15/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - Whereas the parliamentary examination of the draft 6th Research Framework-Programme is continuing, the European Commission should launch a first call the statements of intent between now and end-March. If everything goes to schedule, an additional Research Council may, end-June, allow for agreement to be reached on the framework-programme and a common position to be adopted on the rules of participation and dissemination. In that context, the official launch of the new framework-programme will take place on 13 November and the first calls for proposals could be launched in December 2002 or January 2003. The call for statements of intent aims to enable players in research to express their interest in the new instruments that are the integrated projects and networks of excellence, and this anticipation will enable them to set up the necessary networks to participate in large-scale projects. It should be open until end-June.