Commission highlights progress on creation of ERA in latest RTD report
The European Commission's 2001 annual report on the research and technological development (RTD) activities of the EU highlights progress made on the implementation of the European research area (ERA) during implementation of the Fifth Framework programme for research (FP5) in the year 2000. The report says that around 4,800 contracts were signed with more than 23,000 participants sharing 3.9 billion euro of Community funding in 2000. The contracts signed produced 60,000 links between Member States, over 6,000 links between Member States and bodies from candidate countries, 7,000 with bodies from other associated states and 3,000 with other non-EU countries. Around 1,000 research centres in the candidate countries participated in FP5 during 2000 and 34 research centres of excellence were set up to help restructure the science and technology sector in these countries. Furthermore, although Member State participation continues to dominate, candidate country participation is on the up. Some 87 per cent of participants in FP5 are from the EU, while associated state participation remains steady at 10 per cent of the total, with candidate countries' share of this fraction rising from 39.5 per cent to 46 per cent. The report also notes that FP5 in the year 2000 brought benefits to the so-called 'cohesion countries' - Greece, Spain, Ireland and Portugal. These countries accounted for 16.5 per cent of participations by Member States in contracts signed during the year, receiving 13.3 per cent of Community funding. In addition, a total of 167 research training networks for young researchers were opened up, bringing together 1,339 teams which will work on joint projects in the years ahead. In all, the financial support from the Community for the training and mobility of researchers in Europe came to nearly 392 million euro. The report also highlighted SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) participation in FP5 during 2000. In all the research activities under FP5, almost 4,500 SMEs signed a contract during this year. SMEs accounted for 22.5 per cent of participations in the four thematic programmes and received 19 per cent of the financial support allocated by these programmes. There was also a strong increase in the number of proposals for specific measures for SMEs, such as exploratory awards and CRAFT (cooperative research action for technology) research projects. Almost 900 applications for exploratory awards and over 600 proposals for cooperative research projects were received in 2000. This represents a tripling of proposals received for the CRAFT programme. Around 40 per cent of the project proposals were selected, allowing more than 2000 SMEs to participate in an international research project. A number of lessons which can be learned from RTD activities during this year are highlighted in the report, in particular that shared-cost action, especially research and development projects, remains the predominant means of promoting scientific cooperation and knowledge generation in the Community. The Commission says that in 2000, this type of shared-cost action accounted for around 80 per cent of the budget committed and almost 70 per cent of FP5 participations. Of this, RTD projects received 94 per cent of the funding and accounted for 90 per cent of participation in shared-cost projects. The report also notes a slight reduction in the average financial contribution of each participant in shared cost actions, falling from 1.48 million euro per contract in 1999 to 1.29 million euro per contract in 2000. The average number of participants per project, however, rose from 5.4 in 1999 to almost 6.5 in 2000. Private and public bodies took a roughly equal share of Community funding and contracts, the report says - in 2000, private bodies received 45 per cent of the total funding, with public bodies gaining 51 per cent. The number of participations by public and private bodies was 53 per cent and 41 per cent respectively. The rest of the funding was divided between international organisations, individuals and the Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC). The report also provided data on the participation of women in FP5 during 2000. During this year, women accounted for 30 per cent of the members of the monitoring panels for the programmes, 27 per cent in the external advisory groups, 21 per cent on the programme committees, 23 per cent of the specific programme project evaluators and 26 per cent of the members of five-year assessment panels. The figures represent progress towards the Commission's target of at least 40 per cent participation by women. The year 2000 was also marked by the five-year assessment of EU research programmes by high-level independent expert panels. The assessment noted improvements in measures to help SMEs and boost the formation of the ERA (European research area), while also recommending action to reinforce the international dimension of the Framework programme in preparation for the ERA and improve support for SMEs and information available to potential proposers. Under the terms of the Treaty establishing the European Community, the Commission is required to send an annual RTD report the Parliament and the Council at the beginning of each year.