EU ministers have approved the European Commission’s proposal to extend the duration of the Euratom Framework Programme for nuclear research by two years.
The decision was made at a meeting of the Council of Ministers in charge of competitiveness issues, held in Luxembourg on 28 June.
Euratom’s length is limited by its treaty to five years only, and was planned to last between 2007 and 2011. The extension to 2013 brings it in line with the overall Framework 7 duration.
Euratom includes funding for Iter, the international fusion energy research project based in Cadarache, France; for nuclear fission research activities; and for research at the Commission’s Joint Research Centre.