Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-11-16-Speech-3-525-000"
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"en.20111116.28.3-525-000"2
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"Madam President, I am delighted to have this opportunity to have an exchange of views before the final vote on the proposal for a Council decision concerning the Framework Programme of the Euratom programme for 2012 and 2013.
Regarding ITER specifically, this report also contains Parliament’s position regarding the financing of this project for 2012 and 2013. The Commission welcomes this position and takes note of the ongoing negotiations to reach an interinstitutional agreement on this proposal. It is absolutely urgent, as the House knows, that this decision be taken as soon as possible. As long as a decision is not taken, the Framework Programme cannot be adopted. That creates uncertainty for a lot of researchers all around Europe who do not know if they will continue to receive funding from 1 January. I am thinking in particular about those employed in JET. Europe cannot afford to lose these researchers or lose their knowledge and their competences. We also need this decision to maintain our credibility vis-à-vis our international partners. For example, tomorrow the European Commission will represent the EU at an ITER Council meeting with our international partners, while the next trialogue meeting takes place on Friday.
Europe fought for years to be the host of this project and now, after more than one year of debate, we have not yet been able to take the financing decision needed to bring this project forward. It is difficult to explain this to our international partners and I urge the House therefore, on the basis of tomorrow’s vote, to strike a deal with the Council as soon as possible.
I congratulate the rapporteur, Mr Březina, for this excellent and enriching document. I would also like, as he did, to thank the shadow rapporteurs of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy who contributed, and also those of the Committee on Budgets who delivered its opinion.
Parliament has been showing great interest in this whole issue of research activity funded under the Euratom Treaty. The Commission welcomes these important and useful reports. I wish to underline that the report on the Framework Programme, and the other reports, recognise the importance of research funded under the Euratom Treaty for vital objectives such as enhancing the safety of nuclear energy and improving the management of nuclear waste.
Each Member State, as Mr Březina rightly said, is free to determine its own energy supply mix, and some of the largest EU countries do use nuclear energy, but some of the consequences of those choices do not stop at one’s own borders. In the current European and international context, Europe certainly needs more, not less, EU-level funding for research into nuclear safety and security, and this is the focus of the Framework Programme.
As the rapporteur correctly underlined, this proposal is coherent with the overall political strategy of the European Union, as expressed in particular through the Europe 2020 and the Energy 2020 strategies, the SET-plan and the European Sustainable Nuclear Industrial Initiative. The aim is to work towards a more sustainable energy mix for the future, and this programme contributes to that effort. Giving a strong priority to nuclear safety and security in the programme is a point of convergence between the three institutions. The Council has already clearly given its orientation, Parliament is now doing so, and the Commission shares this view and will rigorously apply it in the implementation of the programme.
The report recommends measures for the simplification of the implementation of research funding, and I could not agree more with Parliament that this simplification is absolutely essential. As you know, this is the clear direction we are taking, especially in the context of preparing Horizon 2020. However, some practical results of our simplification policy are already visible in this proposal. In particular, it integrates a number of measures adopted by the Commission decision last January to cut red tape through simplification.
Let me also address your recommendation for the focus areas on which the Framework Programme should concentrate its efforts. I have already mentioned the nuclear safety and security aspect. Beyond that, the Commission agrees that most of the areas listed in your reports are of major importance, such as radiation protection – a research area that is also important beyond the energy sector, in particular in the field of medicine.
Training will also be a principle activity of this programme, since the EU urgently needs to address some human capital issues within this sector. While implementing the programme, the Commission will certainly give priority to these areas to the extent allowed by the availability of funds and to the overall priority of safety.
This report also supports funding for research activities in the field of fusion energy, including the ITER project. Fusion is a promising research field that aims to provide a totally new energy source for the future. This programme seeks to pave the way for the success of ITER and establishes a set of accompanying measures to ensure that Europe will continue to be the major player in this field. Prominent among these measures is the funding of JET, located in the UK – a facility that is set to make major scientific contributions to ITER."@en1
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