Report from the Commission - Research and technological development activities of the European Union 2003 Annual Report {SEC(2004) 1023}
Date: 2004-08-02
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, EU research policy, activity report, research and development

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 2.8.2004 
COM(2004) 533 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION 

Research and technological development activities of the European Union 
2003 Annual Report 

{SEC(2004) 1023} 

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This Report relates, in principle, to the period from January 2002 to March 2003.  

2002  was  the  last  year  of  the  implementation  of  the  Fifth  Framework  Programme  for  R&D 
(“FP5”).  It  saw  also  the  successful  and  timely  conclusion  of  the  negotiations  for  the  Sixth 
Framework  Programme  for  research  (EC  and  Euratom)  (“FP6”),  the  specific  programmes 
implementing them, as well as the Rules of participation and dissemination relating to them. 
This  was  the  result  of  the  very  good  collaboration  and  the  consensus  existing  among  the 
European Parliament, the Council and the Commission. It is important to note that there has 
been no recourse to the conciliation procedure for the co-decided acts of the EC FP and the 
Rules for participation and dissemination relating to it. Actually, the Rules, that for the first 
time had to be adopted by co-decision, were approved already at first reading. 

This  has  greatly  facilitated  the  timely  launch  of  the  implementation  of  the  Framework 
Programme.  By  the  end  of  2002,  the  Commission  adopted  the  work  programmes  for  the 
Specific Programmes and published the first calls for proposals. 

A first also in terms of its use was the proposal put forward by the Commission under article 
169  of  the  EC  Treaty.  This  Article  allows  the  Community  to  participate  in  research 
programmes  undertaken  jointly  by  several  Member  States,  including  participation  in  the 
structures created for the execution of these programmes. In the course of 2002, a number of 
potential topics were identified. In the context of FP6, one formal Article 169 proposal about 
the  poverty-related  diseases  (AIDS,  malaria,  tuberculosis)  in  the  developing  world  was  put 
forward  by  the  Commission.  It  was  swiftly  adopted  in  co-decision  by  the  European 
Parliament  and  the  Council.  Here,  again,  the  broad  agreement  among  the  three  European 
institutions was evident. This first-ever practical application of Article 169 constitutes one of 
the  major  innovations  of  FP6  with  direct  bearing  on  the  creation  of  the  European  Research 
Area.  

An interesting new point was the examination of the main trends of the national R&D policies 
in  Europe.  It  showed  the  common  drive  towards  certain  priorities  and  it  confirmed  that  the 
creation of the European Research Area is necessary for Europe to avoid fragmentation of its 
research efforts. 

On  top  of  these  very  welcome  developments  in  the  domain  of  the  Sixth  Framework 
Programme,  major  efforts  have  been  undertaken  towards  the  creation  of  the  European 
Research  Area.  The  Heads  of  State  and  Government  agreed  at  the  Barcelona  European 
Council  to  raise  investment  in  research  and  development  from  1.9%  of  gross  domestic 
product in 2000 to approach 3% by 2010. The Commission launched a debate on the issues to 
be tackled and policy measures required to realise the Barcelona goal.  

OUTLOOK 

The implementation of the Sixth Framework programme is well on track. The large number of 
the responses from the research community to the first calls has shown its important role in 
the promotion of the European research efforts.  

Further,  the  active  endorsement  of  the  Action  Plan  for  the  “3%”  objective  by  the  Member 
States  brings  a  new  momentum  in  the  efforts  to  achieve  the  goal  of  an  increase  in  R&D 
spending  in  Europe  by  2010.  Together  with  the  Open  Method  of  Coordination,  they  will 
prove potent tools in this effort.  

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SOURCES OF FURTHER INFORMATION 

More  details  are  included  in  the  Commission  Working  Document  that  accompanies  this 
Report. For further information, the following are publicly available: 

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Annual Monitoring Reports published each year for the Framework Programme and 
each  specific  programme,  which  provide  a  concise,  independent  summary  of  the 
progress and quality of the measures taken to implement the programmes. 

Five-year Assessment Reports published every fourth year, both for the Framework 
Programme  and  for  each  specific  programme,  which  present  an  independent 
retrospective  evaluation  of  the  relevance,  efficiency,  results  and  impact  of  the 
European Union RTD programmes during the previous five years. 

The  European  Report  on  Science  and  Technology  Indicators,  which  contains 
descriptions, statistics and detailed analyses of European and national RTD activities 
in the world context. 

Research  and  Development:  Annual  Statistics  (Eurostat):  an  annual  publication 
containing  comparable  international  statistics  on  R&D  budgets,  R&D  expenditure, 
R&D personnel and patents in the Member States, broken down by region. 

R&D  and  Innovation  Statistics  for  the  Candidate  Countries  and  the  Russian 
Federation (Eurostat). 

Statistics on Science and Technology in Europe, published as part of the “Panorama 
of the European Union” collection (Eurostat). 

Statistics in Focus under the theme “Science and technology” (Eurostat). 

The  Commission’s  annual  budgetary  documents,  i.e.  the  preliminary  draft  budget, 
the budget, the consolidated revenue and expenditure account and the balance sheet. 

Studies and analyses published in connection with the Community RTD programmes 
and addressing issues specific to the fields of RTD which they cover. 

Most of these documents can be obtained or ordered from the Commission’s Internet sites: 

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The Commission’s general EUROPA site: http://europa.eu.int/ 

The  CORDIS  site  containing  information  on  the  RTD  Framework  Programme: 
http://www.cordis.lu 

site 

The 
http://europa.eu.int/comm/research 

of 

the  Commission’s  Directorate-General 

for  Research: 

The site of the Commission’s Directorate-General for the Information Society: 
 http://europa.eu.int/information_society/index_en.htm  

site 

The 
http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/enterprise/  

of 

the  Commission’s  Directorate-General 

for  Enterprise: 

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The  site  of  the  Commission’s  Directorate-General  for  Energy  and  Transport: 
http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/energy_transport/index.html 

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) site: http://www.jrc.cec.eu.int/  

The Eurostat site: http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat 

Extensive information on European Union policies can be found on these sites, including —
on the CORDIS site, which is devoted to the RTD Framework Programme, and on the sites of 
the Directorate-General for Research and of the other relevant Commission departments — all 
the  reference  documents,  the  texts  of  calls  for  proposals  and  a  host  of  other  information,  in 
line with the Commission's transparency and information policy. 

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