FP7 is the short name for the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. This is the EU’s main instrument for funding research in Europe and it will run from 2007 to 2013. The European Commission’s budget for the next seven years is €50.5 billion and the Euratom budget for the next five years is €2.7 billion. FP7 is also designed to respond to Europe’s employment needs and competitiveness. FP7 supports research in selected priority areas — the aim being to make, or keep, the EU as a world leader in those sectors.
The Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) bundles all research-related EU initiatives together under a common roof playing a crucial role in reaching the European Union’s Lisbon Strategy to become the “most dynamic competitive knowledge-based economy in the world”. The ‘knowledge triangle’ — research, education and innovation — is a core factor in European efforts to meet the ambitious Lisbon goals.
The objectives of FP7 have been grouped into 4 categories: Cooperation, Ideas, People and Capacities. For each objective, a specific programme corresponds to the main areas of EU research policy. All specific programmes work together to promote and encourage the creation of European poles of (scientific) excellence in the European Knowledge Society.
