RESEARCH : COMMISSION REVIEWS 7TH RDFP IMPLEMENTATION.

Over the first two years (2007 and 2008) of the implementation of the European Union's Seventh Research and Development Framework Programme (RDFP), there were 109 calls for bids, resulting in 25,000 research proposals, involving over 160,000 participants. In the end, 5,500 bids were accepted (35,000 participants), totalling 10 billion in Community funding. These figures were released in the 2009 follow-up report on the 7th RDFP, published in early October by the European Commission.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represented 15.5% of all those funded. Russia, Brazil, India, China and the United States benefited most often among the non-EU countries. The negotiations over contracts took ten to 11 months on average, two months less than during the sixth RDFP.

TURNING TO ARTICLE 169

For the first time, the follow-up report gives an insight into the initiatives launched under Article 169 of the EC Treaty. Article 169 allows Community participation in joint research programmes by several member states, including participation in structures created for the implementation of these programmes. The 7th framework programme integrated this provision into its instruments for implementation, in order to further and strengthen intergovernmental initiatives like Eureka. Two initiatives were started in 2008: theaEuropean Metrology Joint Research Programme, which involves 22 countries and public financing to the value of 400 million, and theaBonus Joint Research Programme, which involves Baltic Sea research. The latter is still in its initial phases. Two other initiatives were launched in 2007 and received the backing of the Council in 2008: Eurostars, which aims to support hi-tech SMEs (those spending 10% of their annual turnover on R&D or employing 10% of their staff in R&D), which has a significant potential for growth due to European partnership projects. The second was Ambient Assisted Living (AAL), which aims to use communication and information technologies to improve the quality of life for older people.

EUROPEAN RESEARCH COUNCIL

The study turns to the European Research Council, set...

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