General Information ECLAIR: European Collaborative Linkage of Agriculture and Industry

ECLAIR: European Collaborative Linkage of Agriculture and Industry

ECLAIR is a five year research programme (1988-1993), designed with the clear intention of improving the links between agriculture and industry by encouraging close collaboration in individual research and technological development projects based on recent progress in the life sciences and biotechnology. ECLAIR thus has close continuing links with the Community's BRIDGE programme, as well as long historical roots: in the recommendations of the first 'FAST Programme' (1982), in the 1984 study report 'Cereal Crops for Industrial use in Europe', prepared for the Commission (CUBE) by Lars Munck and Finn Rexen; in the 1985 'Great Debate' on the future of Community agriculture and the Common Agricultural Policy; and in a very fruitful 'Call for Expressions of Interest' launched at the instigation of VicePresident Narjes in 1986.

The priority is to encourage the transfer of technology in the areas where it will have most practical and economic benefit. This involves the production and testing of new products derived from agricultural raw materials, and the development of new inputs for agriculture such as crops, fertilisers, pesticides, vaccines, growth promoters, etc, often using the most uptodate biotechnological techniques.

All the projects funded by ECLAIR are 'precompetitive' in nature, that is to say the products and processes developed during the course of the programme will require a further two to three years development before commercialisation.

The scope of the programme is broad, covering:

1. The development of inputs from agriculture to industry; this includes projects on new species and organisms -- some of which may be better suited to industrial applications -- as well as the development of techniques which improve the costeffectiveness and quality of agricultural production;

The development of inputs from industry to agriculture; this includes the development of new processes which will increase the use and value of agricultural produce in industrial applications;

3. The development of integrated approaches between agriculture and industry this includes the development of methods of harvesting the whole crop and extracting its various components for industrial! use.

The call for proposals for the ECLAIR Programme was launched on 17 December 1988 with a 31 March 1989 deadline. The 220 proposals received involved a total budget of about 700 Mio ECU's, requesting funding of up to 400 Mio ECU's from the Community, and included 1,410 participating institutions, industries, researchers, etc. The total budget of the ECLAIR Programme is only 80 Mio ECU's (of which about 15 Mio ECU's are to be spent on training/mobility grants, studies, workshops, and the management of the programme). A selection was therefore undertaken which lead to 46 selected proposals, some of which were merged into joint projects, resulting in a final total of 42 research projects. The total budget is 130 Mio ECU's, with an ECcontribution of 63 Mio ECU's. There are some 360 institutions from all the member states participating, in the form of 'SMEs' (small medium enterprises), large industries, universities, and government research institutions.

It will take a number of years before the full impact of this programme is felt; however, the projects complement and support the many new industrial applications increasingly available in the agroindustrial sector. If successfully developed, they will open up completely new opportunities for European agriculture.

ECLAIR funding has now been totally allocated. Further Community funding for such activities is foreseen in the specific programme on 'Agricultural and Agrolndustrial Research' within the 3rd Framework Programme.

This brochure describes the publishable contents of the second year research results for the ECLAIR programme for both first and second wave projects.

The project reports are presented in three sections; general objectives of the project, current state of the projects, and finally specific objectives and summary for the individual partners over the reporting period, where the milestones and deliverables are generally described.

For further specific project information please contact the Scientific Coordinator concerned.