L 346/58 Official Journal of the European Union 20.12.2013 COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION of 17 December 2013 establishing the European Research Council Executive Agency and repealing Decision 2008/37/EC (2013/779/EU) 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. (2)  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, or ultimate responsibility for, activities managed by those executive agencies. (3)  In accordance with Article 6 of the Specific Programme implementing Horizon 2020 — the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014- 2020) () (hereinafter referred to as the Specific Programme  implementing  Horizon  2020), the Commission is to establish a European Research Council (hereinafter referred to as the ERC). The ERC is to succeed the European Research Council which was set up by Commission Decision 2007/134/EC (*) in order to implement Council Decision 2006/972/EC (*) (hereinafter referred to as the Specific Programme Ideas). The ERC is () OJ L 11, 16.1.2003, p. 1. () OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 965. (}) Commission Decision 2007/134/EC of 2 February 2007 establishing the European Research Council (O] L 57, 24.2.2007, p. 14). (*) Council Decision 2006/972[EC of 19 December 2006 concerning the specific programme: ‘TIdeas’ of the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007-2013) (OJ L 400, 30.12.2006, p. 243). to be composed of an independent Scientific Council (hereinafter referred to as the ERC Scientific Council) and a dedicated implementation structure in the form of an executive agency. (4)  The delegation of tasks related to programme implemen- tation to an executive agency requires clear separation between the programming stages, this being established by the ERC Scientific Council and adopted by the Commission, and programme implementation according to the principles and methodology established by the ERC Scientific Council, which should be entrusted to the executive agency. (5) By Decision 2008/37/EC (*), the Commission created the European Research Council Executive Agency (hereinafter referred to as the Agency) and entrusted it with the management of Community actions in the field of frontier research with a view to perform the task of implementing the Specific Programme Ideas. (6)  The Agency set up by Decision 2008/37/EC has demon- strated that it has attained a significant reputation within the scientific community across Europe and worldwide. It has established itself as an essential component of the Union’s research funding landscape with good visibility and external perception by stakeholders. The external evaluation of the Agency carried out in accordance with Article 25 of Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 has shown that the setting up of the Agency has been beneficial as a result of its scientific specialisation and ability to provide a better service in terms of being close to the beneficiaries, improving the communication and visibility of programmes and ensuring quicker payment to beneficiaries. Savings resulting from the delegation of tasks to the Agency have been estimated at some EUR 45 million over the period 2009-2012. (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 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework. (°) Commission Decision 2008/37EC of 14 December 2007 setting up the ‘European Research Council Executive Agency’ for the management of the specific Community programme ‘Ideas’ in the field of frontier research in application of Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 (OJ L 9, 12.1.2008, p. 15). () COM(2011) 500 final.