Agreement was reached by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers on the Fourth Framework Programme on Research and Technology Development on the 26th April 1994. It encompasses all the European Union's effort in the fields of research, technological development and demonstration for five years and is directed at improving the competitiveness of European industry and the quality of life within the member states. The Fourth Framework Programme gives UK industry and academia the opportunity to share in a 12.3 billion ECU (£9.6 billion) European Union budget for research and technological development. The role of the UK in defining the content of the programme, and the UK's contribution to it are briefly discussed.