91996E1675

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1675/96 by Edith Müller (V) to the Commission (24 June 1996)

Subject: Framework research programme - basic socio-economic research (TSER) - research on social exclusion and social integration

In response to the first call for the submission of proposals in June 1995 the Commission received more than 500 project proposals. These were assessed by outside experts; in the end, 11 projects were approved, at least six of which are concerned with the development of databases.

Does the Commission really believe that the development of databases should be the main purpose of basic socio-economic research?

Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission (5 September 1996)

In response to the first call for the submission of proposals, the Commission received 242 project proposals in area 3 (research on social exclusion and social integration in Europe), 11 of which were selected. None of the 11 selected proposals focus primarily on the development of new databases; on the contrary, the majority of the selected proposals will exploit existing databases in the framework of their research.

With regard to the main purpose of the programme implemented by the Commission, the Honourable Member is asked to refer to Annex I of the Decision adopting the programme (94/915/EC ((OJ L 361 of 31 December 1994. ))) which states that the research in the three areas of the programme will require high priority for conceptual and methodological work on constructing and integrating data and indicator systems as a common effort of the European social science research community with the aim of becoming comparable Europe-wide and establishing a common research infrastructure (Annex I(1), paragraph 3). Consequently, the development of databases, although not the principal objective, is nevertheless an important aspect of the programme.