Council makes progress on Fifth Framework Programme - but no agreement on budget
Meeting in Luxembourg on 13 October 1998, the EU's Research Ministers reached agreement on the content of three specific programmes and made substantial progress on two more. However, in the second formal meeting of the conciliation committee held the previous day, the Council and Parliament made no further progress in resolving their differences over the Fifth Framework Programme, in particular on the budget question. With agreement needed on the overall Framework Programme before any of the component parts can be finalised, the timetable is now extremely tight if all the decisions required are to be adopted before the end of 1998, thus avoiding a break in EU research funding. In the conciliation committee, the Council was not prepared to raise its budget offer above the ECU 14,300 million it made at the previous conciliation committee meeting two weeks before. The Parliament for its part, and with the support of the Commission, refused to reduce its demand from ECU 16,300 million. It seems clear that the final budget figure will not be agreed until the last minute when both sides are forced to reach agreement to avoid the Programme collapsing. It appears that the Parliament's representatives on the committee have indicated their willingness to agree to a lower figure if the Council raises its offer correspondingly. With no movement on the budget, the main part of the conciliation meeting was taken up with discussions of the so-called guillotine clause. This provision aims to resolve any differences between the budget agreed for the years of the Programme (1998-2002) and the EU's overall financial perspectives for the years 2000 to 2006, which have yet to be agreed. Whilst agreeing with the need for some mechanism to resolve potential problems in the event that the two are incompatible, the Parliament objects to the Council's proposal which could effectively suspend implementation of the Programme in such a situation. Nevertheless, this clause was seen as essential by certain Member States at the time the common position - and the budget of ECU 14,000 million - was agreed, and in the absence of any agreement on the financial perspectives it is likely they will wish to retain this clause as protection against any major alteration over the current financial perspectives. A third meeting of the conciliation committee will be held on 10 November 1998, just one day before the six-week deadline for reaching agreement expires. However, in the event that agreement is not finalised then, both sides have agreed to an extension of two weeks, to 25 November. Any agreement reached in conciliation would then have to be approved by both Council and Parliament within a further six weeks. The Council reached agreement on the content of the non-nuclear section of the Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development programme, on the Confirming the International Role of Community Research programme and on the nuclear research activities of the Joint Research Centre (JRC). Ministers also discussed the Improving Human Research Potential and the Socio-economic Knowledge Base and Improving the Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources programmes, but were not yet able to reach agreement on their content. It may be recalled that Ministers had already reached agreement on the content of the User-friendly Information Society, and Innovation and Participation of SMEs programmes and on the nuclear section of the Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development programme at the June Research Council. The Council has therefore now agreed on the content of six programmes, with only two yet to be discussed by Ministers - Promoting Competitive and Sustainable Growth, and the JRC's non-nuclear research activities. Discussions on these should take place at the next Research Council on 10 December 1998. It should be noted that the Council cannot formally adopt the programmes whilst it awaits the European Parliament's opinion on the proposals, and, of course, while the overall budget for the Programme remains unsettled, the distribution of funding between and within the ten specific programmes cannot be finalised. The Council concluded the EU-US Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement, which was approved by the European Parliament on 7 October. Under this Agreement, which will now apply from the start of the Fifth Framework Programme, US researchers will be able to participate as partners in projects supported by the EU, and European researchers will be able to participate as partners in US-funded projects. The Agreement covers almost all areas addressed by the Fifth Framework Programme (nuclear research cooperation is the subject of a separate agreement) and will allow cooperation in individual projects with the agreement of both parties. Under the Agreement, both sides will finance their own participation in projects. Ministers also gave the Commission a mandate to negotiate cooperation agreements with the 11 countries which are currently at an early stage in negotiating entry to the European Union. The ten Central and Eastern European countries, plus Cyprus, have each formally expressed interest in participating in the Fifth Framework Programme. The aim is to conclude agreements which would allow organisations from these countries to participate on essentially the same terms as organisations from EU countries, in return for a contribution from each country to the Programme's budget. This would put them on an equivalent footing to the EEA countries (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) and Israel, which are each associated with the Framework Programme in this way. In view of the difficulties which may be experienced by some of the applicant countries in funding their participation at this stage, the Commission proposes that part of their contributions in early years may be met by funding from the PHARE technical assistance programme for the Central and Eastern European countries. The final component of the Fifth Framework Programme legislation is the rules for participation and dissemination of research results. It may be recalled that the Council reached agreement on a common position on the proposal in June. Subsequently, at second reading on 8 October 1998, the European Parliament has adopted a number of amendments to this common position. These amendments are concerned in the main with not putting companies developing extremely innovative technologies at a disadvantage, and at strengthening procedures to reduce fraud in respect of EU research funding. The Council is expected to adopt these rules at its 10 December meeting.