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EDITORIAL European Research Momentum
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ast year, a Science Editorial (29 August 2003) surveyed recent developments in European science and research policy. It highlighted the call for a restructuring that would double support for science, with a renewed focus on basic research, better priority-setting, regional centers of excellence, integration of European Union (EU) science policy with respect to broader issues, and a new balance between basic and applied research. It hinted at the formation of a European Research Council (ERC) as a partial answer to dissatisfactions expressed by researchers with the EU’s Framework Programmes for research funding. One year later, the dynamics look truly impressive. The EU has become larger, and the European Constitution, agreed on in June 2004, makes explicit reference to research and a convergent European Research Area “in which researchers, scientific knowledge and technology circulate freely.” This gives EU research policy a more solid base and broadens its scope, making research a “shared competence.” The last Communication of the outgoing EU Commissioner for Research, M. Philippe Busquin, entitled Science and Technology, the Key to Europe’s Future, contains an outline of Framework Programme 7 (FP7), a proposal based on a prospective EU research budget that would be doubled. Politically, the importance of research has received recognition. New financial instruments have been designated that allow, for instance, reallocation of funds from highways to research infrastructures. None of these developments should be taken for granted. Our The challenge is common efforts need to be directed to ensure that the new EU Commission and the newly elected European Parliament will build on this momentum. to create a One of the six objectives of FP7, to begin in 2007, supports basic research and an ERC that would encompass all disciplines, including the h