Task forces to develop priorities for research projects of common industrial interest: Car of tomorrow, 1995-

The task force on the car of the future is one of several established on the initiative of Commissioners Cresson (Research, education and training), Bangemann (Industry, telecommunications and information technologies) and Kinnock (Transport) for the purpose of developing priorities for research projects of common industrial interest. The task forces are focused on clearly defined areas and are aimed at, firstly, identifying, and then coordinating, the research efforts being made in each area (at both private and public level) in the individual Member States and within the framework of relevant European Union programmes, particularly research carried out under the Fourth RTD Framework Programme.

The rationale behind the task forces is to redress the current situation where only 13% of public research budgets are allocated to research projects involving European cooperation, as opposed to 87% for strictly national research. Greater coordination between the Member States' research activities is necessary to reduce expensive and wasteful duplication of effort and will, ultimately, improve Europe's industrial competitiveness in the global economy. The first task forces were set up in early 1995 and cover six areas: multimedia educational software; the car of the future; the new generation of aeroplanes; vaccines and virus-based diseases; the train of the future; and transport intermodality. The list is open-ended and new task forces may be established in the future. These may cover such issues as clean technologies, information society applications, construction materials, the maritime industry, etc.

Despite the significant research resources which have been invested by the European automobile industry, in the specific field of research into clean cars and electrically powered cars, the efforts of European industry are lagging behind foreign competitors, notably the US and Japan.

Against this background, the task force is seeking to facilitate the research and demonstration activities necessary to develop a new generation of car over the next five to ten years by encouraging intensified coordination for the production of a car which produces very low emissions or none at all. The emphasis is on critical technological factors limiting the rapid development of vehicles of this kind, particularly:

- Advanced technologies of energy storage and propulsion, especially battery-powered technology;
- The most important complementary technologies (electronics, light materials, computer-aided systems);
- Integration of these technologies in vehicles which produce very low or no emissions, or in hybrids, in close collaboration with the automobile industry.

In order to gain a better picture of needs and priorities, the task force has already made informal contacts with the automobile industry and related industries, including SMEs and energy producers and distributors. Meetings are being held with representatives from all sectors to define the scientific and technological aspects of the action plan. Like the other task forces, this action plan will make proposals for mobilizing funds available at national and European level in a more coordinated manner, so as to promote R&D, dissemination and innovation activities. This may include proposals for combining selected projects within appropriate specific programmes under the Fourth Framework Programme.
To develop priorities for research projects of common industrial interest to facilitate the development of a new generation of a car which produces very low emissions or none at all.
No details are available for this section.
As a first step, the task forces are responsible for assessing the situation in their specific domain, preparing an inventory of actual research efforts and defining priorities for research following intensive consultations with industry and users. On the basis of this analysis, a scheme for combining priority projects with the relevant specific programmes under the Fourth Framework Programme will be drawn up.

At present, the task forces do not, themselves, manage or fund projects; they will, nonetheless, be able to influence the content of the remaining calls for proposals under the Fourth Framework Programme and the structure and content of the Fifth Framework Programme.

Eventually, the task forces could make use of various provisions contained in the R&D title of the Treaty on European Union: Article 130k which authorizes the establishment of supplementary R&D programmes involving the participation of certain Member States only, Article 130l which provides for Community participation in R&D programmes undertaken by several Member States or Article 130n which permits the Community to establish joint undertakings for research purposes.