REPORT on better careers and more mobility: a European partnership for researchers
18.2.2009 - (2008/2213(INI))
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
Rapporteur: Pia Elda Locatelli
Rapporteur for the opinion(*):
Bilyana Ilieva Raeva, Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
(*) Associated committee - Rule 47 of the Rules of Procedure
MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION
on better careers and more mobility: a European partnership for researchers
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the Commission Communication of 23 May 2008 entitled Better careers and more mobility: a European partnership for researchers[1] and the accompanying Commission staff working documents, namely the impact assessment (SEC(2008)1911) and the executive summary thereof (SEC(2008)1912),
– having regard to Council Decision 2006/973/EC of 19 December 2006 concerning the specific programme 'People' implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)[2],
– having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 3 December 2008[3],
– having regard to the Commission Communications of 20 June 2001 entitled A mobility strategy for the European Research Area (COM(2001)0331), and of 18 July 2003 entitled Researchers in the European Research Area: one profession, multiple careers[4], and the Commission Recommendation of 11 March 2005 on the European Charter for Researchers and a Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers[5],
– having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,
– having regard to the report of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and the opinions of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the Committee on Culture and Education (A6 0067/2009),
A. whereas Europe needs more researchers with, inter alia, capacity to develop frontier research, as they are indispensable for its increased productivity and competitiveness, and contribute to the achievement of the Lisbon strategy goals,
B. whereas in order to help make up the shortfall in researchers there is a need to encourage the return of European scientists working outside the Union and to facilitate the entry of scientists from third countries who want to work in the European Union,
C. whereas facilitating attractive careers for researchers within the European Union is of the utmost importance in order to ensure the availability of highly skilled human resources and attract such resources from third countries,
D. whereas there is a need for the European Union to combat negative economic trends by focusing on education and research and to do everything possible to ensure employment, security and mobility for researchers, so that they stay in the European Union ,
E. whereas researcher mobility is one of the main factors in ensuring full implementation of the European Research Area (ERA),
F. whereas, in order for Europe to be able to ensure satisfactory development of the research sector, free movement of researchers must be guaranteed; whereas harmonised cooperation in this regard between Member States, as well as among the public and private sectors, is therefore crucial,
G. whereas the availability of information about employment opportunities for researchers is in many cases limited as many competitions take place internally within research institutes,
H. whereas the research workforce in Europe is ageing and initiatives for making research careers available and attractive to young people, especially women, are therefore urgently needed,
I. whereas the system of scientific promotion in many research institutes is still rigid and based on seniority rather than on the achievements of the researchers,
J. whereas complicated application procedures and a lack of administrative skills, in connection with matters such as filling in forms in a foreign language and registering patents, discourage researchers from participating in mobility projects,
K. whereas the importance of sharing knowledge with industry, the business community and society is not yet recognised by many universities, which leads to a lack of connections with the business world and weakens competitiveness in the European Union ,
L. whereas language skills play an important role in researcher mobility, encouraging mobility towards countries with more widely spoken languages, and thus leaving other countries fewer opportunities to benefit from the work of mobile researchers,
M. whereas mobility is an essential part of doctoral education since it allows for wider research experiences and career development opportunities,
N. whereas mobility is important in enabling some Member States to overcome their difficulties in training their own young researchers in areas without a critical mass of doctoral students or adequate research infrastructure,
O. whereas cooperation among research institutes, businesses and industry should be improved in order to ensure exchanges of knowledge, improved innovation and more efficient use of funding,
P. whereas participation in EU research programmes is an excellent way to promote researchers' careers, because it allows competition at international level, access to multinational research networks and increased funding for the improvement of their own research facilities,
Q. whereas women are still under‑represented in most scientific and engineering spheres and in managerial positions,
Open recruitment and portability of grants
1. Welcomes and supports the Commission’s initiative for a European Partnership for Researchers and considers that the measures proposed should be effective in removing the main obstacles to the creation of a ERA;
2. Emphasises that in order to have a world class European research system through an inclusive partnership between the Commission and the Member States, all partners at regional, national and European levels need to contribute fully;
3. Emphasises the need to make a commitment to the proposed initiative by adopting concrete proposals, and to ensure the rapid continuation of the objectives of the above-mentioned specific programme 'People';
4. Calls for improved availability and transparency of information on recruitment opportunities for researchers and more openness in recruitment procedures by public institutions; considers that recruitment information should be published on the website of the respective research institutes and on the EURAXESS website;
5. Points to the need in the future to define and establish a single EU career model in the field of research and to introduce an integrated system for information on offers of employment and trainee contracts in the field of research in the European Union, considering this to be key to the creation of a single employment market for researchers;
6. Stresses furthermore, and in the context of the need for a contribution by all partners, the importance on the one hand of the determination of Member States to participate in the process, and on the other of the responsibility of the Commission to assist the process and action between all partners, by producing and disseminating support material, accurate information and enabling the exchange of best practices;
7. Urges the Commission and the Member States to develop standards for mutual recognition of research qualifications and, in particular, non-formal qualifications;
8. Reiterates the importance of the Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on the establishment of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) for lifelong learning[6], and calls on the Commission to encourage and assist Member States in drawing up their own National Qualifications Frameworks in order to relate to the EQF by 2010;
9. Urges the Member States to renew their efforts to implement the principles set out in the above-mentioned European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers;
10. Encourages the Member States and public research institutions to provide the necessary support services for researchers by simplifying application procedures and facilitating researchers' access to funding, inter alia by means of individual grants which promote freedom of researchers to pursue research topics of their choice; calls, in this respect, for the Member States and the Commission to guarantee uniform researchers' mobility application forms;
11. Calls on the Council, the Commission and the Member States to take account of the mobility and partnership programmes with third countries, such as Erasmus Mundus, in the context of the career interaction and mobility requirements of all participating researchers;
12. Encourages the Member States and the Commission to review the necessary conditions for introducing portability of individual research grants when this enables funding bodies to better meet their research needs and researchers to access research facilities not available in their home institutions; considers that the review should, in particular, address the consequences of portability for research institutions in Member States and the threat of the "unequal allocation of researchers" within the European Union , and from and to third countries;
13. Considers that increasing the mobility of researchers and strengthening the resources of those institutions which attract researchers from other Member States will encourage centres of excellence and will also spread that excellence around the European Union.
14. Highlights the importance of making the processes for the selection and promotion of male and female researchers completely open and transparent; calls on the Member States to ensure a better balance between men and women within the bodies responsible for hiring and promoting researchers;
15. Considers that the mobility of researchers in Europe should be given priority in order to ensure that knowledge is diffused and that innovative frontier research in various disciplines attracts dedicated and competent researchers and increased financial resources.
16. Calls for exchanges to be facilitated with scientists and researchers from third countries, and through the introduction of arrangements such as special visas for researchers;
17. Considers that increased mobility should be achieved by strengthening the interests and benefits for research institutions and universities to host researchers from other Member States by means of a “research voucher” scheme. This research voucher should transfer money for researchers and follow those participating in research institutions in Member States other than their own. This added support for mobility of researchers should be additional to current funding schemes ; considers further that the research voucher will be an incentive for Member States and for research establishments to compete in attracting the most talented scientists.
Meeting the social security and supplementary pension needs of mobile researchers
18. Urges the Commission and the Member States to explore the possibility of creating a European Pension Fund for researchers, regardless of the duration of the research contract;
19. Recalls that only by including the views of researchers, national research institutions and stakeholders in research policy can a Member State draw up a comprehensive National Action Plan leading to a comprehensive European partnership;
Attractive employment and working conditions
20. Calls for Member States and public research institutions to provide the necessary support services for researchers from other countries, including access to lodging, schools and childcare facilities; considers that these services should be advertised in all researchers' recruitment websites;
21. Calls for more flexibility in working conditions both for female and male researchers in order to allow them to combine work with family life, and calls for elimination of the gender pay gap for researchers;
22. Calls on Member States to take measures to facilitate the reunification of families when both spouses are researchers;
23. Urges the Member States, in order to avoid a "brain drain" within the EU, to better exploit the opportunities offered by the funding schemes of the above-mentioned specific programme 'People'; calls on the Member States to make returning to their home institutions more attractive for researchers by increasing their salaries or offering additional benefits to ensure that economic conditions are comparable to those enjoyed during the mobility period;
24. Calls on the Member States and public research institutions to improve researchers' careers by promoting reforms to make the researchers' labour market more competitive and less constrained by institutional affiliations; considers that, upon appointment, researchers should be able to obtain recognition of their period of research at the foreign educational establishment;
25. Expresses its concern at the lack of flexible contracts for experienced researchers and researchers at the end of their careers, a circumstance which obstructs their mobility and inhibits the proper exchange of knowledge and experience; regrets that the private sector sometimes lacks arrangements similar to those in the public sector for the treatment and management of personnel;
26. Calls for the Member States to facilitate participation in the Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007-2013)[7] by ensuring efficient support services, in particular national contact points, in order to make better use of co-financing opportunities;
27. Calls for the Member States and public research institutions to provide incentives for mobility such as mobility being regarded as a strong recommendation upon appointment and career advancements for researchers after their return from stays in other Member States;
28. Considers that the Member States must continue to increase the budgetary resources allocated to research, as a means of creating quality jobs that comply with basic ethical principles and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;
Enhancing the training skills and experience of European researchers
29. Encourages the Member States to recognise the experience of researchers in the industrial sector as a valuable asset for their career advancement in order to improve mobility between the private and public sectors;
30. Calls on the Member States to invest in applied research, in such a way as to ensure closer collaboration between universities, research establishments and the private sector;
31. Urges the Member States to improve career opportunities for young researchers, for example in terms of increased funding and allowing career advancement on the basis of achievements rather than seniority, such as innovation capacity, stages in enterprises, etc.;
32. Urges the Commission and the Member States and to review the legal status of PhD students in Member States in order to explore the possibility of introducing uniform PhD student status under Member States' employment legislation;
33. Urges Member States to promote the enhancement of the career prospects of young researchers by inter alia supporting interdisciplinary training as well as recognising the value of interdisciplinary mobility;
34. Calls on Member States to facilitate innovation by promoting the interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and international mobility of senior researchers, inter alia as a way of contributing to progress in the teaching of young researchers;
35. Strongly recommends better training for researchers throughout their careers so as to improve their employability and chances of promotion;
36. Stresses that the foundations for outstanding research in a knowledge-based society are laid at school; calls on Member States therefore to honour their budgetary promises in the field of education;
37. Calls on the Council, the Commission and the Member States to raise the profile of scientific research in the general budget, in accordance with the undertaking given to achieve 3% growth and to train 600 000 more researchers, on average, by 2010;
38. Stresses that particular attention should be paid to PhD students as in general this represents the starting point of research careers; considers that the mobility of young researchers, especially in networks of excellence, would increase their potential to contribute to the development of European research;
39. Urges the Member States to support better links and mobility of researchers and managers between the academic community and industry by promoting dedicated schemes such as the 'Conventions Industrielles de Formation par la Recherche' (CIFRE) scheme in France;
40. Takes the view that an intensification of exchanges within the framework of the relevant EU higher education programmes, with the focus on research, will prepare generations of future European researchers and make the research sector more dynamic;
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41. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission and to the governments and parliaments of the Member States.
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
The Communication from the Commission supports the aim of the EU to become the most competitive knowledge-based economy by enhancing the mobility of researchers, acknowledging the fact that they are the main producers of knowledge and expertise at a time when Europe is more and more confronted with global challenges in the fields of energy, environment, telecommunications, etc
The rapporteur welcomes the results of the Commission's initiatives implemented until now in regards the need for adequate human resources for R&D, in particular researchers, and all measures concerning mobility of researchers and enhancing their careers. Although these initiatives have been in general successful, many challenges still remain in order to ensure the necessary long term R&D capacity in Europe.
In order to reach the goals set out in the Lisbon strategy, Europe needs more researchers for increased productivity and competition, especially in view of competition with other big global economies like the US, Japan, as well as fast developing economies like India and China. The Commission proposes to develop a partnership between the Commission and the Member States in order to achieve measurable progress in the following areas by the end of 2010:
· opening recruitment;
· meeting the social security and pensions needs for mobile researchers;
· providing attractive employment and working conditions;
· enhancing the training, skills and experience of researchers.
Summary of priority actions proposed by Commission
The surveys show that many researchers complain of a lack of openness and transparency in the information about recruitment (e.g., many competitions take place internally in the public research institutions and universities, which do not allow choosing the best candidate). The Commission proposes measures such as better and more open advertising of posts (through EURAXESS and EURES websites), and portability of grants ("money follows researcher"). The rapporteur wishes to stress the importance of enhancing mobility, in order to attract more researchers to varied projects and increase the opportunities of researchers to choose for which project and in which country they want to work. Mutual recognition of qualifications among research institutes is also important.
As regards social security of mobile researchers, flexible pension schemes are necessary, e.g., pan-EU pension schemes would be more feasible than the practised portability of pension rights. Rules in this field should be updated and adjusted in the Community level for the benefit of researchers.
The Communication proposes several measures to prevent the shortage of researchers and the increasing aging of the research force by enhancing mobility through increasing the number of women in the research posts, making the research environment more attractive to young and foreign researchers (some Member States still have not implemented the Directive of the "scientific visa"), as well as a research environment more family-friendly for better work conditions and private life balance (especially. as regards attracting more women).
Making research careers attractive means giving young people earlier and better opportunities — the better the conditions for young researchers, the higher their number. The EU must become more attractive also to the best researchers coming from third countries. Regarding making the research environment more attractive to young people, more stress should be put on advancement of the career according to performance and scientific merits rather than to seniority.
In order for the researchers to work efficiently and effectively in the modern knowledge society, it is necessary to enhance their training and skills from the traditional academic training to a more interdisciplinary and business-oriented one. The Commission invites Member States to develop their "national skills plans" in order to equip researchers with more up-to-date skills, as well as to ensure better links between academia and industry.
To implement the partnership between Commission, Council and Member States they should cooperate and make the maximum use of the existing Community legal framework for the benefit of researchers. Member States are urged to adopt their national action plans by early 2009 to achieve the aims of this partnership.
It is also highly important to assess the results and progress of the partnership actions in the field of mobility of researchers, for which Commission is suggesting an overall evaluation after the first stage of the partnership (2010), where the views of researchers themselves should be taken into account.
The rapporteur's opinion
Opening recruitment
The Rapporteur agrees that Member States should ensure open, transparent, competition-based recruitment of researchers based on scientific merit. Information on the recruitment procedures should be readily available to potential candidates through the website of the institution.
Merit should be measured in terms of scientific excellence and scientific production (publications). However, other important aspects should be also count as merits in a researcher's career: innovation capacity, research management skills, training and supervision skills, collaboration with industry, etc.
Portability of grants
As regards portability of grants the rapporteur is concerned about the effect on the less endowed institutions when total portability is allowed. Experience shows that the movement of researchers is always from a poorly endowed institution to a better one, for researchers are attracted obviously by the best facilities and the increased opportunities to work alongside the best researchers in their fields. Therefore, the effect of portability could be to worsen the movement of researchers from the least favoured institutions/countries to the best institutions, thus further impoverishing the former. Therefore, there is a need to find the right balance between the right of the researcher to move to the best institution possible to pursue his/her career, and the consequences for the research policy of the institutions and countries losing these researchers.
In order not to interfere with national research policies, the rapporteur would support measures to ensure that the researchers return to their countries after a few years in a new institution.
Better cooperation between universities, research institutes and private sector
The rapporteur stresses that research and knowledge have a very high prestige in the EU, but that European research organisations and businesses are not successful enough in implementing good ideas and insights and converting them into profitable initiatives, creating more jobs. This situation may be improved by developing research agendas in order to settle social issues and satisfy the need for technological innovation, which is of high importance in reaching the Lisbon goals.
The rapporteur suggests strengthening the connections between the world of research and industry, especially SMEs, in particular by ensuring better links between the business community and academic organisations on the local level. Increased mobility from academia to industry could also help to prevent brain-drain from smaller countries and public institutions with less financing opportunities.
Thus, the proposal of the rapporteur is to give priority to mobility between academia and industry and vice-versa.
Recognition of diplomas
The rapporteur supports mutual recognition of Member States' doctoral diplomas in order to remove obstacles to the mobility of researchers and scientists and consolidate a single European research area in the EU. Clear common standards at the EU level for access to academic careers should be set, so that researchers could be hired by the universities and research centres of the Member States.
Better training of researchers
Studies show that in many cases researchers are not well enough informed about existence of mobility projects, about practicalities concerning applications, funding, social security, grants etc. for such projects, as well as lack such administrative skills as managing the intellectual property, registering a patent etc. For that purpose, rapporteur suggests that Member States take proper care of providing the researchers with adequate training in administrative practicalities of their work, and supports the creation of "national skills databases" suggested by the Commission.
The language barrier
The language barrier is an important factor which should be taken into consideration in the mobility policy. There is a substantial risk that countries where more wide-spread languages are spoken will attract more researchers rather than countries with not so popular languages. The language barrier could play an important role in discouraging the researchers from taking advantage of the mobility.
Member States are invited to provide mechanisms to reach to the best researchers by improved distribution of information both within the EU and in the third countries. The rapporteur suggests that those mechanisms should include better coordination on behalf of the researchers, so that they are provided with all the information about their opportunities and rights when participating in mobility projects.
Enhanced cooperation with the EMPL Committee
The rapporteur considers that the following aspects of the Commission' Communication fall under the EMPL Committee exclusive competence:
· Meeting the social security and supplementary pension needs of mobile researchers.
and joint competence with ITRE in regards the theme:
· Attractive employment and working conditions
OPINION of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (*) (3.12.2008)
for the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
on Better careers and more mobility: a European partnership for researchers
(2008/2213(INI))
Rapporteur (*): Bilyana Ilieva Raeva(*) Associated committee - Rule 47 of the Rules of Procedure
SUGGESTIONS
The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs calls on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:
A. whereas the Lisbon Strategy aims to make the European Union the most competitive and dynamic economy in the world by 2010 and to enhance scientific research activities, so that innovation contributes to economic growth and to improving the quality of jobs,
B. whereas there is a need for the EU to combat negative economic trends by focusing on education and research and to do everything possible to ensure employment, security and mobility for researchers, so that they stay in the EU,
C. bearing in mind that research is strengthened and put to good use in the EU when it is combined with researcher mobility and close cooperation with organisations applying such research, in particular small and medium-sized undertakings,
1. Welcomes and supports the Commission’s initiative for a European Partnership for Researchers and considers that the measures proposed should be effective in removing the main obstacles to the creation of a European Research Area (ERA);
2. Calls on the Member States to apply the measures already adopted at EU level concerning the ERA[1], which constitute an essential step towards its realisation;
3. Calls for researcher mobility to be accompanied by appropriate integration measures;
4. Emphasises the need to make a commitment to the proposed programme by adopting concrete proposals, as well as to ensure the rapid continuation of the objectives associated with the specific programme 'People' under the Seventh Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration (2007-2013)[2];
5. Takes the view that reciprocal recognition by Member States and research institutes of researchers' qualifications within the EU qualifications framework will increase mobility and ensure maximum integrity in the composition of research teams;
6. Calls on the Commission and Member States to launch a new policy aimed at ensuring that social protection and social insurance is provided in researchers' contracts, in particular short-term contracts or contracts of variable duration;
7. Considers that every effort should be made to accelerate the mutual recognition of qualifications acquired in third countries;
8. Expresses its concern at the lack of flexible contracts for experienced researchers and researchers at the end of their careers, a circumstance which obstructs their mobility and inhibits the proper exchange of knowledge and experience; regrets that the private sector sometimes lacks arrangements similar to those in the public sector for the treatment and management of personnel;
9. Recommends that advancement in the research sector, in particular for young researchers, be based on ability and excellence and not solely on seniority, and that due respect be paid to the principle of non-discrimination, in accordance with Community law;
10. Calls on the Commission and Member States to develop policies designed to promote a better work-life balance for researchers;
11. Calls on the Commission and Member States to adopt measures facilitating the reconciliation of work and family life and supporting women researchers;
12. Strongly recommends better training for researchers throughout their careers so as to improve their employability and chances of promotion;
13. Emphasises the need for better links between academia and industry in order to improve the employment prospects of academics and the ability to make practical use of research results;
14. Emphasises the need to identify best practices in academia and industry so that appropriate common guidelines can be developed;
15. Takes the view that an intensification of exchanges within the framework of the relevant EU higher education programmes, with the focus on research, will prepare generations of future European researchers and make the research sector more dynamic;
16. Considers that more research projects should be entrusted to young researchers and that there is a need to facilitate autonomy in research and the inter generational transfer of know how; also believes it necessary to promote cooperation actions with third countries with a view to the training of researchers at the beginning of their careers, and to provide assistance with the promotion of publications, studies and books by researchers, with the aim of diffusing knowledge and supporting the theoretical and scientific training of young researchers;
17. Considers that the Member States must continue to increase the budgetary resources allocated to research, as a means of creating quality jobs that comply with basic ethical principles and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;
18. Stresses that the foundations for outstanding research in a knowledge-based society are laid at school; calls on Member States therefore to honour their budgetary promises in the field of education;
19. Calls on the Council, the Commission and the Member States to raise the profile of scientific research in the general budget, in accordance with the undertaking given to achieve 3% growth and to train 600 000 more researchers, on average, by 2010;
20. Invites the Council, the Commission and the Member States to support the creation of a genuine EU labour market for researchers, to implement a coherent package of back-up measures, with a view to eliminating obstacles to professional mobility, notably with regard to social security and tax issues affecting researchers, since these often deter people from becoming researchers, and to promote researchers' career prospects in Europe, especially by ensuring appropriate financial conditions and pay levels; also believes that account should be taken of the quality aspects of research training, the sharing of knowledge between sectors and research bodies via the researchers themselves, encouraging two-way mobility between academia and business, and the enhanced participation of women researchers and young researchers in R & D;
21. Calls on the Council, the Commission and the Member States to take account of the mobility and partnership programmes with third countries, such as Erasmus Mundus, in the context of the career interaction and mobility requirements of all participating researchers;
22. Calls on the Commission, in the context of the European partnership for researchers, to ensure that there is room for incentives for researchers from Member States working outside the EU to return, as well as for outstanding researchers in third countries to establish themselves in the EU.
RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE
Date adopted |
2.12.2008 |
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Result of final vote |
+: –: 0: |
38 1 1 |
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Members present for the final vote |
Jan Andersson, Edit Bauer, Iles Braghetto, Philip Bushill-Matthews, Alejandro Cercas, Ole Christensen, Derek Roland Clark, Luigi Cocilovo, Jean Louis Cottigny, Jan Cremers, Proinsias De Rossa, Harald Ettl, Carlo Fatuzzo, Ilda Figueiredo, Stephen Hughes, Ona Juknevičienė, Elizabeth Lynne, Thomas Mann, Jan Tadeusz Masiel, Maria Matsouka, Juan Andrés Naranjo Escobar, Csaba Őry, Siiri Oviir, Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, Pier Antonio Panzeri, Rovana Plumb, Bilyana Ilieva Raeva, José Albino Silva Peneda, Jean Spautz, Gabriele Stauner, Ewa Tomaszewska, Anne Van Lancker |
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Substitute(s) present for the final vote |
Petru Filip, Donata Gottardi, Marian Harkin, Magda Kósáné Kovács, Sepp Kusstatscher, Jamila Madeira, Viktória Mohácsi, Anja Weisgerber |
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- [1] European Charter for Researchers, Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers, ‘Scientific visa’ package.
- [2] Decision No 1982/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007-2013) (OJ L 412, 30.12.2006, p. 1).
OPINION of the Committee on CULTURE AND EDUCATION (22.1.2009)
for the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
on better careers and more mobility: A European partnership for researchers
(2008/2213(INI))
Rapporteur: László Tőkés
SUGGESTIONS
The Committee on Culture and Education calls on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:
1. Emphasises that in order to have a world class European research system through an inclusive partnership between the Commission and the Member States, all partners at regional, national and European levels need to contribute fully;
2. Stresses that particular attention should be paid to PhD students as in general they represent the very beginning of research careers; the mobility of the young researchers, especially in networks of excellence, would increase their potential to contribute to the development of European research;
3. Calls on all concerned parties to take urgent measures to create appropriate conditions for young scientists and further to motivate researchers to base and develop their careers in the EU as the current brain-drain is of great concern;
4. Furthermore, in the context of the need for a contribution by all partners, stresses the importance on the one hand of the determination of Member States to participate in the process, and on the other of the responsibility of the Commission to assist the process and action between all partners, by producing and disseminating support material, precise information and enabling the exchange of best practices;
5. Recalls that only by including the views of researchers, national research institutions and stakeholders in research policy can a Member State draw up a comprehensive National Action Plan leading to a comprehensive European partnership;
6. Stresses that female researchers are in a minority within the European Union, accounting, on average, for just 35% of researchers working in the government and higher education sectors and only 18 %, on average, of researchers working in the private sector, and that there is still a major shortage of women in senior positions in science and research;
7. Stresses that by promoting the mobility of researchers, in particular at the beginning of their careers, in all twenty-seven Member States, all partners should contribute to maximising the benefits of diversity and strengthening multilingualism in the EU;
8. Reiterates the importance of the recently adopted European Qualifications Framework (EQF) to promote lifelong learning, and calls on the Commission to encourage and assist Member States in drawing up their own National Qualifications Frameworks in order to relate to the EQF by 2010;
9. Appreciates the value of existing European tools to open recruitment of researchers, such as the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers, tools that - despite their non-binding nature - are indispensable and will greatly contribute to open and transparent recruitment once transposed in all twenty-seven Member States;
10. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to improve the existing social security legislation, dismantle bureaucratic hurdles, reinforce the European Job Mobility Portal (Eures) and foster awareness of the possibilities and advantages of working abroad among the wider public, as stated in the European Job Mobility Action Plan[1].
RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE
Date adopted |
20.1.2009 |
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Result of final vote |
+: –: 0: |
25 1 0 |
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Members present for the final vote |
Maria Badia i Cutchet, Ivo Belet, Guy Bono, Marie-Hélène Descamps, Věra Flasarová, Milan Gaľa, Vasco Graça Moura, Lissy Gröner, Luis Herrero-Tejedor, Ruth Hieronymi, Mikel Irujo Amezaga, Ramona Nicole Mănescu, Manolis Mavrommatis, Ljudmila Novak, Doris Pack, Zdzisław Zbigniew Podkański, Pál Schmitt, Hannu Takkula, Thomas Wise, Tomáš Zatloukal |
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Substitute(s) present for the final vote |
Gyula Hegyi, Nina Škottová, László Tőkés, Ewa Tomaszewska, Cornelis Visser |
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Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote |
Maria Berger |
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- [1] Commission Communication of 6 December 2007: 'Mobility, an instrument for more and better jobs: the European Job Mobility Action Plan (2007-2010)' (COM(2007)0773).
RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE
Date adopted |
12.2.2009 |
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Result of final vote |
+: –: 0: |
42 0 0 |
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Members present for the final vote |
Šarūnas Birutis, Jan Březina, Jerzy Buzek, Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, Giles Chichester, Dragoş Florin David, Pilar del Castillo Vera, Den Dover, Lena Ek, Nicole Fontaine, Adam Gierek, Norbert Glante, András Gyürk, Fiona Hall, David Hammerstein, Rebecca Harms, Ján Hudacký, Romana Jordan Cizelj, Pia Elda Locatelli, Eluned Morgan, Antonio Mussa, Angelika Niebler, Reino Paasilinna, Anni Podimata, Miloslav Ransdorf, Herbert Reul, Teresa Riera Madurell, Paul Rübig, Andres Tarand, Britta Thomsen, Patrizia Toia, Catherine Trautmann, Claude Turmes, Nikolaos Vakalis, Alejo Vidal-Quadras, Dominique Vlasto |
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Substitute(s) present for the final vote |
Alexander Alvaro, Juan Fraile Cantón, Cristina Gutiérrez-Cortines, Eija-Riitta Korhola, John Purvis, Vladimir Urutchev |
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