EU research budget approved

Rapporteur Jerzy Buzek, MEP: "Not our dream budget, but..."

Both MEPs and the European Commission wanted to spend more, but even so this is a 60 per cent increase in real terms over FP7, which doled out €16 billion from 2002 – 2006.

The most controversial aspect of last week’s debate, over whether or not to fund embryonic stem cell research, has obscured other arguments between the Commission and the Parliament, most notably on the status of the European Research Council.

While MEPs support the creation of a pan European body to give grants directly to academic researchers involved in “frontier research”, they want it to be set up as a legally independent structure to ensure it has complete autonomy within the scientific community. But they also say the structure should be reviewed after two years, in 2008.

The Commissioner for Science and Research, Janez Potocnik, opposed the idea of a 2008 review, saying it was too soon to be meaningful, and suggested 2010 instead.

Embryonic stem cells

Potocnik told MEPs he agreed with two-thirds of the amendments they had put down and agreed with the aims of many others. The one sticking point looked like being embryonic stem cell research, but the Commission eventually got its way on the issue, in particular, blocking a move to set a cut-off date for which embryonic stem cell lines could be used in research.

The rapporteur for the debate, Polish MEP Jerzy Buzek said, “This is not our dream budget, but €50 billion does show the way the EU wishes to go on the path towards a knowledge-based economy.” He agreed with the basic outlines of the Commission’s proposals, including setting up the ERC, joint technology platforms and improving links with industry, though he called for some modifications in the allocation of funds among different parts of the programme.

In particular, MEPs want 15 per cent of the budget for cooperative research to go to small and medium-sized enterprises. Other amendments suggested moves to encourage young researchers and women to take part in FP7 projects, and to reverse the brain drain through a system of “reintegration” grants.

A number of amendments related to the fields of research that will be eligible for funding. MEPs wanted to broaden some, and also proposed splitting the last two themes.

This leaves the following line-up: Health; Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology; Information and Communication Technologies; Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and Production Techniques; Energy; Environment (which includes climate change); Transport, including aeronautics; Socio-Economic Sciences and the Humanities, Security; Space.

Parliament said also that FP7 should be evaluated in 2009 and 20011, in addition to the 2010 review proposed by the Commission.

In a separate vote Parliament rubber-stamped the FP7 programme of the European Atomic Energy Community, Euratom. The budget for nuclear research and training will be €2.75 billion, compared with the European Commission’s original proposal last year  of €3.1 billion.