AECMA President calls for larger aeronautics budget in FP6
At the European Association of Aerospace Industries (AECMA) annual press conference on 19 July, AECMA president and EADS CEO Rainer Hertrich called for more European funds to be devoted to aeronautics. Mr Hertrich noted that the industry is 'in very good shape' due to restructuring and consolidation, but still needs substantial research and development (R&D) investment in order to secure its future as American companies are still receiving much more financial support. The Sixth Framework programme offers the chance of a significant step, said Mr Hertrich, as aeronautics has been selected as a priority research area, but the budget proposal of one billion euro for this priority is far below the 2.2 billion euro figure believed necessary by the writers of the '2020 Vision' report, commissioned by Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin and published in January of this year, he said. Mr Hertrich praised the STAR 21 initiative launched recently by the European Commission. A group of Commission representatives, MEPs and industry representatives will work towards strategically positioning the European aerospace industry in the future under the umbrella of this initiative. 'We will very much support STAR 21. It recognises that our industry is a strategic industry for Europe,' said Mr Hertrich.