The Competitiveness Council has thoroughly discussed the priorities of the 7th Framework Programme (FP7), put forward by the Commission in its communication in June 2004. The issues debated include: transnational collaborative research, European technology initiatives, basic research, making Europe more attractive to researchers, developing European level research infrastructures, co-ordination of national research programmes, and security and space research.
The Council invited the Commission to develop, as part of its proposal for FP7, a mechanism by which a European Research Council (ERC) could be set up. It would fund basic research on the basis of excellence in a wide range of sectors and disciplines.
In addition, the Council welcomed the development of a roadmap describing the scientific needs for research infrastructures for the next ten to 20 years. It also invited the Commission to develop a strategy on international scientific co-operation to ensure the openness of the framework programme to the rest of the world.
The Commission is expected to present its proposal for FP7 in April 2005. The Council stressed that the proposal needs to be coherent with the major European research policy objectives and user-friendly in terms of its administrative and financial procedures.
