1.2 BN EURO FOR FACTORIES OF THE FUTURE'.

• Position: Brief article

The European Commission and the high-level group MANUFUTURE, which it set up in December 2004 with EU industries like Daimler, Siemens, Alsthom, SMEs, research centres and universities, announced, on 12 March, the launch of a public private research partnership called Factories of the future' (EFFRA). The project forms part of the second pillar of the recovery plan proposed by the Commission, on 26 November 2008. With a total research budget of 1.2 billion (provided by the Seventh EU...