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European Community Research
The European Union's research policy is as old as the EU itself; the initial elements appeared with the creation of what was known at the time as the European Community, at the end of the 1950s. Both the European Coal and Steel Community and «Euratom» treaties - in the fields of coal and steel, and nuclear energy respectively - included provisions for research.
Since their launch in 1984, the EU's Framework Programmes (FPs) have played a lead role in multidisciplinary research and cooperative activities in Europe and beyond. The FPs have been the main financial tools through which the EU supports R&D activities covering almost all scientific disciplines. The FPs are proposed by the European Commission and adopted by Council and the European Parliament following a co-decision procedure.
It is important to note that the FPs cover only a limited part of the funding for research in the EU; for instance, the current (seventh) EU Framework Programme for Research & Technological Develop¬ment (FP7) accounts for approximately 5% of this total in Europe today. Nevertheless, as the EU's main instalment for funding research in Europe in 2007-2013, the Seventh Framework Programme has been designed as a cornerstone in the EU's knowledge and growth policy and will play a funda¬mental role in stimulating sustainable competitiveness and welfare in Europe.
Conceptual and methodological foundations for the beginning of legal and organizational finalization of the united scientific space of Europe and creation of the necessary infrastructure were worked out much more earlier FP7 initiation. For the first time analogous project was proposed in the 1970-ies by the Commissioner on the research policy of the European Economic Community (1970-1974), famous political scientist and social philosopher Ralf Dahrendorf (1929-2009). But at that period of time European states were not ready to support such a scaled, demanding great financial costs and profound integration of scientific and technical policy states-members initiative – and this idea was “forgotten” for several decades. The project was included again to the agenda of the Commission of the just formed European Union in 1990- ies by the Commissioner on the research policy Antonio Ruberti (1927-2000, a member of the European Commission in 1993-1994), whereupon more detailed discussion of the idea from the standpoint of the global political and economic transformations after the dissolution of the USSR took place. And only the Commissioner on research policy Philip Buscan (born in 1941, a member of the European Commission in 1999-2004) managed to transform the idea into political project, which is realized at present time. First, ERA was supposed to consist of two components: 1) “large European research market”, where studies, knowledge and technologies circulate freely; 2) legal space and real mechanisms for national political programs in the sphere of science and technology of members-states of the EU coordination. At the same time the creation in 2007 of European Research Council, ERC (at greater length) and decision about the creation till 2010 of European Institute of Innovation and Technology, EIT, and also consistent development of European policy of infrastructure support allows to speak about the third ERA component, in particular about the space for financing crossl-European scientific and technological initiatives and application of their results.
The process of realization of ERA idea demonstrates that decision-making about implementation of new mechanisms and instruments of all-European destination is not distinguished by operability – the states of EU are inclined to approach to these matters with maximum thoroughness, on the basis of complex wide discussions and examinations, confirmed by purposeful investigations and also taking into account foreign experience recognized as successful. And this tendency is observed in all main decisions in the sphere of development of scientific and technological sector. For example, the idea which represents the base for creation of the foregoing ERC, - this is an idea of “European NSF” (it means European equivalent of National Scientific Fund of the USA), that had been circulating in scientific and political circles for a long time. The idea of creation “European MIT” (accordingly, the European analogue of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), that formed the base for EIT creation, were included in the political agenda in the 1960- ies and 1980- ies.”Joint technological initiatives” (JTI), that are the latest realization of the idea of Intersector technological program, represented in the program ESPRIT, created in 1982. Functioning today Riesenhuber criteria, approved in 1983 for estimation of scientific and technical programs for the purpose of expediency of their financing from all-European budget, named after former Minister of Science of the FRG, practically coincide with suggestions of one of the “founding fathers” of the European Union, a political scientist Altero Spinelli (1907-1986), represented at the beginning of the 90- ies. Thus, one can agree with a French investigator Michel Andre, who considers the history of investigation policy of the European Union as “consistent development of a small set of ideas, formulated 30 years ago, which still continue to improve”).
Mentioned, as it can seem at first sight, “slowness” in the process of application and modernization of scientific and technological development is caused, first of all, by necessity of all aspects concordance between member-states of the EU, each of which has its own interests depending on many external and internal factors. At the same time such a thorough approach is based on one of the main postulates of any contemporary program for sustainable development – complex scientific workup of political programs and projects that in medium-term prospect provides saving EU budgetary funds, that could have been spent on working-out and application of mechanisms to be ineffective. Obviously, for EU partners, striving for widening scales of mutually beneficial cooperation with the given confederation, will be expedient to use the same conceptually-methodological platform with the European Union- first of all, providing scientific grounds for using models, principles and directions of interaction.
See also: Mechanisms of EU-Belarus cooperation development
Origins and development of EU S&T policy
© National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 2011
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