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Show 1 CLEAN COAL TECHNOLOGY FOR THE 21 st CENTURY: RTD STRATEGY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 1M. Bemtgen European Commission Directorate General for Science, Research and Development DG Xll-F-3 (M075 711) 200 rue de la Loi 1049 Brussels Belgium FOREWORD The Maastricht Treaty will be providing a new political and institutional context to the European integration process. All European Union (EU) policies and activities are given a new impetus with the aim of setting up the basis for an economic, monetary and eventually a political union. Research and Technological Development (RID) policy is not an exception. As a result, the European Union's RID activity in the field of energy has to be defined according to the objectives of the Treaty in general as well as more specifically to those of the European Union's RID and Energy Policy. Thus, it is of particular importance to: secure a stable energy supply at acceptable costs; use energy sources in an optimal way protecting the environment and contributing to the obj ective of stabilisation of CO2; maintain the competitiveness of the European Union's industry and the high technology standards of its energy industry; allow full use of the internal market for all producers and users of energy RID; contribute to optimal utilisation of regional energy sources and strengthening the economic and social cohesion; pave the way for technology cooperation with third countries, in particular in Central and Eastern Europe. As far as funding is concerned, the substantial increase for research and technology which occurred in the last few years is not likely to continue. Moreover, the forthcoming Fourth Framework Programme foresees the allocation of some of the resources to the demonstration activities. This evolution and related requirements will have significant consequences on energy RID. It is now time to start a new way of thinking in order to define an actual energy strategy which is consistent with the new priorities of the EU policy. In order to do so, the driving forces of the future strategy and its objectives should be clearly established; its orientation will have to be consistent with the new political and institutional framework; its implementation should be synchronized with the implementation of the other policies or instruments. |