Final Annual Activity Report 2014

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Final Annual Activity Report 2014 Final Annual Activity Report 2014 This report is provided in accordance with Articles 8 (k) and 20 (1) of the Statutes of the Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking annexed to the Council Regulation (EU) No 558/2014 and with Article 20 of the Financial Rules of Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking. ~ Page intentionally left blank ~ CS-GB-2015-06-23 Doc9 Final AAR 2014 2 Table of Contents 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 2. INTRODUCTION 7 3. KEY OBJECTIVES AND ASSOCIATED RISKS 10 3.1 CLEAN SKY PROGRAMME - ACHIEVEMENT OF OBJECTIVES 10 3.2 CLEAN SKY 2 PROGRAMME - ACHIEVEMENT OF OBJECTIVES 16 4. RISK MANAGEMENT 18 4.1 GENERAL APPROACH TO RISK MANAGEMENT 18 4.2 JU LEVEL RISKS 19 4.3 CLEAN SKY PROGRAMME LEVEL RISKS 23 4.4 CLEAN SKY 2 PROGRAMME LEVEL RISKS 24 5. GOVERNANCE 26 5.1 GOVERNING BOARD 26 5.2 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 28 5.3 STEERING COMMITTEES 28 5.4 SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL ADVISORY BOARD/ SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE 28 5.5 STATES REPRESENTATIVES GROUP 29 6. RESEARCH ACTIVITIES 31 6.1 CLEAN SKY PROGRAMME - REMINDER OF RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 31 6.1.1 General information 32 6.1.2 SFWA - Smart Fixed Wing Aircraft ITD 34 6.1.3 GRA – Green Regional Aircraft ITD 40 6.1.4 GRC – Green Rotorcraft ITD 47 6.1.5 SAGE – Sustainable and Green Engine 52 6.1.6 SGO – Systems for Green Operations ITD 55 6.1.7 ECO – Eco-Design ITD 60 6.1.8 TE – Technology Evaluator 64 6.2 CLEAN SKY 2 PROGRAMME – REMINDER OF RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 70 6.2.1 General information 74 6.2.2 LPA – Large Passenger Aircraft IADP 75 6.2.3 REG – Regional Aircraft IADP 79 6.2.4 FRC – Fast Rotorcraft IADP 82 6.2.5 AIR– Airframe ITD 86 6.2.6 ENG – Engines ITD 91 6.2.7 SYS – Systems ITD 95 6.2.8 SAT – Small Air Transport Transverse Activity 99 6.2.9 ECO – Eco Design Transverse Activity 100 6.2.10 TE – Technology Evaluator 100 7. CALL ACTIVITIES OF THE 2 PROGRAMMES 101 7.1 CLEAN SKY PROGRAMME CALLS 101 7.1.1 Statistics 101 7.1.1 Global evaluations outcome 104 7.1.2 Redress statistics calls 1-16 106 7.1.3 Evaluations outcome call 16 107 7.1.4 Evaluation and negotiation processes 110 7.2 CLEAN SKY 2 PROGRAMME CALLS 111 7.2.1 Statistics, Evaluation Outcome, Grant Preparation Phase 111 8. SUPPORT ACTIVITIES 113 8.1 COMMUNICATION AND DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES 113 8.2 LEGAL AND FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK 115 CS-GB-2015-06-23 Doc9 Final AAR 2014 3 8.3 HR MANAGEMENT 121 8.4 HOUSING 124 8.5 ICT 124 9. INTERNAL CONTROL FRAMEWORK 126 9.1 MANUAL OF FINANCIAL PROCEDURES – FINANCIAL CIRCUITS AND WORKFLOWS 126 9.2 SPECIFIC CONTROLS ON OPERATIONAL EXPENDITURE 126 9.3 EX-POST CONTROL OF OPERATIONAL EXPENDITURE 129 9.4 AUDIT OF THE EUROPEAN COURT OF AUDITORS 141 9.5 INTERNAL AUDIT ACTIVITY 141 9.6 COMPLIANCE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERNAL CONTROL AND COST EFFICIENCY INDICATORS 144 9.7 ELEMENTS SUPPORTING ASSURANCE 146 10. BUDGET EXECUTION AND FINAL ACCOUNTS 147 10.1 BUDGETARY IMPLEMENTATION 147 10.2 FINAL ACCOUNTS 151 10.3 IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS PROVIDED BY THE PRIVATE MEMBERS 153 11. INDICATORS 156 12. ANNEXES 157 12.1 ANNEX 1: DECLARATION OF ASSURANCE REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 20.1(B) OF THE OF THE CLEAN SKY FINANCIAL RULES 157 12.2 ANNEX 2: ASSESSMENT OF THE ANNUAL ACTIVITY REPORT BY THE GOVERNING BOARD OF THE CLEAN SKY 2 JOINT UNDERTAKING 159 12.3 ANNEX 3: SCOREBOARD OF KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 161 12.4 ANNEX 4: FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2014 163 12.5 ANNEX 5: MATERIALITY CRITERIA 166 12.6 ANNEX 6: LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 170 CS-GB-2015-06-23 Doc9 Final AAR 2014 4 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2014 was an even busier year than normal for the Joint Undertaking given that while the Clean Sky programme reached cruising speed, the launch of the CS2 programme was as well under preparation and targeted for mid-July. Despite the fact that the requested activity, quite sizeable, had to be performed by the existing teams with no extra resources allocated yet, a timely and successful launch was reached on 9th July 2014. This result was achieved through a real enactment of the spirit of the JTI with both the public and private arms working together and with the JU to ensure a smooth launch of the CS2 programme. The Joint Undertaking became accustomed to managing the 2 programmes and their differing states of maturity both in the preparation phase of CS2 but also after the launch. Indeed, the programme office paid particular attention to the on-going technical activities in the ITDs in order to monitor, as closely as possible the technical roadmaps as set out in the CS Development plan. Despite the close monitoring, it can be noticed that some technical setbacks were experienced and contingency solutions needed to be investigated. The BLADE project itself is a prime example of this, where from both a technical, but also financial perspective, a joint effort was put in by the respective beneficiaries involved and the JU team to create satisfactory circumstances for a continuation of the project within the limited means available at this stage of the programme. This project will continue to need monitoring and a high level of attention by the ITD coordinators, but also the JU management and technical teams. Significant pieces of hardware were delivered and went through tests which are important milestones before the integrated demonstrations. Among many examples, the large engine in-flight demonstration started in September 2014 as a symbol of such achievements. The JU continued to monitor the financial implementation and encouraged the full optimisation of the available funding. A tight management of the running costs allowed to release 10 m€ to be transferred to research activities. In parallel, some potential also exists from a few projects which might not use the full budget to completion as initially allocated. Together with the industry, the JU established a ranking list of further funding requests, some based on the current technical programme while others adding new scope to the programme. This exercise, based on the scoring of technical merits and contribution to the overall objectives of the Programme, was the first of its kind carried out by the JU together with the industry. It implied close cooperation and a deeper understanding of the context and technical challenges involved in the ITDs’ work plans. Following a comprehensive check of the proposals made, the Executive Director was in a position to put forward a funding list to the Governing Board in October 2014. The entire list was agreed as a means to cater for any release of funding until the end of the CS programme. In addition, 2 ITDs, namely SFWA and SAGE benefited immediately from a re-allocation of a total of 11m € in funding (€ 10 Mill from unused running costs in addition to €1 Mill released from the Eco- Design ITD). This decision gives these 2 ITDs some perspective and real commitment from the CS programme funding to allow the industry to further plan and meet their technical targets. While further proposals remain on the list, currently unfunded, these may be revisited at appropriate moments within 2015 with the same aim of optimising the available funding. The execution of the first grant agreements under the H2020 programme started in July 2014. Together with the financial statements for the first period the private Members CS-GB-2015-06-23 Doc9 Final AAR 2014 5 reported also the in-kind contribution provided by them for the implementation of the work plan 2014 as required by Council Regulation (EU) No 558/2014. Details on the values of the in-kind contribution of private Members for both programs – FP7 and H2020 - are presented in section 10.3 of this report. The total value of the private sector contribution for the Clean Sky programmes accumulated until end of 2014 to €486.4 Mill for FP7 and €6.4 Mill for H2020. Contributions to the Joint Technology Initiative, which are not linked to the statutory tasks of the JU, i.e. the “Additional Activities”, have been planned by the ITD and IADP leaders for 2014 and 2015 and the planned values have been approved by the Governing Board, as it is foreseen in the Regulation. As the terms of reference for the certification still need to be defined, industry leaders have reported to the JU so far only preliminary values and brief descriptions of the activities actually performed in 2014. The related presentation and annual reporting by the JU on the actual and certified values of the Additional Activities as achieved in 2014 and 2015 will therefore start from 2015. The internal control system of the JU underwent the annual cycle of audits and based on the annual report relating to the previous year, can report that further improvements were observed. The Internal control coordinator succeeded to put in place further processes for the checking and validating of the cost claims for the GAPs. In addition, the foreseen developments needed for the internal IT application handling the cost claims process for the GAMs were put in place. Like in previous years, one of the major elements for assurance was the ex-post audit activity of the JU, which assesses the legality and regularity of the operational payments and of the in-kind contributions recognised in the financial reporting of the JU. The error rates established through the audit process 2014, confirm the achievability of the programme control objective for the accumulated residual error rate of maximum 2%.
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