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The European Commission has proposed a legal framework that
will make it easier to set up European Research Infrastructures
- such as observatories for environmental sciences, data banks
in genomics or state-of-the-art large super computers.
The proposal was made in response to requests from Member
States, who wish to jointly develop world-class research facilities
in Europe.
Unveiling the proposal, European Science and Research Commissioner
Janez Potocnik said - "Research infrastructures are becoming
increasingly complex and expensive, often placing them beyond
the reach of a single research group, region, nation or even
continent. The sheer size of such projects - generally hundreds
of millions of Euros for construction and several tens of
millions of Euros for operation - requires a joint effort
by several European countries."
Until now, the absence of an adequate legal framework allowing
the creation of appropriate partnership with partners from
different countries has been a major difficulty for Member
States. Existing legal forms under national, EU or international
law do not fully correspond to the specific characteristics
and needs of such multinational infrastructures. This new
tailor-made legal framework would provide a legal personality
recognised in all Member States and could provide some of
the advantages of international organisations, such as VAT
exemptions.
It also offers the opportunity to cut down significantly
the time necessary for setting up such European Research Infrastructures
- allowing them to become operational as soon as possible,
which is important in the quickly evolving world of science.
It is foreseen that the legal framework would be discussed
by the EU Council of Ministers during autumn and possibly
adopted in December 2008. Following the development of related
implementation procedures, the legal framework could become
effective in mid 2009.
The Communication is one of five policy initiatives planned
by the Commission to follow up the 2007 Green Paper - 'The
European Research Area: New Perspectives'. A number of
key areas were identified where effective action in partnerships
between Member States could have the potential to deliver
significant gains for Europe's research system and help to
create a 'fifth freedom' in Europe - the free movement
of knowledge. In this context, 'Developing world-class
research infrastructures' is put forward as one of the
pillars of an ambitious ERA vision.
For details of all of the above, see - MEMO/08/504
To download the full text of the Regulation - Click
Here
See also IP's related to the European Research Area package
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IP/08/637
- on the results of the Green Paper on ERA
IP/08/555
- on Intellectual property management by Public Research Organisations
IP/08/802
- on European Partnership for Researchers
IP/08/1140
- on Joint Programming.
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