Overcome failure in EU Research investment, (while Enlargment's costs grow), with Energy R&D ?

    

    It's already bad that the out-going EU Commission failed to stimulate EU's investment in Research up to the 3% GDP target set by "Lisbon Strategy" for a "Knowledge Economy" since 2000, and that Europe, despite a faster increase, didn't yet catch up with the USA.     

But it's almost a scandal that, the main "Stimulus" measures taken in 2008 by EU Commission to face the Global Crisis by stimulating Research throughout all 27 EU Member States, have no more Funds than what EU spends for ... Turkey's controversial and impopular EU accession bid !

    These facts were revealed during this week's EU Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg, when MEPs questioned the outgoing EU Commissioner Gunter Verheugen, (Socialist), who should know quite well these issues, since he had got, before his current  Industry and Enterprise portofolio, that  of EU Enlargment...

    - "2009 is the European Year of Creativity and Innovation". But, "the Lisbon Strategy, which was adopted in 2000", and "aims to make the European economy ‘the most competitive and dynamic Knowledge-based economy’ by 2010", set as "objective" to .." increase the level of Investment in Research  to at least 3% of GDP". However, "unfortunately, 2009 has been marked by an economic and financial Crisis affecting all the EU Member States and restricting private companies’ access to financing instruments. Overall Research investment is no greater than 1.85% of GDP, and only five Member States have invested over 2% of GDP in research", denounced Romanian EuroMP Silvia-Adriana Ticau.

    Nevertheless, "EU Member States will only recover economically if the EU manages to remain Competitive, and that is dependent on there being Investment in Research and Education", Ticau observed. Therefore, "what action does the Commission have in mind to foster an environment that spurs private companies to invest in research, and particularly in applied research, and encourages banks to finance investment in research and innovation?", she asked.     

    EU Research and Innovation policy uses 3 Programs for the period 2007-2013, on the 7th Research Framework, on Competitiveness and Innovation, and part of Cohesion Funds, which were designed by EU Commission since 2005, reminded Verheugen.

    - But, "we already can say today (2009)" that "the quantitative Goal that we (EU) have since the year 2000 : ..to invest 3% of the Gross Domestic Product for Research and development", "is not reached". Even if funds in the EU for RST between 2000 and 2006 incresed at a faster rate than in the USA, "nevertheless, we must admit that the results are not satisfying", he acknowledged.

    Thus, in order to face also "the current economic Crisis", EU "Commission ..reacted to recession threats since November 2008", by taking specific "measures to fight the Crisis" "on the area of investments in RD", that Verheugen resumed by "examples of 3 initiatives" : a) "Factory of the future"  for "the modernization of European industrial basis with .. 1.2 billion €", b)  "Energy-efficient Buildings" : "1 billion €", and c) "partnership for the building of Environmentally-friendly motor Vehicles", with almost "1 billion €". I.e., in total : About 3 Billions € for all 27 EU Member States.

    But, at the same time, .. "between 2007 and 2010 Turkey (alone) will get 2,26 Billion Euros" from the EU, (i.e. practically the same amount of money), spended for Ankara's controversial EU accession bid, to which "most of our (EU) Citizens are opposed", as denounced this week in Strasbourg Austrian MEP Franz Obermayr.  

   - "That''s not what EU Citizens want". "But over the heads of our Citizens ... despite everything, EU negotiations continue""It's frightebing how democratically deficient is the EU, when it comes to Tukey's accession !",  the MEP concluded,  (among several EU Parliament's debates, this week in Strasbourg, where  several MEPs from various Countries asked to "Stop" EU - Turkey negotiations.]) (See specific "EuroFora"'s News  on that issue).

    Spare that Money (more than 7 Billions € in the next period only for Turkey) , and invest it, on the contrary, in Scientific Reserach investment for all EU's 27 Member States, could, fex. compensate at least a good part of the "50 Billion €" that EU's next, "8th Framework Research Program" might spend for "Energy Efficiency-related Research", as Austrian ChristianDemocrat MEP Paul Rübig asked Verheugen afterwards :   

 - "Without any doubt, a focal point in our Research, development and innovation politicy in the next 10 years must be on Energy efficiency, in the area of Renewable E"nergies and in a broader sense on Technologies that enable a Sustainable economy and way of life", he admitted in reply to Rübig's question.    

Energy is, indeed, the portofolio that New, incoming German EU Commissioner Oettinger, (a Strasbourg's neighbour from nearby Stuttgart) is due to receive in the new EU Commission for the period 2010-1014.

This fits new German Government's focus on "Research and Education", as Chancellor Angie Merkel recently stressed when she first presented the new Christian-Liberal coalition's program for debates wih MPs at the Bundestag.   

 While warning earlier this year about forthcoming "common Franco-German Initiatives" for EU policies including on Energy and Environment, French President Sarkozy and German Chancellor Merkel, had also stressed the importance for Europe's Future to develop "Green" Growth with innovative, Environment-friendly New Technologies.

Such moves would certainly find a strong support in EU Parliament, whose new President, Polish ChristianDemocrat MEP Jerzy Buzek, is the former Rapporteur on the current EU's 7th Framework Research Program (2007-2013).