Irish No vote to hit innovation agenda

Nicolas Sarkozy: Innovation may slip down his agenda.

Months of preparation have been thrown into turmoil by Ireland’s No vote in its referendum on the Lisbon Treaty last month. The political problem was compounded shortly after, when the presidents of the Czech Republic and Poland said they too would refuse to ratify the treaty, which requires unanimous backing from all 27 member states of the EU.

It’s not the absence of the treaty itself that is so disruptive to long-term initiatives such as Union-wide research projects and reaching agreement on a Community Patent. Most if not all issues that France hoped to push forward during its six months in charge don’t strictly need the new treaty in order to materialise.

The problem is that the house of cards that is EU-wide political unity has been blown down. Forget reaching agreement on a Community Patent, which would require unanimity from all member states, warn many Brussels pundits.

What’s more, France won't have the time to fulfill its ambitious innovation policy agenda because it will be busy trying to figure out how to manage the broader political crisis.

Yet sources close to the French EU Presidency argue that it isn’t that bad for innovation-related policy initiatives that had already gathered momentum under Slovenia's tutelage during the first half of this year.

Still expecting a new ERA

Efforts to deepen the roots of the fledgling European Research Area can still stick to a deadline agreed in Ljubljana earlier this year, said one such source, who asked not to be named.

“There still is a window of opportunity to achieve what we aimed for in Ljubljana by the end of next year,” he said, referring to what was branded Vision 2010 in Ljubljana – a plan to boost the proportion of public research conducted at the EU level to at least 30 per cent of the total.

Currently, only 15 per cent of public spending on research comes from EU coffers, while 85 per cent comprises national research programmes.

France has to try to secure political support for the ambitious plan during its six months in charge. “It won't be easy, especially concerning issues such as the mobility of researchers, pensions portability, which require coordination of social security systems. I'm not sure we’ll be able to agree these in the current political environment,” he said.

There is some resistance to the concept of an ERA from some countries, particularly those in less R&D intensive countries in the east of the EU that feel they have less to gain from a common European research endeavour, but he added, “We have to show solidarity. There are big problems to tackle together,” he said.

One area that might see some progress during the next six months is a drive to improve international cooperation in science and research beyond the EU’s borders. The French presidency wants to strengthen ties with Russia especially, the source said. At the moment, Russia cooperates with the EU’s seventh framework programme (FP7). “Perhaps we will see it become formally associated with the programme, like other non-EU countries such as Switzerland,” he said.

“It’s a sensitive issue for some member states, again especially those in eastern EU with their historical relationships with Moscow. It would be a decision requiring support from a majority of member states,” the source added.

At least French president Nicolas Sarkozy never claimed that research was going to be his top priority. It has always been portrayed as a second-tier priority, after the big issues of climate change, defence and immigration. But as the political crisis deepens, Sarkozy’s aides and those close to them appear to be lowering expectations even further.