The task force set up by the European Commission on the future of the European Research Council (ERC) has recommended a number of changes designed to reinforce the ERC's flexibility, efficiency and autonomy and to make it easier for researchers to apply for and manage ERC grants. Among the changes, the task force recommends from 2014 a quasi-full time role for the President of the ERC, who chairs its Scientific Council, which sets the organisation's scientific and research policy.

The task force established by the European Commission published a report in which proposes some changes to reinforce the ERC's flexibility, efficiency and autonomy - without compromising its accountability. The European Research Council is the first pan-European funding organisation for frontier research. It was set up in 2007 by the EU and it aims to stimulate scientific excellence in Europe by encouraging competition for funding between the very best, creative researchers of any nationality and age. The ERC also strives to attract top researchers from anywhere in the world to come to Europe. The ERC, which is the newest, pioneering component of the EU's Seventh Research Framework Programme ('Ideas' Specific Programme), has a total budget of €7.5 billion from 2007 to 2013.

The recommendations proposed by the task force include a more extensive and explicit delegation of scientific and administrative responsibilities from the Commission to the ERC Scientific Council and ERC Executive Agency respectively. The report also proposes that the “day to day” supervision of the ERC should be exercised directly via the Steering Committee which formally supervises the ERC Executive Agency on behalf of the European Commission. In addition, the task force suggests the creation of an independent, private ERC Foundation named “Friends of the ERC” to manage private philanthropic donations to the ERC. The task force also recommends the formalization of the existing co-ordination group bringing together the Scientific Council leadership with the top management of the Executive Agency, to improve coherence between strategic and operational matters.

In order to implement the recommendations, it could be done partly through autonomous decisions by the European Commission. However, some measures would require changes to the wider EU law governing the ERC, which was originally set up under the legislation implementing the EU's Seventh Framework Programme for Research and in line with the 2003 Council Regulation on Executive Agencies. Therefore some changes would require the agreement of the European Parliament and the Council and could, for example, be brought forward as part of the Commission's proposal for the future Horizon 2020 programme, whose name was decided on 21 June.