EU Research Funding Provides Opportunity for Auto Industry

The European Union’s 25 member countries, along with the European Parliament and European Commission, recently struck an informal agreement to fund €54.5 billion ($70 billion) for EU research from 2007-2013.

Analysts say the automotive industry can profit handsomely by forming international consortia with other manufacturers, research units and universities to bid for grant money to finance research and development projects.

While the various governing bodies still are busy debating the priorities and administrative rules for this spending, which typically for the EU has an obscure name – the Seventh Framework Program (FP7), a special section for transport already has been proposed by the EC that calls for €4.1 billion ($5.2 billion) for R&D.

While the Commission in the past has placed priority on improving rail and shipping, the thinking has changed this year. EU Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik has convinced the EC of the importance of a high-tech European auto industry by stressing the importance of environmental technology in reducing air pollution.

Speaking in Sweden, he called on the auto industry to “maintain or even increase (its) research spending in the coming years.”

There are other FP7 budgets the auto sector can tap into as well, including €9 billion ($12 billion) for information-technology projects, such as vehicle-navigation development. Biofuels, hybrid-electric-vehicles and hydrogen fuel-cell research could draw on an energy budget of €E2.2 billion ($2.8 billion).

A €2.8 billion ($3.6 billion) budget for space and security research could be useful, especially for global-positioning technologies. Additionally there is €7.4 billion ($9.5 billion) for cutting-edge basic research on all topics, administered by the new European Research Council.

The euro figures may change as the parliament and EU ministers formally agree on the program, but any change unlikely will be radical. Whatever happens, there will be a lot of money available, analysts say.

The key for the auto industry will be to assess annual research-work plans as the Commission draws them up. These will give a good indication of upcoming formal proposals and can be tracked on the EC’s website.

The calls for proposals are most important, because they will lay down in detail the research topics the Commission wants to fund at a particular time, and the administrative procedures applicants must follow.