A recent European Commission strategy proposal sets its sites on securing Europe’s leading role in research and technological development and space research is identified as a key topic for achieving it.
The proposal, published by the European Commission on June 16, recommends increasing EU funding to around ¿10 billion a year during the next Framework Programme (FP7), starting in 2007, reducing the number of research themes and focusing future European efforts on key topics such as space and security.
The Commission advocates setting up an agency to support basic research, as well as encouraging more joint initiatives, which get behind industrial policy.
In addition, the proposal endorses further effort being put into developing research and development infrastructures and boosting the numbers of skilled researchers and innovation taking place in key sectors. The document, entitled ‘Science and technology – the key to Europe’s future’, was based on a February 2004 proposal on the future of EU research programmes.
Setting up European centres of excellence, by increasing co-operation between scientific stakeholders at all levels, is also a priority to exploit fully European added value. It is important to create what it calls a critical mass of material, human and intellectual resources, and to better mobilise public and private research funding.
By doubling the budget and concentrating research on fewer priorities in FP7 – compared with FP6 – the proposal suggests this might improve the chances of making this happen.
In the lead-up to FP7, the Commission plans to identify topics on which European research should focus its talents. Two topics of great importance have already been identified; namely, space and security.
