Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-11-29-Speech-3-188"
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"en.20061129.18.3-188"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to thank Mr Potočnik and the Finnish Presidency, which has now been handed the baton in a piece of work that has taken several years to do. Before I speak about the specific programme for which I am the rapporteur, that is to say Euratom, I should like to express some thoughts about Framework Programme 7 and its specific programmes.
Furthermore, I think that European research needs to be more independent, an opinion that in some ways applies also to the European Research Centre. That apart, the associated bodies of the European Fusion Development Agreement have proved over the years to play an essential role. If Europe has the leadership of this programme, that is because it has demonstrated in the field the high quality of the research that it carries out.
Setting up ITER is only the first step, given that we must use it – and use it to best advantage – through a new generation of researchers and high-value research in Europe. This can be guaranteed by keeping research separate from execution. Research should be carried out with existing mechanisms alongside the setting-up of ITER. This is why I believe that it is important for my proposed amendment to be approved by this House, just as was the case with the Buzek report.
I must obviously congratulate Mr Buzek and all the other rapporteurs for their excellent team work, which has enabled us to launch Framework Programme 7, if only at the last possible minute. At the same time I feel rather sad that we have not made that leap of quality, namely that doubling on which we pinned so many hopes. That would have sent out a strong signal of Europe's importance and above all of our conviction that we shall reach the Lisbon objective. The doubling has not happened, but we are nevertheless trying to produce a result.
I shall start with the last comment made by Mr Potočnik on cooperation, in connection with the concern that I have expressed on behalf of myself and my group about the risk inherent in financing organisations or entities, under the aegis of Framework Programme 7, that have been set up or that are functioning in violation of international law. The matter was discussed recently by Parliament with particular reference to the entity that has been set up in the occupied territories – the West Bank, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem – but it applies more generally.
I must emphasise that this concern relates also to situations that have emerged, for example, in scientific bodies, who can be asked to tender under Framework Programme 7 even if they are founded on national legislation that is in breach of international law, by for example preventing people from certain ethnic and religious groups from engaging in research. I believe that this is the problem on which the Commission must express a view. I was not satisfied with the response given in relation to this, since it seems to me to be limited to a very specific sector, whereas I think that it should apply more generally.
As far as the specific programmes are concerned, I am generally satisfied with most of the results achieved and I should in particular like to emphasise the attention given to researchers. Indeed I consider that a great deal of what is done in our complex present-day society depends more and more on the human factor. It is clearly impossible to think of European research without thinking of the researchers and their need for mobility, training and status, which are set out in the European Charter for Researchers. Framework Programme 7 will have to implement the provisions that guarantee the best working conditions for European scientists, not least in order to limit and, if possible, reverse the trend of the brain drain to other parts of the world.
I greatly welcome the effort made to invest in basic research through the creation of an entity that would be independent of the Commission, charged with giving its judgment on the merits of a scientific proposal to be financed under the aegis of Framework Programme 7. The efficacy of this new body will be measured in terms of whether it can be authoritative in selecting proposals and in earning the respect of the scientific community. Only thus will it be able to attract innovative proposals and be in a position to finance ambitious projects that will enhance the quality of European research. Operational transparency, ensured partly through Parliament’s involvement in appraising its actions, will be essential for this body’s success.
I should now like to devote the remaining minutes to the Euratom specific programme. I agree with the Commission’s position, which was also expressed by Mr Buzek concerning the Euratom framework programme, and I think that Europe must invest in developing fusion so that it becomes an indispensable energy source in the long term: unlimited in quantity, ecologically acceptable, financially competitive and capable of making a substantial contribution to a sustainable and safe form of energy supply.
ITER is a fundamental stage in the route towards the use of fusion energy. After lengthy negotiations on the choice of the site for the reactor, the project’s partners have at last signed the international agreement on ITER. The positive conclusion of the negotiations, namely the decision to build ITER on the European site of Caradache in France, requires the adoption of decisive and consistent measures on the part of the EU under the umbrella of the present and subsequent framework programmes.
We therefore need to set up a European agency for ITER, in the form of a common enterprise under the aegis of the Euratom treaty, to supply the means for fulfilling our international obligations arising from the ITER agreement. This means setting up the machinery and projects for collaboration with Japan. This agency, with its headquarters in Barcelona, should have the setting up of ITER as its primary objective. However, I think that the agency’s remit should be limited to this, and I do not share the Commission’s position of entrusting the whole field of research on fusion to a single agency. I do not wish to weaken the role of the agency, which I regard as important, but I think it is essential to help it to meet its objective – which is complicated enough in itself."@en1
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