Skip to main content
European Commission logo print header

Article Category

Content archived on 2022-12-21

Article available in the following languages:

The Research DG has a regional role to play, says Mitsos

The Research Directorate General has a real role to play in promoting regional development, Achilleas Mitsos, the Commission's Research Director-General told CORDIS News in an exclusive interview at a high profile meeting of the conference of peripheral maritime regions meetin...

The Research Directorate General has a real role to play in promoting regional development, Achilleas Mitsos, the Commission's Research Director-General told CORDIS News in an exclusive interview at a high profile meeting of the conference of peripheral maritime regions meeting in Valencia on 24 February. Representatives from more than 130 regions across Europe converged in Spain's third largest city to participate in discussions with Commission officials and Ministers from Spain, Sweden and Belgium, focusing on research, development and innovation policy and the challenges for prospects for territorialisation. Mr Mitsos believes that the European Commission really can help improve the state of research, development and innovation in the regions, which in turn will drive local economies. 'The regional policy Directorate-General is very much involved in [regional development],' Mr Mitsos told CORDIS News. 'But from the research side, what we can do is try to achieve a certain partnership with our colleagues and also with the regions. We believe that we cannot talk about the European research area (ERA) without giving the regions the role that they deserve. In such a way we are not involved in the actual decision making process of the regions, but we hope that we will achieve a partnership with them.' The regions have a major role to play in establishing the ERA - particularly with respect to innovation, adds Mitsos. 'It is simply wrong to believe that everything can be decided in Brussels or in the Council of Ministers. If the regions are not mobilised in the same perspective, then we are not going to achieve our objectives.' In response to concerns expressed by some peripheral European regions that they may become increasingly marginalised as a result of the Community research focus shifting in favour of large scale projects conducted in centres of excellence, the Director-General was clear: 'We are promoting networks of excellence, not centres of excellence...We are not trying to say that everything has to be concentrated where the centres of excellence already exist. On the contrary, we think that there are small or bigger centres of excellence everywhere in Europe and even if they do network and close and link their work among themselves, then what they are doing is not sufficient. So what we are promoting is a network of excellence so that all the networks that exist in each country and each region can find their place in this perspective.' To do this, the Commission proposes to establish 'virtual networks of excellence': 'Today's technology allows us to network in a very complete sense because by networking of course we don't mean that they have to be together. We mean that they have to be virtually together...this is more than enough.' So the research Directorate General wants to encourage research centres to network increasingly between themselves. The Commission's recent proposal to the European Parliament and Council, published on 21 February includes seven priorities that will, says Mitsos (provided Council and Parliament approve) be served exclusively by new instruments: networks of excellence, large projects and variable geometry. 'In other words we're no longer going to have small projects; only major projects. But major projects where small actors have their place, of course, but in an integrated fashion. So we will end up having instead of 20,000 projects something like a thousand projects, or maybe even less. [These will be] bigger projects. But again, I repeat, bigger projects does not mean bigger actors.' Is he confident of a warm reception for the proposal for the framework programme for 2002 to 2006 by the European Parliament and the forthcoming informal meeting of the Council of Ministers in Uppsala? 'We are very optimistic because in terms of its overall budget...it falls entirely within the financial perspectives that have already been decided. We think that we are not going to have major problems and therefore of course what we want is to have concentrated discussions on the new modalities and as every new thing it will require some pedagogical discussions and some negotiations but at the end of the day I think that everybody realises now that this impact of other actions has to be increased and in order to do that we need new instruments and we also need to concentrate our efforts where the real needs are. In a sense, we believe that what we propose is not so far from today's general feeling let's say,' he concluded gesturing towards colleagues networking against the impressive backdrop of Valencia's city of art and the sciences. 'Yes. We are confident.'

Related articles