Brussels, 21/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 21 November, the European Commission President took part in the signing ceremony at the Elysée Palace in Paris of the international agreement on the Iter experimental thermonuclear fusion reactor. Mr Barroso saluted the “scientists' and engineers' extraordinary work and commitment which have made possible the promise of Iter” and he said he was “proud of the role the Commission has played throughout the long negotiation process, which has led us today to sign an historic act”. “We, the seven parties to the Iter project, who together represent more than half the world's population, have just invested in the future of generations to come by uniting our efforts to demonstrate the scientific and technological possibilities of energy production by atomic fusion,” he went on, before concluding, “I hope that Iter manages to bring to our societies inestimable progress and a great good: the ability to use a new source of energy which is not harmful to the environment is virtually inexhaustible. I am certain that the future will show that we were right to believe in physicists' dreams of harnessing energy such as stars produce”. The seven partners involved in this project are the EU, China, Russia, South Korea, India, the United States and Japan. The reactor will be built at Cadarache in the South East of France. The agreement signed in Paris will be placed with the International Atomic Energy Authority in Vienna. (oj)