Brussels, 16/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - During a debate at the European Parliament on the Project for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA) on Monday evening 15 December, a large majority of MEPs that spoke were very much in favour of the idea to make this into a structured cooperative initiative co-financed through the EU budget.
Nonetheless, similarly to what it had already done at the Council of the EU (EUROPE 11212), the European Commission was reluctant to give its opinion and did not answer the questions put to it by MEPs.
Does the Commission acknowledge that Article 185 of the TFEU is the most appropriate one for PRIMA? What timetable does it envisage for presenting a possible legislative proposal? To both of these questions, the Commissioner for Research, Carlos Moedas, did not provide any answers. He did say, however, that this initiative can provide a response to key challenges in the region and that it was not devoid of interest in terms of research and innovation. The Commission, however, is still awaiting a formal proposal from the member states involved and it is only on this basis that it will begin to assess all the different options.
According to Moedas, it was still too early to have a calendar for the follow-up, because the assessment had to take into account a multitude of criteria, such as the European interest, the relationship with the Horizon 2020 framework programme objective, the risks of task duplication, firm financial commitments made by the countries participating, long-term prospects, respect for the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality and, finally, the administrative costs created for the EU. (JK)