Official Journal features legislation for FP5

The legislation concerning the Fifth Framework Programme (FP5) of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration (RTD) activities for the period 1998 to 2002 has been published in the Official Journal. The Decision to adopt the legislation of ...

The legislation concerning the Fifth Framework Programme (FP5) of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration (RTD) activities for the period 1998 to 2002 has been published in the Official Journal. The Decision to adopt the legislation of the FP5 was taken on the 22 December 1998 by the European Parliament and the European Council.

The Decision states that the Council and the Parliament have agreed to a multiannual framework programme for all Community activities, including demonstration activities, in the field of research and technological development. FP5 shall comprise four Community activities:

- Implementation of RTD programmes;
- Promotion of cooperation in the field of Community RTD with third countries and international organisations;
- Dissemination and optimisation of the results of activities in Community RTD;
- Stimulation of the training and mobility of researchers in the Community.

The first Community activity shall relate to the following four themes:

- Quality of life and management of living resources;
- User-friendly information society;
- Competitive and sustainable growth;
- Energy, environment and sustainable development.

The second, third and fourth Community activities shall relate to the following three themes respectively:

- Confirming the international role of Community research;
- Promotion of innovation and encouragement of participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs);
- Improving human research potential and the socio-economic knowledge base.

Activities undertaken within the thematic programmes of the first Community activity will also contribute, in coordination and interaction with the horizontal programmes, to the achievement of the objectives of those three themes.

The Decision also lays out the maximum overall amount for Community participation in the FP5, which shall be 13,700 million euro. Of this amount, 3,140m euro is for the period 1998 to 1999 and 10,560m euro has been provided for the remaining period from 2000 to 2002.

Article 3 of the Decision says that FP5 shall be implemented through eight specific programmes, four of which correspond to the four themes of the first Community activity, three are linked to the second, third and fourth community actives respectively, and the eighth is a programme specific to the Joint Research Centre (JRC).

Half-way through the term of FP5, the Commission shall review progress with FP5 and shall submit to the European Parliament and to the Council, on the basis of the assessments of the various specific programmes, a Communication accompanied by a proposal for the adaptation of this Decision.

The Decisions of the FP5 can be downloaded from CORDIS's own FP5 website:

URL: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp5/src/oj.htm