EU funds for agriculture research should broaden its focus, say stakeholders
Agricultural research within the context of a European Research Area (ERA) should take into account a broad range of priorities in addition to simply farming, according to stakeholders who met at a major conference in Versaille, France last December, from which proceedings are now available on-line. 'Future agricultural research must take into account the needs and views of European society and consumers,' concluded policy makers, scientists, farmers and other stakeholders at the event. Working groups set up during the conference proposed an 'agriculture research area, which should be open to public understanding and scrutiny as a means of building credibility.' And they called for a change of emphasis from research programmes traditionally serving the farmer to strategies supporting the needs of society as a whole, reports the Commission's Research Directorate-General. Other recommendations covering specific instruments to help shape an ERA included promotion of research infrastructures, mobility of researchers, the role of the regions and candidate countries, and how research could help determine agricultural and food policy legislation. 'Research must also contribute to the competitiveness of European agriculture,' they added.