Barroso hopeful for slimmer, cheaper European Institute of Technology

Confident: Commission President José Manuel Barroso

José Manuel Barroso unveiled a slimmed-down version of his ambitious plan to create a European Institute of Technology(EIT) on Wednesday, and said he expects it to garner a majority – or even unanimous – support from the 25 national heads of government when they meet later this week in Lahti, Finland. But some diplomats preparing for the informal summit said they believe Barroso might be disappointed.

Gone is the talk of creating a large campus, possibly to be located in part of the European Parliament’s buildings in Strasbourg, and there is no more talk of a massive €2.4 billion budget. Instead, Barroso now sees the EIT having a small central operation employing around 60 people, with initial funding of €308 million generated entirely from the Union’s coffers.

Barroso said he is confident his plan will get “a majority if not unanimous support” from the 25 leaders at their informal summit later this week in Lahti in Finland. “If the green light is given then we will start the legislative process with the view to making the EIT workable by 2009,” he said.

‘A bit optimistic’

“It sounded a bit optimistic,” said one diplomat from an EU member state, who asked not to be named. “There are several countries, including Germany, with a number of reservations.”

Barroso got a cautious thumbs up for the EIT project at a summit in Hampton Court in the UK in the spring. Tony Blair, the British prime minister supported the plan but added that “the devil is in the detail".

“Now that the details are emerging, the debate will get much more complicated,” the diplomat warned.

Six so-called Knowledge and Innovation Communities would be created, more or less like “joint ventures” between academics from different universities and institutes, said Jan Figel, the commissioner for education, who along with Janez Potočnik, the research commissioner, joined Barroso in presenting some details about the new plan to journalists.

Figel insisted that although scaled down the EIT project remains an ambitious step forward for Europe. “It will be more than just a loose network of existing institutions,” Figel said.

All three men said they were sure the private sector will participate in funding the research carried out by the EIT satellites, but Barroso admitted that private sector funding “is the biggest problem now” facing the project he has invested so much political capital in championing.

He said public/private partnerships in scientific research already exist at a national level, and pointed to the UK as a good example. “If the UK can do it why shouldn’t we? Many companies would be even happier to fund projects at an EU level,” he said.

Figel said many large international companies including Microsoft, Siemens, Pfizer, Unilever, Ericsson and Shell, have shown in great interest in the EIT project. “We count on private sector interest,” he said. However, no pledges have yet been made.

Potočnik addressed one of the main criticisms of the project from academics – that it would divert funds away from existing research teams within universities and institutes – saying that the EIT would “bring in additional money”, rather than take a cut of existing research funding.