Project consortia to be encouraged to include candidate countries
The European Commission is to encourage EU researchers to include scientists from the EU candidate countries as partners in EU projects, according to Louis Bellemin, DG Research head of unit for international scientific cooperation policy. Speaking at a conference on 'the role of the candidate countries in EU research' on 22 May, Mr Bellemin announced that a special call will soon be made for all of the key actions, suggesting to project coordinators that they consider including pre-accession countries. It is hoped that such initiatives will improve the participation rate of the candidate countries. 'Considering the scientific potential [...] participation is not satisfactory. Participation can be improved,' he said. Mr Bellemin added that candidate country researchers must be appreciated by other scientists in the Union, and that it is therefore important that they participate in committees. During pre-proposal checks, the Commission's scientific officials will, in future, inform proposers about including pre-accession countries. Special measures are also to be taken at the contract negotiation phase, where evaluators are to propose the inclusion of candidate country researchers when they consider that it would be beneficial and bring added value. The Commission will also emphasise the possibility of replacing those who withdraw from projects with teams from candidate countries. In order for this to happen, the Commission needs information, Mr Bellemin stressed. The national contact points must provide the Commission with details of those wishing to participate, he said. Mr Bellemin also emphasised that the inclusion of candidate country researchers will be 'a suggestion, a recommendation,' and never obligatory. Mr Bellemin was aware that consortia may be unwilling to include teams from candidate countries whom they have never met. For this reason, the Commission is to organise information days, which Mr Bellemin termed as 'brokerage events' in pre-accession countries. These should 'stimulate interaction between scientists in the Union and non-Union countries' and facilitate networking, he said. All of these actions should improve participation in FP5 (Fifth Framework programme) and pave the way for successful participation in the next framework programme, Mr Bellemin concluded.