French research minister meets MEPs Members of the European Parliament's research committee had the chance yesterday to question the former MEP Roger-Gérard Schwartzenberg, the current President of the Research Council, on his plans for European research policy under the French Presidency. The French research m... Members of the European Parliament's research committee had the chance yesterday to question the former MEP Roger-Gérard Schwartzenberg, the current President of the Research Council, on his plans for European research policy under the French Presidency. The French research minister said guidance was needed at European level on providing an ethical framework for European progress in the life sciences and particularly biotechnology. MEPs underlined the need for developing an ethical policy, covering genetically modified organisms and future possibilities such as the cloning of humans. Ethical advice in this and other areas could be provided to the various European institutions by an Academy for Science and Technology, an independent body modelled along the lines of the American academy of science, said Schwartzenberg. A list of 2,000 names of eminent scientific persons would be proposed by Member States in order to establish a membership of 150 experts, giving greater visibility to European science. Questioned by French MEP Yves Piétrasanta on how he would fund such a body and how this would affect the Commission's existing systems for providing independent expert advice, he said there might need to be some reorganisation of funding systems, but that the academy would not replace the Commission's advisory groups. 'What we need in Europe is something more visible, a body to communicate an overall view of what's happening in the different countries,' he said. The French research minister lent his support to Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin's initiative for a European research area (ERA), promising that finding ways to implement this policy would be his top priority. To this end, Mr Schwartzenberg plans to promote the mobility of researchers and encourage greater interplay between academic and business-oriented research. Discussion of how research infrastructures can be mobilised in this direction will be discussed at a conference in Strasbourg in September, and an assessment of European science will be attempted in October during a conference in Lyon. Schwartzenberg made reference 'to what our Anglo-Saxon colleagues call benchmarking' as one of the most important tools for assessing the success of the ERA, particularly in the field of innovation. The Council will give an opinion on the European innovation scoreboard in preparation by the Commission on 16 November. Technological developments in electronic communications has made communication between European researchers much easier. These links will be further improved said Mr Schwartzenberg, upon the development of the high speed broadband network with a speed of 2.5 gigabits per second developed under the Géant programme, agreed at the last meeting of the Research Council. Following up on the Portuguese Presidency's success in promoting the Information Society, Schwartzenberg promised to ensure Europe plays a major role in the knowledge-based society that is open to all. To this end he will promote measures to support SMEs, technological companies and the Commission's eEurope project. 'The construction of the European Research Area has an economic goal and a social goal,' he said. 'Everybody should benefit from the Information Society.' The public must be involved and informed on developments in European science if the ERA is to become a reality, said Schwartzenberg. However the public perception of science has suffered following several crises of confidence in food production, and so in December the French research ministry has organised a seminar to discuss how to bring scientists closer to the public and promote 'common sense in science'. Schwartzenberg's proposal to create a European agency for the dissemination of science and technological results will, he hopes, improve public knowledge of scientific developments, both in Europe, and in the accession countries who will eventually participate in European research, an aspect Schwartzenberg considers particularly important. 'We want Europe to be open to the rest of the world,' he said. The French Presidency will also bear a major responsibility in the preparations for the Sixth Framework programme and the last Euratom programme. Schwartzenberg said he was working in cooperation with the Commission and the forthcoming Swedish and Belgian presidencies to provide a road map by the end of the year. Bearing in mind the strategic guidance provided by the five-year annual assessment of the framework programmes produced by an external panel for the Commission, Schwartzenberg said the Council would vote on the first guidelines for the Sixth Framework programme on 16 November. Countries France
