Council adopts specific programme of direct actions for the Joint Research Centre
The Council of the European Union adopted on the 25 January a specific programme for Research and technological development to be carried out by means of direct actions for European Community by the Joint Research Centre (JRC). The amount for the execution of direct actions by the JRC under this programme is 739m euro. Of the total amount, 189m euro is for the period 1998 to 1999 and 550m euro is for the period 2000 to 2002. The decision requires the European Commission to draw up a work programme, which includes the objectives and RTD priorities, as follows: - To provide customer-driven scientific and technical support for the conception, development, implementations and monitoring of Community policies; - To carry out high-level research in close contact with industry and other bodies, supporting the policy makers in addressing the concerns of the individual citizen, improving the interaction between man and the environment and promoting sustainable development. In implementing this mission, the JRC will endeavour to coordinate RTD activities carried out in the Member States. Its work depends upon intensive networking with public and private institutions in the Member States through, for example, research networks, joint projects or staff exchanges. The main of objective with the JRC is to support the management of change. JRC, as the scientific arm of the Commission, must be able to underpin the management of change by supporting the community policymaking process through: - Facilitating a better understanding of emerging issues; - Providing scientific and technical support to the elaboration and implementation of policies; - Providing realistic monitoring of the effectiveness of policy measures. The two selection criteria for JRC activities are: - Relevance to Community policies. An understanding of the policy agenda allows JRC research to be timely and support the formulation of policy where it is most needed; - Subsidarity. This has two aspects. Firstly, the research must be in an area where Community involvement is appropriate, and, secondly, it should be appropriate for this involvement to be through the JRC. Thus, JRC operates in areas such as cross-border issues, consumer protection and anti-fraud, where its unique pan-European identity provides an added value. JRC's specific programme for the Fifth Framework Programme has been divided into three main themes: - Serving the citizen; - Enhancing sustainability; - Underpinning European competitiveness. The breakdown of the total budget of 739m euro for JRC's specific programme: - Serving the citizen 292m; - Enhancing sustainability 321m; - Underpinning European Competitiveness 126m.