As the year comes to an end, MEPs welcomed an agreement reached with Council on funding for the EU's multi-annual and multi-billion research programme. The issue had been a source of a protracted dispute between Parliament and Council. MEPs who consider the programme to be a key way of underpinning co-operation in research across the EU, were anxious to ensure that the amount was not reduced in comparison to the figures available for the last programme.
This was achieved through both sides accepting a smaller amount for nuclear research. The figure for the overall five-year programme stands at €14.96 billion.
Jim Fitzsimons (Leinster, UFE) welcomed the fact that research into human cloning would not be permitted in the new research framework programme, but praised the user-friendly information society programme. He condemned "the Sellfield lies, leaks and cover-up saga", expressed his group's total opposition to the proposed new expansion of Sellafield and said there was no justification, economic or otherwise, for the reprocessing of nuclear waste.
Nuala Ahern (Leinster, Greens) said it was now apparent that nuclear fusion had no future, that it was madness to continue to budget for it, and she protested that Euratom research is managed by a self-perpetuating oligarchy which for the most part represents member states which get grants from Euratom. This is unacceptable, she said.