Brussels, 24/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - Directors of agricultural research in Member States (part of the EURAGRI platform) outlined their position paper to Commissioners Busquin (Research) and Fischler (Agriculture) last Friday concerning the launch of a European Agricultural Research Area and the sixth Framework Programme that it will be created under. They presented a number of specific areas where national food and agricultural research programmes could co-ordinate their research activities, open them up to third parties and create networks of excellence, namely agri-environmental interaction, genetic biodiversity, bio-nanotechnology and the ethics of food production. The national research directors suggested the mutual recognition of food and agricultural science qualifications and the creation of an AGRI-FOOD forum to debate issues related to the food chain at European level. They also indicated interest in establishing a European co-operation programme in organic farming research.