Brussels, 29/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 29 May, European research ministers reached a political agreement on a proposal intended to facilitate the joint establishment and operation of research facilities of European interest between several member states. The draft regulation presented in July 2008 forms part of the implementation of the European Research Area. The aim of the regulation is to have a uniform legal procedure to serve as a framework for developing infrastructure instead of the current mechanism which is based on national decisions. The political agreement was reached after several member states - the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands - finally agreed to exonerate the European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERIC) from VAT. The compromise stipulates that the state hosting European research infrastructure should make a declaration stressing that the ERIC has the status of an international body, which is not liable to VAT. This solution is in line with guidelines adopted at the end of April by the value added tax committee, established by the VAT directive. Under the terms of the compromise, ERIC membership should comprise at least three member states and may include associate countries, third countries, as well as intergovernmental organisations. Spain and Portugal wanted to reduce to two the minimum number of member states that can join an ERIC, but the Commission considered that, if this were the case, the infrastructure would be no more than bilateral. The Council also adopted a series of conclusions on: - the assessment of the results and analyses on the impact of EU research framework programmes in order to step up the effectiveness of research investment; - the first stages towards implementation of the European Research Area (ERA), the so-called “Ljubljana process”; - and research infrastructure and the regional dimension of the ERA. (B.C./transl.jl)