mr president i would like to express my thanks to the rapporteur ms ek and to the ten members of the european parliament who took the time to be here at a late hour this evening to discuss this issue
i am very satisfied that all article one hundred and eighty-five initiatives announced under the cooperation element of the seventh eu framework programme have now been adopted
this is a political achievement for all of the institutions of the european union
the bonus initiative would clearly help the countries of the baltic sea region to address more effectively the very complex and pressing environmental problems in this area by promoting synergies and avoiding the wasteful duplication of purely national research efforts
in view of the key global political problems that we are facing in policy areas such as climate change energy food and health the requirement to pool resources and work together becomes necessary
the article one hundred and eighty-five initiatives are playing a key role in tackling some of these key issues
the experience we gain from these initiatives will allow us to find even better and more efficient ways to collaborate at a european level making full use of both national and community research programmes
as i said at my european parliament ratification hearing last january i am deeply committed to the complete realisation of the european research area but we must work together in a spirit of unity and cooperation if we are going to achieve this objective
this is vitally important for the future economic development of the european union and if we are to ensure that the eu becomes a global leader in the fields of research innovation and science
