EU cuts FP7 red tape

The European Commission has adopted measures to make participation in the EU's Seventh Framework Programme for Research (FP7) easier and more attactive, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Which is to be applauded.

The chemical industry has long grappled with extracting funding from this huge but bureaucratic public initiative, but until the creation of the SusChem, the EU's Technology Platform or Sustainable Chemistry, did not have much luck.

Announcing the cuts in red tape, research, innovation and science commissioner Maire Geoghegan-Quinn said the move was only the first step. There will, she said, be more radical simplifications in the successor programme to FP7.  You can read more on the SusChem blog. And the full details are here on the European Commission website