A roundtable discussion on future priorities for EU R&D spending. January 2008 will mark the opening of an important, multi-pronged effort to change how and where the EU spends its billions in R&D subsidies.
A roundtable discussion on future priorities for EU R&D spending. January 2008 will mark the opening of an important, multi-pronged effort to change how and where the EU spends its billions in R&D subsidies. First, the European Commission - under the leadership of the new EU presidency from Slovenia - will start unveiling its proposals to make a reality of its long-imagined "European Research Area", an effort to knock down the borders that make it difficult for researchers and their ideas to move from country to country. Second, a mid-term budget review announced by President Barroso is in full swing, pitting against each other for more funding such EU constituencies as researchers, farmers and regional-development authorities. And lastly, it marks the first full year of the new European Research Council, the latest Brussels experiment in awarding research grants. This session will hear from two of the key officials involved in this R&D strategy: Zoran Stancic, deputy director-general for DG Research, and Ernst-Ludwig Winnaker, secretary general of the European Research Council. It will also, following the normal Policy Bridge format, include ample opportunity for roundtable participants to air their own suggestions for R&D priorities.
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A unique international forum for public research organisations and companies to connect their external engagement with strategic interests around their R&D system.