|
Fostering
Transnational Cooperation in ERA. ERA NETs as new research policy
instrument
Dipl. Ing. Mag. Claus Seibt,
ARC Systems Research,
Seibersdorf
Abstract:
Within European Research Policy in the 6th
Framework Programme a new instrument emerged the so called ERA NET. The overall
goal going along with this research policy instrument is the co-ordination of
national research policy activities to foster the European research area (ERA).
The intention of the instrument is to minimize the non-coordination of national
research funding activities, causing e. g. the funding of similar research
projects in different European countries and with that a probably inefficient
accounting of national research funding/ financing budgets.
There is meanwhile a multitude of ERA NET initiatives regarding the cooperation
of national research funding activities in areas of basic research and applied
research. The clear difference to other European research policy instruments
like Technology Platforms or Euroregional Projects is, that not the industry and
the research arenas are mainly addressed , but the national research policy and
the national research funding administrations. The actual focus of the ERA NET
initiatives is to encourage trans-national co-operation of national research
programme managers (specifically the so called programme owners are addressed)
from national ministries, public funding bodies or research promotion agencies
in charge of research programmes.
One of the larger initiatives within the ERA-NET scheme is ERA NET TRANSPORT.
Within ERA NET Transport a large survey was carried out on policy regimes within
national transport research policies in 13 European countries and on barriers
for trans-national co-operation. The survey illustrated, that there are now
structurally similar regimes of public financing/ funding research in European
countries (due to something like a mainstreaming process within the ERA), but
with a deeper insight different political cultures and practices behind these
regimes were obvious.
Within the survey national representatives from the research policy sector of
these 13 European countries were asked for their personal estimations on
barriers for trans-national cooperation. One major result was that there are not
really critical barriers regarding the legal standpoint (e. g. the national
research promotion and funding legislation), but there are barriers concerning
administrative regulations and even more serious barriers concerning political
issues like the legitimisation of national research funding budgets. National
research budgets have to be spent with regard to current national political
interests.
The ERA NET initiative shows clearly that the emergence of the European Research
Area is “non-linear”. Although there is a strong need for better cooperation
of national public research funding programmes, national representatives are not
in each case interested in a remake of small scale framework programmes (mulitlateral
activities). National public research promotion and funding practices stay in
some areas competitive, while in other areas a need for trans-national
cooperation is obvious. ERA NET and other upcoming instruments to foster
trans-national research policy cooperation like Art 169 are still in a process
of differentiation to find position within the bunch of all the European
Research Policy instruments.
|
