Minister Kopicová:"de Raad concurrentievermogen vervult prioriteiten Tsjechsisch voorzitterschap' (en)

The meeting of the Competitiveness Council held in Brussels rounded off the efforts of the Czech Presidency in the area of research and development.

Chaired by the Czech Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Miroslava Kopicová, the Council adopted three sets of conclusions and a regulation concerning a legal framework for ERIC.

The meeting of the EU Ministers for Research finalised the activities of the Czech Presidency in the area of research and development.

”Today, the Czech Presidency managed to meet several important priorities and fulfil the motto of a “European Research Area without barriers”. One of the topics most widely discussed during the difficult negotiations was the question how to exempt large research infrastructures from VAT and excise duty. The Czech Presidency managed to reach a compromise even on this issue”, Minister Kopicová commented the meeting.

The meeting tried to find political agreement on a proposal for a regulation for the Community legal framework for the European Research Infrastructures consortium (ERIC). The Czech Presidency inherited this problematic point from its French predecessors in December 2008 and submitted a compromise proposal, together with the VAT Committee, which qualified ERIC as an international organisation for the purposes of relevant VAT directives. The proposal was adopted by a qualified Council majority, which unblocked the stalemate. The compromise means that a country wishing to set up an ERIC seat will declare in its application that it recognises ERIC as an international organisation from the moment of its creation, thus exempting it from VAT and excise duty.

“The legal framework will significantly cut financial and administrative costs and clarify the legal environment for the functioning of European research infrastructures and at the same time enhance scientific cooperation. In this way it will bring down barriers to investments in science and research. This achievement is considered a valuable success not only by me but also by my European counterparts”, added Minister Kopicová after the Competitiveness Council meeting.

The Council Conclusions address three areas:

Council conclusions on the Research Infrastructures and the regional dimension of the European Research Area (ERA). The main objective of this document is to stress the regional dimension and the need for a more balanced development of the European Research Area as well as access to funding for European research infrastructures, particularly at Member State level. This is of great importance especially at a time of economic crisis and is also enshrined in the European Recovery Plan.

Council conclusions on the evaluation and impact assessment of European research framework programmes (FPs). Towards the end of February, Prague hosted the international Eufordia conference which focused on this Presidency priority. The output of this conference represents a significant advancement in view of the need for more efficient investments in science and research, an area in which the EU still lacks relevant tools.

Council conclusions on the first steps towards the realisation of the European Research Area (Vision 2020). The text entitled Vision 2020 is aimed to become a blueprint for building the European Research Area up to the year 2020. The Czech Presidency has been working hard on tasks started by previous Presidencies and has successfully worked out the details of the implementation of this project.

Among other items addressed, the Czech Presidency and the European Commission briefed the participants on conferences and other events aimed to support careers in science. Further, the agenda included a discussion on the possible association of the Russian Federation to EU framework programmes and on the progress made in the implementation of the ITER project. Towards the end of the meeting Sweden presented the priorities of its upcoming Presidency.

Contact:

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  Tomáš Bouška, spokesperson of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic for the Presidency
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  Tel.: +420 257 193 426, GSM: +420 724 374 245, e-mail: tomas.bouska@msmt.cz