State aid
During the course of the work of second CREST cycle, the crucial role of the state aid framework in enabling effective knowledge transfer was also considered.
The view of the Expert Group was that in setting up and carrying out TT activities PROs themselves are not engaging in commercial activities. PROs promote the execution of the ‘Barcelona Objective’ and should therefore be allowed to actively engage in the exploitation of IP, be able to organise commercial activities and have a clear legal framework regulating the transfer of IP from academia to industry. It was found that the existing state aid rules serve to complicate R&D collaboration.
On revising the Community framework for State Aid for Research and Development therefore the Group concluded that the Commission should look to:
- Legitimise the role of PROs in exploiting IP when executing projects with a common European interest.
- Faciliate the flexible development and implementation of the various organisational models even where this challenges traditional borders between the public and private sectors.
- Clarify the practical implications of the regulation in various situations of R&D collaboration.