Council adopts common position on Fifth RTD Framework Programme
The Council of the European Union formally adopted its common position on the Fifth RTD Framework Programme at its meeting on 23 March 1998. This formalizes the political agreement reached during the Research Council on 12 February 1998, and will now be transmitted to the European Parliament for its second reading of the proposal. With the structure and content of the Programme agreed by the Council substantially similar to that voted by the Parliament in December 1997 and that in the Commission's subsequent revised proposal, it is clear that the focus during the remaining stages of the legislative process will be on the Programme's budget. The Council's agreement on ECU 14,000 million over the whole programme would bring considerably lower Community resources to research than the Commission's proposal of ECU 16,300 million and the Parliament's amendment to ECU 16,700 million. Edith Cresson, Commissioner responsible for research, innovation, education, training and youth, expressed her disappointment at the Council's agreement following the Research Council on 12 February, and has subsequently twice addressed MEPs formally on this subject. A week after the Research Council, she noted that the ECU 14,000 million would be a reduction, in real terms, of ECU 500 million from the budget for the Fourth Framework Programme. On 3 March 1998, she addressed the Parliament's Committee on Research, Technological Development and Energy. Here, she urged MEPs to help convince the Council of the need for a higher budget. The Committee is to hold its first formal discussions on the common position at its meeting in Brussels on 21 April 1998, with the full Parliament expected to adopt its report at second reading during the June plenary session (15 to 19 June 1998) in Strasbourg. If this is the case, Parliament's second reading would then be in the hands of Research Ministers in time for the Research Council scheduled for 22 June 1998.