Commission creates Task Forces to reinforce European competitiveness Commissioner Martin Bangemann, responsible for industrial affairs, information technologies and telecommunications, and Commissioner Edith Cresson, responsible for science, research and development, and education and training, have announced the establishment of five Task Forc... Commissioner Martin Bangemann, responsible for industrial affairs, information technologies and telecommunications, and Commissioner Edith Cresson, responsible for science, research and development, and education and training, have announced the establishment of five Task Forces for industrial common projects to reinforce European competitiveness. Under the initiative, five priority Task Forces will coordinate the relevant activities of the services of DG XII and DG XIII. A Task Force will focus on each of the following themes: - Car of the future; - High-speed train; - Next generation aircraft; - Vaccines for viral illnesses; - Educational software and multimedia. The Task Forces will: - Define priority research areas after consultation with industry and users; - Ensure, along with industry and the Member States, proper coordination of measures under the Fourth Framework Programme and of other Community policies, as well as other initiatives launched within the framework of international cooperation (such as EUREKA); - Examine the availability of risk-capital options and a legal framework to assist cooperation between businesses. Other Task Forces will be progressively established in future, dealing with environmentally friendly technologies or with the applications of the information society. The establishment of the Task Forces is evidence that the new technologies will provide the employment of the future. The Task Forces will also help to guide available resources, both financial and technological, to where they can be most effective.
