Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union

News - 26/11/2010 By antoine.simon2

Gathered today (26/11/2010) in Brussels under the presidency of the Belgian Benoît Cerexhe, the Research Ministers have adopted conclusions that they have elaborated together with their colleagues in charge of Industry and which follow this communication.

On 6 October 2010, the European Commission presented a communication with the title « An Innovation Union », a large inventory of handicaps Europe suffers from as regards research and innovation, and possible solutions to evolve towards a new European economy based on knowlegde and innovation.

 

In the face of persisting fragmentation, the Ministers draw attention to the need of a strategic and integrated approach of innovation. There must be a strategic and integrated steering of innovation in Europe. That means that national policies and the European agenda must converge, there must be more interaction between the European programmes and any form of duplication must be avoided. Who says « strategic agenda », also says « prioritize », especially in function of a criterion of added European value.

 

The Ministers claim that in the same respect education and training, research, development, innovation and key technologies are strategic investments to which priority should be given despite of the crisis and the big budget problems which weigh on all governments. A lot of participants have reminded that fundamentals must be reinforced: without solid higher education and fundamental research being oriented toward excellence, there simply is no qualitative applied research.

The Ministers also stress that it's urgent to create conditions which are more favourable to investment in innovation (in the large sense) and to facilitate the transformation of research results into products and services that create growth and jobs. This in particular as regards the funding needs of companies, convergence of the Framework-Programme and structural funds towards the 2020 Strategy objectives, simplification, normalization, public contracts,... The shortening of circuits between research and the market implies the acquisition of the « SME reflex » in all measures and all programmes, as well as taking into account the needs of the industry.

 

As the European Parliament already had done in a resolution adopted on last 11 November, the Council welcomed the partnerships for innovation, which are one of the major novelties of the « Innovation Plan » of the European Commission. It's not about a new programme, which would conflict with the simplification imperative, but rather about a change in method. The Union wants to make supply and demand meet in fields where the new societal challenges demand for new technological breakthroughs and new solutions.

Hence, there is a an agreement in principle on this new working method, but for the Council to be able to endorse quickly the first pilot partnership, the Commission has been invited to clarify the selection criteria of future partnerships and their way of functioning. This first partnership is about ageing while maintaining an active life style and good health. Which innovating solutions (technological and others) for older people to be able to remain autonomous during a longer period?

 

The adopted conclusions today are accompanied by a « roadmap », which enables the Council to identify the measures to be carried out by the Commission and also by the Member States in 2011.

 

Some examples among these priorities, which have been subject to an exchange of views between Ministers :

• Better link research programmes and structural funds with each other in function of the EU 2020 Strategy (« for a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth ») ;
• Better meet funding needs of (young) innovating companies with venture capital;
• Make better use of the potential of the public sector in Europe with public contracts as a means of leverage;
• Complete the « missing links » of the European Research Area, notably as regards mobility or researchers' retirement pay or as regards the sharing of research infrastructures;

 

Moreover the Belgian Presidency has added a declaration to the Council conclusions that reminds of the importance of the patent in order to stimulate innovation in Europe. The European Commission has also issued a declaration in which it regrets that the patent is not mentioned in the conclusions.

Joint programming

A new hurdle has also been taken as regards the European research « joint programming ». The joint programming is part of the efforts that Europe is undertaking and must continue to undertake to overcome the handicaps it suffers from as regards research, especially fragmentation, dispersion of means, and even useless competition between Member States, through the implementation of better coordinated research programmes in a certain number of major societal challenges.

After the adoption of 3 new themes at the Council of last October ("Agriculture, food security and climate change" ; "Cultural heritage and global change: a new challenge for Europe" ; "Healthy food for a healthy life"), the council has approved today the frame conditions of the joint programming. These « instructions for use» will enable the actual start of the joint programming, that is founded on a communication of the Commission already dating back to July 2008. Hence we can only encourage the stakeholders to move on and to settle without lingering their « strategic research agenda » in the approved fields, including the pilot initiative on combating neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Alzheimer's disease.

 

State of play of the European Research Area

The Council took note of a progress report established by the Belgian Presidency on different aspects of the European Research Area (Human Resources; Research Programmes; Research Infrastructures ; Knowledge-sharing; International cooperation). The Ministers repeated in their conclusions the necessity to complete the European Research Area, in order to accomplish free movement of researchers and knowledge.

The council took note of an interim evaluation report accomplished by a group of independent experts on the 7th research framework programme of the EU for 2007-2013.

The Council has also apprehended a progress report from the president of the strategic Forum for international S&T cooperation (SFIC), including a pilot project with INDIA in the field of aquatic ressources.

 

ITER

The Council took note of a cost containment plan presented by the "Fusion for Energy" agency (the agency in charge of managing the European contribution to ITER), as the Council invited it to do in July. The Council took note of the first formulated proposals to this effect and has asked that new efforts are made with a view to significant cost reduction. Besides, the council has apprehended Commission information on the improvement of governance of the ITER project, and demanded « an urgent incentive » as regards management and management control.