WRITTEN QUESTION E-1248/03

by Brice Hortefeux (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(2 April 2003)

Subject: Brain drain

According to a recent Commission report, nearly 75 % of European PhD students in the United States envisage staying there after gaining their PhD rather than returning to Europe. The EU has slightly more holders of postgraduate degrees than the United States, but employs significantly fewer researchers (5.4 out of every 1 000 in employment, compared with 8,7 in the USA); researchers currently have better prospects in the United States.

The EU also spends much less as a whole on research and development (1,9 % of GDP compared with 2,8 % in the USA), with a particular lack of investment from the private sector. There are also signs of a slowdown in the biotechnological revolution, with EU businesses showing weaknesses in terms of patenting and marketing.

Given that the Lisbon strategy aims for the EU to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010, and that it appears that under current conditions this objective will be achieved only with difficulty, does the Commission intend to present a new plan of action to reverse these unfavourable tendencies?

Answer given by Mr Busquin on behalf of the Commission

(15 May 2003)

The brain drain and the relatively low levels of investment in research and development (R & D) and innovation are two particularly disturbing aspects of the situation in Europe. The recently published third European Report on Science and Technology Indicators (2003), referred to by the Honourable Member, highlights the problems.

The Commission is aware of the situation, which is a sign that researchers and investors find Europe less attractive than the United States. Clearly, the brain drain and the level of investment in R & D and innovation in Europe are challenges which must be dealt with promptly if we are to achieve the ambitious objectives of the strategy defined at the March 2000 European Summit in Lisbon.

The Commission has taken a series of initiatives to attain those objectives, with the support of the Council and the European Parliament. At the European Council in Barcelona in March 2002, the Heads of State or Government agreed to a considerable increase in investment in research and innovation in Europe, with a view to bringing Union investment in research to 3 % of GDP by 2010. Most of the increase must come from the private sector, but the public sector will have to make considerable efforts to add to the attractiveness of the European Research Area at international level.

Following the Barcelona Summit, the Commission adopted a communication(1) launching a debate on the ways and means of reaching the targets. On the basis of the many positive and converging reactions received, the Commission prepared an action plan which it adopted on 30 April 2003(2) and distributed to Community Institutions. The plan is now being distributed to all interested parties.

This action plan, Investing in research: an action plan for Europe, presents a coherent package of concrete actions at European, national and regional level to make Europe more attractive to researchers and investors. In particular, it is aimed at improving the general conditions, raising the level and effectiveness of public financing, consolidating relations between universities and industry, facilitating access to funding for setting up enterprises and for the critical phases of enterprise growth (with the support of the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Funds), encouraging Member States to take concerted action and improving the coordination of Community and national policies.

With regard to researchers in Europe in particular, the Commission, in close cooperation with the Member States and the States associated with the Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FPRD), is implementing a series of measures to attract researchers to Europe and keep them in scientific careers to plug the brain drain described by the Honourable Member. To this end, the funding allocated under the 6th Framework Programme to human resources and mobility has been significantly increased (+ 60 %). The Commission is also preparing a communication on research careers which it plans to adopt in the next few months.

(1) COM(2002) 499 final.

(2) COM(2003) 226 final.