Council of The European Union.Launching of five joint programming initiatives for research

Council of The European Union.Brussels.6 December 2011. EMPHASISES that Joint Programming in research in the areas of the five proposed initiatives:'Healthy and Productive sea and Oceans','Urban Europe - Global Urban Challenges, Joint European Solutions','Connecting Climate Knowledge for Europe','Water Challenges for a Changing World','The Microbial Challenge - An Emerging Threat to Human Health'.

will contribute to the reduction of fragmentation of research efforts of Member States and will step up the mobilisation of skills, knowledge and resources, with a view to advancing and strengthening Europe's leadership and competitiveness of research and innovation in these fields. INVITES the Member States, participating in the framework of the five initiatives respectively, to:

i.Develop a common vision, based on a multidisciplinary approach, on how cooperation and coordination in the field of research at the European level can improve addressing the challenges presented in the initiatives in order to ensure the efficiency of the joint efforts of Member States. ii. Develop a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) establishing medium to long term research needs and objectives in the areas of the five initiatives. The Strategic Research Agendas should be further developed towards an implementation plan establishing priorities and timelines and specifying the actions, instruments and resources required for its implementation. The contents, work programmes and implementation plans should take into account the scientific, technological, societal and innovation impacts of the supported research.

iii. Jointly implement the Strategic Research Agenda, including via their national research programmes taking into account the Voluntary Guidelines on Framework Conditions for Joint Programming in Research developed by the High Level Group on Joint Programming (GPC) or other national research activities.

iv. Set up and maintain an efficient common management structure in the field of the five initiatives respectively, with a mandate to establish appropriate conditions, rules and procedures for cooperation and coordination and to monitor the implementation of the Strategic Research Agenda. Such management structure should be lean, efficient and flexible and should take account of the Voluntary Guidelines on Framework Conditions for Joint Programming in Research developed by the GPC.

v. Build on the existing expertise within the Commission and take into account the voluntary guidelines on framework conditions when developing and implementing the Strategic Research Agenda with a view to coordinating the joint programming initiatives and ensuring overall coherence with other relevant programmes and initiatives, while avoiding unnecessary duplication with existing and future Union initiatives in these areas.

3133rd COMPETITIVENESS (Internal Market, Industry, Research and Space) Council meeting

Launching of five joint programming initiatives for research,

Council of The European Union.Conclusions on partnering in research and innovation

Council of The European Union.Brussels.6 December 2011. UNDERLINES the need to a) deliver added value at the European and Member States level through the partnering approach; b) improve conditions allowing and encouraging all interested Member States and other stakeholders to participate in different forms of partnering, while maintaining their voluntary nature and taking account of national approaches to research funding; c) increase and maintain the commitment and active participation of all partners including the private sector, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in publicprivate partnerships; d) develop synergies and complementarities between Horizon 2020 and the Common Strategic Framework for Cohesion Policy when developing partnering activities, while recognising that these instruments have different purposes; e) reduce the administrative burden for all participants in partnering instruments and pursue the effort of simplification of rules and procedures.

EMPHASISES the need to create a transparent and accessible overall landscape of programmes and instruments for all parties involved. To this end, NOTES the need for rationalisation, including mergers when deemed appropriate, to avoid unnecessary duplication and overlapping, and LOOKS FORWARD to discussing this issue further in the context of, amongst others, the Commission proposals for Horizon 2020 and the ERA Framework.

As regards the Public-Public Partnerships (P2Ps)

EMPHASISES the need to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of existing partnering instruments and TAKES NOTE of the Commission's intention to merge existing instruments, such as ERA-NETs and ERA-NET Plus, to form a single, more flexible and ERA-NET-like instrument and LOOKS FORWARD to discussing this aspect in the context of Horizon 2020.

EMPHASISES the nature of Joint Programming as a Member States led voluntary process and its significant potential for R&I in Europe and contribution to address major societal challenges; CALLS for considering synergies between JPIs and Framework Programme instruments, in particular for the use of its P2P instruments, where the area being addressed by a JPI fits with Horizon 2020 priorities; ENCOURAGES the Member States participating in JPIs to make best use of the Voluntary Guidelines on Framework Conditions for Joint Programming and RECALLS the need to regularly review these guidelines based on the experience of the JPIs with the aim to improve their applicability.

ACKNOWLEDGES that, in order to ensure strong, long-term partnerships, questions related to issues such as IP management, funding and improvement of cross-border cooperation and knowledge circulation need to be addressed also in the context of the development of the ERA Framework and that this process must fully recognise the voluntary nature of individual partnerships and the need to respect national competence.

3133rd COMPETITIVENESS (Internal Market, Industry, Research and Space)

Council meeting Council of The European Union.Conclusions on partnering in research and innovation,

Council of The European Union approves 2012 EU budget

Brussels,30 November 2011.17890/11 PRESSE 467. The Council approved today (The decision was taken, without debate, at the Economic and Financial Affairs) Council the EU budget for 2012, as agreed with the European Parliament in the Conciliation Committee on 18/19 November (17470/11 + ADD 1 + ADD 2 + ADD 3 + ADD 4 + ADD 5).  If the Parliament also approves the compromise, the 2012 EU budget is considered to be adopted (The Parliament is expected to take its decision on 1 December)

The total payments for the 2012 EU budget, as agreed with the European Parliament, amount to EUR 129.088 billion. This corresponds to 0.98% of the EU's Gross National Income (GNI) and represents an increase of 1.86% compared to the 2011 EU budget if draft amending budget Nos 6 and 7 are taken into account which are expected to be adopted by the European Parliament in December (+2.02% compared to the 2011 EU budget as amended by amending budgets Nos 1-5 which have already been adopted). As the Commission forecasts an inflation of 2% for the EU in 2012, the budget for next year is hence expected to diminish in real terms. The commitments for 2012 amount to EUR 147.232 billion which corresponds to an increase by +3.54% (+3.57% if draft amending budgets Nos 6 and 7 are excluded). This leaves a margin of EUR 1.4 billion (EUR 1.2 billion if not taking into account the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument) below  the ceiling of the multiannual financial framework (MFF).

The Council believes that the EU budget for 2012 strikes the right balance between a strict limitation of its volume, herewith helping member states in their consolidation efforts, and the financing of measures designed to stimulate growth and jobs. The EU made also considerable efforts to limit the increase of its own administrative spending to 1.31% in commitments and 1.30% in payments, compared to the 2011 budget, in spite of new workload due, for instance, to the preparation of the accession of Croatia. The Council decided even to cut its own spending by 5.21% in commitments and payments.

The Council also adopted a decision on the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument (17471/11) to complement the financing in the 2012 EU budget, beyond the MFF ceilings. EUR 50 million will be mobilised in sub-heading 1a (competitiveness for growth and employment) and EUR 150 million in heading 4 (the EU as a global player), both in commitments.

Furthermore, the Council approved1 draft amending budget No 6 for the EU budget 2011 as amended by the Conciliation Committee (17472/11), which reinforces commitments by EUR 3.25 million and payments by EUR 200 million and increases revenues by EUR 1.28 billion, resulting in a net decrease in member states' contributions by EUR 1.077 billion for 2011.

The Council also approved2 draft amending budget No 7 for the EU budget 2011 (17473/11), mobilising the EU Solidarity Fund for an amount of EUR 38.0 million in commitments and payments. Its objective is to provide financial assistance to the region of Murcia in Spain (EUR 21.1 million), hit by an earthquake in May 2011, and to the Veneto region in Italy (EUR 16.9 million), affected by torrential rainfalls in autumn 2010.

According to the Lisbon Treaty the Council and the European Parliament have fourteen days (i.e. until 3 December) to approve the compromise reached on the 2012 EU budget during the Conciliation procedure. If the Parliament rejects the agreement, the Commission must submit a new draft budget. Should the budget not be adopted by the beginning of2012, a sum equivalent to not more than one twelfth of the budget appropriations for 2011 or of the draft budget proposed by the Commission, whichever is the smaller, may be spent each month for any chapter of the budget.

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ecofin/126439.pdf

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Council conclusions on strengthening the external dimension of the EU energy policy

COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION.Brussels, 24 November 2011. 3127th TRANSPORT, TELECOMMUNICATIONS and ENERGY Council meeting. (Energy items).The Council adopted the following conclusions:

RECALLING the Conclusions of the European Council and of the Council of the European Union of February 2011 which stressed the need for increased efforts in order to ensure a strong and coherent EU position in international energy relations,

WELCOMING the Commission Communication on security of supply and international cooperation as well as the submission by the Commission of a proposal concerning information exchange regarding intergovernmental energy agreements as a means to enhance the transparency of cooperation between Member States as well as between Member States and the Commission,

EMPHASISES that meeting the current common energy challenges requires prompt actions from the European Union, in particular strengthening the external dimension of energy policy,

ACKNOWLEDGES that the EU external energy policy should be based on and put into practice the principles of solidarity, transparency, subsidiarity and cooperation as well as on reciprocity, a rulebased market approach, and coordination between the EU and the Member States.

STRESSES that the EU external energy policy should contribute to ensuring a safe, secure, sustainable and affordable energy, consistent with the overall objectives of EU energy policy of competitiveness, security of supply and sustainability as well as with the EU 2050 energy andlow carbon1 policy perspective;

a fully functioning, interconnected and integrated internal energy market is an essential element for a successful external energy policy;

Regulatory cooperation and convergence with our neighbours 2has a key role to play in order to build a wide energy market while ensuring a level playing field. Such regulatory cooperation should take into account the diversity of EU's neighbours and their own energy policy objectives;

these conclusions do not prejudge the negotiations of the next Multiannual Financial Framework;

the implementation of the external dimension of the EU energy policy, including the initiatives set out in these conclusions and the negotiations and conclusions of international agreements, is subject to the need to respect the respective competences of the EU and Member States as laid down in the Treaties. The adoption of the present conclusions does not affect the distribution of competences or the allocation of powers between the EU and its Member States or between the institutions under the Treaties. Moreover, it affects the decision-making procedures neither for the adoption of EU positions by the Council nor for the conclusions of agreements by the EU, as provided in the Treaties.

UNDERLINES the necessity to work together with strategic partners with a view to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions Council conclusions on strengthening the external dimension of the EU energy policy

Council conclusions on strengthening the external dimension of the EU energy policy