EC wil krachten bundelen met industrie voor schonere innovatie: €22 miljard uitgetrokken (en) - Hoofdinhoud
Commission proposal would see €22bn invested in research and innovation for health, transport and the environment over the next 7 years.
The funding would support partnerships between the European Commission, EU countries and industry from 2014 in 5 areas: innovative medicines, aeronautics, bio-based industries, fuel cells/hydrogen and electronics. A partnership on air traffic management will continue under a different set-up.
These sectors provide good quality jobs, tackle major challenges that can’t be solved by individual countries or companies alone, and are key to Europe’s competitiveness. The research is long-term, large-scale and often high-risk.
Under the proposal, funding from the next EU research programme, Horizon 2020, would be boosted by some €10bn from industry and €4bn from national governments.
In addition, the EU funding will support public-public partnerships (Commission and EU countries) addressing treatment for poverty-related diseases, industrial measurement technologies, help for small high-tech companies, and tools to help the elderly and disabled live safely in their own homes.
Three of the public-private partnerships are already in place, and have had impressive results:
a hydrogen-powered fork lift truck
new types of hydrogen-powered buses
more efficient electric vehicles
a lighter aircraft wing, able to reduce aviation CO2 i emissions by more than 20%
discoveries on diabetes treatments
The partnerships work by making public calls for project proposals - to which small and large companies, universities, research organisations or other bodies respond. Proposals go through a peer review before selection for funding.
This funding will come from the EU budget for research in 2014-20 - the Horizon 2020 programme - amounting to some €79bn (the exact figure is still under discussion between the Commission, MEPs and national governments).