2 THE EUROPEAN RESEARCH AREA
(28547)
8322/07
COM(07) 161
+ ADD 1
| Commission Green paper — The European Research Area: New
Perspectives
Commission staff working document
|
| Legal base | —
|
| Document originated | 4 April 2007
|
| Deposited in Parliament |
17 April 2007 |
| Department | Trade and Industry
|
| Basis of consideration |
EM of 30 April 2007 |
| Previous Committee Report |
None |
| Discussed in Council | 26-27 April 2007
|
| Committee's assessment | Politically important
|
| Committee's decision | For debate in European Standing Committee
|
The European Research Area
2.1 In March 2000, as part of its strategy for Europe to become
the world's most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy,
the European Council endorsed the Commission's proposals for the
establishment of a European Research Area (ERA). The ERA was conceived
as:
- an internal market for research, where research workers and
knowledge would circulate freely;
- in which initiatives could be implemented and
funded at European-level; and
- where there would be coordination of national
and regional research activities, programmes and policies.
The Green Paper
2.2 The Commission says that the purpose of its Green
paper is to assess what has been achieved so far and to reflect
on what remains to be done to make the ERA a reality.
2.3 It is accompanied by a Commission staff working
document (ADD 1) which enlarges upon the analysis in the Green
Paper and provides supporting information.
2.4 The Commission believes that, while progress
has been made in establishing the ERA, much remains to be done.
For example, EC funding for research through the 6th
and 7th R&D Framework Programmes has increased
substantially and arrangements have been established to improve
the coordination of Member States' research activities. But there
are still unjustified obstacles to the free movement of research
workers within the ERA and between the public and private sectors.
Moreover, the EU is nowhere near reaching its 2010 target for
3% of GDP to be invested in R&D; the proportion in 2005 was
1.85%.
2.5 In the Commission's view, the ERA should comprise
six elements:
i) "An adequate flow of competent
researchers". So, for example, research workers should
have attractive working conditions and be able to move freely
across borders and between the public and private sectors and
between academic disciplines.
ii) "World-class research
infrastructures". Joint European ventures should
build and run large and expensive facilities for research purposes,
which should be readily accessible to researchers from anywhere
in the EC and elsewhere.
iii) "Excellent research institutions".
Research institutions should compete and cooperate with each other
and take part in public-private partnerships. "Such partnerships
should be at the core of specialised — mostly interdisciplinary
— 'clusters' which would attract a critical mass of human
and financial resources from across the world. The European Research
Area should thus progressively structure itself along the lines
of a powerful web of research and innovation clusters."[1]
iv) "Effective knowledge sharing".
This would include: open and easy access to the public knowledge
base; a simple and harmonised system of patent and intellectual
property rights; and shared principles for the transfer of knowledge
from publicly-funded research to industry.
v) "Well coordinated research programmes
and priorities". For example, common priorities should
be identified; scientists, industry and civil society should be
involved in the process; and national and regional research programmes
"should offer confidence that the main principles governing
applications for research funding are comparable across the EU
and ensure the highest level of quality".[2]
vi) "A wide opening of the European
Research Area to the world", with special emphasis
on working with the EU's near neighbours as well as multilateral
cooperation on global issues.
2.6 The Commission says that it may take longer to
establish some of these elements than others and that the ERA
may not be fully realised before about 2020. Urgent action should
be taken to make progress as quickly as possible.
2.7 Against this background, the Green Paper goes
on to list 35 questions. For example, under the heading "Strengthening
research institutions", question 18 asks "Is there a
need for a European regulatory initiative to facilitate the creation
of public-private partnerships?" And under the heading "Optimising
research programmes and priorities", question 25 asks "Should
common principles be developed and used for peer review, quality
assurance and joint evaluations of European, national and regional
research programmes? Should these programmes be opened to participants
from other Member States, and how?"
2.8 The Commission invites views on the questions
by the end of August. In the light of the responses to the Green
Paper, the Commission will propose "initiatives" in
2008.
The Government's view
2.9 The Minister of Science and Technology at the
Department of Trade and Industry (Malcolm Wicks) tells us that
UK practice is in line with many of the things advocated in the
Green Paper. He says that the subjects on which the Commission
wishes to stimulate debate are important. He adds that:
"It would be undesirable if any actions
emerging from this process were to inhibit the UK's ability to
take forward actions at national levels designed to strengthen
the UK science base or impose legislative solutions in fields
where UK practice is in advance of that elsewhere in Europe. In
taking the debate on the issues raised by the Green Paper forward,
the Government will seek, therefore, to ensure that proposals
for future action by Member States should be, wherever possible,
based on voluntary approaches, such as the Open Method of Coordination,
and take full account of the diversity on national research systems."
Conclusion
2.10 In our view, the Green Paper raises issues
of major importance for both the UK and the EC. We recommend,
therefore, that it should be debated in European Standing Committee.
We also recommend that the debate should be held in good time
for the Government to be able to take account of the views of
the House in preparing its response to the Green Paper.
1 Green Paper, page 8, third bullet point. Back
2
Green Paper, page 9, fifth bullet point. Back
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