Israel has been associated to FP7 through an agreement on scientific and technical cooperation signed on 16 July 2007[1] (hereafter referred to as ‘the Agreement’). The Agreement stipulates in Article 2(1) that legal entities of Israel shall participate in indirect actions under the same conditions as those applicable to legal entities of Member States, subject to the terms and conditions established by, or referred to, in Annexes I and II. Annex I defines legal entities for the purpose of the agreement as any natural person, or any legal person created under the national law of its place of establishment or under EC law, having legal personality and being entitled to have rights and obligations of any kind in its own name. As this definition is in substance the same as in the FP7 Rules for Participation, Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories is to be considered as a legal entity of Israel for the purposes of the Agreement. At the current time the EU legislation applicable does not oblige a beneficiary to carry out the funded research in the place of its establishment.

The Commission is, however, aware of the issue raised by the Honourable Member and is currently scrutinizing options to be able to evaluate and potentially address such a situation in the frame of the preparation of the new HORIZON 2020 Programme.

• [1] OJ L 220/5 of 25.8.2007.

OJ C 146 E, 24/05/2012