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Council Regulation (EU) 2021/1173 of 13 July 2021 on establishing the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking and repealing Regulation (EU) 2018/1488

Type Regulation

Publication 2021-07-19

Last updated 2026-01-20

State In force

Department Council of the European Union

Source EUR-Lex

articles 67

Reform history JSON API

(b) discuss and adopt the part of the annual work programme that is related to the federation and connectivity of the High Performance Computing and data infrastructure activities, as well as to the international cooperation activities and the corresponding expenditure estimates referred to in Article 18(4) of these Statutes;

(d) approve the list of actions selected for funding on the basis of the recommendation of the Executive Director.

Article 8

Appointment, dismissal or extension of the term of office of the Executive Director

The Commission shall propose a list of candidates for Executive Director after consultation of the members of the Joint Undertaking other than the Union. For the purpose of such consultation the members of the Joint Undertaking other than the Union shall appoint by common accord their representatives as well as an observer on behalf of the Governing Board.

The Executive Director shall be appointed by the Governing Board from a list of candidates proposed by the Commission following an open and transparent selection procedure.

The Executive Director shall be a member of staff and shall be engaged as a temporary agent of the Joint Undertaking under Article 2(a) of the Conditions of Employment.

For the purpose of concluding the contract of the Executive Director, the Joint Undertaking shall be represented by the chair of the Governing Board.

The term of office of the Executive Director shall be four years. By the end of that period, the Commission, associating the members other than the Union as appropriate, shall undertake an assessment of the performance of the Executive Director and the Joint Undertaking’s future tasks and challenges.

The Governing Board, acting on a proposal from the Commission which takes into account the assessment referred to in paragraph 3, may extend the term of office of the Executive Director once, for a period of no more than four years.

An Executive Director whose term of office has been extended may not participate in another selection procedure for the same post at the end of the overall period.

The Executive Director may be dismissed only upon a decision of the Governing Board pursuant to Article 7(3)(e) of these Statutes acting on a proposal from the Commission associating the members other than the Union as appropriate.

The Commission may designate a Commission official to act as interim Executive Director and exercise the duties assigned to the Executive Director for any period that the position of Executive Director is vacant.

Article 9

Tasks of the Executive Director

The Executive Director shall be the chief executive responsible for the day-to-day management of the Joint Undertaking in accordance with the decisions of the Governing Board.

The Executive Director shall be the legal representative of the Joint Undertaking. The Executive Director shall be accountable to the Governing Board and perform his or her duties with complete independence within the powers assigned to him or her.

The Executive Director shall implement the budget of the Joint Undertaking.

The Executive Director shall carry out, in particular, the following tasks in an independent manner:

(a) submit for discussion and adoption to the Governing Board the draft multiannual strategic programme referred to in Article 18(1) of these Statutes;

(b) prepare and submit to the Governing Board for discussion and adoption the draft annual budget, including the corresponding staff establishment programme indicating the number of temporary posts in each grade and function group and the number of contract staff and seconded national experts expressed in full-time equivalents;

(c) prepare and submit to the Governing Board for discussion and adoption the draft annual work programme including the scope of the calls for proposals, calls for expression of interest and calls for tenders needed to implement the research and innovation activities programme, the procurement programme, the capability building and widening activities programme and the federation, connectivity and international cooperation activities programme, as proposed by the Industrial and Scientific Advisory Board, and the corresponding expenditure estimates, as proposed by the Participating States and the Commission;

(d) submit the annual accounts to the Governing Board for its opinion;

(e) prepare and submit for approval to the Governing Board the consolidated annual activity report, including the information on corresponding expenditure;

(f) sign individual grant agreements, contracts and decisions in his or her remit on behalf of the Joint Undertaking;

(g) sign procurement contracts;

(h) monitor the operations of the EuroHPC supercomputers owned or funded by the Joint Undertaking, including the allocation of the Union’s share of access time, compliance with the access rights for academic and industrial users and quality of provided services;

(i) propose the Joint Undertaking’s communication policy to the Governing Board;

(j) organise, direct and supervise the operations and the staff of the Joint Undertaking within the limits of the delegation by the Governing Board as provided for in Article 20(2) of this Regulation;

(k) establish and ensure the functioning of an effective and efficient internal control system and report any significant change to it to the Governing Board;

(l) ensure that risk assessment and risk management are performed;

(m) arrange, as appropriate, for the establishment of an internal audit capability of the Joint Undertaking;

(n) allocate access time for emergencies and crisis management, in agreement with the access policy defined by the Governing Board;

(o) take any other measures needed to assess the progress of the Joint Undertaking towards its objectives, as set out in Article 3 of this Regulation;

(p) perform any other tasks entrusted or delegated to the Executive Director by the Governing Board.

The Executive Director shall set up a Programme Office for the execution, under his or her responsibility, of all support tasks arising from this Regulation. The Programme Office shall be composed of the staff of the Joint Undertaking and shall in particular carry out the following tasks:

(a) provide support in establishing and managing an appropriate accounting system in accordance with the financial rules referred to in Article 19 of this Regulation;

(b) manage the calls for proposals as provided for in the annual work programme and administer the grant agreements and decisions;

(d) manage the process for the selection of the hosting entities and administer the hosting agreements;

(e) provide the members and the other bodies of the Joint Undertaking with all relevant information and support necessary for them to perform their duties, as well as respond to their specific requests;

(f) act as the secretariat of the bodies of the Joint Undertaking and provide support to advisory groups set up by the Governing Board.

Article 10

Composition of the Industrial and Scientific Advisory Board

The Industrial and Scientific Advisory Board shall be composed of a Research and Innovation Advisory Group, an Infrastructure Advisory Group and a Quantum Technologies Advisory Group.

The Research and Innovation Advisory Group shall consist of no more than twelve members, of which up to six shall be appointed by the Private Members taking into account their commitments to the Joint Undertaking and up to six shall be appointed by the Governing Board, in accordance with Article 7(3)(k) of these Statutes.

The Research and Innovation Advisory Group may include up to six observers proposed by Participating States and appointed by the Governing Board.

The Infrastructure Advisory Group shall consist of twelve members. The Governing Board shall appoint the members of the Infrastructure Advisory Group, in accordance with Article 7(3)(k) of these Statutes.

The members of the Research and Innovation Advisory Group and of the Infrastructure Advisory Group shall be appointed for a period of up to two years, renewable once.

The Research and Innovation Advisory Group and the Infrastructure Advisory Group shall meet at least once a year in order to coordinate their activities.

The Quantum Technologies Advisory Group shall consist of no more than twelve members, of which up to six shall be appointed by the Private Members taking into account their commitments to the Joint Undertaking and up to six shall be appointed by the Governing Board, in accordance with Article 7(3), point (k), of these Statutes.

The Quantum Technologies Advisory Group may include up to six observers proposed by Participating States and appointed by the Governing Board.

Article 11

Functioning of the Research and Innovation Advisory Group

The Research and Innovation Advisory Group shall meet at least twice a year.

The Research and Innovation Advisory Group may appoint working groups where necessary under the overall coordination of one or more members.

The Research and Innovation Advisory Group shall elect its chair.

The Research and Innovation Advisory Group shall adopt its rules of procedure, including the nomination of the constituent entities that shall represent the Advisory Group and the duration of their nomination.

Article 12

Functioning of the Infrastructure Advisory Group

The Infrastructure Advisory Group shall meet at least twice a year.

The Infrastructure Advisory Group may appoint working groups where necessary under the overall coordination of one or more members.

The Infrastructure Advisory Group shall elect its chair.

The Infrastructure Advisory Group shall adopt its rules of procedure, including the nomination of the constituent entities that shall represent the Advisory Group and the duration of their nomination.

Article 12a

Functioning of the Quantum Technologies Advisory Group

The Quantum Technologies Advisory Group shall meet at least twice a year.

The Quantum Technologies Advisory Group may appoint working groups where necessary under the overall coordination of one or more members.

The Quantum Technologies Advisory Group shall elect its chair.

The Quantum Technologies Advisory Group shall adopt its rules of procedure, including the nomination of the constituent entities that shall represent the Advisory Group and the duration of their nomination.

Article 13

Tasks of the Research and Innovation Advisory Group

The Research and Innovation Advisory Group shall:

(a) draw up its contribution to the draft multiannual strategic programme in relation to research and innovation activities referred to in Article 18(1) of these Statutes and review it regularly in accordance with the evolution of the scientific and industrial demand;

(b) organise public consultations open to all public and private stakeholders having an interest in the fields of High Performance Computing and quantum computing to inform them about, and collect feedback on, the draft multiannual strategic programme and the related draft activities of the research and innovation work programme for a given year.

The contribution to the draft multiannual strategic programme referred to in paragraph 1 shall include:

(a) the strategic research and innovation agenda identifying the research and innovation priorities for the development and uptake of technologies and end-user applications for High Performance Computing across different application areas, in order to support the development of an integrated High Performance Computing, quantum computing and data ecosystem in the Union, to increase the Union’s resilience and to help create new markets and societal applications and measures to promote the development and uptake of European technology;

(b) potential international cooperation activities in research and innovation that add value and are of mutual interest;

(c) training and education priorities for addressing key competences and the skills gap in High Performance Computing and quantum computing technologies and applications, in particular for industry.

Article 14

Tasks of the Infrastructure Advisory Group

The Infrastructure Advisory Group shall provide advice to the Governing Board for the acquisition and operation of the EuroHPC supercomputers. For that purpose, it shall:

(a) draw up its contribution to the draft multiannual strategic programme referred to in Article 18(1) of these Statutes in relation to acquisition of EuroHPC computers and capability building and widening activities and review it regularly in accordance with the evolution of scientific and industrial demand;

(b) organise public consultations open to all public and private stakeholders having an interest in the field of High Performance Computing, including quantum computing, to inform them about, and collect feedback on, the draft multiannual strategic programme for the acquisition and operation of the EuroHPC supercomputers and the related draft activities of the work programme for a given year.

The contribution to the draft multiannual strategic programme referred to in paragraph 1 shall address:

(a) the acquisition of the EuroHPC supercomputers taking into account, inter alia, the planning of the acquisition, the needed capacity increases, the types of applications and user communities to be addressed, the relevant user requirements and appropriate system architectures, the user requirements, and the architecture of the infrastructure;

(b) the federation and interconnection of this infrastructure, taking into account, inter alia, the integration with national High Performance Computing or quantum computing infrastructures, and the architecture of the hyper-connected and federated infrastructure; and

(c) the capability building, including the national High Performance Computing Competence Centres and widening and training activities for end-users, as well as opportunities for promoting the take-up and use of European technology solutions notably by the national High Performance Computing Competence Centres.

Article 14a

Tasks of the Quantum Technologies Advisory Group

The Quantum Technologies Advisory Group shall:

(a) draw up its contribution to the draft multiannual strategic programme in relation to quantum technology activities and related subjects referred to in Article 18 of these Statutes and review it regularly in accordance with the evolution of scientific, industrial and policy demand;

(b) organise public consultations open to all public and private stakeholders having an interest in the field of quantum technologies to inform them about, and collect feedback on, the draft multiannual strategic programme and the related draft activities of the quantum technologies part of the work programme for a given year.

The contribution to the draft multiannual strategic programme referred to in paragraph 1 shall address:

(a) the strategic research, innovation, deployment and infrastructure priorities for the development and uptake of quantum technologies and their integration into the European digital ecosystem, to support the Union’s resilience, strategic autonomy and technological sovereignty;

(b) potential international cooperation activities in quantum technologies that add value and are of mutual interest, while ensuring alignment with Union values and security interests;

(c) training, education and workforce development priorities for addressing key competences and the skills gap in quantum technologies, including awareness of security-sensitive applications;

(d) the acquisition, deployment and operation of quantum infrastructures, including the interconnection and federation with High Performance Computing infrastructures and other digital infrastructures such as quantum communications and quantum sensing;

(e) measures for capability building, interoperability, standardisation and security in the field of quantum technologies with specific consideration of dual-use risks and protection of the strategic assets, interests, autonomy or security of the Union.

Article 15

Sources of financing

The Joint Undertaking shall be jointly funded by its members through financial contributions paid in instalments and in-kind contributions as set out in paragraphs 2 and 3.

The administrative costs of the Joint Undertaking shall not exceed EUR 92 000 000 and shall be covered by means of the financial contributions referred to in Article 5(1) of this Regulation.

If part of the Union contribution for administrative costs is not used, it may be made available to cover the operational costs of the Joint Undertaking.

The operational costs of the Joint Undertaking shall be covered by means of:

(a) the Union’s financial contribution;

(b) financial contributions by the Participating State where the hosting entity is established or by the Participating States in a hosting consortium to the Joint Undertaking, including the Union contributions that are considered to be contributions of the Participating State pursuant to Article 15(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/695, for the acquisition of the high-end EuroHPC supercomputers or quantum machines and for their operation until their ownership is transferred to the hosting entity, they are sold or decommissioned in accordance with Articles 11(5) and 12(7) of this Regulation, less the contributions by the Joint Undertaking and any other Union contribution to those costs;

(c) in-kind contributions by the Participating State where the hosting entity is established or by the Participating States in a hosting consortium, including the Union contributions that are considered to be contributions of the Participating State pursuant to Article 15(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/695, consisting of the operating costs of the EuroHPC supercomputers owned by the Joint Undertaking, incurred by the hosting entities, less the contributions by the Joint Undertaking and any other Union contribution to those costs;

(d) financial contributions by the Participating State where the hosting entity is established or by the Participating States in a hosting consortium, including the Union contributions that are considered to be contributions of the Participating State pursuant to Article 15(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/695, consisting of the costs incurred for the acquisition, jointly with the Joint Undertaking, of the mid-range EuroHPC supercomputers, less the contributions by the Joint Undertaking and any other Union contribution to those costs;

(e) financial contributions by a consortium of private partners consisting of the costs incurred for the acquisition and operation, jointly with the Joint Undertaking, of the industrial-grade EuroHPC supercomputers, less the contributions by the Joint Undertaking and any other Union contribution to those costs, until their ownership is transferred to the hosting entity, they are sold or decommissioned in accordance with Article 13(6) of this Regulation;

(f) financial contributions by Participating States to the eligible costs incurred by beneficiaries established in that Participating State, including the Union contributions that are considered to be contributions of the Participating State pursuant to Article 15(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/695, in implementing indirect actions corresponding to the research and innovation agenda as a complement to the reimbursement of these costs made by the Joint Undertaking, less the contributions by the Joint Undertaking and any other Union contribution to those costs. Such contributions shall be without prejudice to state-aid rules;

(g) in-kind contributions by the Private Members or their constituent entities and affiliated entities as defined in Article 2, points (16) and (17) of this Regulation.

The resources of the Joint Undertaking entered in its budget shall be composed of the following contributions:

(a) Union financial contributions to the administrative costs;

(b) members’ financial contributions to the operational costs;

(d) any other financial contributions, resources and revenues;

(e) any interest yielded by the contributions paid to the Joint Undertaking shall be considered to be its revenue.

Should any member of the Joint Undertaking be in default of its commitments concerning its financial contribution, the Executive Director shall put this in writing and shall set a reasonable period within which such default shall be remedied. If the situation is not remedied within that period, the Executive Director shall convene a meeting of the Governing Board to decide whether the defaulting member’s membership is to be revoked or whether any other measures are to be taken until its obligations have been met. The defaulting member’s voting rights shall be suspended until the default of its commitments is remedied. The Joint Undertaking or any of its members shall not be obliged to cover the defaulting members’ financial contribution.

The resources and activities of the Joint Undertaking shall be intended for the achievement of the objectives set out in Article 3 of this Regulation.

The Joint Undertaking shall own all assets generated by it or transferred to it for the achievement of its objectives set out in Article 3 of this Regulation. This shall not include the EuroHPC supercomputers whose ownership the Joint Undertaking has transferred to a hosting entity in accordance with Articles 11(5), 12(7), 13(6) and 14(6) of this Regulation.

Except when the Joint Undertaking is wound up, any excess revenue over expenditure shall not be paid to the members of the Joint Undertaking.

Article 16

Budgetary commitments

Budgetary commitments of the Joint Undertaking may be divided into annual instalments. From January 2025, at least 20 % of the cumulative budget of the residual years shall not be covered by annual instalments.

Article 17

Financial year

The financial year shall run from 1 January to 31 December.

Article 18

Operational and financial planning

The multiannual strategic programme shall specify the strategy and plans for achieving the objectives of the Joint Undertaking set out in Article 3 of this Regulation. It shall include the following: the acquisition of supercomputers; the research and innovation activities including the strategic research and innovation agenda; the capability building and widening activities; the federation, connectivity and international cooperation activities. It shall also include the multiannual financial perspectives received from the Participating States and the Commission.

Private Members shall draft the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda and shall submit it to the Research and Innovation Advisory Group.

The Industrial and Scientific Advisory Board shall consolidate the multiannual strategic programme and submit it to the Executive Director. It shall be the basis for the Executive Director to draft the annual work programme.

The draft annual work programme shall include the research and innovation activities, the procurement activities, the capability building and widening activities, the federation and connectivity activities, the international cooperation activities, the administrative activities and the corresponding expenditure estimates for the following year.

The Executive Director shall submit to the Governing Board the administrative agreements referred to in Article 8(2) of this Regulation supporting the expenditure estimates.

The annual work programme shall be adopted by the end of the year prior to its implementation. The annual work programme shall be made publicly available.

The Executive Director shall prepare the draft annual budget for the following year and shall submit it to the Governing Board for adoption.

The annual budget for a particular year shall be adopted by the Governing Board by the end of the year prior to its implementation.

The annual budget shall be adapted in order to take into account the amount of the Union’s financial contribution as set out in the general budget of the Union.

Article 19

Operational and financial reporting

The Executive Director shall report annually to the Governing Board on the performance of his or her duties in accordance with the financial rules of the Joint Undertaking referred to in Article 19 of this Regulation. The consolidated annual activity report shall include, inter alia, information on the following matters:

(a) research, innovation and other actions carried out and the corresponding expenditure;

(b) acquisition and operation of infrastructure, including the use of and access to the infrastructure, including the access time effectively used by each Participating State;

(d) the indirect actions selected for funding, with a breakdown by participant type, including SMEs, and by country, and indicating the contributions of the Joint Undertaking to the individual participants and actions;

(e) the tenders selected for funding, with a breakdown by type of contractor, including SMEs, and by country, and indicating the contributions of the Joint Undertaking to the individual contractors and procurement actions;

(f) the outcome of the procurement activities;

(g) progress towards the achievement of the objectives set out in Article 3 of this Regulation and proposals for further necessary work to achieve those objectives.

The accounting officer of the Joint Undertaking shall send the provisional accounts to the Commission’s accounting officer and the Court of Auditors in accordance with the financial rules of the Joint Undertaking.

The Executive Director shall send the report on the budgetary and financial management to the European Parliament, the Council and the Court of Auditors in accordance with the financial rules of the Joint Undertaking.

The discharge procedure shall be carried out in accordance with the financial rules of the Joint Undertaking.

Article 20

Internal audit

The Commission’s internal auditor shall exercise the same powers over the Joint Undertaking as those exercised in respect of the Commission.

The Joint Undertaking shall be capable of performing its own internal audit.

Article 21

Liability of members and insurance

The financial liability of the members of the Joint Undertaking for the debts of the Joint Undertaking shall be limited to their financial contributions made to the Joint Undertaking.

The Joint Undertaking shall take out and maintain appropriate insurance.

Article 22

Conflict of interest

The Joint Undertaking, its bodies and staff shall avoid any conflict of interest in carrying out their activities.

The Governing Board shall adopt rules for the prevention and management of conflicts of interest in respect of the persons serving in the Governing Board and in the other bodies or groups of the Joint Undertaking.

Article 23

Winding-up

The Joint Undertaking shall be wound up at the end of the period laid down in Article 1 of this Regulation.

In addition to paragraph 1, the winding-up procedure shall be automatically triggered if the Union or all members other than the Union withdraw from the Joint Undertaking.

For the purpose of conducting the proceedings to wind up the Joint Undertaking, the Governing Board shall appoint one or more liquidators, who shall comply with the decisions of the Governing Board.

When the Joint Undertaking is being wound up, its assets shall be used to cover its liabilities and the expenditure relating to its winding-up. The supercomputers owned by the Joint Undertaking shall be transferred to the respective hosting entities or consortium of private partners, sold or decommissioned upon decision of the Governing Board and in accordance with the hosting agreement. The members of the Joint Undertaking shall not be liable for any costs incurred after the transfer of ownership of a supercomputer or its sale or decommissioning. In the event of transfer of ownership, the hosting entity or the consortium of private partners shall reimburse the Joint Undertaking the residual value of the supercomputers that are transferred. Any surplus shall be distributed among the members at the time of the winding-up in proportion to their financial contribution to the Joint Undertaking. Any such surplus distributed to the Union shall be returned to the general budget of the Union.

An ad hoc procedure shall be set up to ensure the appropriate management of any agreement concluded or decision adopted by the Joint Undertaking, as well as any procurement contract with a duration longer than the duration of the Joint Undertaking.

Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2024 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing (OJ L, 2024/1624, 19.6.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1624/oj).

OJ L 282, 19.10.2016, p. 4.

Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2024 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (OJ L, 2024/2509, 26.9.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/2509/oj).

Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 February 2021 establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility (OJ L 57, 18.2.2021, p. 17, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/241/oj).

Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and financial rules for those and for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy (OJ L 231, 30.6.2021, p. 159, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/1060/oj).

OJ L 56, 4.3.1968, p. 1.

Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning on-the-spot checks and inspections carried out by the Commission in order to protect the European Communities’ financial interests against fraud and other irregularities (OJ L 292, 15.11.1996, p. 2).

Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 September 2013 concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (Euratom) No 1074/1999 (OJ L 248, 18.9.2013, p. 1).

OJ L 136, 31.5.1999, p. 15.

Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43).

Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39).

Council Decision 2009/937/EU of 1 December 2009 adopting the Council’s Rules of Procedure (OJ L 325, 11.12.2009, p. 35).

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