18.12.2013 Official Journal of the European Union L 341/73 COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION of 17 December 2013 establishing the ‘Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises’ and repealing Decisions 2004/20/EC and 2007/372/EC (2013/771/EV) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 of 19 December 2002 laying down the statute for executive agencies to be entrusted with certain tasks in the management of Community programmes ('), and in particular Article 3 thereof, Whereas: 1 Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 empowers the Commission to delegate powers to the executive agencies to implement all or part of a Union programme or project, on its behalf and under its responsibility. The purpose of entrusting the executive agencies with programme implementation tasks is to enable the Commission to focus on its core activities and functions which cannot be outsourced, without relin- quishing control over, and ultimate responsibility for, activities managed by those executive agencies. The delegation of tasks related to programme implemen- tation to an executive agency requires a clear separation between the programming stages involving a large measure of discretion in making choices driven by policy considerations, this being carried out by the Commission, and programme implementation, which should be entrusted to the executive agency. By Decision 2004/20/EC (?), the Commission created the ‘Intelligent Energy Executive Agency’ (hereinafter referred to as the Agency) and entrusted it with the management of Community actions in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency. Subsequently, the Commission amended the Agency’s mandate by Decision 2007/372EC (}) extending it to cover the management of new projects and programmes in the field of innovation, entrepreneurship and mobility and changing its name into ‘Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation’. 1, 16.1.2003, p. 1. oJL1 0] L 5, 9.1.2004, p. 85. oJL1 40, 1.6.2007, p. 52. (6)  The Agency set up by Decision 2004/20/EC has demon- strated that outsourcing the management of specific operational programmes has enabled parent-Direc- torates-General to focus on policy-related aspects of the programmes. Given the continuing constraints in EU- budget delegating tasks to an executive agency proves to be more cost-efficient. The two interim evaluations of the Agency have shown that overall, the Agency is performing well and is an efficient and effective delivery mechanism for the initiatives for which it has operational responsibility. (7)  In its Communication of 29 June 2011 ‘A budget for Europe 2020’ (*), the Commission proposed to use the option of more extensive recourse to existing executive agencies for the implementation of Union programmes in the next Multiannual Financial Framework. (8)  The cost-benefit analysis (°) carried out in accordance with Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 has shown that expected costs will be EUR 295 million compared to EUR 399 million under the in-house scenario. On the benefit side, efficiency gains of EUR 104 million are to be expected by implementing the agency scenario compared to the in-house scenario. Furthermore, the alignment of more coherent programme  portfolios with the Agency’s core competences and its brand identity will lead to significant qualitative benefits. Analysis has shown that by assembling the management of Horizon 2020 — The Framework Programme for Research and Innovation 2014-2020 (°) (hereinafter referred to as Horizon 2020), the Programme for the Competitiveness of Enter- prises and small and medium-sized enterprises 2014- 2020 (/) (hereinafter referred to as COSME) and the Programme for the Environment and Climate Action (%) (herein after referred to as LIFE), the Agency will profit from synergies, simplification and economies of scale. The pooling of all aspects of the Horizon 2020 ‘SME instrument’ will additionally provide a single point of access to potential beneficiaries and guarantee consistent service delivery. Within the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (°) (herein after referred to as EMFF) in particular actions envisaged in the Integrated Maritime Policy strand correspond well to the current profile of the Agency related to innovation and competitiveness. (4 COM(2011)500 final. (*) Cost Benefit Analysis for the delegation of certain tasks regarding the implementation of Union Programmes 2014-2020 to the Executive Agencies (Final report), 19 August 2013. () COM(2011) 809 final. (') COM(2011) 834 final. () COM(2011) 874 final. (%) COM(2011) 804 final.