New Deal for an Effective European Research Policy

This book is about the design of European research policy. It tells the story of how the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Development came to be and looks at its expected impacts. With its detailed analysis of the factors and actors, political constraints and opportunities, societal challenges and expectations shaping research policy, the book provides a peek into what is sometimes perceived as the black box of EU policy making. §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.§The originality of the book lies in its perspective, its transparency and its objectivity. It 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 also of the various criticisms that have been made of the Framework Programme.