The Council and the European Parliament have adopted an agreement to provide 1.3 billion EUR of additional financing for Europe’s contribution to the ITER project over the next two years, as proposed by the European Commission.
Being a large and long term international project, ITER needs a more flexible mechanism to safeguard Europe’s funding and commitment. Therefore, the European Commission has proposed today to set up a “Supplementary Research Programme” under the Euratom Treaty for Europe’s contribution to ITER the period between 2014 to 2018. The proposal is in line with the European Commission’s Communication “A Budget for Europe 2020” that proposed to finance this contribution outside the Multi-annual Financial Framework (“MFF”) after 2013. The Supplementary Research Programme will ensure that Europe is able to honour its international obligations to the ITER project.
According to the proposal the project will continue to be managed by F4E. The current financial and staff rules will continue to apply and the Commission will carry on representing the EU in the different ITER bodies. The functioning of F4E, its management and staffing as well as the general technical and administrative support will also be covered by the Supplementary Research Programme for the ITER project.
The activities of F4E, for the period 2014 – 2018, will be as follows:
(a) To provide the Euratom contribution to the ITER International Organization, including those Research and Development activities necessary for developing the basis for the procurement of the ITER components and the procurement of the ITER Test Blanket Modules;
(b) To provide the Euratom contribution to Broader Approach Activities with Japan;
(c) As appropriate, other activities in order to prepare the basis for the design of a demonstration reactor and related facilities.
The Supplementary Research Programme, with a duration of five years, will be adopted through a specific Council Decision.
To read the MEMO of the European Commission explaining the background and the following steps click here.
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