On December 6, 2011 the Council of the European Union has published its Conclusions on the five “Joint Programming Initiatives” (JPIs) "Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans”, "The microbial challenge - An emerging threat to human health", "Connecting Climate Knowledge for Europe", "Urban Europe - Global Challenges, Local Solutions" and "Water Challenges for a Changing World".

The Council stresses that the JPIs will help to lessen fragmentation of research efforts of the member states and thereby contribute to European competitiveness.

The participating member states are invited to develop a common vision and common Strategic Research Agendas (SRA) as well as management structures taking into account the Voluntary Guidelines on Framework Conditions and the expertise available from the European Commission. Member states are asked to report to the Council on progress made in the JPIs through the High Level Group on Joint programming (GPC) or the European Research Area Committee (ERAC).

The Commission is invited to support the JPIs with complementary measures and to assess further possibilities of support. The Commission shall inform the Council and the European Parliament on the progress of the JPIs.

The Conclusions also address individual recommendations to each of the five JPIs.

Further information on Joint Programming is available on the KoWi-Website:

The Council Conclusions are available at:

en/new-documents