Desama (PSE). – (FR) Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, when the European Commission presented its first communication on the European Research Area, through the intermediary of Commissioner Busquin, we wondered whether this was just another gadget, the kind of publicity stunt the Commission has sometimes favoured, or whether it really did represent a new direction, a turning point in the development of European research. In other words, we wondered whether the Commission was taking on board the fact that strictly Community related research makes up only a small percentage of global research activity in the European Union.

Today, after the first communication and, in particular, after this one, which defines the instruments more clearly, we know that we are definitely on the eve of a major change of course in research – although I would not go quite so far as to describe it as a Copernican revolution.

Until now, the purpose of research and of its main instrument, the Framework Programme, has been to keep European industry competitive. Today, obviously without neglecting that fundamental objective, we feel that there is a higher ambition, a new dimension. It is clear that if we want to achieve this European Research Area, which corresponds to a genuine Community policy, cooperation with the Member States is absolutely essential. In that respect, I do not agree with Mrs Plooij-van Gorsel, even though I find her report quite excellent. I think we must not be overcautious. The Heads of State knew what they were doing when they incorporated that form of cooperation into the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. We must make that cooperation strong and vigorous. I believe it is an essential element and one that must form the basis of the ideas and proposals in the Sixth Framework Programme.

So we must embark resolutely on this cooperation, but without forgetting that, in itself, that will not be enough to create a European Research Area. We will have to invigorate the European Research Area by making new efforts to promote the mobility of the researchers, as Mr Vidal-Quadras Roca so rightly said. We must also invigorate it through joint efforts in the field of major infrastructure. We must also, of course, invigorate it by setting up networks of research centres, whether or not they are networks of excellence, but it is true that we have centres of excellence and they will have to get used to working together. Here you face a formidable choice, Commissioner, in regard to charting these centres of excellence. These days, one could no doubt call it a benchmarking exercise. To call it so is one thing, to make it so is, of course, another, more difficult thing. However, when all is said and done, we have confidence that you will succeed.

Let me conclude by saying that over and above the European Research Area, which I believe will be a structural component of the next Framework Programme, we will also have to create links between the research areas and the whole field of university education. That is another dimension, but it is a crucial one.