13. Takes the view that, in order to develop the full potential of public procurement, the criterion of lowest price should no longer be the determining one for the award of contracts, and that it should, in general, be replaced by the criterion of most economically advantageous tender, in terms of economic, social and environmental benefits – taking into account the entire life-cycle costs of the relevant goods, services or works; stresses that this would not exclude the lowest price as a decisive criterion in the case of highly standardised goods or services; asks the Commission to develop, in close cooperation with the Member States, a methodology for the calculation of life-c ...[+++]ycle costs on a broad and non-obligatory basis; stresses that supporting the criterion of ‘maximum economic benefit’ would foster innovation and efforts to achieve the best quality and value, i.e. to comply with the requirements of the Europe 2020 strategy; stresses that this is particularly relevant in relation to public procurement of goods that have an impact on consumers' health – in the food sector, for example – where quality and production methods play an important role; emphasises that public procurement rules should be flexible enough to ensure that passive consumers, for example in hospitals, care facilities for the elderly, schools and kindergartens, have equal access to healthy, value-for-money food, rather than merely the cheapest available option;

13. Takes the view that, in order to develop the full potential of public procurement, the criterion of lowest price should no longer be the determining one for the award of contracts, and that it should, in general, be replaced by the criterion of most economically advantageous tender, in terms of economic, social and environmental benefits – taking into account the entire life-cycle costs of the relevant goods, services or works; stresses that this would not exclude the lowest price as a decisive criterion in the case of highly standardised goods or services; asks the Commission to develop, in close cooperation with the Member States, a methodology for the calculation of life-c ...[+++]ycle costs on a broad and non-obligatory basis; stresses that supporting the criterion of ‘maximum economic benefit’ would foster innovation and efforts to achieve the best quality and value, i.e. to comply with the requirements of the Europe 2020 strategy; stresses that this is particularly relevant in relation to public procurement of goods that have an impact on consumers' health – in the food sector, for example – where quality and production methods play an important role; emphasises that public procurement rules should be flexible enough to ensure that passive consumers, for example in hospitals, care facilities for the elderly, schools and kindergartens, have equal access to healthy, value-for-money food, rather than merely the cheapest available option;

The Commission is currently developing a new life-cycle cost methodology to assess the technical quality of buildings, including energy efficiency.

While I agree with the member opposite that we need to work together to improve the quality of life for aboriginal Canadians, we disagree on the methodology.

Social shaping of technology (University of Edinburgh) Defence restructuring and conversion (International Peace Research Institute, Oslo) Quality and ethical aspects of interventions against drug abuse in Europe (Addiction Research Institute, Zurich) Urban forests and trees in Europe (Danish Forest and Landscape Research Institute) Standardisation and dissemination of serotonin reception imaging methodology (Karolinska Institute, Stockholm) Health effects related to the use of radio telephones (National Institute fo ...[+++]r Working Life, Solna).

The programme, which should make a significant contribution to improving the scientific and technological bases of European industry and improve the quality of life, will mainly strive towards the following goals: - better coordination and rationalization of research efforts in Europe; - increased focusing, within each area, of RTD activities on a smaller number of problems and generic technologies with a multisectoral impact; - better dissemination of research results, in particular vis-à- vis SMEs; - greater contribution from RTD to the implementation of other Union policies; - development of links between research and ...[+++]education/training, with for the first time research into education and training needs and methodologies; - lastly, better exploitation of possible synergies between research policy and economic and social cohesion policy.