§ Ms QuinTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EU Research Council of 30 October'. [40113]
§ Mr. Ian TaylorThe Council agreed to increase the budget of the EU fourth framework programme for research and technology development by 6.5 per cent. to reflect the accession to the EU of Austria, Finland and Sweden. A number of member states, representing a blocking minority of votes, including the UK, formally indicated that any further decisions made by the Council for supplementary financing for the programme should be contained within the European Union's current financial perspectives.
The Council also decided that the International Association for the Promotion of Co-operation of Scientists from the new independent states of the former Soviet Union should continue in operation until the end of the fourth framework programme in 1988, and agreed a position for the EU at the meeting of the International Thermonuclear Reactor Council in December 1995.
The Commissioner for Research and Education introduced a Commission communication setting out the EU' s approach to scientific and technological co-operation with third countries. The Commissioner for Industry briefly reported on the work of the Commission's research-industry task forces. These two issues will be the subject of further analysis and discussion by member states during the Italian presidency in the first half of 1996.