HC Deb 17 December 1996 vol 287 cc525-6W
Mr. Lidington

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EU Research Council on 5 December. [9862]

Mr. Ian Taylor

The main issue considered by the Council was the Commission's revised proposal for 100 million ecu additional funding for the fourth framework programme for research and technological development. The Council agreed the proposal subject to a statement in the minutes by the Council and Commission recognising the need for the Council to examine urgently, on the basis of detailed figures provided by the Commission, the expenditure pressures expected to arise in category 3 of the EU's financial perspectives until the end of the current financing period. This statement was included to respond to concerns expressed by the UK, and shared by other member states, that the proposal should be fully compatible with the financial perspectives. The Netherlands and Sweden entered reservations that are expected to be raised as and when the European Parliament confirm funding agreed by the Budget Council for research and TENs—trans-European networks—in the final stages of the EU's 1997 budgetary process. The areas to be funded from the 100 million ecu match the United Kingdom priorities well, especially research on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies and vaccines, and on aeronautics technologies.

The Council had a brief discussion of the Commission's proposals for the structure of the fifth framework programme outlined in its working paper, "Towards the Fifth Framework Programme: material for the policy debate". Most member states shared the reservations expressed by the UK, that substantial further consideration was needed of programme objectives and management mechanisms to achieve the aim of a focused, user-driven programme.

The Council agreed conclusions endorsing the Commission's proposed research strategy for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which specifies priority research areas and embodies provisions that will ensure that the research undertaken is of the highest quality. The Council also agreed conclusions on the treatment of SMEs in the framework programme, the role of the joint research centre and the contribution of research to the fight against drugs.