'Sometimes I feel like giving up,' says Busquin on limited EU research budget
EU Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin expressed his frustration at the lack of EU funding available for research projects on 26 April, and hinted that a way may be found to support projects which do not make it onto the Framework Programme shortlist in the future. The Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) has been very successful, said Mr Busquin. Perhaps too successful, as the success rate does not reflect the many excellent project proposals that the Commission has received. 'Sometimes I feel like giving up because we have not been able to fund so many excellent projects,' said the Commissioner. 'I think in FP7 we must put our thinking caps on and work out how to fund other projects, even if 100 per cent funding is not a possibility,' he added. The Commissioner is, however, hoping that funding will not be so restricted under FP7. The Commission's financial perspectives for 2007 to 2013 propose that the percentage of the EU's budget channelled into research increased from seven per cent to 16 per cent. Mr Busquin also announced that the Commission will publish proposals for the priorities in FP7 on either the 7 or 14 May.