Experts report on key action "Land transport and marine technologies"
The External Advisory Group (EAG) has published its first report to the Commission on the Key Action, "Land transport and marine technologies", under the Fifth Framework Programme's third theme "Competitive and Sustainable Growth". The report is a result of discussions during two meetings at the end of last year. The group concentrated its comments on the following aspects: - Guidelines for defining the work programme; - Programming of calls of proposals; - Criteria for evaluation; - SME participation. Looking at the first aspect, the group found that the formulation of the work programme with the two strands of activities - acquisition of critical technologies (CT) and technology integration and validation through thematic priorities (TP) - is appropriate and coherent with the "problem-orientated" character of the Fifth Framework Programme. Regarding the criteria for evaluation, all 15 criteria were considered relevant for both CT and TP. However, the Group recommended that a higher priority should be given to criteria in group 4 "Economic development and S&T perspectives". The EAG also recognised the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in promoting innovation in the Land and Marine Transport areas, especially in the phases of design and engineering.