Brussels, 15/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - In Paris on Tuesday, French Research Minister Roger-Gerard Schwartzenberg and Germany's Edelgard Bulmahn announced enhanced Franco-German scientific co-operation in the framework of the construction of the European Area of Research. This move has to cover the fields of aeronautics and space, nano-technologies, materials, transport, the environment and climatology, plant genomes and health. It rests on the development of common initiatives in the European framework, the improvement of general conditions in the functioning of existing co-operation and increased mobility of researchers. On the fringe of the meeting, the President of the Centre national d'Etudes spatiales (CNES), Alain Bensoussan, and the Vice-President of the Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft und Ramfahrt (DLR), Bernd Hofer, signed a framework-agreement that should allow projects under discussion to see the light of day, which are: : - the development of bilateral demonstration projects in the framework of the European programme Global Monitoring for the Environment and Security (GMES) that covers the management, distribution and computer modelling of environmental data, as well as chemical research into atmospheric pollution; - the development of simulation tools in the framework of the Galileo project; - exchange of personnel and implementation of a support programme for subjects of mutual interest. A joint press release stresses that "CNES and DLR are today convinced of the need to strengthen the European public infrastructure in matters of space research and technology to contribute in consolidating Europe's space efforts backed by the European Union".
Furthermore, on 14 February, the French research ministry officially launched an information service on the Cordis site, on the occasion of the second International Forum on Research, Innovation and Technologies Management at the CNIT in Paris. This service will pool a presentation of research in France and French research in Europe. It allows one to discover over 1000 European projects in which a French body assumes co-ordination. The site is accessible in French and English at the following address: http://www.cordis.lu/France . Cordis also proposes a new window into German research, with a selection of over 3,500 European projects in which German organisations are participating. This site may be consulted on http://www.cordis.lu/germany .