Finnish Council Presidency wants to initiate preparations for FP6
Mr Erkki Tuomioja, the Finnish Minister for Trade and Industry, and President-in-office of the Research Council, spoke of his team's desire to start discussions 'with all parties who would like to take part in the Sixth RTD Framework Programme' (from 2002 to 2006), when he came before the recently formed Parliamentary Committee for Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy in Brussels on 20 September. Congratulating the Committee's predecessors on their important role in achieving FP5, he said the great number of high quality applications for funding is a reflection of the Programme's promising launch and the Committee's success in defining the research areas for FP5. He also expressed his pleasure that nine out of the ten Accession Countries requesting participation in FP5 are now legally able to participate in the programme, and that the tenth country, Lithuania, is expected to complete all the remaining formalities for its participation in the next few weeks. However, Mr Tuomioja is now particularly keen to reduce the preparation time for FP6, believing that although some might think the move premature, 'we have the means available to us to speed up the decision-making process compared to the frustratingly slow process of FP5'. While it is too early to talk about the Programme's content, he said, it is appropriate to start discussions during the Finnish Presidency, as the decisions concerning FP6 will have to be completed in the first half of 2002. For the present though, Mr Tuomioja outlined the direction his Presidency will lead research-related discussion during the remainder of its term in office. For example, the Finnish Presidency wants to promote space research and see enhanced cooperation with the European Space Agency. But the research area that will clearly receive the most attention under this Presidency is the Information Society - an area which is also likely to benefit from the merging of research with industry in the EP's new Committee. 'The Information Society is both an opportunity and a challenge', said Mr Tuomioja. 'The development of information and communications technologies will be a central factor in competition in today's economy.' But he is concerned that industry, and particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, are not taking up information and communications technologies as quickly as they could. The Finnish Presidency is therefore looking forward to a pending Commission communication on this matter, and the ensuing discussions. A great proportion of time at the meeting was, however, devoted to discussions on energy policy. Mr Tuomioja wants to see concrete measures for a single electricity market in place by the end of the year (in the form of a proposal for a directive) as well as a proposal for a Community energy action plan. Finland will also push for the completion of the legislative process for continuing the SAVE and Altener programmes, which form the bulk of the energy framework programme, by the end of this year. Another of Mr Tuomioja's goals relates to the importance of taking account of the environment in industry as laid down in the Amsterdam Treaty and during the Vienna Summit in 1998. 'On the basis of this it is our aim to draw up a document which will give a picture of the relationship between environment, industry and sustainable development', he said. On the whole, the Committee welcomed the Finnish Minister's ambitious targets, and wished him luck in achieving them: recent upheaval in the European institutions have essentially left Finland with only three and a half 'working' months in office, compared with the more usual six.