MEPs urge Member States to invest more in research
Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin received unanimous backing from the European Parliament's Committee on Industry and Research on 26 November for his plea that governments should live up to the promises made at the Barcelona summit and increase research investment from 1.9 per cent of GDP to around three per cent by 2010. Mr Busquin insisted that 'this was an overall target for the EU - not everyone had to meet this figure - but every Member State must contribute.' He added that only two Member States, Finland and Sweden, have reached this level. The Commissioner issued a warning to governments that the EU might fall into decline if it does not meet the target. In the last 10 years, the competition, mainly from the USA and Japan, has become even stiffer than before. In 2000 the USA invested 120 billion euro in research, 75 per cent more than the EU. Mr Erkki Ormala, Director of Research at Nokia, and a member of the European Round Table of Industrialists also emphasised that Europe needs to create research platforms where European researchers can find solutions at EU level to the challenges posed by global markets. 'European research is currently too fragmented into national research policies,' he said. The response from the committee, chaired by Carlos Westendorp Y Cabeza, was virtually unanimous - and showed its concern. MEP Yves Piétrasanta (France) was concerned about the French budget: and said 'the new government is investing 13 per cent less in research next year than in 2002.' Austrian MEP Paul Rübig told the committee that the credit ratings of those European companies that invested strongly in innovation had actually gone down and UK MEP John Purvis added that the European patent saga was verging on the disastrous and urged ministers to sit down and solve the problem. Finally, French MEP Gérard Caudron was concerned about the moratorium on embryonic stem cell research and asked what would happen if the Member States did not reach agreement on the ethical issues.