Malta to participate in European Commission's Research Programme

In the course of the signing ceremony during which 13 EU candidate countries including Malta signed the memorandum of association to the EU's Sixth Framework Programme for Research (FP6) last Tuesday, EU Commission President Romano Prodi said that "in Science and Innovation, EU enlargement started off a year in advance as with the Sixth Framework Programme, the participation of all the countries for accession is on an equal footing as that of EU member states."

The Parliamentary Secretary responsible for Science and Research in the Ministry of Education, Jesmond Mugliett - who was the official signatory for Malta - in a short speech during the ceremony, said that even in a small country like Malta, the FP6 has already generated considerable interest. Malta was the last accession country which joined the previous programme, the Fifth Framework Programme, becoming an associate member in June 2000. Since then, no fewer than 47 projects with Maltese partners have been approved by the Commission, attracting between them more than €3 million in funding.

The programmes are locally administered by the Malta Council for Science and Technology which is the National Contact Point Organisation recognised by the European Commission.

"However we do not anticipate that the change from the 5th framework programme to the 6th will be an easy process. In the short and medium term we have to adapt to the new programme, continue with our capacity building programme, increase considerably our own research programme, and increase spending to levels established in the European Council in Lisbon," he added. The EU has set itself an ambitious target of having by 2010 a European average of 3% of GDP in Research and Development. The present figure is 1.9%.

Mr Mugliett insisted that this will be a tremendous mobilisation of resources and a major shift in our political priorities but the new framework programme offers various modalities for tapping assistance and assimilating trasnational expertise and resources into national processes.

He insisted that the programme addresses the EU's top priorities as well as the specific needs of the different countries, regions and sectors; and added that he was sure that the European Commission is very sensitive to these two extreme needs, i.e. the European priorities and the local needs.

"This is what will determine whether we will make the European Research Area a reality," Mr Mugliett concluded.

European Research 2002

In the meantime, following the official signing ceremony of all the participants, the European Commission will be hosting a major conference to mark the launch of the FP6.

This three-day conference - "European Research 2002" - is being attended by over 7,500 participants across the globe and will be officially opened by the European Commissioner for Research, Philippe Busquin, as well as by 170 speakers, including 20 ministers and five Nobel laureates who will contribute by way of presentations and interventions.

During this three-day event, sessions will be held to address all the main thematic priorities featuring in the Framework Programme. Important issues to be discussed include human resources and mobility, genomics and health, and sustainable development amongst others.

Workshops, fora and symposia on topics relating to science and society will be organised by scientists, researchers in industry, associations and organisations who are key players in the area of research and technology. In parallel with the conference, there will be an exhibition for around 150 stands displaying major EU sponsored projects.

Malta has also been allocated space for a stand in the Candidate Country Village. This will feature Malta's research potential and strengths, and, also our research needs. Other material on Malta's research set-up and capacity will be displayed to market our potential to interested parties for future projects under FP6.

Malta will be represented in this conference by around 30 participants. These will include experts and researchers from various fields at the University of Malta (UOM), Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) officials and individuals from the private and/or public sector.

During one of the round table discussions being held during the three days of the conference, MCST chairman Peter Diacono will address participants on candidate country integration and their impact on Europe's Research and Technology Development capacity.

Following this launch in Brussels, the MCST, in collaboration with the University of Malta and the Malta Business Bureau, will be holding a two-day event in Malta on December 6-7 to mark the national FP6 launch.

This event will be held under the auspices of Parliamentary Secretary Jesmond Mugliett.

Further information can be obtained from http://europa.eu.int/comm.research/conferences/2002/programme or http://www.mcst.org.mt or by sending an e-mail to info@mcst.org.mt.