EUROPE: Better conditions for researchers urged

The European Parliament has overwhelmingly supported the European Commission’s plea for an improvement in the conditions for researchers, which it hopes will stop Europe falling further behind internationally in R&D. A parliamentary report, carried by 602 votes against 18, calls on the 27 EU member countries to abolish barriers that hinder researchers from entering the EU and stresses the importance of increasing research spending – especially to facilitate the transition towards digital.

The statistics behind this are familiar. It is widely known, for instance, that Europe’s spending on R&D at only 1.8% of GDP falls far short of America’s 2.7% and Japan’s 3.2%. EU member countries such as Sweden and Finland stand up well against global yardsticks but the EU average is dragged down by the levels in many poorer countries and especially in the 12 countries that have joined since 2004.

Much of what the Parliament has urged is sensible and should raise the profile of researchers in the EU, though the hard part will be to convince businesses to assign a far larger role to research in their investment plans. As the commission said in its Green Paper last year, which formed the basis of the parliamentary report, "a substantial and sustained increase of business R&D investment is essential to break with the current stagnation of the EU's overall R&D intensity".

The report calls on the EU to "re-attract competent researchers and prevent a further outflow from the EU". It does not identify the destination of researchers leaving the EU, nor the provenance of those entering it, but implicit is the need to strengthen and develop the links between research institutions and the business world.

That may have to begin with a renewed focus on EU as opposed to national programmes. As the report says, "fragmentation of public research diminishes Europe's attractiveness for business as a location for R&D investment."

But this could be a long haul. The achievement of a European research area may not be fully achieved before 10 or 15 years – around 2020, the report says. Still, it says urgent action should be taken as quickly as possible on all fronts – all the more so given the strong leverage effect this will have on increasing private investment in research and innovation, and promoting a more competitive knowledge-based economy.

* The European Commission has taken the advice of senior academics and created an ‘identification committee’ to recommend members of a governing board for the future European Institute of Innovation and Technology. Its members are Professor Günter Stock, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Professor Miklos Boda, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Cecilia Schelin Seidegård, Royal University of Technology in Stockholm, and Professor Ronan Stéphan of France’s Innovation Scientifique et Transfert. The committee has been charged with finding board members within four months.