> hi hans > > could you tell us your reasons for withdrawing your support? > > we are all pioneers on this cyber-frontier > which seems to entice with the promise > of 'instant' communication > > is there anything here that we can learn from? > > janet > > janet paterson - 51 now /41 dx /37 onset - almonte/ontario/canada > [log in to unmask] Hi Janet and others members, Here Benedicte, french member of our european group. We have some differents points of view in the way to drive the action toward the European Parliament with Hans. But we continue and have already some results. Below two responses of members of the European Committee among many others: Content-Identifier: Fifth Framework Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 13:52:30 +0100 To: <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Fifth Framework programme. Medical research 1998-2002 Content-Disposition: inline Dear Madam Ana Mari, Thank you for your fax and email concerning research in the field of Parkinson disease. Further to all the disussions with your group and others interested in this very important field, I am pleased to inform you that research on Parkinson disease will have HIGH priority within the fifth framework programme. We hope that the first call for applications will be in early next year(Feb) and the closing date in April. Best regards S.S.Baig . Principal Scientist European Commisson Brusssels ----------- From: "Stephen P. Gosden To: <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: parkinson Dear Ana Mari, Thanks for your enquiry regarding the Fifth Framework Programme. I will answer your question in a moment, but should perhaps first point out that I work at the European Commission, not the European Parliament. If your wish is to bring this to the attention of the Parliament, too, may I suggest you write to the Chairman of the EP Research Committee To return to your question, one of the six "key actions" of the first thematic programme under the Fifth FP is entitled "The Ageing Population". I quote below from the Commission's proposal: "The overriding goal of this key action is to promote quality of life and healthy ageing and independence in old age by preventing and treating age-related diseases and disability, and their societal consequences. A complementary objective will be to reduce the need for long-term care and limit the constantly increasing costs of health-care systems. [First topic] RTD into age-related illnesses and health problems with high morbidity where there is a real prospect of significant prevention, treatment or delay in onset. RTD priorities: studies on major age-related diseases (e.g. Parkinson_s and Alzheimer_s diseases); physiology and pathophysiology of ageing and disability; co-morbidity studies." (NB: there are other RTD topics and priorities under this key action; this is simply the first in the list.) This key action was allocated 7.6% of the proposed budget, but, now that the approved budget is lower than the one we proposed, there may need to be some adjustment. To give you an idea, however, 7.6% of the approved budget for this thematic programme would amount to about 183 million euros. How much of the 7.6% would be for Parkinson's disease I don't think anyone can say at this juncture. The EP will be debating its report on the Commission's proposals this week, and the Council of Ministers will adopt amended versions shortly thereafter - some in December, we expect, and the rest in January. At that point the budget for each key action will be clear. You draw a parallel with the USA, but you must remember that most publicly-funded research in Europe is carried out by the Member States at a national level, whereas in the USA it is centralised in the NIH etc. The Commission accounts for only about 4% of publicly-funded research in Europe. To compare properly the funds devoted to PD research in Europe with those in the US, you must find out how much each Member State is spending in national programmes and add that to the EC contribution. I hope this helps to answer your queries, and to reassure you that tackling this terrible disease has an important place in the European Union's priorities. Yours sincerely, Stephen Gosden European Commission We hope to have still your support Benedicte Boutet [log in to unmask] on behalf with Dietmar Wessel Germany Jeremy Browne England Ana Mari Del Arco Spain Martine Semal Belgium