New research proposals to focus on key action areas

Date: 03/04/1997

By Leyla Linton

THE European Commission is not expected to call for a significant increase in funding when it reveals its proposals for the EU's fifth research and development programme next week - even though the Union's research effort is a long way behind that of Japan and the US.

But officials this week refused to give details of the precise level of funding to be proposed. A spokesman for R&D Commissioner Edith Cresson said only that it would be more than the 13 billion ecu currently allocated to research and development, to take account of inflation.

The Fifth Framework Programme, which will run from 1998 to 2000, has undergone a lengthy consultation process. Its overall objectives are divided into categories such as “the living world and ecosystem”, “promoting competitive and sustainable growth” and “improving human potential”. It aims to concentrate research efforts in a small number of areas and to set out key areas for action, in contrast to the current programme.

But some pressure groups are unhappy with the draft proposal. EUCAR, the European Council for Automotive R&D, described the programme as a “failure” because it contained no coherent project for cars.

“The technologies are there if you look hard enough, but they are scattered between seven areas of research, such as reducing emissions or fuel consumption. It is piecemeal and not focused. We are very disappointed,” said EUCAR's Keith France.

He added that the structure of the R&D programme would significantly hamper coordinated European automobile research - already lagging behind the US, which dedicates millions of dollars a year to the sector.

European telecom operators are also unimpressed with the proposal, which is expected to be adopted by the full Commission next Wednesday (9 April).

ETNO, the European Public Telecommunications Network Operators' Association, says it puts too much emphasis on information society applications such as electronic commerce and not enough on developing telecoms infrastructure. It claims public interest research into long-term issues, such as better ways of sending information down the line, will suffer.

“It would be a grave error to suppose that research should cease simply because existing technologies can cope with immediate needs. Such an approach would inevitably compromise Europe's ability to maintain a continuous flow of innovation and risks undermining the competitiveness of the European economy as a whole,” said ETNO director Jerker Torngren.