01/02/2008 (Agence Europe) - The EU must attract and retain competent researchers, the European Parliament said on Thursday 31 January, when it adopted the own initiative report by Umberto Guidoni (GUE/NGL, Italy) on the European Research Area. MEPs called on member states to get rid of all barriers preventing researchers from entering the EU. They also recommended “research vouchers” and post-doctoral fellowships which build on the Erasmus programme to increase the mobility of researchers within the EU. The report, which was adopted by 602 votes to 18, with 6 abstentions, regretted that average EU spending on R&D is 1.84% of GDP, while in the United States it is 2.68% and in Japan 3.18%. (B.C.)