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Ministers agree on 'general approach' to EIT

After months of negotiations, ministers attending the EU's Competitiveness Council on 25 June reached agreement on a 'general approach' to a draft regulation to establish a European Institute of Technology (EIT). The idea of establishing an EIT was first mooted by Commission ...

After months of negotiations, ministers attending the EU's Competitiveness Council on 25 June reached agreement on a 'general approach' to a draft regulation to establish a European Institute of Technology (EIT). The idea of establishing an EIT was first mooted by Commission President José Manuel Barroso in 2005. A number of Commission communications followed, and now the Council seems to have given its backing to the latest paper - a compromise text prepared by the German Council Presidency. The 'general approach' agreed by the Council means that there is broad consensus on the substance of the regulation, but further fine-tuning is still required before a political agreement can be reached. The fine-tuning is likely to relate primarily to funding. Ministers agreed on an initial budget of €308.7 million, to come from the Commission's funding envelope. But it is generally believed that more funding will be necessary. According to a statement from the German Ministry of Education and Research, many ministers present were confident that industry will contribute significantly to the funding envelope. The Council agreed that the EIT would start with an initial two to three Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), which will address the EU priorities of renewable energy and climate change. The establishment of the first KICs will form the first of a two-step approach. Subject to an evaluation of the EIT's activities, a second step will see the creation of further KICs and a longer-term strategy for the EIT. The KICs will be partnerships between the private sector, the research community and universities. They are designed to play a unique role in the European Research Area by combining all sides of the 'knowledge triangle': education, research and innovation. It is hoped that they will be able to rapidly convert the results from basic research into new technologies ready for the market. This agreement grants the EIT and the KICs a large degree of autonomy. However, long-term strategic policy guidance will be provided by the Parliament and the Council, who will agree on a strategic innovation agenda for future EIT activities. The Council expressed the hope of reaching an agreement with the Parliament at its first reading of the text during the second half of 2007. Ministers also held an exchange of views on the European Research Area (ERA), focusing on the Commission's recent Green Paper on the subject, and welcomed the Commission's recent communication on improving knowledge transfer. The Council invited the Commission to draw up a European Charter on technology transfer to strengthen European competitiveness. A number of proposals coming out of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) were presented to the Council. These included a draft regulation on the Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) 'Clean Sky' on greener air transport; and a draft regulation on the ENIAC JTI, which will address nanoelectronics. Further proposals included Community participation in a programme undertaken by several Member States, aimed at enhancing the quality of life of older people through the use of new information and communication technologies; and the EuroSTARS initiative, which would use Article 169 to enable Community participation in EUREKA's EuroSTARS programme for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

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