Stenograma dezbaterilor

Joi, 20 octombrie 2022 - Strasbourg

11. Sprijinul european pentru comunitatea de cercetare ucraineană (dezbatere)

  Der Präsident. – Als nächster Punkt der Tagesordnung folgt die Aussprache über die Anfrage zur mündlichen Beantwortung an die Kommission über die Unterstützung der EU für die ukrainische Forschungsgemeinschaft von Cristian-Silviu Buşoi im Namen des Ausschusses für Industrie, Forschung und Energie (O—000044/2022 – B9-0029/2022) (2022/2691(RSP)).

  Maria da Graça Carvalho, author. – Mr President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, this oral question covers several key issues for the ITRE committee. It deals with protecting the rights of a community, the scientific community, which plays a pivotal role in our common well-being.

We address the importance of science. We address the importance of science diplomacy, a tool that brings positive changes in international relations, reinforcing ties and easing political tensions. We talk about the need to bring stability to the researchers community in Europe and elsewhere.

We also underline the importance of values such as research and academic freedom, such as ethics in new in science and new technologies. Researchers around the world should be free to think and express ideas. They should be free to focus on their activities for the good of humanity and to expand the frontiers of scientific knowledge. These are principles that in the European Union, we apply in all our policies.

Europe must be a safe place to do research, a safe place for science. It must be an example for the rest of the world. The Union has the tradition of using science diplomacy tools in other parts of the world. I can mention, for example, the Balkans integration, for which scientific cooperation played a crucial role.

The need to support researchers at risk is not a novelty. Recently, we have witnessed this in Afghanistan, where hundreds of researchers were put at risk by the Taliban regime. We see this, unfortunately, around the world where there are authoritarian regimes.

The Union’s response to the needs of Ukrainian research has been, so far, swift. The Parliament was the first, demanding a mobilisation of instruments to help them to continue their research activities. The European higher education and research institutions have shown their solidarity by organising, on a voluntary basis, support for researchers, even without funding from governments or other institutions.

Commissioner Mariya Gabriel was able to mobilise quickly the funds useful to support researchers. The establishment of ERA4Ukraine, a one-stop-shop to give researchers of Ukraine a concrete point of reference was one of the first responses. Initiatives like Horizon for Ukraine, ERC for Ukraine and Marie Curie actions for Ukraine followed shortly and help the creation of fellowship schemes and targeted financial support.

This has been an exceptional response to a war on European soil. In Europe, we live in freedom. Values, as researchers have said, such as academic freedom are essential. However, this also increases our responsibility to help researchers at risk, especially in the neighbourhood countries that contribute also for our development research. Most of these countries were also participants in Horizon 2020 and now are in Horizon Europe.

Europe should be a safe haven for all the researchers that want to continue their research. This is why we must continue to support our Ukrainian friends. Today, we are asking the European Commission how it plans to maintain and reinforce this support, which initiatives it is planning to mobilise which specific support schemes are ready and which national schemes can be pulled together to become best practices.

To do all this, the European Commission should be able to use the right instruments. So far, to support Ukrainian research, the European Commission had to rely on emergency provisions in the financial regulation. We need to make better use of the possibilities provided by the association agreement between Ukraine and the EU in science.

Furthermore, we need a new and innovative approach to help the researchers in Ukraine, but also to ensure the survival and future reform of the research infrastructure in this country, so that when there is peace researchers have a place to continue their scientific work.

For example, the Commission should set up an ad hoc European fellowship scheme for researchers at risk and to be prepared for the future in other situations. Parliament supports this and already has a pilot project budgeted.

  Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the Commission. – Mr President, honourable Members of the European Parliament, I would like to update you on our support for the Ukrainian research community and its broader research and innovation ecosystem. And I would like to start by thanking Mr Cristian Buşoi for sending us very pertinent questions on behalf of the ITRE Committee.

The Commission fully recognises the importance of providing meaningful support for the Ukrainian research community. We are also mindful of the long-term perspective when Ukraine’s reconstruction begins. The ongoing war has inflicted massive damage on Ukraine’s research infrastructures, disrupted research and innovation activities and left researchers who remain in the country with limited means to continue their work.

At the same time, the Lugano Conference in July marked the beginning of political discussions on Ukraine’s reconstruction. I am sure that here we all agree that knowledge, innovative solutions and advanced technology will be key in rebuilding a modern Ukraine.

In terms of our concrete support, in the wake of invasion, we gave our full attention to employment opportunities for displaced researchers who fled the war, seeking refuge in the EU. We have done this strong coordination with the Member States, for example, via the ERA4Ukraine initiative.

More recently, our focus shifted to supporting those who remain in the country and have limited means to continue their work. We fully recognise the importance of keeping Ukraine’s research and innovation ecosystem alive and preventing excessive brain drain. In view of Ukraine’s EU candidate country status, we also need to facilitate their integration into the European research area.

In this context, Ukraine’s association to the Horizon Europe and Euratom programmes should be seen as the key instruments of support. The Association Agreement is in force since 9 June and Ukrainian entities can participate in these programmes on equal terms with entities from the EU Member States.

In addition, the Commission made an exception for Ukraine by waiving its financial contributions for years 2021 and 2022 at the very last under all Union programmes to which Ukraine is associated. On top of that, all our research and innovation goals encourage the applicants to include opportunities where possible for Ukrainians. With these provisions in place, we encourage our Member States as well as our global partners who take interest in the Horizon Europe and Euratom programmes to actively pursue cooperation opportunities with the Ukrainian partners.

As a next step, we intend to support Ukraine in setting up a Horizon Europe office in Kyiv in the course of 2023. Our hope is that it can strengthen the research and innovation networks and facilitate more competitive applications from Ukraine.

I still have something to say, and I will say it in my concluding remarks.

  Seán Kelly, on behalf of the PPE Group. – A Uachtaráin, we have entered a new and pivotal phase of the callous and unnecessary war in Ukraine. I think everybody knows that the war could be over tomorrow if war criminal Putin wished it so.

Europe’s reaction to the war is, of course, multifaceted. But I am glad that MEPs Buşoi and Carvalho have raised this particular aspect. As has been pointed out, the EU higher education and research community has expressed a strong support for the Ukrainian research and innovative sector.

I welcome the steps taken to ensure Ukrainian entities are eligible for a rise in Europe funding, and it is positive to see the European Innovation Council announce 20 million of support for Ukrainian start—ups. I also warmly welcome the MSCA4Ukraine initiative, which provides 25 million to support fellowships for Ukrainian PhD students and postdocs. I hope this scheme can get up and running as soon as possible.

Yet, in line with MEPs Buşoi and Carvalho, I also believe that more action can be taken. Ukrainian research infrastructure is under extreme pressure with the war. The Commission should investigate how further to support these people under the EU—Ukraine Association Agreement. With rockets continuing to destroy Ukrainian cities, indiscriminately targeting schools, universities, hospitals and research infrastructure, such as the National Gene Bank of Plants, and the death toll of scientists increasing, Ukraine needs a coordinated approach to save its research community.

The situation in Afghanistan also comes to mind, but academics have been forced into exile or hiding by the Taliban, who require full societal obedience to their dogmatic and oppressive views. In this regard, I would like to highlight the good work done by the Scholars at Risk network, in particular Europe Director Sinead O’Connor, who is based in Maynooth University in Ireland.

Maith thú a Shinéad! Go raibh maith agat.

  Jordi Solé, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, Madam Commissioner, when Russia invaded Ukraine in February this year, many researchers across Europe quickly mobilised to host fellow Ukrainian researchers. Let me tell you about a nice example of this kind of solidarity.

A few days ago, I visited the Beta Research Centre in Vic in Central Catalonia. They do an outstanding job in the fields of biodiversity, circular economy and environmental and food technology. During the course of my visit, I was told that only two days after the war started and appalled by the images of the cruel invasion, the centre decided to offer to host Ukrainian researchers. As they were spreading the call through the social networks, they quickly found out that similar initiatives were emerging all over Europe. At least 100 volunteers from all countries were organising the reception of Ukrainian researchers in EU facilities in an altruistic and self-managed manner.

Then these volunteers decided to open the Science for Ukraine website to provide in a clear and open way all the useful information for Ukrainian researchers willing to flee the war but at the same time continue their careers. Globally, more than 2 000 offers were collected and in some cases they welcomed the first refugees even before the official administrations had put in place reception measures.

The Beta Centre provided work, housing and salary for eight Ukrainian researchers, and now they are proud to tell about their experience, which was positive both for the Ukrainian researchers and the host centre.

Support to the Ukrainian research community has to be part of the EU’s comprehensive support to the people of Ukraine, to whom we’ve just decided to grant the Sakharov Prize. The Commission has rightly provided coordination support to concrete actions like the one I just explained.

It is important that, despite the horrors of the war and the massive latest attacks on civilian infrastructure, the Ukrainian research community can keep working inside the country, preventing brain drain, and that we keep providing support for the projects under Horizon Europe and other additional instruments.

And in the future reconstruction efforts education and research infrastructure will have to get special attention because, as we know, the research and innovation capacity of any country is key to a more prosperous future.

  Joachim Stanisław Brudziński, w imieniu grupy ECR. – Panie Przewodniczący! Bardzo ważne są nie tylko deklaracje, nie tylko słowa, ale konkrety, konkretna pomoc. Ja tutaj chciałbym odwołać się do Polski, mojego kraju, który jest w forpoczcie jeżeli chodzi zarówno o tę pomoc w wymiarze humanitarnym, tę pomoc w wymiarze ochrony dóbr kultury, jak i o to, o czym dzisiaj dyskutujemy, czyli pomoc dla ukraińskiej nauki.

My w Polsce zaproponowaliśmy specjalne rozwiązania ustawowe, w tym szereg ułatwień dla studentów i naukowców, dotyczących kontynuacji kształcenia, prowadzenia badań w Polsce. Obywatel Ukrainy, który wjechał legalnie do Polski po 24 lutego bieżącego roku z Ukrainy i oświadczył, że pracował jako nauczyciel akademicki w uczelni na terytorium Ukrainy oraz posiada wymagany tytuł zawodowy, stopień naukowy, stopień w zakresie sztuki lub tytuł profesora i odpowiednie kwalifikacje do zajmowania danego stanowiska, może zostać zatrudniony w uczelni jako nauczyciel akademicki bez przeprowadzania konkursu.

Uruchomiliśmy także ogólnopolski portal informacyjny dla osób z Ukrainy. Głównym celem portalu jest usprawnienie procesu poszukiwania informacji o możliwościach studiowania i zatrudnienia w polskich uczelniach i instytucjach badawczych w Polsce dla kandydatów z Ukrainy. Portal skierowany jest do obecnych i przyszłych studentów, doktorantów oraz pracowników uczelni, instytutów badawczych Ukrainy. Portal pomaga odnaleźć między innymi ofertę studiów zarówno w trybie rekrutacji na pełny cykl studiów, jak i kontynuacji wcześniej rozpoczętych studiów na jednej z uczelni ukraińskich, szkół doktorskich. Są także propozycję innej współpracy: staże, stypendia oraz oferty pracy w instytucjach polskiego systemu szkolnictwa wyższego i nauki. Wiele tych przykładów. Ukraińskiej nauce należy się pomoc.

  Liudas Mažylis (PPE). – Dėkoju, Pirmininke. Sveikintina, kad Europos Sąjungoje veikiantys fondai vis labiau prisideda prie Ukrainos mokslininkų finansavimo. Marijos Sklodovskos-Kiuri paramos Ukrainos mokslui fondas neseniai numatė skirti 25 mln. eurų paramą doktorantams ir jauniesiems mokslininkams. Įsigaliojus Ukrainos asociacijos susitarimui su Europos Horizonto programa ir EURATOM’u, šalies mokslininkams atsirado daugiau galimybių siekti finansavimo projektinėms veikoms. Vis dėlto, įvairiais skaičiavimais, dėl karo veiksmų nuo 26 iki 52 tūkst. mokslininkų gali palikti Ukrainą. Šalyje didelė dalis moksliniams tyrimams reikalingos infrastruktūros yra visiškai suardyta. Trūksta elementariausios įrangos, knygų, nešiojamųjų kompiuterių, reikia suteikti prieigą prie elektroninių akademinių šaltinių. Būtina skirti stipendijas Ukrainos mokslininkams atlikti eksperimentinius tyrimus užsienio universitetuose. Pats būdamas akademinio pasaulio atstovu, gerai supratu, kaip svarbu publikuoti mokslinius straipsnius žinomiausiuose pasaulio žurnaluose, tai gyvybiškai būtina norint išlaikyti pakankamą aukštojo mokslo institucijų lygį Ukrainoje. Publikavimas autoriams kainuoja, ir tas išlaidas būtina ir galima sumažinti. Džiugu, kad Lietuvos mokslo taryba dar kovo mėn. numatė iki 100 stipendijų mokslininkų iš Ukrainos darbams Lietuvoje finansuoti, bet to maža. Parama, ir didesnė, turi būti teikiama ES lygmeniu. Tai būtina, norint išsaugoti aukštąjį mokslą Ukrainoje bei išvengti protų nutekėjimo.

Ir, žinoma, pamažinkim biurokratinių reikalavimų projektinėms paraiškoms. Tiesiog įsivaizduokim, kad mokslininkas daro tai, aplinkui sproginėjant bomboms. Ir tai ne vaizduotės žaismas. Tai rūsti kasdienybė.

  Ангел Джамбазки (ECR). – Г-н Председател, уважаема колега, поздравявам Ви за въпроса, който поставихте. Той е навременен и важен.

Уважаема г-жо Комисар, често, да не кажа почти винаги, Ви критикувам за неща, които вярвам са верни, но в този случай въпроса, който е поставен и Вашата реакция заслужава и поздравления, и уважение. Общността, научната, в Украйна трябва да бъде подпомогната, защото след вероломното руско нападение и ракетни удари върху висши училища, върху гимназии и върху университети, съвсем очевидно е, че тази научна мисъл и този научен потенциал трябва да бъде запазен за доброто както на украинската нация, украинския народ, така и за цялата наша европейска цивилизация. Така че позицията Ви е достойна за уважение, за което ви поздравявам.

Има един факт, исторически, който очевидно или по-скоро без изненада не Ви е известен, но всички знаете, че в Украйна има много голяма българска общност, българско малцинство. Тези хора са лоялни украински граждани. В Украйна се намира най-старата българска гимназия, най-старата. В Украйна има българска гимназия, преди да има българска държава. Така че ние трябва да помагаме на тези хора, така че работете.

Spontane Wortmeldungen

  Clare Daly (The Left). – (start of speech off microphone) This initiative is aimed at enabling Ukrainian researchers to continue their academic work in Member States, which I think is a really good thing. And I fully support it because knowledge forges consciousness.

And I find it interesting that the organisation Scholars at Risk, which is a partner of the EU for the Ukrainian scheme, also wrote to the European institutions last year about Afghanistan. But we see no such scheme or motions for Afghanistan. So I would like to ask the Commissioner: is this being considered? And if not, why not? Because the people of Afghanistan and the researchers have been similarly exposed.

And I’d also like to deal with the issue of that since the war in Ukraine, several Western scientific institutions have severed cooperation with Russia. I think this is lunacy. It was through joint Western and Soviet research during the Cold War that we demonstrated in Antarctica the link between the level of CO2 in the atmosphere and global temperature, causing so much concern today.

Scientific interaction is a good thing. It should be encouraged as a first step towards peace.

  Juozas Olekas (S&D). – Ačiū, Gerbiamas pirmininke, gerbiama Komisijos nare, noriu pasveikinti Jus iš tikrųjų su ta iniciatyva ir parama Ukrainos mokslininkams. Ir manau, kad čia kolegos išdėstė faktus, dėl ko kenčia Ukrainos mokslas, dėl ko kenčia mokslininkai, kaip yra griaunama infrastruktūra ir kokios pagalbos reikia tiek dabar, tiek ateityje atstatant Ukrainą po karo. Bet aš noriu atkreipti jūsų dėmesį į vieną faktą. Dėl Putino Rusijos invazijos į Ukrainą kenčia ir Baltarusijos žmonės, ypatingai tie, kurie pasipriešino Lukašenkos režimui, remiančiam Putino agresiją. Ir štai vien šiais metais iš Baltarusijos valstybinio universiteto atleista pusantro šimto mokslininkų. Gal mes galėtume galvodami ne tik apie Ukrainos, bet apie šitos agresijos prieš Ukrainą fone esančios situacijos pasekmes, įtraukti ir bent tuos mokslininkus iš Baltarusijos, kurie pasitraukė į Europos Sąjungą. Ir kad jie taip pat galėtų įsijungti į Europos mokslą ir gauti paramą. Ačiū.

  Mick Wallace (The Left). – Mr President, I 100% support the idea of European support for Ukrainian research and innovation. It makes very good sense. We did oppose supporting Ukraine with arms, which has led to more violence, more bloodshed and at great cost to the ordinary people, the less well-off in Ukraine who are dying in their numbers.

Research and innovation leads to knowledge and understanding. It always represents good sense and, as my colleague said, we should never politicise this and we should keep channels open. We want people to understand more and to know more about life. And politicising this is not the way forward.

And I mean, I’ve seen situations where Russian literature, music and dance or been censored in places. Russian sports were being censored. They didn’t start a war; there’s no logic to that.

And just on a last point, we visited Iraq last year and they were crying out for support for research in Iraq from the European Community. And it is very disappointing that the Europeans have been silent on this and won’t give it.

(Ende der spontanen Wortmeldungen)

  Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the Commission. – Mr President, honourable Members, thank you for this discussion and comments, which we will certainly consider in our work in support of the Ukrainian research and innovation scene. I have to say I am here always on topics which have a more or less divisive nature, and I have never experienced such a unanimous support for the case. So thank you very much, from left to right, from the middle. Thank you.

As we heard at the beginning, it is our obligation to help our Ukrainian friends and I’m very much grateful to Parliament for showing very clearly that this is exactly what we continue to do.

I still owe you some information on top of what I described at the beginning. I wanted to add that we have appointed the Ukraine-based ambassador of the European Innovation Council to feed us this information from the Ukrainian innovation scene. We have also implemented dedicated support measures such as a EUR 25 million fellowship scheme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and EUR 20 million support by the European Innovation Council, which should reach at least 200 Ukrainian deep-tech start-ups in and out of the country.

Beyond our research and innovation programmes, the Commission supports scientists’ engagement and responsible research through the Science and Technology Centre of Ukraine. The key objective is to prevent the brain drain of the dual-use knowledge from Ukraine to malevolent states.

Finally, anticipating Ukraine’s recovery, we are already considering how we could facilitate and complement physical reconstruction efforts. Under Horizon Europe and Euratom programmes we are proposing projects to build knowledge and reinforce Ukrainian skills and capacity in the areas of research infrastructures, climate-neutral cities and nuclear safety and security.

The spirit of solidarity with Ukraine and its research and innovation community continues to hold strong. So thank you very much once again for this opportunity to present to you our work in support of Ukraine.

  Der Präsident. – Die Aussprache ist geschlossen.

Schriftliche Erklärungen (Artikel 171)

  Karol Karski (ECR), na piśmie. – Szanowni Państwo! W tym trudnym czasie naszą misją jest wspieranie ukraińskiego środowiska naukowego w przetrwaniu wojny oraz pomoc w zapewnieniu kontynuacji nauki ukraińskiej, zarówno w zakresie kształcenia, jak i wzmacniania jej obecności na międzynarodowej arenie naukowej. Za działania priorytetowe uznać trzeba wsparcie systemu szkolnictwa wyższego na Ukrainie (dostęp i rozwiązania cyfrowe), zapobieganie tzw. drenażowi mózgów i zapewnienie edukacji cyfrowej.

Cieszymy się, że 30 marca bieżącego roku na posiedzeniu Committee of Senior Officials COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) odbyło się głosowanie państw członkowskich nad przyjęciem do organizacji Ukrainy jako COST Full Member. Decyzja o przyjęciu została podjęta jednomyślnie.

Chciałbym podkreślić, że w oparciu o różne źródła opracowany został zestaw informacji dla ukraińskich studentów i naukowców, a Polska była pierwszym członkiem europejskiej sieci EURAXESS, który przygotował informacje dotyczące możliwości otrzymania finansowania w postaci grantu czy zatrudnienia, jak i innego wsparcia związanego z przyjazdem i pobytem na terenie RP. W ramach sieci Euraxess, KE uruchomiła portal ERA4Ukraine, który wskazuje zainteresowanym inicjatywy europejskie (takie jak np.: ERC for Ukraine, Horizon4Ukraine). Portal ten zawiera podstawowe informacje dla obywateli Ukrainy dotyczące możliwości zatrudnienia, stypendiów, uznawalności dyplomów, jak również kwestii praktycznych takich jak zakwaterowanie, nauka języka czy dane kontaktowe placówki dyplomatycznej.