In collaboration with the European Commission (EC), and with the support of CLARIN ERIC, EATRIS co-organised the 4th ERIC Network meeting that took place in Amsterdam on March 8 and 9, 2016. This semi-annual network meeting is the opportunity to gather existing ERICs (European Research Infrastructure Consortium), national governments, EC officers, as well as ERICs in preparation, to share experiences on common issues experienced by existing and future ERICs and engage in a dialogue with the EC and national funders about possible solutions.
Harry Tuinder (Research Infrastructures Unit, DG Research & Innovation, EC) and Anton Ussi (Operations & Finance Director, EATRIS) co-hosted this two-day meeting. The first day kicked off with introductions of the two organisers of the meeting: EATRIS and CLARIN (Common Language Resources and Technology Infrastructure), and continued with news from the EC on the 2016 ESFRI Roadmap (launched on March 9) and other ongoing policy issues. The first day closed on discussions around bankability, financial planning and business plans and included a presentation from Antonella Calvia Goetz from the European Investment Bank.
The second day was the opportunity for existing ERICs to share experiences with the rest of the group on common issues, such as the registration of their ERIC in the national administrative systems, status of staff employed by the ERICs and VAT exemption. The ten ERICs in preparation were also invited to share updates on the progress of their legal status application. The meeting closed on suggestions from several ERICs on possible structuring of the ERIC Network in the future; a more detailed plan will be discussed at the 5th meeting, to be hosted by ECRIN in Paris in the fall of 2016.
