 The March 2000 Lisbon European Council established the attainment of 'the 'world's most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy' as one of the European Union's strategic aims for this decade, starting from a platform of sustainable development to boost growth and employment and ensure greater economic and social cohesion.
R&D and innovation in general have an essential role to play in achieving this ambitious objective. During this important half-year which is just about to begin, the Research Council will concentrate on developing the lines of action defined at the Lisbon Summit in order to reinforce the role of scientific and technological policy and ensure that the European area of research and innovation develops to the full.
To this end, the Spanish Presidency's research priorities will focus on approving the guidelines of the VI Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration activities. It will also promote the European area of research and innovation in a knowledge-based society and develop its international dimension, stressing the crucial role to be played by small and medium-sized enterprises and, finally, highlight the importance of R&D as a motor for sustainable and competitive development.
To further all these vitally important tasks, the Spanish Presidency has prepared an intensive work programme that seeks to reflect both the priorities and the challenges of present-day Europe. This requires significant effort in terms of disseminating information in order to ensure that the scientific community in particular and society in general participate in the European Union's advances and progress in these areas, and also to strengthen the essential relationship between the scientific and business worlds.
This is the ultimate objective of these internet pages, which provide direct information and the latest news on policies, initiatives and concrete action taken by the European Union during the half-year of the Spanish Presidency. I sincerely hope that the material made available offers something of interest to everyone. Anna M. Birulés i Bertran
Minister for Science and Technology
President of the European Union Research Council
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