Spaans voorzitterschap werkt hele agenda onderzoeks- en innovatiebeleid succesvol af (en)

Spain's Secretary of State for Research, Felipe Petriz. EFE

Spain's Secretary of State for Research, Felipe Petriz, presented the results of the six months of the Spanish Presidency in the field of science and innovation at the European Parliament in Brussels on Thursday, saying it has achieved its planned objectives.

“The Spanish Presidency has fully carried out and successfully achieved the objectives of the political agenda it set for itself at the outset,"said Petriz, pointing out that the Ministry had drawn up an “ambitious and proactive” programme, structured around three pillars of action, known as the three “Is”: Integration, Involvement and Inclusion.

Among the objectives of the first pillar, the Secretary of State underlined the progress made in building the European Research Area (ERA), which has undergone a review of its structures and control mechanisms and been given greater political weight, while the Presidency has also given a boost to the Europe of Knowledge by tackling the issues of researcher mobility and professional careers over the past six months.

“We are confident that we have made a significant contribution to the future development of the European Research Area,, the Spanish Secretary of State emphasised.

In terms of the second pillar, Implication, Petriz reiterated the unanimous support received from all the ministers of the EU for the San Sebastián/Donostia Declaration “Science for economic recovery”, a document that highlights the importance of science in overcoming the crisis.

Lastly, the pillar of Inclusion, understanding this as the need for science to play a clearer and more important part in the battle against poverty and social exclusion. Spain's Secretary of State said he believed the Spanish Presidency had placed the spotlight on this major challenge for the first time", and underlined the “immense potential research has for driving forward human development”.

Petriz added the Presidency is “very pleased” that two initiatives falling under the new Treaty of Lisbon and adopted in co-decision with the Parliament have completed their legislative process. These are the Baltic Sea Research and Development Programme and the regulation on the European Earth Observation Programme.