Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-11-29-Speech-3-181"
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"Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to pay tribute to the excellent work performed by my fellow rapporteurs and, more generally, by the three institutions to pave the way for the rapid adoption of this research package.
The lengthy catalogue of amendments tabled by the European Parliament is akin, in some people's eyes, to a shopping list, and its very length indicates above all that a great deal of research is expected.
Let us bear in mind the place and role of the European Union in the world but more especially in the lives of its people. A successful Framework Programme would be proof that the European Union is moving forward.
The Seventh Framework Programme is the key instrument for the creation of a European research area in which the aim is to devote 3% of GDP to research. It must serve to make national research policies cross-pollinate and complement each other and to promote consistency between the priorities of the Member States and the main aims to be defined by the European Research Council. In spite of a budget that is less substantial than the Commission and Parliament had hoped, this Framework Programme should be appreciated for its leverage. In view of the need to overcome difficulties in accessing finance, particularly for SMEs, the introduction of a funding mechanism and of risk-sharing is a step in the right direction. This mechanism must serve to increase the number of loans granted by the European Investment Bank and the financial institutions, to commit greater sums of money and to support riskier projects.
As far as the Euratom rules of participation for the Seventh Framework Programme are concerned, my strategy was to work in close collaboration with Mr Busquin, rapporteur on the rules governing the conventional Framework Research and Development Programme, in order to preserve the similarity between these two drafts and thereby benefit from the codecision procedure. This is why the compromise amendments proposed to you are the fruit of discussions between the Commission, the Council and Parliament on Mr Busquin's report, adapted for the realm of nuclear energy. Two amendments, however, diverge from the Council's position.
In fact, we wanted to specify, by means of Amendment 58, the selection and award criteria, such as scientific excellence, the ability to carry out the action successfully, relevance to the objectives of the specific programme, the critical mass of resources mobilised and the quality of the plan for the utilisation and dissemination of acquired knowledge.
May I also draw your attention to Amendment 88 of this report, for which some Members have requested a separate vote. This amendment is not incompatible with the choice of Barcelona as the seat of the joint undertaking. Indeed the location of the seat is firmly enshrined in Council Decision 2006/458, and we approve of the choice. The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that the other activities envisaged within the thematic area of fusion energy are implemented and managed separately from the joint undertaking so that the researchers can develop their creative potential. This separation would thus serve to maintain the integrated approach and the close involvement of the fusion associations, particularly through the European Fusion Development Agreement. This point was raised during the trialogues with the Commission and the Council on the rules of participation with a view to clearly defining the roles of each.
The aims of this report on the rules of participation are to provide European support for research activities in the field of atomic energy in the hope of undoing the technological locks in the nuclear domain and particularly of fulfilling the promise of fusion for future energy production.
I wish to express my very sincere thanks to Mr Busquin, who put his skills and experience at my disposal and who involved me in all the meetings at which the compromise amendments were negotiated with the Council and the Commission.
Let me now conclude my remarks with a few words on the specific programmes that I have monitored more closely on behalf of my group.
As far as the direct actions conducted by the Joint Research Centre are concerned, it is worth noting that the Centre's expertise has been extended into areas of considerable political and public interest, such as the development of alternatives to animal testing, social welfare, sustainable agriculture and protection of the environment. In the realm of nuclear energy, we would like the Joint Research Centre to play a greater role in fostering public awareness and providing training. It is also our wish that the Joint Research Centre should lend its expertise to the effort to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The specific programme on cooperation must help to address social, economic and environmental challenges by focusing on areas such as health, energy or the environment and climate change."@en1
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