EU meets its commitments on ITER - Main contents

EU meets its commitments on ITER

The Council today confirmed¹ the additional financing of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in 2012 and 2013, on the basis of a compromise reached between the Polish presidency, representatives of the European Parliament and the Commission on 1 December (/11 REV I)².

This means that additional EUR 1.2 billion in commitments will be made available for ITER in the coming two years. The amount supplements the EUR 100 million which have already been secured through the 2012 EU budget

This agreement allows the European Union to meet its international commitments on the financing of ITER which is conducted together with China, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the USA. The reactor is seated in Cadarache, France and is currently under construction

This decision was taken by the Justice and Home Affairs Council. Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden abstained

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The EUR 1.2 billion in commitments will be financed by a combination of the following sources

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  EUR 840 million will be covered by a revision of the multiannual financial framework: the ceilings for sub-heading la (competitiveness for growth and employment) will be increased by EUR 650 million in 2012 and EUR 190 million in 2013, and this increase will be offset by a decrease of the ceilings for heading 2 (preservation and management of natural resources) of EUR 450 million in 2011 and heading 5 (administration) of EUR 243 million in 2011 and EUR 147 million in 2012
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  EUR 360 million will be made available within the 2013 budget procedure. Any further ITER-related revision of the multiannual financial framework has been excluded

The 2013 ceiling for total payments will be increased by EUR 580 million and offset by a corresponding decrease of the 2011 ceiling