CEE (Central and Eastern European) countries to join EU Research & Development programme:

Cyprus and ten Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries have signed association agreements with the European Union giving researchers in those countries access to the EU's Fifth Framework Research Programme. The programme, which covers the period from 1999 to 2002, makes it easier for research institutes, universities and businesses to form partnerships and benefit from collaborative projects. The results of the first call for proposals showed strong interest from these countries, which in turn will open up their research programmes to scientists in the EU, the European Commission said. The countries, all of whom have applied for EU membership, are Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.