A public hearing on the future of European research took place at the Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) on 24 January 2005. The hearing raised debate on the major issues of the 7th Framework Programme for research and technological development (FP7) to contribute to the ITRE report on the matter.
The ITRE provisional report on the future of European research calls for an active debate among the European Institutions on identifying the thematic priorities for the FP7 funding. The document emphasises, among other things, that:
- The duration of the framework programmes should be lengthened and synchronised with the duration of the financial perspectives so that the Commission could better co-ordinate its activities on the matter. A periodic re-adjustment of objectives could be done via a 'rolling programme'.
- Basic research should be understood as covering all fields, (e.g. the social sciences and humanities), putting special emphasis on interdisciplinarity.
- Research in the areas of life sciences, energy and nanotechnology should be included in the FP7 as thematic priorities.
Concerning the human resources, the Parliament's report encourages member states to define "education itineraries naturally leading to a research career" and to provide incentives for industry to create interesting job opportunities for researchers. The document calls also for "affirmative actions" to promote women's access and career advancement in the field of research and considers harmonisation of researchers' careers and salaries at EU level to help the mobility of researchers in the European research area (ERA).
Members of the European Parliament now have until 2 February to amend the report, after which ITRE will vote on it on 16-17 March 2005. The EP plenary will give its final say on 1 April 2005.
