Brussels, 26/01/2005 (Agence Europe) - The committee tasked with identifying the scientists to make up the future European Research Council met for the first time in Brussels on 25 January. This small “identification committee”, which is chaired by the former European Commissioner Chris Patten, now Chancellor of Oxford University, is also comprised of: the Nobel Prize-winner Erwin Hener of the Max-Planck-Institut für biophysikalische Chemie of Göttingen; the director of the optical institute of the Université de Paris-Sud, Catherine Bréchignac; professor Jüri Engelbrecht, president of Estonia's Academy of Science; and professor Guido Martinetti of the sociology faculty of the Universita degli Studi de Milano-Bicocca.
It is perhaps surprising that this kind of selection committee has been appointed before the definitive form for the European Research Council is known. According to the European Commission, its job is to guarantee the scientific independence of this new structure, which in future will determine priorities for fundamental research to be supported from a scientific point of view at European level. This procedure will be a useful addition to the thematic priorities of the framework-programme, which will continue to be determined politically by the European Parliament and the Council on the basis of Commission proposals. For the time being, it is still not known how this European Research Council will function or what its budget will be. An annual envelope of a billion euros was recommended by one group, but all will depend on future budgetary constraints and the confirmation of the doubling of funds available for research. The creation of the European Research Council will be included in the legislative package of the seventh framework programme for research, which the European Commission is set to adopt on 6 April.