Council approves FP7 The Seventh Framework Programme for research and technological development (FP7) cleared its final hurdle on 18 December when it was adopted by the Council. The programme will start on 1 January 2007. The decision was widely expected following an agreement on a common positio... The Seventh Framework Programme for research and technological development (FP7) cleared its final hurdle on 18 December when it was adopted by the Council. The programme will start on 1 January 2007. The decision was widely expected following an agreement on a common position between the Parliament and Council in November. The common position meant that the decision could be adopted by the Environment Council without discussion. The Council also adopted a regulation setting out the rules for participation in FP7 by companies, research institutes and universities, and on the dissemination of research results. The total budget for FP7 is €50.521 billion, and the programme will run for seven years. An additional €2.7 billion has been earmarked for the Euratom programme on nuclear research, which will run for five years. FP7 will be implemented through four specific programmes: - Cooperation - collaborative research; - Ideas - the establishment of a European Research Council (ERC) to support frontier research; - People - human resources; - Capacities - research infrastructure and potential research capacity. The first calls for proposals are due on 22 December. Political discussions on FP7 were first held back by the lack of agreement on the EU's financial perspectives for 2007 to 2013. Consensus among the EU's Heads of State and Government on the overall budget was needed before the FP7 budget could be set. Subsequent negotiations addressed ethical questions related to EU funding for human embryonic stem cell research, the structure of the ERC and the risk-sharing finance facility. The European Commission first submitted its proposals on FP7 in April 2005.
