Impact of Aerospace Joint Technology Initiative Clean Sky JU in Pan-European projects.

• Author: María Luján López
• Position: Abogada ICASAL

Public-private partnership in the aeronautical sector: clean air trasportation objectives for 2020.

The so-called Joint Technology Initiative is actually recognized as a Joint Undertaking in the EU acquis. The cluster has prevailed from 2008 in issues related to the aeronautical industry when it is involved in R&D initiatives to environmental protection. It assumed critical importance at the time of building capacities in such a particularly innovative sector. Not only they are relevant for constructing synergies around a technological field among its associates, members, and stakeholders but they have the mission of financial control in research and technology as well as in project management.

In case of the aeronautical field, we can’t deny the prevalent role of the Clean Sky Joint Technology Initiative, since Regulation 71/2008 entered into force.² Most important is the role that this Joint Undertaking carries out, which is that of: “contributing to technological development and demonstration activities, the establishment of long-term public-private partnerships in the form of Joint Technology Initiatives, which could be implemented through Joint Undertakings within the meaning of Article 171 of the Treaty of Functioning of the European Union”.³

A Joint Technology Initiative is the result on the work of European Technology Platforms, already set up under the Seventh Framework Programme, and cover selected aspects of research in their respective fields. They should combine private sector investment and European public funding, including funding from the Seventh Framework Programme and the Horizon 2020 Programme, for the period 2014-2020.

Brief on the Clean Sky Joint Undertaking

Notwithstanding, the scope of competencies and objectives that the Clean Sky JU attempts a myriad of areas rather than only that of a platform for sharing a common interest in aviation technologies.

The Clean Sky JTI should mitigate the various risks of market failure which discourage private investment in aeronautics research in general. Provided the aforementioned objective, decreasing the risk for private investment in developing new environmentally friendly aeronautics products is the main concern of the Clean Sky JU. It should stimulate private R&D investment in environmentally friendly technologies in the European Union, resulting in clean Air Transport technologies. As a public-private partnership entity, it is associating all key stakeholders. One of the most complex tasks assigned to the CSJU is allocating financial resources available. These amount of funding serves to high scientific and technical actors involved with the due level of expertise required, including the management of a vast amount of knowledge, protecting the intellectual property rights of the partners and stakeholders, what it is vital to set up a legal entity capable of ensuring the coordinated and efficient management of the funds assigned to the Clean Sky JTI.

In that scenario, Clean Sky JU intervenes in all segments of civil air transport, including large commercial aircraft, regional aircraft and rotorcraft, and in all supporting technologies such as engines, systems, and materials life cycle. Exploitation of results is covered by CSJU since 2009 to 31 December 2017 for the aim of facilitating the projects in the course to conclude, but it is important to underline that such an exploitation is not funded by the Joint Undertaking itself. Continuity of the JU is also assured. Regulation 558/2014 warrants that the EU policies in amelioration of clean air transport innovation strategies will be still in force at least until December 31 2024.⁴

Project Management and Implementation in Pan-European Joint Initiatives

Project implementation in our case of analysis is quite complex, as we can infer from several indicators that will be identified in some detail. We can derive also this degree of complexity from the efforts of the JU in systematizing and identifying indicators for improvement of financial and budgetary strategies in Annual Accounts and other internal documents. Furthermore, such a proactive profile in terms of accountability is likely caused by the action of the Court of Auditors of the European Union, which creates periodic reports about Clean Sky JTI’s functioning and informs about compliance within the EU Financial Regulation framework. In that sense, the European Court of Auditors, acts as a guardian of due diligence and budget allocation by making inquiries in how the European funds for R&D purposes (in clean air transport policies among other) are applied. Reports reoccur since the first time in 2013 for The case of Clean Sky JU.⁵

The European Court of Auditors Survillance in European Funding Budgetary Allocation ^{1 6} Annual Report of Activities from Clean Sky JU

Although no signs of non-compliance in the general financial control and budget allocation arise (2013, 2014 and 2015), in subsequent statements of assurance the European Court of Auditors it retains that clarification should be provided concerning monitoring and reporting of project research results.⁷ At request of the EU CoA and the European Parliament, the Joint Undertaking Clean Sky improved quality control from several angles, except for indicators of dissemination of results in each project awarded after signing a standard Grant Agreement, such a number of occurrences in rankings of publications and how many patents granted after the research activities have been obtained under the EU financial initiatives.⁸ However the 2016 Annual Activity Report contributes to clarify the question about the number of calls launched in 2016, as well as other valuable information. Thus, according to the 2016 CSJU Report the number of proposals submitted are 386. Eligible propositions from those submitted were 381 and those retained were 114. Total number of participations in funded projects were 552 which were made up 24% SMEs 30% IND, 20% UNI, 26% RES.

The report is also revealing from the perspective of obtention of results “The Clean Sky programme started in 2009 and builds around six main technology platforms… which have kept on delivering results since. More than 700 publications have been produced for the scientific and academic community and an impressive number of 186 registered patents are reported to date to the Joint Undertaking. They all contribute to Clean Sky’s main objective: reducing the environmental footprint of aviation by 2020 and beyond.”⁹

In that vein, we can establish that the report is pronouncing a general estimation about how many scientific publications and reports the projects produced, and the global amount of patents registered since 2009. That is the date from which the JTI started to function autonomously, but no distinction is made at the time explain which are the exact results in an attempt to establish the outcome in the 2009-2013 or 2014-2017 periods, for the FP7 and the HORIZON 2020 programmes respectively.

Analysis

On the one hand, we can retrieve a very prolific production in the scientific registers and publications are so prestigious as relevant for the aeronautical state of the art.¹⁰ On the other hand, it should be underlined that patent registration and patent granting are not equivalent in their effects. Strong patenting strategies, aim to obtain the publication of the application after an innovation has been registered. Furthermore, the fact that a patent is published does not warrant that it will be retained by its proprietor or applicant. In the aviation field, we can find companies that are extremely challenging in the patenting arena, at the time of deciding strategies for the protection of IPR and products. In aeronautics, we find that The Boeing Corporation, for example, is one of the most aggressive firms at the time of retaining intellectual property rights through patent prosecution.¹¹ Conversely, we could be surprised at the time of retrieving data on the state of the art, regarding our findings about which are the most active companies in the air navigation industry, not only at the moment of exercising the right of patent application and registration, but also at that phase of the patent procedure that allows the registrant the undenieble right of retaining those innovations through patent publication with conclusive and permanent effects during the period of validity of such a claim.

Patents as an indicator of high quality results after EU funding implementation

Nowadays, there is nothing of greatest significance for innovation than the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR). Particularly interesting is the role of IPR in fostering innovation and economic growth in the European Union. The pro-active role that the EC is assuming by building capacities in the construction of the 2020 Strategy, is crucial for infusing a more participative and active role at all levels in the field of new technologies. So much so, that it can be seen as a phenomenon without precedents.

In an attempt to clarify the impact of EU funding support in clean Air Transport, it must be stated that such an impact is infused in the EU economy not only by building capacities through partnerships, but considering granted patents¹² as a positive indicator of such an impact.

The first to address is retrieving the European Patent Office Records in which EU funding is involved through the Joint Action of CSJU.¹³ The data obtained will be de-aggregated by analyzing both the FP7 period 2007-2013 and the 8 FP (known as Horizon 2020) 2014-2020.¹⁴

Not only...