WRITTEN QUESTION E-1248/03 by Brice Hortefeux (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Brain drain.
Date: 2003-04-02
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU policy, action programme, brain drain, competitiveness, research and development, research policy, research staff

C 11 E/168

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

15.1.2004

Currently, the Commission does not have plans to introduce requirements for the minimum content of
recyclable materials in all goods and packaging. It is felt that it is preferable to use recycling targets and
leave the question where to use the recycled materials to businesses and the market.

(1) Europe’s Environment: The Second Assessment;

http://reports.eea.eu.int/92-828-3351-8/en/toc.html/tab_abstract_RLR.

(2) European Environment Agency, Topic Report No. 2/2002,

http://repository.eea.eu.int/reports/topic_report/2002_2/full_report/en/html/abstract

(2004/C 11 E/192)

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.

15.1.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

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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.

(2004/C 11 E/193)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1257/03

by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(3 April 2003)

Subject: European Union initiative on revision of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in

order to protect coastal countries

The communication from the Commission to the Council of 5 March 2003 (1) on action to deal with the
effects of the Prestige disaster mentions the need to take the initiative in proposing the revision of the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to afford better protection for coastal states, including
within the 200-mile exclusive zone, against risks associated with the passage of ships constituting a danger
to the environment and which do not comply with safety standards.

What is the current outcome of this initiative?

(1) COM(2003) 105 final.

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(15 May 2003)

As announced on several occasions, in particular in the two communications which it adopted, following
in December 2002 and in March 2003, the Commission is considering
the sinking of the Prestige,
proposing a revision of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in order to increase the
responsibilities of the Coastal States with regard to the prevention of pollution of the marine environment.
The objective pursued is crucial, since it is a question of protecting European coasts against ships which,
while not ensuring a high level of safety, carry hazardous and very polluting products, and therefore
constitute a threat to the environment.

However, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea cannot be revised until November 2004,
i.e. ten years after it entered into force.

In the immediate future, it is also crucially important how well the International Maritime Organisation
receives the EU’s proposals concerning the prevention of marine pollution (proposal to revise the Marpol
Convention).