7 October Research Council

Date: 10/10/1996

MINISTERS from the four cohesion fund countries (Greece, Ireland, Spain and Portugal) expressed concern that the Commission's proposed new Fifth Framework research programme was too heavily slanted towards high technology and cutting-edge projects, putting them at a disadvantage. The programme, outlined at the Luxembourg meeting by Research Commissioner Edith Cresson, aims to concentrate on three key areas: unlocking the resources of the living world and the ecosystem; creating a user-friendly information society; and promoting competitive and sustainable growth.

RESEARCH into ways of combating BSE needs to be coordinated more closely and cooperation increased, ministers concluded, although options for finding extra cash to back up these calls seem limited. In their final conclusions, ministers called for research efforts and information exchange on mad cow disease to be “significantly improved” and called on the Commission to suggest ways of achieving this aim. In addition, ministers asked the Commission to report back to their next meeting in December to bring them up to date with research projects being carried out into BSE under the current Fourth Framework programme.

THE Commission will almost certainly lose out in its bid to claw back 700 million ecu of underspent farm money from EU coffers to top up Fourth Framework programme funds. A final decision on whether to release the funds, along with another 1 billion ecu for Trans-European Networks (TENs) projects, rests with EU finance ministers, who will discuss the issue again at their meeting on Monday (14 October). Six member states - France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden - have already made it clear that they will say no to the plan. Others have privately expressed reservations and the proposal is almost certain to fail if put to a qualified majority vote. The Commission's last chance is to ask for the cash during talks on the 1997 budget and hope it finds support in the Parliament.

CRESSON reported on the consultation process in member states on the Commission's Green Paper on innovation. The Commission will now draw up a working document to be discussed by ministers at their next meeting on 5 December.