Exiting president reflects on EU research

As the Greek EU Presidency comes to a close, the General Secretariat for Research and Technology has published a report outlining a series of guidelines to further the implementation of a European Research and Innovation Area (ERIA), writes CORDIS​.

The report​ notes that while much progress has been made since the concept of the European Research Area (ERA) was first announced in 2000 during the Lisbon European Council, it is clear that additional action needs to be taken to combine the concept with the complementary concept of a European innovation area.

The first issue is the need to develop links between national research programmes. 'Support for joint implementation of research activities should be seen as an effective way of stimulating cooperation between countries and regions and thus actively contributing to the creation of a European Research Area,'​ argues the report.

One method of advancing the mutual opening up of national programmes suggested by the report is the implementation of small pilot exercises in selected scientific areas: 'This will allow for a real test bed to identify and solve some other institutional, organisational, and administrative issues,'​ reads the report.

One important tool in the European innovation and research toolbox is the European network EUREKA. The report suggests that further analysis is needed by the Commission to determine the measures and initiatives that can provide synergies and further the integration of EUREKA in the ERIA.

According to the CORDIS interpretation, the report also underlines the leading role that research infrastructures play in advancing scientific knowledge and innovation in Europe and internationally by providing the appropriate structure and intellectual environment, where new scientific ideas, novel experiments and innovative technologies will flourish.