On 14 January 2021, Roderick Ackermann and Roland Blomeyer presented the main findings and recommendations for the study on Pilot Projects and Preparatory Actions (PPPAs) to the Committee on Budgets. The presentation emphasised the added value of the PPPAs, whilst at the same time identifying much from for improving the existing practices with regard to the preparation, assessment, selection and implementation of the PPPAs. Indeed, there has been an increasing number of proposals for PPPAs and actually selected PPPAs, however, it appears that the quality of PPPA proposals has been decreasing, and there is limited systematic evidence of the PPPA outcomes. Amongst the different recommendation to enhance the practices, the most important include allowing for more time for the preparation of PPPAs and reducing the number of PPPA proposals. The link to the presentation is here and the full study can be found here.