Download Speech by Vice President Oldřich Vlasák (doc 47KB)

Speech at the European Intersectoral Summit on Research
and Innovation on 26th of February 2013 in Dublin
Simplification and Awareness Raising
as a Future of European Research Policy
Dear President of the Atomium Culture,
dear President of the European Commission,
honourable guests,
ladies and gentlemen,
I am very pleased to participate in this summit and grateful
for the multi-sectoral discussion which we could experience during these
two days.
Listened carefully to the contributions from politicians, scientists and
journalists, .... I am thrilled to see such a determination to support
European research and innovation activity.
On behalf of the European Parliament ... I have to say that we share your
enthusiasm for building the European knowledge based economy.
As Jerzy Buzek, our former president, clearly emphasised during the
previous innovation summit, European knowledge based economy is not
a phrase for us.
It is our common goal which we need to pursue in case we want to
increase European competitiveness.
Bureaucracy Kills European Research
By the way ... allow me a word on European competitiveness.
Despite our sincere effort ... it is still not Europe but the United States
that is ranking number one when measuring the world competitiveness
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with its world-class university education system, enormous and diverse
innovation economy and powerful - smart infrastructure.
I would like to recall a speech1 of President Obama in which he highlights
the importance of innovation that ... "in America, innovation doesn’t just
change our lives. It’s how we make a living."
Although in the EU, we are constantly declaring similar priorities, as
mentioned in the Lisbon and Europe 2020 Strategy, the expenditure on
research and development does not support this intention.
Whereas in America, the intended 3 % of GDP have almost been reached
in the last years and especially investment of private enterprises shall be
emphasised, ... the EU has still a long way to go.
Moreover, I personally believe ... that the fact that the U.S. continues to
be the world's biggest economic engine and top destination for foreign
direct investment ... stems not only from the size and innovativeness of
their market but also from their RD grant policy.
Yes, ... it is true, ... that in Europe we often lack coordination of our
critical research mass that is dispersed among Member States ...
and that we face a problem to get our excellent research results into the
marketplace.
But in my humble opinion .... it is the bureaucracy that often kills
European research.
Simply speaking whereas in the U.S. you are awarded a grant based
on your achievements, in Europe you are often assessed based on the
long forms you have to fill in.
As one journalist recently wrote in our main newspaper,
you can be awarded European funds to invent a special heating system
for Sahara desert if you fill in the forms in the right way.
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President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address, Tuesday, January 25, 2011, Washington, D.C.
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Media Play a Crucial Role
in European RD Policy Awareness Raising
But let me come back to the main topic of the summit - the Role
of Media in Responsible Research and Innovation.
I have to say that this summit presents a tremendous opportunity
to assign the area with the importance that it truly deserves.
In my view the media represent an important link between science,
market and society.
They possess the unique power to awake public interest in science and
to increase social recognition of a scientific career.
Moreover, media play a crucial role in the mutual awareness
of grant programs and public financing of science.
In other words ... what is the point of a grant programme of whose
existence scientists are insufficiently informed?
Let me present to you one example from my home region of Central and
Eastern Europe.
In 2012, the European Research Council awarded 302 senior research
leaders in 24 different countries across Europe with the prestigious
'Advanced Grants'.
Among the winners of the competition, only one Czech, two
Hungarians and no Pole or Slovak can be found.
Irrespective of the honour to awarded, ... I am fully confident that the
overall number of winners coming especially from Central and Eastern
European Countries would have been much higher ... if more local
scientists knew about the programme and had applied.
The communication between policy makers and scientists should be as
simple as possible, but also broadly accessible.
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Innovation can no longer be a preserve of a small group of individuals
and enterprises.
Some Progress is on the Way
In this respect, I would like to emphasise the hard work of the European
Parliament when legislating the Horizon 2020.
In comparison with the previous framework programme, substantial
simplification of funding rules as well as synergies between the Horizon
2020 and the Structural funds have been achieved.
I have previously mentioned that the system of public investment
necessitates transparency and information on scientific outcomes
should be broadly accessible.
Based on the announcement by the European Commission
of its intention to make all research findings funded by Horizon 2020
open access, ... I am very pleased that some of my wishes have, at least
partially, been met.
However, since non-governmental initiatives like the Science Media
Centre providing information on up-to-date outcomes of both public and
private research projects already exist, there is no need to restrict the
open access only to the findings funded by Horizon 2020.
In my opinion, an overall information centre providing information on
public ... and on a voluntary basis also on private research ... would
contribute to the application of innovations in practise ... and would be
welcomed by the public as well as interested enterprises.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
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Let me conclude my speech with the many times mentioned reference to
the forthcoming multi-annual financial framework.
Despite being a conservative politician who ... does not approve
excessive spending and especially spending which does not generate
economic growth, ... I would like to make absolutely clear that ...
investment in research and innovation does not fall in any of these
categories.
I personally believe that Europe's future economic growth and jobs will
increasingly need to originate from innovation activity.
This is why innovation has been placed at the heart of the Europe 2020
strategy.
When looking at the presented deal from the European Summit,
we do not have to deceive each other by saying the Research and
Development is the winner.
Hence, I would like to use this opportunity to appeal at least to the
Member States that in this strategy, ... they pledged to increase public
spending on research and development up to 3 % of GDP.
Breaking this commitment not only ruins one of the main 2020 goals, but
more importantly, ... hampers economic recovery and our future growth.
Last but not least, I would like to use the opportunity to address one
appeal to the media as well.
As indicated earlier, European research lacks especially private capital
when compared to the United States.
Since media significantly influence behaviour of enterprises, ... I find it
necessary ... that they will help EU legislators to promote private
investment in research and development.
Thank you for your attention.
Oldřich Vlasák
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Vice-President of the European Parliament
STOA Bureau Member
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