European Research policy and the European Commission Communication
The European Commission has issued its first proposals for the development of future European Union programmes to support research activities and policies – the Framework Programme 7 (FP7). The new programme will imply a significant expansion of the European Community research budget for the period 2007-2013. From now until early 2005 the Commission will specify its ideas, however six major objectives have already been published. The Commission intends to: Create European centres of excellence through collaboration between laboratories; launch European technological initiatives; stimulating the creativity of basic research through competition between teams at European level; make Europe more attractive to the best researchers; develop research infrastructure of European interest; and improve the coordination of national research programmes.
Orgalime however would like to present some recommendations to the Commission on how the programme can be modified to better serve the needs of the industry it represents. The current discussion phase is the optimum moment to influence research policy at a European level. Therefore, Orgalime’s R&D group has drafted a position paper which :
• outlines how research policy should be better adapted to our industry’s needs,
• asks the Commission to concentrate more on advanced research and technology than on basic research,
• demands that bureaucracy should be cut and more flexibility allowed,
• gives specific recommendations on how the research instruments should be improved,
• calls for a separate topic for the engineering industry in FP7,
• asks the Commission to support the establishment of a Technology Platform for Manufacturing Enabling Technologies.
References: COM (2004) 353, 16 June 2004