A New Deal for an Effective European Research Policy

This book is about the design of European research policy. The 7th Framework Programme has been drawn up at a time when citizens and governments see science and technology as a panacea for an increasingly long list of problems. It will be the most ambitious Programme to date, unprecedented in scope and scale, and signals a stronger role for European research. But the new Framework Programme represents just a small part of total public spending on R&D in the EU, the bulk of which is carried out by the national and regional authorities. Clearly, on its own, it cannot solve all Europe's problems. What is needed, this book argues, is a 'New Deal' for research in Europe involving the mobilisation of policy actors across all levels - regional, national and European - and their commitment to developing a more effective research system in Europe based on actions at the level where they have the greatest impact.This book is the first to present, from a viewpoint inside the European Commission, the nuts and bolts of how EU research policy is actually designed. It also provides a comprehensive analysis, on the basis of factual evidence, not only of the positive impacts of European research, but of the various criticisms that have been made of the Framework Programme. TOC:Preface.- Introduction.- Challenges to the European Exception: What can S&T do?.- Are Expectations too High? Weaknesses of Europe's S&T System.- Opening the Window of Opportunity: The New Policy Context.- Building an Experience: Learning Lessons from Past Framework Programmes.- Engaging Stakeholders for Better Policy-Making.- European Added Value, Option Analysis, and the Commission's Proposal for the 7th Framework Programme.- From Proposals to Commitments: The 7th Framework Programme and the European Decision-Making process.- Conclusion and Perspectives.- The 7th Framework Programme and a New Deal for an Effective European Research Policy.- List of Tables and Graphs.- List of Abbreviations.- Glossary.- Bibliography.- Index.