Brussels, 17/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has announced that the Clean Sky Initiative published a call for tender on Tuesday 16 June 2009 for green aeronautics R&D, worth €25 million in total. The idea is to move in the direction of quieter, more environmentally friendly and more highly performing aircraft, explains the European Commission. This is the first Clean Sky call for tender. It covers 72 areas of research in five main areas - green regional transport aircraft, green rotorcrafts, green and sustainable engines, intelligent fixed wing aircraft and systems for environmentally friendly exploration. The main aim is to take advantage of the technical capacity of additional partners. “The new step taken today by Clean Sky highlights the joint commitment of the European Commission and the European air transport industry to develop breakthrough technologies to significantly reduce the impact of the air transport on the environment and strengthen the competitiveness of this vital sector for Europe's economy”, commented EU Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potoènik. With a budget of €1.6 billion, Clean Sky is a first-of-its-kind EU wide collaborative private-public partnership, including the participation of SMEs, universities and research centres as well as leading aeronautics manufacturers. Thus far, Clean Sky comprises 120 organisations from 16 countries, including 86 companies, 15 research centres and 17 universities. (B.C./transl.fl)