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Petition to the Austrian Presidency
and to the Permanent Representatives to the European Union
Cc: to the President of the European Commission
Cc: to the President of the European Parliament
Cc: to the President of the Committee of Regions
A European Petition for Research and Innovation
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The signatories below urge the Austrian Presidency and the Member States to review the agreement of the European Council from December 19th, 2005 on the Financial Perspectives 2007-2013 and to accept without cuts or revisions the European Commission’s initial budget proposals for the 7th Framework Programme (2007-2013) of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (FP7) and the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP, 2007-2013) for the following reasons :
- Europe cannot compete in the global economy by selling natural resources, and Europe does not want to compete by offering the lowest salaries; Europe can only compete with goods and services that are based on the highest technological standards, know-how and innovative skills. To do so, Europe needs, as a matter of urgency, to close the research and innovation investment gap that distances us today from the United States and Japan;
- Significant investment in research and innovation is the only way ahead if we want to maintain our standards of living and avoid social dumping. It will allow us to achieve economic growth without renouncing social cohesion and without destroying our environment;
- EU research and innovation programmes have the specific merit of structuring European research and innovation activities. They foster EU-wide cooperation and coordination of programmes to ensure that precious financial and knowledge resources are not wasted through the duplication of activities;
- EU research and innovation programmes allow the best teams in Europe to work together and pool expertise and resources, thus creating a critical mass needed for technological advances in sectors of crucial importance to every single Member State;
- The EU’s need for investment is clearly backed up by statistics. The very strong demand for European research and innovation funding has been evidenced by the Commission receiving over 28.000 proposals from over 150.000 institutions in more than 50 countries through the now-ending 6th Framework Programme. However, only one proposal out of five are set to be given the green light - not due to lack of quality, but due to lack of funds;
- Economic modelling used for the Commission’s FP7 proposal show that the planned budget increase would lead to additional annual GDP growth of 0.5-1% until 2030. In the same period, 1 million new employment positions would be created. European competitiveness would considerably improve, with exports increasing by 0.6%;
- Investing more EU funds in research and innovation contributes to the improvement of the European research area by leveraging private investment and convincing large companies to remain key investors in Europe. It will also help reverse a critical ‘brain drain’ of those in Europe’s research sector seeking more favourable and dynamic conditions abroad;
- Last but not least, the doubling of the EU research and innovation budget sends a clear and strong signal that the European Union is both serious about and committed to the creation of a broad and durable base of research and innovative skills for all economic actors, be they in Europe or the rest of the world.
Research, development and innovation activities are at the heart of economic growth and employment policy in Europe. Responsible decision-makers should fully support the European Commission’s research and innovation budget proposals. They should not neglect research and innovation today for short-term budget agreements, as this would result in serious loss of competitiveness, employment and wealth tomorrow.
Cutting the research and innovation budget is cutting an investment budget, not a simple expense budget. It is damaging future growth, employment and development in Europe.
We therefore trust that Member States will react and align the EU’s Financial Perspectives with their political ambitions.
With the highest respects,
The Signatories :
- Katharina Krell, Secretary General, European Renewable Energy Research Centres Agency, EUREC Agency (initiator)
- Prof. Hans-Jörg Bullinger, President, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, Germany
- Prof. Jerzy Buzek, member of the European Parliament, rapporteur for FP7, former Prime Minister of Poland
- Dr Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, member of the European Parliament, rapporteur for CIP
- Dr Goran Granic´, Director, Energy Institute Hrvoje Pozar, former Vice-Prime Minister of Croatia
- Prof. Anton Anton, Secretary of State, Ministry of Education and Research, President of the National Authority for Scientific Research, Romania
- Pierre Laffitte, Sénateur des Alpes-Maritimes, Vice-Président, Office of Technology Assessment of France, Président Fondateur du Club ELITE, France
- Gérard Collomb, Maire de Lyon, Président du Grand Lyon, Vice Président d'Eurocities, France
- Michel Destot, Maire de Grenoble, France
- Dr Gérard Bonnes, Vice-President, Centre Européen d'Entreprises et d'Innovation CICOM Organisation, Sophia Antipolis Business & Innovation Center, France
- Alain André, Managing Director, Centre Européen d'Entreprises et d'Innovation CICOM Organisation, Sophia-Antipolis, France
- Jean-François Balducchi, Chairman, European Business and Innovation Centres Network (EBN), President of Retis, Managing Director of Atlanpole in Nantes, France
- Raoul Arvengas, Head of Business Development Unit, R&D Division, Gaz de France
- Benoît Legait, Director, Ecole des Mines de Paris, France
- M. Eric Jourdain, Représentant, HTFED European Federation of high tech SMEs, France
- Jean-Michel Barbier, Managing Partner, TechFund Capital Europe Management, France
- Raffy Kazandjian, Director and Venture Partner, Unicorn BioTutors, President, CDC-Innovation Partners, France
- Prof. Ahmet Aykac, Director General, Theseus International Management Institute, France
- Nicolas Imbert, Director, Technoscopie, France
- Dr Eric Jallas, CEO of ITK, lauréat du 5ème Concours national d'aide à la création d'entreprises de technologies innovantes, France
- Pierre Michel, Attaché pour la Science et la Technologie, Ambassade de France en Pologne
- Prof. Katarzyna Cha?asin´ska-Macukow - Rector of Warsaw University, Poland
- Prof. PhD, DSc Wojciech Zielin´ski - Rector of The Silesian University Of Technology, Gliwice, Poland
- Marek Darecki - President, General Manager WSK "PZL-Rzeszow", Poland
- Dr.Wojciech Kuz´mierkiewicz - Industrial Policy Manager, Pharmaceutical Works Polpharma, Poland
- Prof. PhD, DSc Tadeusz Luty - President of Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland, Rector of Wroclaw University of Technology
- Prof. Karol Musio? - Rector of Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
- Dr. Jan Krzysztof Frackowiak - Former Deputy Minister of Science in Poland, 1991 - 2005
- Prof. Roman Kaliszan - Rector of the Medical University of Gdan´sk, Corresponding Member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
- Prof. Wlodzimierz Zagorski-Ostoja - Chairman, Council of Directors of Polish Academy Institutes, Poland
- Prof. Dr Kamen Veselinov, Rector of the Technical University of Sofia, Bulgaria
- Drs. Alexander B. Sakkers, Mayor of the City of Eindhoven, on behalf of Brainport Eindhoven (Eindhoven Region/Southeast Brabant), Netherlands
- Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council, President of Eurocities, United Kingdom
- Dr David Kingham, Chief Executive of Oxford Innovation Ltd, United Kingdom
- Prof. George Smith, FRS, Oxford University, Chairman of Polaron, plc, United Kingdom
- Jim McFarlane, Senior Director East of Scotland, Scottish Enterprise, United Kingdom
- Neil Francis, Deputy Chief Executive, Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian, United Kingdom
- Dr. Jürgen Fritz, Chairman of the Regional Assembly of Stuttgart Region, Germany
- Dr. Frank-W. Strathmann, Chairman of the Board, GründerRegio M, Munich, Germany
- Dr. Jürgen Vogel, European Project Co-ordinator, GründerRegio M e.V, Germany
- Hardy R. Schmitz, CEO, Management GmbH, Berlin Adlershof-City of Science, Technology and Media, Germany
- Dr. Helge Neumann, Executive Manager International Cooperation, WISTA Management GmbH, Berlin Adlershof-City of Science, Technology and Media, Germany
- Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Ernst Th. Rietschel, President, Leibniz Association, Germany
Dr. Uwe Dingerdissen, Director, Leibniz Institute for Catalysis, Berlin, Germany
- Prof. Dr. Günther Tränkle, Director, Ferdinand-Braun-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik, Spokesman Section D, Leibniz Association, Germany
- Dr. Norbert Esser, Head, Department Berlin ISAS - Institute for Analytical Sciences, Germany
- Dr. Falk Fabich, Geschäftsführer, Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V., Germany
- Jens Fahrenberg, Managing Director, KEIMforum e.V., Head of the Marketing, Patents and Licences Department, Research Center Karlsruhe Germany
- Prof. Roberto Fornari, Director, Institute for Crystal Growth (IKZ), Chair of Crystal Growth Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Informatics, Technical University of Brandenburg, German
- Dr. Laurenz Niel, Secretary General, Christian Doppler Research Association, Austria
- Prof. Yiannis Maniatis, Member of Parliament, former Transport and Communications Ministry Secretary General, Greece
- Piergiorgio Monaci, Director of the Economic Activities and Innovation Dept., Province of Milan, Italy
- Prof. Gabriele Falciasecca, President of Emilia Romana Technological Development Agency and President of the Guglielmo Marconi Foundation, Italy
- Prof. Pier Ugo Calzolari, Rector of the University of Bologna, Italy
Verdiana Bandini, Project Manager, ASTER Science Technology Enterprise, Italy
- Enzo Moi, Managing Director, Veneto Innovazione, Italy
- Prof. Vincenzo Pozzolo, President, Torino Politecnico Incubator - I3P, Italy
- Prof. Francesco Profumo, Rector, Torino Politecnico, Italy
- Prof. Gino Ferretti, Rector, University of Parma, Italy
- Prof. Gian Carlo Pellacani, Rector, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy
- Prof. Patrizio Bianchi, Rector, University of Ferrara, Italy
- Professor J.M.D. Coey, FRS, Trinity College Dublin,Founder of Magnetic Solutions Ltd, Ireland
- Peter Holmstedt, Chairman of the Board of Kista Science City AB, Vice-president of the Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
- Roger Kaliff, Chairman of the Executive Committee of SydSam-South Sweden, Member of the Committee of the Regions, Sweden
- Dr. Stina Gestrelius, Vice Managing Director, Medicon Valley Academy, Board Member, NordForsk, Nordic Innovation Center, the Swedish Research Council/Natural Science and Technology Board, and Lund Institute of Technology/ Lund University, Sweden
- Nils Zinn, Managing Director, Sideum Regional Innovation AB, Sweden
- Christer Nilsson, Mayor, Kramfors City, Chairman of BioFuel Region (with 15 Communities and two County Governments), Sweden
- Per Carstedt, Chairman, BioAlcohol Fuel Foundation, Sweden
- Gunnar Fransson, Managing director, Etek Etanolteknik, Sweden
- Jan Lindstedt, Chairman of Swedish Ethanolchemistry Ltd., Sweden
- Keith Silverang, Chief Executive of Technopolis Ventures Ltd, Finland
- Erkki Leppavuori, President, European Association of research an technology organisation (EARTO), President, VTT, Finland
- Uffe Bundgaard-Joergensen, Chairman of the Danish Energy Regulatory Authority, CEO, InvestorNet coordinator, Member of the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences, Denmark
- Stig Jørgensen, Managing Director, Medicon Valley Academy, Denmark
- Prof. Vaclav Paces, Chairman, Academy of Science, Czech Republic
- Clara Eugenia Nuñez, General Director for Research and Universities, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain
- Alfonso González Hermoso, Deputy Director for Research, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain
- Adriano García-Loygorri, Director, Fundacion para el Conocimiento madrí+d, Spain
- Maravillas Rojo, Councillor for Employment and Innovation, Ajuntament de Barcelona, Spain
- Liz Monfort, Managing Director, Barcelona Activa, Ajuntament de Barcelona, Spain
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