (SPIRE). The Agency received 63 proposals, of which 19 were recommended for funding.

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15 topics were opened in the area of research and innovation actions as well as in coordination and support actions. The Agency received 393 proposals, of which 45 were selected.

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The results of the first energy efficiency call showed that the support for innovation, from research to retail, in the energy efficiency area is promising.

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In October, the Agency presented its public private partnership funding topics at an Information Day on PPPs organised by DG RTD.

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In December, EASME organised a large Info Day in Brussels to present the 2015 H2020 energy efficiency call, which was attended by more than 550 participants.

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The Agency staff also participated in the meetings between the European Commission and the industrial stakeholders regarding the future priorities of the energy efficiency building and SPIRE contractual PPPs.

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In 2014 the Agency was responsible for the implementation of the H2020 calls under Societal Challenge 5 except those that have high policy relevance or which are implemented by other bodies.

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The Agency managed and participated in several calls, such as the call on energy efficiency, disaster resilience and blue growth.

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In November the Agency organised an Information Day on 2015 calls for Horizon 2020 climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials. The purpose of this event was to present the 2015 calls to potential applicants and to provide guidance on the preparation and submission of proposals.

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The Agency managed the following calls for proposals launched by DG ENV/CLIMA: the call for LIFE NGO operating grants, with a total budget of 9 million euro, for which the Agency received 66 proposals.

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The call for capacity building projects is an open call that will close in September 2015, for which 15 Member States are eligible.

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The Agency evaluated more than 250 proposals under different strands, such as climate action (190 applications) and NGO operating grant (66 proposals)

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The Agency participated actively in the LIFE Info Day for national contact points and organised two Info Days for NGO operating grants.

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The implementation of parts of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) was delegated to the Agency in October 2014. DG MARE decided to delegate 19 EMFF actions.

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The first EMFF action was effectively transferred to the Agency in December. In cooperation with DG MARE, the Agency prepared the evaluation of four calls for tender and one call for proposals.

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In 2014 the IEE budget implemented by the Agency was fully executed (67 million euro). In addition, the average time required to assess IEE project reports and to pay beneficiaries was less than the contractual obligations.

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The ‘Intelligent energy Europe’ programme delivered tangible benefits for the EU’s energy policy. The analysis of the IEE programme’s impact showed that since 2007 the IEE projects had reached out through the media to more than 40 million people across the EU, had delivered an amount of renewable energy which was equivalent to more than the annual electricity consumption of 7 million citizens, had saved an amount of primary energy which was equivalent to the annual electricity use of more than 2 million households, and were expected to trigger more than 3 billion euro of sustainable energy investments.

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The Agency communicated the programme results at various events. For example in June 2014, the Agency, in collaboration with DG ENER, organised another edition of EUSEW, the EU’s premier event for public authorities, energy agencies, private companies, NGOs and industry associations engaged in helping to meet the EU’s energy and climate goals. The week included an award ceremony, a high-level political conference and 600 events with around 1 00  000 participants across the EU and in many countries worldwide.

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Several events organised under the ManagEnergy initiative took place, in particular during the Open Days. In addition, Agency staff attended more than 100 project meetings.

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completion of the eco-innovation call of 2013 which resulted in 461 submitted proposals. Following the evaluations, 59 proposals were selected for funding. Based on the available budget, 42 grant agreements were signed,

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communication with the parent DGs and other stakeholders was ongoing throughout the year. In addition, some meetings took place where the Agency was actively participating in the presentation of the results of the programme. There was a financial meeting in the United Kingdom with Eco-Innovation partners and the NCP, the FICOB and EcoProFabrics projects were presented during the Green Week, and ‘Eco-innovation in EU funds’ was presented in Spain,

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projects co-financed by the Agency won international recognition and awards. The coordinator of the Phobior project won the Energy Globe Award, the Lasermark and EcoBionet projects were selected as the ‘Best European Environmental project of 2013’ by the Generalitat of Valencia, while the GEnIuS project coordinator (SME ‘Directa Plus’) was selected to be listed in the ‘Italy Cleantech 10’ among the top 10 Italian clean technology SMEs,

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all things considered, the legacy of the CIP eco-innovation programme is still running full-speed with great success. Projects from the 2013 call have all been contracted and most of them have started. Assessment of ongoing projects has been performed according to the objectives set and 2014 closed with 100 % budget consumption.