Brussels, 08/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - Ahead of the meeting in Brussels on 9/11 April of some 70 managers from the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (of 56 research institutes), the President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Professor Hans-Jürgen Warnecke, warned that "the objective of becoming the most competitive region in the world can only be achieved if considerably higher investments are made in education, research and development (R&D) than at present". In his estimation, Europe would have to devote a significantly higher proportion of its Gross Domestic Product to research, to reach a level of 3%, if it hopes to overtake the USA and Japan, where the respective percentages of GDP currently lie at 2.6% and 2.9%. Professor Warnecke welcomes Commissioner Busquin's moves towards the creation of a European research area, "even if the speed and direction of the process are still vague". In a press release published on 10 April, he notes that the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft "is committed to preserve the importance of Europe as a location for industry and technology. In future, we want to make a major contribution to the reinforcement of European competitiveness", adding, "EU research commissioner Busquin can count on the wholehearted support of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in his endeavours to create a European Research Area".