Communication from the Commission - Europe and basic research
Date: 2004-01-14
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Union, Japan, United States, basic research, research policy, scientific research

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 14.1.2004
COM(2004) 9 final

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION

EUROPE AND BASIC RESEARCH

EN

  EN

CONTENTS

1.

2.

2.1.

2.2.

3.

3.1.

3.2.

3.3.

3.4.

4.

5.

5.1.

5.2.

6.

INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 3

BASIC RESEARCH AND ITS IMPACT ................................................................... 4

What basic research is .................................................................................................. 4

An impact on several levels ......................................................................................... 5

THE SITUATION WORLDWIDE AND IN EUROPE .............................................. 7

he USA ......................................................................................................................... 7

In Japan ........................................................................................................................ 8

Europe .......................................................................................................................... 8

Strengths and weaknesses ............................................................................................ 9

BASIC RESEARCH AT EU LEVEL........................................................................ 11

THE PROSPECTS ..................................................................................................... 12

A new support mechanism at European level ............................................................ 12

Other activities ........................................................................................................... 13

THE NEXT STEPS.................................................................................................... 14

2

 
1. 

INTRODUCTION

An  important  debate  is  taking  place  in  Europe  today  on  the  subject  of  basic  research,  the
issues involved and the best way of dealing with them at a European level.

The debate is taking place against the background of the emerging knowledge-based economy
and society; within the framework of the project to create a European Research Area, which
has hitherto not explicitly taken account of the issue of basic research; and together with the
target set by the EU of increasing its overall research effort to 3% of GDP by 2010.

During the years immediately after the Second World War, when research policies originated
and developed in Europe and the USA, the emphasis was on basic research.

This  is  well  illustrated  by  what  Vannevar  Bush,  President  Roosevelt’s  scientific  adviser,
wrote in 1945 in his famous report "Science: the Endless Frontier": “Scientific progress on a
broad  front  results  from  the  free  play  of  free  intellects,  working  on  subjects  of  their  own
choice, in the manner dictated by their curiosity for exploration of the unknown").

During  the  decades  which  followed  and  in  view  of  the  importance  of  science  for  industrial
competitiveness and its role in meeting social needs, this emphasis, and with it public funding,
gradually shifted towards applied research and technological and industrial development.

Today,  the  general  value  of  increasing  knowledge  and  the  importance  of  basic  research  for
economic and social development, tend to be fully recognised again.

The  debate  on  basic  research  has  so  far  essentially  taken  place  within  the  scientific
community,  in  the  form  of  thinking  about  the  need  for  a  “Basic  Research  Fund”  and  a
“European Research Council”.

During  the  last  few  months,  various  personalities,  organisations  and  bodies  have  expressed
their views on this issue.

 In  this  respect,  particular  mention  can  be  made  of:  a  group  of  45  European  Nobel  Prize
winners;  the  European  Science  Foundation  (ESF)  and  the  EuroHORCs  association  of
Directors  and  Presidents  of  National  Research  Councils;  the  Eurosciences  association  and
Academia Europeae, the EURAB Group of advisors for Commission research; and an ad hoc
Group  of  individuals  (ERCEG),1  which  was  set  up  during  the  Danish  EU  Presidency
following  a  conference on a  “European Research  Council”, held in Copenhagen on  7  and 8
October 2002.2

1

2

EuroHORCSs: European Heads of  Research  Councils;  EURAB:  European  Research  Advisory  Board;
ERCEG: The European Research Council Expert Group, chaired by Professor Federico Mayor.
On 15 December 2003, the Danish Research Minister sent his European counterparts this group’s final
report,  which  calls  for  the  setting  up  of  a  European  basic  research  fund,  principally  financedthrough
new  resources,  by  the  Union’s  Research  Framework  Programme,  and  operating  through  a  European
Research Council.

3

 
                                                
This debate is now ready to be brought to the political level. The European Parliament gave a
signal  along  these  lines  in  its  Resolution3  on  the  Communication  from  the  Commission
“Investing  in  research:  an  action  plan  for  Europe”,4  which  calls  for  greater  support  from
European research policy for basic research, through the setting-up of a “European Research
Council”.

By  presenting  this  Communication  on  basic  research,  the  Commission  wishes  both  to
contribute to this debate and to help launch discussion at the political level. The Commission
is responding in particular to the request made to it during the Competitiveness Council on 22
September 2003 to present its views on this subject.

In this context, the objectives of this Communication are three-fold:

–  To  make  a  broad  analysis  of  the  basic  research  situation  in  Europe  and  at  a
European  level,  through  highlighting  the  related  issues,  as  well  as  the  European
strengths and weaknesses in this field;

–  To prompt thinking and discussion by clarifying matters and providing details and

further information about various points raised during the debate;

–  To  put  forward  suggestions  for  avenues  which  should  be  explored  to  strengthen
European performance in the field of basic research and to give it the resources to
play the full part it must within the European Research Area.

2. 

BASIC RESEARCH AND ITS IMPACT

2.1.  What basic research is

There have been very many attempts to define the concept of basic research, and this type of
research has been characterised in many ways, often in a combined manner: by reference to
its  ultimate  purpose  (research  carried  out  with  the  sole  aim  of  increasing  knowledge);  its
distance from application (research on the basic aspects of phenomena); or the time frame in
which it is situated (research in a long-term perspective).

It  has  been  pointed  out  that,  in  the  research  system  known  as  “technoscience”,  research  is
always carried out with a view to potential applications, and all research is performed “in an
applications context”.5 With very few exceptions, no research activity is carried out with the
sole purpose of increasing knowledge.

The  context  of  research  and  its  funding,  like  that  of  research  policy,  has  indeed  evolved.
However,  this  evolution  does  not  in  any  way  affect  the  distinction  which  in  any  case  its
theoretical sense retains, and a good part of its operational scope.

3

4

5

Resolution of the European Parliament P5-TA-PROV (2003) 0495 of 18.11.2003.
COM (2003) 226, 4.6.2003.
For  example,  see  the  work  of  the  scientific  sociologists  Michael  Gibbons,  Helga  Nowotny,  Michel
Callon, John Ziman, etc, e.g. the collective work: "The New Production of Knowledge".

4

 
                                                
While there is no strict, unanimously accepted definition of what constitutes basic research, in
practice one can identify and distinguish from other types of research, those which are carried
out with no direct link to a given application and, if not exclusively, in any case and above all
with the objective of progressing knowledge.

2.2. 

An impact on several levels

When one looks at what has happened to major discoveries, and considers the realities of our
everyday environment, it can be seen that nearly all technologies, products and achievements
which  have  led  to  economic  and  commercial  success  and/or  concrete  improvements  to  the
quality of life are based on basic research as indicated above.

The discovery of X-rays and nuclear magnetic resonance has led to very many applications in
the field of medical diagnosis and the study of materials. Work on the principle of stimulated
coherent radiation, lasers, in the 1960s has found numerous outlets in industry and medicine.
Increased  knowledge  in  the  physics  of  semi-conductors  allowed  the  development  of
transistors, thus integrated circuits and then microprocessors, the basis of electronics; and in
informatics, the sophisticated software which controls user-friendly interfaces and calculation
systems  is  based  on  mathematical  algorithms  which  were  developed  in  a  very  theoretical
manner.

In  the  field  of  the  life  sciences  and  technologies,  one  can  mention  the  example  of  the
discovery of restriction enzymes, which have provided biotechnology with a universal tool in
the  form  of  “molecular  scissors”.  While,  by  definition,  the  empirical  and  clinical  approach
continues to play a determining role in this field, we also know how much recent successes in
medical  and  pharmaceutical  research  and  progress  in  the  health  sector,  are  due  to
breakthroughs in molecular biology and immunology. We know too that further progress can
be expected in this area from work often of a very basic nature in the field of genomics and
the neurosciences.

Environmental management and sustainable development are also largely the result  of  basic
research in climatology, oceanography, atmospheric physics, etc.

As  can  be  seen  from  the  shortening  of  the  average  time  span  between  a  discovery  and  the
applications derived from it, basic research sometimes quickly turns into concrete results and
commercial products.

But sometimes work which remains unexploited for a long period of time finds a practical use
long  after  being  carried  out:  take  the  maths  theory  of  fractors,  which  started  to  be  used  in
synthetic imaging systems years after it was developed. Often, the applications to which the
work gives rise were totally unforeseen, and are in fields far removed from the field in which
the work was carried out.

Even if these applications represent the most visible and substantial part, the economic impact
of basic research does not weaken the potential direct and indirect benefits which society can
expect from this type of research, and represents only the most important form taken by these
applications.

5

 
Alongside this, mention should also be made of the key role of basic research in the training
of  researchers.  For  a  researcher,  the  only  way  to  acquire  knowledge  and  mastery  of  the
techniques in his or her field is by carrying out research of this type. By conducting research
in university laboratories which is at the leading edge of knowledge, researchers acquire skills
and capabilities which they will use throughout their careers, in the particular field concerned
or in the field of applied research. In this respect and for this reason, basic research is likely to
remain a central feature of the activities and tasks undertaken by universities and, along with
teaching, the performance of such research is the reason why they exist6.

More generally, what most distinguishes universities from other educational establishments is
that  they  enable  everyone  to  undertake  knowledge-based  training  through  research.  The
importance of basic research will be stressed from this angle too.7

In general terms, support for basic research has also been traditionally regarded as one of the
tasks of the public authorities. This kind of support is more necessary than ever today because
of:

– 

– 

– 

indirect,  but  undeniable, 

The 
competitiveness, growth and, more generally, well-being;

impact  of  basic  research  on  economic

The  growing  cost  of  basic  research  due  in  particular  to  the  cost  of  the
instruments, equipment and infrastructure needed (in fields, for example, such
as nanotechnologies), as well as the complexity of the matters with which basic
research  is  concerned,  which  increasingly  demand  an  interdisciplinary
approach, the cost of  which the private  sector  is  reluctant  to  bear  considering
the very indirect nature of any expected financial return;

The value of knowledge as “public property”, which means  that,  in  principle,
there must be free access to it, this being easier to guarantee if there is public
funding8.

For  reasons  which  will  be  explained  below,  there  would  seem  to  be  a  need  for  this  public
support to be given at a European level.

6

7

8

See  the  Communication  from  the  Commission  "The  role  of  the  universities  in  the  Europe  of
knowledge" (COM (2003) 58, 05.02.2003).
A  Conference  organised  by  the  Commission  will  be  held  in  Liège  from  25  to  28  April  2004  on  the
subject of university research, in particular its links to education, and the issues related to a knowledge-
based Europe.
The question of intellectual property rights and their links to basic research is a complex one. Firstly,
under  patent  law,  neither  scientific  discoveries  nor  theories  are  patentable.  Only  inventions  can  be
patented.  However,  a  grey  area  is  known  to  exist,  and  the  problem  has  arisen,  for  example,  in  the
context of genome analysis as regards DNA sequencing. The early publication of a discovery may also
ruin the chances of protecting and exploiting the results in the form of a patentable product or process.
In the USA, the “grace period”, which enables a researcher to publish for a period of one year before
patenting, increases the tension between the  need  to  publish  the  results  and  the  need  to  protect  them.
The “grace period” concept does not exist in Europe where patent law is based on a different principle
(“first to file”, rather than “first to invent”). To reconcile the somewhat contradictory requirements of
free  access  to  knowledge  and  its  exploitation,  action  is  needed  at  several  levels,  in  particular  the
development by universities of a sound knowledge management policy, and the establishment of a clear
and fair international framework.

6

 
                                                
3. 

THE SITUATION WORLDWIDE AND IN EUROPE

3.1. 

The USA

In the USA, basic research is mainly carried out by universities, which form the heart of the
country’s  research  system,  more  precisely  by  the  150  research  universities  which  give  the
USA  its  international  reputation,  where  talents  and  resources  are  concentrated,  and  which
attract most of the private and public funding available.

Basic research in the USA is largely financed by the major federal research support agencies.
First and foremost, there is the National Science Foundation (NSF), set up in the wake of the
famous Vannevar Bush report, which supports research in a large range of fields.

It is also financed, to some extent, by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the field of
medical research, some of the activities of which are quite basic in nature. Lastly, there is the
Defence  Advanced  Research  Projects  Agency  (DARPA),  the  research  agency  of  the
Department  of  Defence,  which  supports  research  in  a  very  large  number  of  fields,  both
directly but often also quite indirectly linked to military needs (research for defence purposes,
“dual use” research and research where there is a potential security interest).9

Most  of  this  government  support  is  given  in  the  form  of  “individual  grants”  for  specific
projects,  awarded  to  a  named  researcher,  but  in  reality  it  serves  to  pay,  apart  from  this
researcher (the  “principle  investigator”),  the  young  “Post  Docs"  working  on  the  project  and
the  technicians  assisting  them,  as  well  as  to  cover  the  cost  of  the  material  and  equipment
needed for the project.

These projects are examined in the framework of a “peer review” system. It is often stressed
that one of the strengths of the US research system is that excellence is stimulated through the
competition for federal funding between university teams across the country as a whole.

In the  USA, basic  research  also  receives substantial support  from the private sector.  Private
philanthropic  foundations  more  especially  play  an  important  part  in  this.  Their  capital  is
derived from industry funding, but also to a non negligible extent from individual donations.
Some undertakings also carry out a significant amount of very basic research “intra muros” in
their own research centres. Well known examples are: a few years ago, the Bell laboratories;
today, the research centres of IBM and Microsoft.

Along  with  its  strengths,  the  US  system  also  has  its  weaknesses,  notably  the  precarious
situation  of  many  researchers  who  are  permanently  trying  to  find  funding.  It  has  its  limits
also.  For  some  time  now,  the  US  federal  research  agencies  have  been  tending  to  introduce
financial support mechanisms based on the principle of collaboration, along the lines of what
exists in the European Union’s programmes.

9

Research in the field of particle physics is not financed by an agency, but directly by the Department of
Energy (DoE).

7

 
                                                
On the whole, however, it is clear that a number of conditions are met in the USA which are
favourable  to  both  the  development  of  basic  research  and  the  exploitation  of  the  results  by
industry: the attachment of great importance to university research, a climate which stimulates
cooperation  between  universities  and  industry-  and  businesses  being  much  more  ready  to
finance basic research in universities; strong competition between teams at the national level;
agencies with a mandate for basic research, specialised, but in part also in healthy competition
with each other, etc.

3.2. 

In Japan

For a long time, Japan was almost absent from the international basic research arena and was
confined to acquiring and adapting technologies which had been developed elsewhere, but it
has come to the foret during the last few years due to the considerable increase in its efforts in
this field.

Although it has not yet enabled the country to rise to the level of the other scientific powers,
this increased effort is starting to bear fruit  and  to  produce  concrete results,  as  witnessed in
particular  by  the  spectacular  rise  in  the  number  of  Japanese  Nobel  Prize  winners:  4  Nobel
Prizes  for  science  over  the  last  four  years,  whilst  the  country  could  only  boast  of  3  prizes
since the award was created.

3.3. 

Europe

In Europe, most basic research is carried out in universities. It is financed partly through their
basic grants and  partly from outside  sources, most of them  governmental  but  some  of  them
private.

Even if this type of research is the traditional field of activity of universities, it is not confined
only to universities. In many European countries, the part played today by the major national
research organisations is considerable, and a large part of their activities are precisely in the
field of basic research.

This is the case, for example, with the CNRS in France, the CSIC in Spain, the CNR in Italy,
the  Max  Planck  Institute  in  Germany,  etc.  In  these  types  of  organisation,  basic  research  is
most frequently funded by fixed grants allocated annually to various laboratories or institutes,
or  in  the  framework  of  multiannual,  sometimes  thematic  programmes.  In  some  cases,
however,  projects are funded  through outside  sources, private or even public in  the  form  of
“competitive” funding at European or national level.

In  several  European  countries,  there  are  actually  agencies  which  fund  research,  more
especially  basic  research,  in  universities  but  also  in  research  organisations:  the  Research
Councils  in  the  United  Kingdom,  the  Deutsche  Forschungsgemeinschaft  in  Germany,  the
Vetenkapsradet  in  Sweden,  the  NWO  in  the  Netherlands,  the  FNRS  in  Belgium,  etc.  These
operate largely by giving grants for projects carried out by individual teams similar to those
seen in the USA.

In  Europe,  the  private  sector  is  relatively  inactive  in  the  field  of  basic  research.  Few
companies have strong research capabilities in this field, and their activities generally tend to
focus  on  applied  research  and  development  activities.  Moreover,  the  funding  of  research
through foundations is still limited.

8

 
Unlike  in  the  USA  where  the  private  sector  has  always  defended  the  idea  of  the  need  for
sizeable public funding of basic research,10 European industry has for a long time advocated
giving priority to public funding for applied research, in particular for research carried out by
companies themselves. Today, the importance of basic research for economic competitiveness
is  starting  to  be  recognised  more  and  more  in  Europe,  including  by  organisations  which
represent the business world, such as the European Round Table of Industrialists.

3.4. 

Strengths and weaknesses

It  is  not  easy  to  quantify  the  respective  efforts  of  the  USA  and  Europe  in  terms  of  basic
research and the difference between these efforts. Given the differences in how basic research
is  defined  from  one  system  and  one  country  to  another,  the  unstable  nature  of  the
nomenclature  used  for  compiling  statistics,  as  well  as  the  very  limited  data  available,
especially for Europe, it is difficult to come up with figures that do not need to be treated with
caution.

In overall terms, the level of US and European efforts seems to be more or less comparable. It
is  in  terms  of  results  and  performance  that  the  difference  is  greatest.  The  conventional
indicators  of  the  performance  of  research  systems  are  the  number  of  articles  published  in
international journals, and the number of references to these articles.

In terms of publications, Europe is in the lead with 41.3% of the world total compared with
31.4% for  the  USA.  In terms of number of  references,  regarded  as  the  best  indicator  of  the
quality of research, Europe is however  behind  the USA  in most disciplines:  about one-third
more references are to US researchers.

A field-by-field analysis shows the gap is generally wider in the fields of basic research where
an  increase  in  knowledge  is  likely  to  have  a  particularly  marked  effect  on  competitiveness.
While it is relatively small in fields such as the earth sciences, mathematics and agricultural
research, the gap widens in physics and medicine, and is particularly marked in chemistry and
the basic life sciences. In the computer sciences, Israel and the USA clearly dominate world
production.

This  difference  in  performance  is  confirmed  by  the  number  of  Nobel  Prize  winners  in
Physiology/Medicine,  Physics  and  Chemistry:  between  1980  and  2003,  there  were  68  in
Europe,  against  154  in  the  USA,  with  the  gap  widening  over  the  years.  As  is  often
emphasised, a large number of US winners were actually born or trained in Europe.11.

10

11

See  the  report  "America's  Basic  Research:  Prosperity  Through  Discovery"  of  the  Committee  for
Economic Development, which includes representatives of the major industrial groups.
For the Fields Medal, the “Nobel Prize in Mathematics” which is awarded every four years, the figures
for  the  same  period  are  as  follows:  9  Europeans  (including  1  working  in  the  USA);  5  Americans;  4
Russians (including 2 working in the USA and 1 in Europe); 1 Japanese; 1 New Zealander (working in
the USA). In other words, a total of 9 researchers working in Europe and 9 working in the USA.

9

 
                                                
Nr. of Nobel Prizes in chemistry, physics, medicine or physiology by ten year periods, 
EU-15, US, JP

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

31

20

1

2

23

9

16

15

25

3

38

20

26

22

28

15

1

0

1

1

40

16

1

35

22

2

1901-1910

1911-1920

1921-1930

1931-1940

1941-1950

1951-1960

1961-1970

1971-1980

1981-1990

1991-2000

EU-15

US

JP

The difference appears to be linked to the distinct manner in which research in general, and
basic research in particular, is organised and how it operates on the two sides of the Atlantic.

In the field of research, and basic research in particular, Europe has undeniable strengths: the
quality  of  the  European  training  system;  the  very  high  standard  of  a  large  number  of
university teams; the existence of centres of excellence in practically all fields; the strength of
the traditions of basic research which often exist in the countries acceding to the Union. But it
also has a number of weaknesses.

In this regard, the first thing which should be mentioned is the lack of sufficient competition
at European level, since teams and researchers are largely exposed only to competition within
their own countries. By exposing researchers, teams and institutions in different countries to
the ideas and dynamism of their greatest counterparts elsewhere in Europe, the establishment
of genuine competition on a continental scale would undoubtedly stimulate the creativity and
excellence of basic research in Europe.

The fact that Europe is split into a number of different countries, trivial but with several major
consequences, also has an impact in other respects:

– 

– 

lack  of  cooperation  and  coordination  of  activities  due 

The 
compartmentalisation of national programmes and support systems;

to 

the

The lack in some cases of a critical mass of projects due to the small number
and limited size of centres of excellence.

In  terms  of  results,  Europe  in  overall  terms  offers  a  less  attractive  environment  for
researchers:  researchers  from  third  countries  but  also  European  researchers,  which  Europe
trains in number and at a high level, but who often choose to pursue their career in the USA.

Due to their intrinsic nature, these structural weaknesses need to be tackled and dealt with at a
European level.

10

 
4. 

BASIC RESEARCH AT EU LEVEL

In Europe, most basic research is carried out and funded at national level.12 One of the reasons
for this is that  it is  largely  performed by  universities,  thus  in  the  framework  of  the  national
education systems.

For  a  long  time,  the  predominant  feeling  among  the  Member  States  has  also  been  that  this
type of research by definition falls within the sphere of national competence and that, in view
of  the  objectives  of  EU  research  policy,  the  European  Union  should  confine  itself  to
supporting applied research and technological development.

Here too, the perception has changed over the years due to an awareness of the realities about
the  knowledge-based  economy  and  an  understanding  of  the  importance  of  advances  in
scientific knowledge and research, including basic research, for achieving the economic  and
social goals of the Union.

A  substantial  amount  of  basic  research  is  however  carried  out  at  a  European  level,  in  the
framework of the activities of several intergovernmental organisations , but also those of the
European Union.

Historically the first scientific cooperation initiatives in Europe were indeed launched in the
area of basic research with the setting up of CERN in the field of high-energy physics in the
1950s,  the  ESO  (astronomy)  in  the  1960s,  and  the  EMBO  and  the  EMBL  (molecular
biology),13 all of which are organisations that continue to play a very important role in basic
research in Europe today.

The research activities carried out within the networks and projects of the European Science
Foundation (ESF), a non-specialised organisation set up in the 1970s, also often concern quite
basic research topics.

This  is  also  the  case  with  activities  conducted  under  the  Union’s  Research  Framework
Programme,  which  includes  a  certain  amount  of  basic  research  in  the  form  of  specific
activities or certain aspects of the research activities of major programmes.

Basic research in the Framework Programme

Basic research activities can be found in the following parts of the 6th Framework Programme:

– 

– 

12

13

"Marie  Curie"  actions  to  support  the  training,  mobility  and  careers  of  researchers;
these  activities  are  open  to  all  scientific  fields,  including  theoretical  research
(theoretical physics, cosmology, mathematics);

Support  for  access  to  research  infrastructures  and  their  exploitation  (particle
accelerators, astronomical observatories, etc.);

Tosome  extent  at  regional  level  in  cases  where,  and  subject  to  the  limits  within  which,  the  regions,
which  generally  tend  to  focus  their  efforts  on  technological  development  and  innovation,  provide
funding for universities and the research activities which they carry out.
CERN: European Organisation  for  Nuclear  Research;  ESO:  European  Southern  Observatory;  EMBO:
European Molecular Biology Organisation; EMBL: European Molecular Biology Laboratory.

11

 
                                                
– 

– 

The  NEST  activity  to  provide  specific  support  for  research  “at  the  frontiers  of
knowledge”  (€215  million),  which  is  open  to  proposals  for  “visionary”  research,
throughout 
the  emphasis  on
interdisciplinary research;

field  of  science  and 

technology,  with 

the 

To  some  extent,  the  “thematic  priorities”,  with  work  in  particular  in  the  field  of
nanosciences and the physics of materials; some research on molecular biology and
the  basic  mechanisms  of  genetics  and  genomics;  the  FET  (future  and  emerging
technologies) action to  support new scientific and technological  disciplines  relating
to the information technologies.14

Taken  as  a  whole,  however,  the  support  provided  by  the  Framework  Programme  for  basic
research  seems  limited.  The  resources  explicitly  devoted  to  it  are  not  very  great,  and  the
general  perspective  of  the  programmes  is  still  very  much  dominated  by  knowledge-
application  objectives.  Above  all,  the  range  of  research  support  modes  remains  limited,
without  there  being,  more  especially,  a  support  system  for  individual  teams  of  a  significant
size.15  In  total,  the  Framework  Programme  does,  however,  seem  to  provide  an  appropriate
basis for action on a greater scale, to be conducted with additional resources.

5. 

THE PROSPECTS

Along with its assets, Europe, as has been shown, suffers from a number of weaknesses as far
as basic research is concerned. These are largely due to the compartmentalised nature of the
national  research  systems,  and  above  all  the  lack  of  sufficient  competition  between
researchers, teams and individual projects at a European level.

Since  these  weaknesses  vary  in  nature,  they  will  not  be  overcome  and  the  challenges
associated  with  overcoming  them  will  not  be  met  unless  resources,  approaches  and
instruments are combined. There is no single formula which will allow all of the problems to
be solved at the same time.

To enable Europe to extract the maximum benefit from its scientific potential and intellectual
resources, to serve the economy and European society, action must be taken at several levels.

5.1. 

A new support mechanism at European level

First  and  foremost,  there  seems  to  be  a  need  to  introduce  an  European  level  support
mechanism for individual teams’ research projects, modelled on the "individual grants" given
by the NSF.

14

15

In  this  respect,  it  should  be  noted  that  all  research  projects  supported  by  the  Union  are  evaluated  by
means of a procedure involving panels of independent experts based on the principle of “peer review”,
with rules and operating conditions very similar to those applied, for example, by the NSF.
A support scheme for individual teams operates on a limited scale within the framework of the Marie
Curie actions (Marie Curie Excellence Grants): €120 million in total, for support for  a  period of  four
years for teams set up around one researcher. Outside of the Union  framework, there is the European
Young Investigator (EURYI) scheme set up by Eurohorcs Association, which has a comparable budget
of €25 million a year.

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During the discussion on basic research and on a European Research Council, such a support
mechanism  was  repeatedly  put  forward  as  a  major  and  desirable  innovation.  It  seems  quite
natural in the context of the European Research Area.

Such  a  mechanism  would  in  fact  make  it  possible  to  combat  the  effects  produced  by  the
compartmentalised  nature  of  the  national  systems.  By  stimulating  competition  and
encouraging  innovation  as  well  as  experimentation  in  ideas  and  new  approaches,  including
interdisciplinary ones, it would stimulate creativity, excellence and innovation by exploiting a
form of European added value other than that produced by cooperation and networking:  the
added value which comes from competition at EU level.

The  principle  of  stimulating  through  competition  is  currently  exploited  in  the  Framework
Programme,  though  only  at  the  level  of  projects  and  networks.  Indeed,  it  should  not  be
forgotten that proposals for projects and networks submitted in response to calls for proposals
are  presented  and  evaluated  in  a  competitive  context  and  only  the  best  ones  are  adopted,
within the limits of available resources.

Support mechanisms in keeping with the particular type of basic research concerned should be
defined, in particular with recourse to topics and  work  programmes  that  are  more  open  and
less binding than in the case of targeted research.

The importance of this mechanism is not in principle limited to basic research. In the case of
applied research too, support for individual teams’ projects could and must be envisaged. In
fact, in the USA, most of the funding given by the NIH, where many of the activities carried
out are applied research, is awarded in the form of “individual grants”.

Given  that,  according  to  the  scientific  community  itself,  it  is  difficult  to  establish  strict,
universal  criteria  for  distinguishing  between  basic  research  and  applied  research,  such  a
mechanism would therefore actually benefit from being applied throughout the scientific and
technological field.

To  be  able  to  implement  this  new  activity  and  achieve  a  sufficient  impact  without
endangering  other  activities  which  support  research  at  European  and  national  levels,  a
significant volume of fresh funding should be provided for in the Union's research budget.

Converging on this point with the recommendations of the “Mayor Group”, the Commission
plans to propose making the introduction of such a mechanism, as well as increased support
for basic research, one of the main themes of the Union’s future action in the field of research.

5.2. 

Other activities

While the introduction of such a new funding mechanism is necessary and will be useful, it
will  not  be  enough  to  resolve  all  of  the  problems  affecting  Europe  in  the  field  of  basic
research.

Other activities must be launched in combination, and those already in progress today must be
continued and strengthened, in line with the other major lines of future EU action in the field
of research, as envisaged by the Commission. To provide basic research with the resources it
needs  to  achieve  its  rightful  position  in  the  European  Research  Area,  it  is  in  particular
essential to:

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– 

– 

– 

– 

Strengthen  European  support  for  research  infrastructures,  and  support  the
creation of centres of excellence in the enlarged Union, through a combination
of national and European, public and private funding;

Increase  support  for  the  development  of  human  resources,  researcher  training
and the development of careers in science;16

Support  collaboration  and  networking:  in  some  cases,  the  mechanism  which
best  meets  the  needs  for  a  particular  basic  research  topic  is  that  of  a
collaborative  project  or  a  network.  The  possibility  of  making  use  of  such  a
mechanism, as is done in particular today in the case of networks of excellence
under the 6th Framework Programme, must continue to be ensured.

Improve the coordination of national activities, policies and programmes in the
field of basic research: the tools for this purpose exist at a Community level, in
the form of the ERA-NET scheme and Article 169 of the Treaty.

At the same time, as a supplement and in the framework of the Action Plan towards the "3%"
objective, action is needed to boost the financial support given to basic research in Europe, in
particular funding by the private sector through foundations.

6. 

THE NEXT STEPS

This Communication provides a basis for debate at the political level, more especially within
the Union institutions.

The next steps in this debate, the follow-up and the translation of its conclusions into concrete
proposals for action should be as follows:

– 

First quarter of 2004:

– 

– 

A broad debate on this Communication within the scientific community
and groups concerned, in conjunction with the reflections on a "European
Research Council";

A  debate  at  the  political  level  within  the  Council  and  the  European
Parliament on the basis of this Communication;

– 

– 

Second quarter of 2004: presentation by the Commission of a Communication
setting  out  proposals  for  the  operational  translation  of  the  conclusions  of  the
debate  on  basic  research  in  the  form  of  mechanisms  to  be  implemented  at  a
European level.

Second half of the year: a political debate on the second Communication from
the Commission,  with a view  to  the  establishment  of  a  Commission  proposal
for the 7th Framework Programme.

16

See  the  Communication  from  the  Commission  "Researchers  in  the  European  Research  Area:  one
profession, multiple careers" (COM (2003) 436, 18.7.2003).

14