Council prepares for next Framework Programme
The preparation of the next EU Framework Programme should be shorter, more efficient and more transparent, according to the Research Council, which met in Brussels on 2 December 1999. The Council will explore with the Commission and European Parliament ways in which to reach agreement at an earlier stage than in the past, and particularly how the new Treaty, which removes the need for unanimity in the Council, can benefit the process. In early 2000 the Commission is to draw up, in consultation with Parliament and Council, an indicative timetable for the preparation and legislative decisions necessary for the next Framework Programme. The aim should be to have all decisions in place six months before the new Programme starts, with the whole procedure completed within a period of two years. It may be recalled that the current Fifth Framework Programme ends in 2002. Ministers also adopted a resolution on a European strategy for space, in which the Council acknowledges the need for long-term commitment and investment if Europe is to have the industrial, scientific and technological capabilities to play a significant role in meeting the commercial and strategic challenges of the Information Society supported by satellite infrastructures. The Commission is asked, in partnership with the European Space Agency and in consultation with the Member States, to prepare a comprehensive and coherent European strategy for space. The Council supported the Commission's proposals concerning the decommissioning of obsolete nuclear facilities of the Joint Research Centre, although made clear that whilst the proposal to use existing funds was acceptable in the short term, a separate budget line should be established in the long term. Ministers agreed on the continuation of the high flux reactor programme at Petten, The Netherlands, from 2000 to 2003, and adopted Decisions concerning the conclusion of scientific and technological cooperation agreements between the EU and Argentina and China. These agreements will enter into force once both parties have completed their ratification procedures. The exact areas for cooperation vary with the country concerned, but in general are covered by the first activity of the Fifth Framework Programme.