§ Mr. Galeasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will make a statement on ESPRIT following the EC Research Council on 28 February.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerThe Government have always made clear their support for the principle of ESPRIT which was rightly described by the Stuttgart summit as an exemplary project. It is indeed the kind of programme the Community should be developing. We have welcomed the close involvement of companies in the detailed preparation and planning of the programme; this is a vital ingredient if it is to be of genuine assistance to the European IT industry and enables it to compete effectively. However, it is a substantial programme with a proposed cost of some £850 million, half of which will be borne by the Community. It would have been wrong to approve a programme of this size until we were sure that it could be paid for.
We have, therefore, in conjunction with our Community partners, looked for ways of financing ESPRIT which would allow it to go forward before the wider budgetary problem is solved. This does, however, require agreement on common priorities for Community R & D expenditure. Both the Commission and other member states have now endorsed ESPRIT being given sufficient priority to ensure that the necessary funds will be allocated to it over the next five years within the resources available to the Community. On this basis I am pleased to report that the Research Council yesterday gave its approval to the ESPRIT programme.
The UK industry has participated enthusiastically in the pilot stage of ESPRIT. We are involved in 21 of the 38 projects and in the lead in 11. I very much hope that our industry and academics will take the opportunity offered to them and commit themselves wholeheartedly to the main part of the programme.