On 30 November 2004 the Government published the UK position paper on the initial approach to the 7th EU R&D Framework Programme (see related documents).

Key Messages:

The UK believes that FP7 should address the areas that really matter; basic research, industrial research and research in support of policy, making clear the different aims and objectives of these areas. To achieve these aims the Framework Programme must be simplified to make it more user friendly for industry and science.

We believe the bulk of funding for FP7 should be concentrated on industrial competitiveness where the long term research agenda must clearly reflect the needs of the industrial users.

The UK welcomes the debate on the proposal to establish a European Research Council (ERC). Improved performance in basic research will be a key contributor towards achieving the EU’s aim to increase the overall research effort as part of the Lisbon agenda.

The UK supports an increased budget for research within a disciplined EU budget and welcomes the proposed increase of research funding by 75%, over the period 2007 to 2013, outlined as part of the Financial Perspective deal agreed in December 2005.