SEVENTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME
'Framework programmes' (FPs) have been the main financial tools through which the European Union supports research and development activities covering almost all scientific disciplines. FPs are proposed by the European Commission and adopted by Council and the European Parliament following a co-decision procedure.
FPs have been implemented since 1984 and cover a period of five years with the last year of one FP and the first year of the following FP overlapping. The current FP is FP6, which runs up to the end of 2006.
It has been proposed for FP7, however, to run for seven years. It will be fully operational as of 1 January 2007 and will expire in 2013. It is designed to build on the achievements of its predecessor towards the creation of the European Research Area, and carry it further towards the development of the knowledge economy and society in Europe.
In the Commission's amended proposals for FP7, it was proposed that the maximum overall amount for Community financial participation in the EC Seventh Framework Programme should be EUR 50 521 million for the period 2007 - 2013. For nuclear research and training activities carried out under the Euratom treaty EUR 2751 million are foreseen for 2007-2011.
The European Community part of FP7 is organised in four programmes corresponding to four basic components of European research:
- Cooperation
Support will be given to the whole range of research activities carried out in trans-national cooperation, from collaborative projects and networks to the coordination of national research programmes. International cooperation between the EU and third countries is an integral part of this action.
This action is industry-driven and organised in four sub-programmes:- Collaborative research will constitute the bulk and the core of EU research funding
- Joint Technology Initiatives will mainly be created on the basis of the work undertaken by the European Technology Platforms
- Coordination of non-Community research programmes
- International Cooperation
- Ideas
This programme will enhance the dynamism, creativity and excellence of European research at the frontier of knowledge in all scientific and technological fields, including engineering, socio-economic sciences and the humanities. This action will be overseen by a European Research Council - People
Quantitative and qualitative strengthening of human resources in research and technology in Europe by putting into place a coherent set of Marie Curie actions. - Capacities
The objective of this action is to support research infrastructures, research for the benefit of SMEs and the research potential of European regions (Regions of Knowledge) as well as to stimulate the realisation of the full research potential (Convergence Regions) of the enlarged Union and build an effective and democratic European Knowledge society.
