Brussels, 24/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - Agreement took shape at COREPER (the Committee of Member States' Permanent Representatives to the EU) in the early evening of Wednesday 24 November 2010 on how to fund the ITER programme, an experimental, international, thermonuclear plan, by redeploying some funding from the EU's seventh framework programme for R&D and using cash available in other EU budget headings, particularly agriculture. The final agreement, however, is to be confirmed on Thursday.
Extra ITER funding for 2012 and 2013 has been reduced to €1.3 billion from €1.4 bn. The idea is that the €1.3 bn would be assembled as follows: €460 million redeployed in 2012 and 2013 from Heading 1a (Competitiveness for Growth and Employment); and €840 million of fresh cash to be raised by changing the multiannual financial framework and allocated to ITER using cash available under three headings of the EU budget. Nearly 90% of the € 840 million would be transferred from Heading 2 (Agriculture), with the remainder from Heading 3 (Freedom, Security and Justice) and heading 5 (Administration). The European Parliament has yet to give its opinion of this idea.
Agreement to provide the additional ITER funding would require agreement, which was also likely to emerge on Wednesday, on the flexibility mechanism to adjust the financial framework by up to 0.03% of EU27 gross national income (see related article above). (L.C. trans fl)