Commission announces EUR 30 million for joint research programming in metrology and the Baltic Sea ecosystem The European Commission has announced it will contribute EUR 30 million to two new joint programming activities in the science of measurement, known as metrology, and the Baltic Sea ecosystem. These actions, known as ERA-NET Plus and developed under the Seventh Framework Prog... The European Commission has announced it will contribute EUR 30 million to two new joint programming activities in the science of measurement, known as metrology, and the Baltic Sea ecosystem. These actions, known as ERA-NET Plus and developed under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), will seek to structure the European Research Area (ERA) and enhance the scale of Europe's common research efforts in these areas. The first new initiative, iMERA-Plus, will see 32 national metrology institutions receive €21 million from FP7, while Member States will contribute a further €42 million to carry out research into the most pressing metrological needs as identified in the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP). By putting a single European metrology programme into action through joint calls for proposals, the Commission hopes to increase the impact of national investment in European metrology research and development (R&D). The European Commission said it will also allocate €9 million to the BONUS+ research programme to develop an ecosystem-based approach to managing the Baltic Sea, which will include eight Member States which border the Baltic and Russia. The countries involved will contribute an additional €18.7 million. 'These two initiatives involve Member States pooling research programmes in very concrete areas, with top-up funding from the European budget,' said European Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik. 'They mark another step in the direction of reinforcing the European Research Area. Borders are becoming less and less relevant for research cooperation, not only between researchers but also between those who fund research. During 2008 we will be making further proposals about how Member States can work together in programming their research,' he added. The ERA-NET scheme was designed under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) to provide support for the coordination and mutual opening up of national and regional research programmes. Under FP7, the scheme has been reinforced with ERA-NET Plus actions, which will see two joint calls for proposals per year over the first two years of the framework programme.
