FP7: MEPs show support for energy R&D 

Parliament's ITRE committee adopted, on 30 May 2006, the following budget breakdown proposal for FP7 (compared to the Commission's initial proposal), to be debated in the first reading in plenary on 15 June 2006:

Co-operation

Ideas

People   

Capacities  

Analysis of this breakdown shows, percentagewise, somewhat unequal cuts to different programmes, and thus indicates which areas the Parliament considers priorities.  Non-nuclear funds of the JRC are cut by only 4% whereas Capacities' (research infrastructures, regional co-operation, SME support) funds are cut by 48%. Ideas, the funding for the establishment of the European Research Council, is cut by 37%. 

The Euratom framework programme's (2007-2011) budget was cut by around 10% from 3 to 2.7 billion euro. Euratom covers research and training activities in the nuclear sector.

The budget allocation for the different research themes in the Co-operation programme is somewhat equally diminished by 30% for all, except little less for energy (18%), socio-economic research (18%) and for food, agriculture and biotechnology (22%). 

The ITRE committee also divided the Space and Security theme to two separate ones and gave green light for the EU to finance research on embryonic stem cells, depending on member states' legal framework and under strict control. The FP6 has funded some embryonic stem cell research, except in countries, which ban such funding. Commissioner Janez Potočnik wishes to maintain these guidelines in the FP7, but some member states, namely Austria, Germany, Malta, Poland and Slovakia strongly oppose the EU funding embryonic stem cell research, whereas Italy recently withdrew its opposition.

Green MEPs condemn the Parliament's ITRE Committee's report, which proposes to allocate 2.7 billion euro to nuclear energy in the FP7. "As a result of today's vote, the nuclear Euratom programme would once again absorb the bulk of EU energy funding at the expense of safer, less expensive energy technology like energy efficiency and renewables, which EU citizens support," said MEPs Rebecca Harms, David Hammerstein and Claude Turmes said. "The plenary vote now represents a last chance for individual MEPs to show their support for renewables, rather than the nuclear option opposed by a majority of citizens," they added.