Brussels, 06/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - In order to strengthen EU competitiveness on research and innovation, the EU Council adopted, on Tuesday 6 December, conclusions that kick-start five joint programming initiatives (a process initiated and steered by member states). These are: (1) “Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans”, which mainly covers biodiversity and the consequences of climate change in the context of maritime policies; (2) “Urban Europe - Global Challenges, Local Solutions and Water”, which aims to promote research for so-called sustainable urban development; (3) “Connecting Climate Knowledge for Europe”, with the reduction of greenhouse gases playing a central role; (4) “Water Challenges for a Changing World” starting from the principle that the gap between supply and demand in water at global level should continue to grow bigger; and (5) “The Microbial Challenge - an emerging threat to human health”, which relates to the phenomenon of growing resistance in bacteria to antimicrobial medicine and the risk that arises from this for the development of infectious diseases within the population. (JK/transl.jl)