The report on the public consultation on the preparation of the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) under Horizon 2020 launched by the European Commission last summer, has been approved and published.

Hydrogen is one of the very few near-zero-emissions energy carriers that could play an important part in the future EU low-carbon energy and transport sectors. Recognising this potential, the FCH JU, a Public Private Partnership between the European Commission, industry and research communities, was established in 2008. With the 7th Framework Programme coming to an end and Horizon 2020 expected to start in early 2014, the question is whether the FCH JU should be continued.

For this purpose, an impact assessment of different policy options to implement the future research programme on FCH is ongoing. As part of this process, a public consultation was conducted between 11 July and 4 October 2012.

127 responses were received. 17 position papers were also submitted as well as 39 ‘further comments’. Responses came from 20 Member States, as well as from countries associated with the Framework Programme and a few responses came from other countries. France with 38 responses was the most represented country, followed by Germany (17) and the UK (16). The biggest number of responses came from citizens (35 submissions), followed by SMEs (24) and research organisations (24).

Read the full report here