Last week a draft for the European Commission’s “A Competitiveness Compass”, currently under discussion by the College of Commissioners, was leaked. There are some good tendencies in the draft, such as the renewed commitment to invest in R&D and finally reach the 3% target, set more than 20 years ago in Barcelona in 20021. Regrettably, the proposals put forward in the leaked draft seriously jeopardise Europe’s ability to maintain a strong position in basic research, by questioning the continued independence of the European Research Council.
The board of Eurodoc finds the suggestion that “the European Research Council and the European Innovation Council need to be aligned along the same strategic interests and cooperate more closely to achieve results” jeopardises Europe's strong and independent science, which is particularly disconcerting considering how academic freedom has come under threat in recent years.
Read the full statement on Zenondo here
1 Barcelona European Council, 15 and 16 March 2002, Presidency Conclusions.