New FP7 service on Article 169 initiatives online
CORDIS, the Community Research and Development Information Service, has launched a new service providing detailed information on the Article 185 Initiatives. These four initiatives, supported under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), aim to integrate Member States' national research efforts in certain areas and thus pooling resources and preventing duplication. In detail, Article 185 of the EC Treaty states that 'in implementing the multiannual framework programme, the Community may make provision, in agreement with the Member States concerned, for participation in research and development programmes undertaken by several Member States, including participation in the structures created for the execution of those programmes.' In order to benefit from the initiatives, EU Member States have to commit themselves to a joint research programme in a specific field. The Community will then provide additional financial support to the joint implementation, based on a joint programme and the setting-up of a dedicated implementation structure. Four initiatives are envisioned so far, namely a joint research programme on 'Ambient Assisted Living' (AAL), a joint research programme for research-performing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their partners (EUROSTARS), a joint research programme in the field of Baltic Sea research (Bonus-169) and a joint research programme in the field of Metrology (EMPR). While the AAL and Eurostars initiatives have already been given the go-ahead, EMPR and Bonus-169 may be proposed in late 2008 and mid-2009 respectively. 20 EU Member States, plus Israel, Norway and Switzerland have committed to joining the AAL Initiative, which will dispose of a budget of €600 million over six years. The participating countries, together with the European Commission, have agreed to provide half of this sum. The rest comes from the private sector. The EUROSTARS programme, on the other hand, unites 26 EU Member States plus Iceland, Israel, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey in the challenge of supporting Europe's research-performing SMEs, the ultimate objective being to help them compete globally. Here, €100 million have been set aside under FP7 to top up €300 million from national budgets. The new CORDIS Article 185 service provides detailed background information on all four initiatives as well as links to their individual websites. Fifteen of the most frequently asked questions have been anticipated and answers prepared, with further information available for download. Finally, a newsroom summarises the latest news and developments related to these initiatives.