A new healthcare model in Europe based on preventive and personalised health systems is needed in Europe and can only be achieved using information and communication technologies (ICT), the European Commissioner for Information society and Media, Viviane Reding, told participants at the "ICT for Biomedical Sciences 2006" conference in Brussels on 29 June. Computational simulation and modelling were cited as cornerstones to this new model.

Finland has announced its priorities for research and innovation during its Presidency of the EU, started on 1 July: concluding negotiations on the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7); and developing a broad-based innovation policy.

The European Commission has adopted an amended proposal for the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), which seeks to incorporate amendments made by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers in their first readings. The Commission reports that the revised proposals "take up in spirit and content if not necessarily always with the exact wording, to a large proportion the position taken by the other institutions".

Software that gives doctors much-needed help in the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours is being developed by an international consortium of scientists and medics.

The technology will give medical staff access to the results of hi-tech scans and laboratory tests gathered from across Europe and will enable them to respond more effectively to new cases of this disease which is notoriously hard to treat. The unprecedented access which the HealthAgents initiative affords will be of particular benefit to the many children and young adults who develop these tumours.

The recent EU-US summit in Vienna has opened the door to increased cooperation between European and US researchers, especially in the areas of education, environment, energy efficiency, global pandemics and new energy sources.

52% of those polled in the latest Eurobarometer survey on biotechnology, published today, indicated a belief that biotechnology will improve their quality of life. The Eurobarometer "Europeans and biotechnology in 2005" shows that most Europeans are in favour of medical (red) applications of biotechnology when there are clear benefits for human health; and industrial (white) applications, but they are still mostly sceptical about agricultural (green) biotech, and will continue to be so unless new crops and products are seen to have consumer benefits.

The European Parliament has adopted the report outlining the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) by an overwhelming majority. This endorses the structure of FP7. The report now gives broad support to the European Commission's proposed work programme, which will have a budget of EUR 50,521 billion. The Parliament also adopted, by a large majority, the report on the proposed European Atomic Energy Community's seventh Framework Programme (EURATOM).