§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will give the annual total costs of the four largest European science and social science research projects.
Mr. JacksonSeveral of the largest European collaborative science organisations fund a variety of projects and programmes from within a single core budget. Available information on specific projects, covering 1993 in-year capital and research costs, indicates that the largest research projects will be four European Space Agency programmes, as follows:
1993 expenditure Programme £million Columbus European element for International Space Station; development of Columbus Polar Platform; studies for future European Space Station 330 Ariane Satellite Launcher 643 Hermes Manned space flight study 159 ERS European Remote Sensing Satellite 115