What
Budget
The amended FP7 proposals from the European Commission, following the budget agreement between the European Council and European Parliament amount to a total of EUR 50,521 million, partitioned among the specific programmes as follows:
- Cooperation EUR 32,413 million
- Ideas EUR 7,510 million
- People EUR 4,750 million
- Capacities EUR 4,097 million
- JRC (non-nuclear) EUR 1,751 million
- Euratom (to 2011) EUR 2,751 million
For more details see the revised budget breakdown.
Funding schemes
Across all these themes, support to trans-national cooperation will be implemented through:
- Collaborative research;
Collaborative projects, Networks of Excellence, Co-ordination/support actions, actions to promote and develop human resources and mobility - Joint Technology Initiatives;
mainly resulting from the work of European Technology Platforms - Co-ordination of research programmes;
ERA-NET scheme and Treaty Article 169
These schemes will be used, either alone or in combination, to fund actions implemented throughout the Framework Programme.
Where different funding schemes can be used, the work programmes may specify the funding scheme to be used for the topic on which proposals are invited.
Research themes
In the Commission's proposal for FP7 the four specific programmes handle research themes in different ways: Cooperation - Collaborative research projects will be selected under sub-programmes in nine defined themes, largely representing continuity with the seven thematic priorities of FP6
European Joint Technology Initiatives will be selected from the strategic research agendas defined by individual technology platforms.
Ideas - The European Research Council (ERC) will support 'researcher led' basic research across all scientific and technological areas.
People - Marie Curie actions to support individual researchers will operate horizontally across all research themes.
Capacities - Activities to support research infrastructures, SMEs, international cooperation, regional capabilities and 'science in society' will also be identified across all research areas.
FP7 themes - Cooperation
The proposals for the Cooperation programme define research themes broadly so that during the lifetime of FP7, the priorities can be adapted to evolving research needs. Special attention will be paid to the horizontal integration of scientific priority areas that cut across themes. Furthermore, a multi-disciplinary approach will be encouraged by joint cross-thematic approaches to research and technology subjects relevant to more than one theme. The nine themes are:
- Health - particularly translational research developing basic discoveries into clinical applications and the development of sustainable and efficient healthcare systems.
- Food, agriculture and biotechnology – aiming to build a European "knowledge based bio-economy" to meet demand for safer and healthier food and sustainable use and production of renewable bio-resources.
- Information and communication technologies (see also FP7 on ISTWeb) - enhancing the different technology pillars (nano-electronics, communication networks, mixed realities, etc.), integrating technologies (home environment, robotic systems, etc.), and developing societal, content-related applications that support business, industry and public confidence.
- Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, materials and new production technologies - aims to transform European industry from a resource-intensive to a knowledge-intensive industry.
- Energy - emphasising research on renewables and on low CO2 emitting power generation. Under the Euratom Treaty< link to Euratom.htm>, the EU will also continue to support fusion energy research, and research on nuclear fission and radiation protection, both indirectly through collaborative projects and directly through the activities of the Joint Research Centre (JRC).
- Environment (including climate change) - highlights research related to predicting climate change and developing earth observation.
- Transport (including aeronautics) - to support the development of integrated, "greener" and "smarter" pan-European transport systems and supporting the Galileo initiative.
- Socio-economic sciences and the humanities – aiming at shared understanding of the complex and interrelated socio-economic challenges Europe is facing (such as growth, employment and competitiveness, social cohesion and sustainability, quality of life and global interdependence).
- Space - Space research will include applications such as GMES to benefit citizens as well as increasing competitiveness of the European space industry.
- Security - Security research will develop technologies and knowledge needed to ensure the security of European citizens.
Noting that existing security related research activities in Europe suffer from fragmentation and a lack of critical mass and interoperability, the proposed focus of security research at Community level is on activities of clear added value to the national level, improving coherence and reinforcing competitiveness.
One objective of space research within FP7 is to contribute to the development of a European Space Policy, complementing efforts by Member States and by other key players, including the European Space Agency (ESA). The EU's contribution in this field would be the definition of common objectives, the coordination of activities, avoiding duplications and maximising interoperability, and the definition of standards. A European Space policy would be aimed at public authorities and decision-makers as well as European industry.
Last updated on: 2006-12-12