SCIENCE AND RESEARCH : LEGISLATION TO PLAY LIMITED ROLE IN CAMPAIGN FOR ERA.

• Position: European Research Area

According to Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik, 2008 is to be the year when the European Commission will put its specific plans on the table for the future development of a European Research Area (ERA). The key questions are what these initiatives will be and what impact can we expect from them.

The concept of the ERA is a broad one (see box), and the Commission has a habit of linking almost any initiative in the area of science and research to its further development. The Commission held a public consultation, during 2007, on the next steps to develop it, on the basis that concrete initiatives will follow this year.

A noticeable point is that, according to the Commission's current thinking, these concrete initiatives will only involve one legislative proposal. This will be a proposal to create a "dedicated legal framework for the construction and operation of new pan-European research infrastructures". According to a spokesperson, the Commission considers the creation of the framework necessary in order to increase the pace of work on building the infrastructures contained in the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) road map. The road map, published in October 2006, sets out 35 infrastructures which have been identified as of central importance to the European research position for the next 10-20 years.

The projects require a combined investment of around 13.5-13.8 billion. The general principle behind the list, which was drawn up by representatives of the member states and the scientific community, is that they are projects of common European interest, which should be taken forward on a trans-national basis, not least to avoid duplication and waste.

RELUCTANCE

The key issue for the Commission now, however, is an apparent lack of desire on the part of the member states to cooperate and form the international consortia needed to develop them. According to the latest information available from the Commission, the only project for which an international consortia agreement has so far been concluded is the XFEL laser. An agreement to build the laser, which will be located near Hamburg, was signed by Germany and 12 partner countries on 5 June 2007.

This reluctance exists despite the ministerial endorsement given to the road map at the May 2007 Competitiveness Council. It is something the Commission attributes, at least in part, to the fact that forming such consortia requires member states, at present, to negotiate...