Press Release: Commission proposes to extend the Euratom budget to 2013, in line with the main Seventh Framework Programme for Research

The Commission on 7 March 2011 adopted a proposal to extend the budget of the 2007-2011 Euratom Framework Programme, which funds nuclear research, to cover the years 2012 and 2013. This is a formal step necessary to bring the effective duration of the Euratom Framework Programme into line with the seven-year period of the main Seventh Framework Programme for Research (FP7), which ends in 2013.

The proposal does not signify any change of policy and was already envisaged by the EU institutions when the two programmes were launched in 2007. Adoption of this proposal by the Council would allow the continuation of current research work, aimed notably at improving nuclear safety and radiation protection.