Policies

RESEARCH IN EUROPE

European research policy and the implementation of European research programmes is one of the most important European policies.

Research and technological development are of major importance especially in the field of global competition due to advances in scientific and technological progress. For many years, notwithstanding the limited availability of economic means, European research has been carrying out projects aimed at pulling together, businesses, including SME's, with universities and research centres in order to better develop common projects which should result in more successes.

The added value of European research is clear to see in the success of the Framework Programmes which have been developed so far. Research should act as the basis for a solid economy which should result in increased employment.

The European Parliament has been given the task of ensuring that the Framework Programme makes full use of all instruments available to it, and to face all challenges and unforeseen risks so that the needs of the European citizens are taken into account. European citizens are requesting research and technological and knowledge development to give concrete answers to their needs.

The main basis and instruments of EU R&TD policy are the multi-annual Framework Programmes for research and technological development, which set objectives, priorities and the financial package of support for a period of usually five years.

The Framework Programme has two main strategic objectives: Strengthening the scientific and technological bases of industry and to encourage its international competitiveness while promoting research activities in support of other EU policies.

The Sixth Framework Programme is now in force and like its predecessors continues to be a useful instrument with a significant impact on research activities in Member States.

The new Framework Programme aims to introduce two new instruments, networks of excellence and integrated projects:

• networks of excellence aim to integrate progressively the activities of partners networked through "virtual" centres of excellence,
• integrated projects are substantial in size and aim at constituting a critical mass in research activities focusing on clearly defined scientific and technological objectives.

In parallel, there is the possibility to use an instrument provided for by the Treaty: the EU will participate in research programmes undertaken by several Member States.

The adoption of the 6th Framework Research Programme is a major success for the European Parliament and for the EPP-ED Group in particular. In the allocation of the budget for the Sixth Framework Programme, the structure of the programme has been changed following EPP-ED suggestions to ensure more fundamental research. On life science and health our Group has called for more traditional diseases to be added to the programme instead of limiting research to the fields of genomics and biotechnology. The diseases given priority in the programme are cancer, cardiovascular disease, degenerating diseases of the nervous system such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, diabetes, viral hepatitis C, allergies and rare diseases. Our Group also felt it important to incorporate epidemiology and prevention policies in genomic and biotechnological research and to place greater emphasis on research into poverty-linked diseases such as malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis.

The EPP-ED succeeded in increasing the budget for health giving more attention to major diseases and in particularly to cancer. Thanks to the EPP-ED, major diseases, in particular cancer, obtained more funding for research which will help European citizens.

Our Group stressed the importance of the Information society into the new display systems for mobile phones so that consumers are given more information e.g. on prices when travelling from country to country.

The EPP-ED believes that further research on transport and energy is required because of its importance for sustainable development and the environment to improve research on new forms of energy on sustainable development transports. We also recognise the importance of cultural heritage, as non-renewable resources; it is very important to develop new forms of research in order to preserve our European cultural heritage.

The Research Framework Programme budget has been changed to finance different types of research closer and more helpful to EU citizens. Our Group believes that more money should also be spent on international co-operation and human resources (such as mobility of researchers from one country to another and between the public and private sector). The EPP-ED thinks it is very important to facilitate the mobility of researchers and the exchange of results within research centres in order to improve the quality of researchers in Europe.

The Council has endorsed the overall amount of 16,270 million EUR, as agreed by Parliament on its first reading, maintaining the various components of the programme proposed by the Commission, including the focus on seven thematic priorities areas and the flexible element of the programme, on "Anticipating the EU's scientific and technological needs".

For the first time the Framework Research Programme has been adopted without conciliation. The compromise is a strong success in particular for the EPP-ED Group because most of our wishes have been accepted.

The EPP-ED also supports the idea of creating a European wide research area. The idea of the ERA is to integrate research programmes across borders and across disciplines. Our Group believes that it is important to increase co-operation between the various economic, social and scientific players that promote scientific excellence, competitiveness and innovation, through the European Research Area (ERA) area.

By increasing research spending in real terms by 2010, the EU believes it can fill the gap between the US and Japan.

The EPP-ED Group believes that Space research has to be extended and continued and has to become a strong European priority.

"Space and the way we exploit its potential can bring many benefits to the lives of all Europeans". Without investments in space research and development, we would not have many of the products that we take for granted today, such as internet by satellite and early warning systems for natural disasters.

Space has been at the forefront of technology trends for decades. The demand for smaller and lighter materials and systems, for example, was largely stimulated by the space industry. The need to produce small, powerful, self-contained computers for space-related applications ultimately led to the development of PCs, as well as many other intelligence devices in areas such as cars and medical technologies.

The EPP-ED Group has asked for further investment in human resources and research in order to give the European Space industry an important role and to maintain its market quota in the world economy.

Space technologies represent opportunities for players other than those within the "traditional" space industry - including SMEs, service providers, content providers and private and public users. Digital television, third generation mobile communications and satellite-delivered Internet are good examples of service platforms to which space-systems contribute.

Transferring space technologies from research to industry and shifting from "blue sky" research to commercial applications and from space-specific to other sectors, are major priorities for Europe.


Mario Schwetz