Brussels, 20/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - A group of 12 member states composed of the last states to join the EU has called on the European Commission to go back to the drawing board on the subject of the rules of participation in the next framework programme for research and innovation, Horizon 2020. Those States call for guarantees to be given so that their researchers may benefit, during the period 2014-2020, from a larger number of grants, on one hand, and subsidies, on the other, i.e. an amount equivalent to what the other 15 European states receive.
These claims were presented to Commissioner Maire Geoghegan-Quinn (research, innovation and science) in Brussels, on Wednesday 19 September, by two ministers responsible for representing the whole group in question: Barbara Kudrycka of Poland, responsible for science and higher education, and Hungary's deputy minister for the economy, Zoltan Csefalvay. According to Kudrycka, the meeting did have a successful outcome as the Commission plans to make “adjustments” and to present several simulations to reflect the different variables that can be adjusted in the rules of participation. The two ministers put forward a number of proposals including: a procedure for selecting projects “with two panels”, a larger number of “small and medium-sized projects”, and special attention paid to SMEs.
The second part of the initiative affects the remuneration of those taking part in the projects to be financed in the context of Horizon 2020. The 12 States want a different system, since that which is proposed today “introduces considerable differences between the participants of the new member states and those of the older member states”, Kudrycka explained during a press conference. Not all the States are affected by the problem in the same way. The Polish minister cited the example of the Bulgarian researchers who can be remunerated up to 13 times less than their colleagues from certain German regions. As the requirements for “scientific excellence” are the same for everyone, the differences in the pay should be “at least limited, if not completely levelled out”, he concluded.
The initiative is totally in keeping with concerns already expressed by a number of national delegations in December 2011, just six days after the Commission's presentation of the Horizon 2020 project. Although this framework programme is today considered in a positive light by all member states, especially due to the fact that it works in a much simpler way than its predecessor, concerns continue especially regarding the persisting problem of a “two-speed research Europe”. Member states from central and eastern Europe consider they are disadvantaged in the race for grants, among other things because of the fact that remuneration for their researchers is lower, and infrastructure and equipment available to their researchers are to a certain extent antiquated.
The Commission now has relatively little time to present alternatives that can satisfy the group of 12 States. The next meeting of the Competitiveness Council will take place on 10 and 11 October and ministers have planned to endorse an agreement on the rules of participation for Horizon 2020. (JK/transl.jl)