MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

OFFICE OF EU AFFAIRS

 

    7^th FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME (FP7)

 2007-2013

In FP6, participation is open to any country in the world, but different modalities for participation and funding apply to different categories of countries. One major change is the enlargement of the EU. The 3 associated candidate countries (Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey) have full access, including funding and the possibility that the participants could be exclusively from such future Member States.. In addition, some other countries are ‘associated’ to FP6. Turkey joined the Framework Programmes with the 6th FrameWork Programme, which has been in issue between 2002-2006.

The Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) is the European Union's main instrument for funding research and development since 1984 - as provided for by the Treaty establishing the European Community (part 3, title XVIII, art. 166, pag.114).

Programmes have so far been conceived for a period of five years. FP7, however, is proposed for the period 2007-2013, and will be the successor to the FP6, which was ended at the end of 2006.

As the accompanying Communication 'Building the ERA of knowledge for growth' - points out, knowledge underpins all components of the Lisbon strategy. Research is a key component of the 'knowledge triangle' along with education and innovation, and is at the core of the EU's strategy to deliver growth, competitiveness and employment while maintaining social and environmental sustainability. The new EU financial perspectives for the period 2007-2013 proposed by the European Commission increase the role of knowledge and innovation in the EU budget; mobilising a range of funding tools that include the regional Structural and Cohesion Funds and a new generation of Education and Training Programmes.

The Commission's Communication 'Science and technology, the key to Europe's future - Guidelines for future European Union policy to support research' (16 June 2004) gave a broad outline and served as a basis for discussion and for a stakeholder consultation on the issue in autumn 2004. Contributions to the policy debate are available on this service.

In this context, the Commission presented a proposal for a Competitiveness and Innovation framework Programme (CIP) for the same period (2007-2013) on 6 April 2005, along with the main FP7 proposal.

The CIP is designed to complement FP7 by supporting existing Community programmes in the fields critical to boosting European productivity, innovation capacity and sustainable growth.

Furthermore, a proposal for a Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) for the nuclear research and training activities of the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) was also presented on 6 April 2005 as part of the same document as FP7. This programme will initially cover the period of 2007-2011, due to the specifics of the Euratom Treaty, but is expected to be renewed for the period 2012-2013 to converge with FP7.

The Commission having presented its official proposals on FP7, they were simultaneously sent to the European Parliament and the Council for adoption. The adoption of the research framework programme will be subject to a co-decision procedure, in which the Commission, Council and the Parliament play an equally important role.