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| "The
Debate" on the European Research Council (ERC) |
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| The role of ELSF |
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| The creation of a European Research Council (ERC) to support basic, investigator-driven research is one of ELSF's major objectives. All the indicators show that Europe is lagging behind its US and Japanese competitors in terms of research spending and performance. On the other hand, it is clear that a lot of research is not supported sufficiently. This is the case with risky, open-ended research, although no one would question that such research is the motor that drives innovation. At the moment there is no pan-European instrument for funding basic research. The ERC could bridge this gap, provided that the level of funding was commensurate with the challenges. A research council on a European level would ensure that European research is competitive in a global context. On the one hand, for research infrastructures and major projects, it could provide the critical mass in terms of finance, human resources and expertise that are all beyond the reach of a single European country. On the other hand, competing for funds at the level of the entire continent would inevitably mean an overall increase in the quality of European research. |
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| The ERC debate gathered momentum at a meeting organised by the Danish Presidency of the EU in October 2002. The Danish Presidency subsequently established an Expert Group (ERCEG) to explore options for creating a European Research. ELSF decided to take action to support the creation of an ERC in order to ensure that, if it comes to existence, the ERC truly reflects the needs of the scientific community, but also to help create a dynamic that would reach decision makers who will responsible to establish and fund the new body. For this purpose, the Forum was joined by the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO), the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) and, later on, by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). |
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