Maltese scientists will be active in FP5
Maltese scientists will have substantial involvement in the European Union's Fifth framework Programme (FP5) for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration (RTD), according to the European Commission, which has adopted an updated opinion on Malta's application for European Union (EU) membership. This report, which updates the Commission's 1993 opinion on Malta's application for EU membership, contains progress reports on various elements, including: - Industry, including SMEs; - Agriculture and Fisheries; - Energy; - Environment; - Telecommunications; - Audio-visual; - Transport; - Education, Training and Youth; - Science and Research. Foreign Affairs Commissioner Hans van den Broek said: "I am pleased that Malta has rejoined the enlargement process. It is making good progress in preparing for EU membership. We have therefore recommended that the Council give the go-ahead to the screening of Malta's legislation with a view to enable the start of the negotiations at the end of the year. "The Commission will now begin working with Malta to put together a comprehensive national plan for EU accession, focusing in particular on improving Malta's competitiveness and stepping up its adoption and implementation of the acquis. "We will set out the state of play of Malta's membership preparations in our regular reporting at the end of the year, along with reports on the other candidate countries and their progress towards accession. I expect that, at that juncture, when the European Council discusses the possibility of extending the accession negotiations, Malta will be able to join the candidate countries with which negotiations are already underway."
Countries
Malta