Press Mrs Carvalho MEP holds hearing on Science and Innovation

The EPP Group is today holding a hearing in the European Parliament on Mrs Maria da Graça Carvalho's report, which will redefine the rules for participation of existing and future European Science and Innovation Programmes 

The hearing on Simplifying the Implementation of Research Framework Programmes is taking place in room ASP3E2 in the European Parliament today from 15hrs to 18h30. There will be three panels: in the first one University's professors will give their points of view, in the second one the Research Centres and in the third one the Industry and SME's. The European Commission will also express its views on this issue.

Maria da Graça Carvalho MEP, Member of the Industry Research and Energy Committee, will give the welcome speech and draw the conclusions. The panels will be chaired by Paul Rübig, Jean-Pierre Audy and Angelika Niebler. The speakers will be Richard Templer, Professor and Director on Climate in the Imperial College; Jerzy Langer, Professor and Foreign Secretary of the Academia Europaea; Pam Fredman, Rector of the University of Gothenburg and Chair of Swedish rectors conference; Xavier Inglebert, Chief resources officer of the National Centre Scientific Research (CNRS); Ingrid Reynaert, Manager Academic and Governmental Relations of the Interuniversity Micro-Electronic Centre (IMEC); Christopher Hull, Secretary General of the European Association of Research and Technology Organisations (EARTO); Petri Liuha, Managing Director of the Nokia Research Center; Jürgen Leohold, Executive Director do Group Research of Volkswagen; and Mónica Pedro, Legar & Financial Manager of YDreams, and MEP Ingeborg Gräßle. Robert-Jan Smits, Director-General of the DG Research, will represent the European Commission.

The public consultation, opened by Maria da Graça Carvalho when appointed rapporteur in May of this year, ends up with this hearing. The aim was to hear different stakeholders, university professors, researchers and enterprises, in order to discuss the main rules of participation in the European Science and Innovation Programmes.      

The Portuguese MEP also invited to this hearing a group of Portuguese members of the management bodies of Higher Education, Vice-Rectors and Full University Professors, representatives of enterprises in the area of Science and Innovation.   

According to Maria da Graça Carvalho, the involvement of citizens has been "very significant, which shows that the scientific research has a very big importance in the European scenario", adding that "this involvement is also a sign that it is necessary to redefine the existing model. We have one of the greatest drivers of growth and we have to make the participation and continuity easier for the work of our researchers".

In the next months, this report will redefine the rules of participation not only in the Research Framework Programme (€ 52 billion), but also in all other science and research programmes, in order to facilitate participation and increase execution rates. Currently these rules are very complex. The report aims at providing guidelines for participation in existing and future programmes after 2013.

Maria da Graça Carvalho MEP has already presented last July her report to the 27 EU Ministers of Science. This report will be voted by the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy in the end of September and in the plenary in October.  

Communication of the Commission - full text: http://ec.europa.eu/research/fp7/index_en.cfm?pg=documents

For further information on the measures adopted in the past and on the revision of the FP7: MEMO/10/156