The Week in Europe 21-27/04/01

State of European research on BSE and related diseases

On 23 April a group of leading experts, established by Philippe Busquin, European Commissioner for research, presented a comprehensive inventory of research on Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies, such as BSE, in order to give a clearer picture on research currently undertaken in Europe. The inventory that is published today identifies strengths and weaknesses of European research in this field. For example, it calls for increased co-ordination, networking, better communication and exchange of results between the various national efforts. It shows that the European research effort is handicapped by several factors such as the lack of well characterised sample materials, limited availability of animal models and cell lines and lack of trained scientists to carry out the research. The group was set up by Philippe Busquin following a suggestion made by Member States research ministers in their meeting of 16 November 2000.

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Commission calls for rapid move towards new generation Internet Protocol to secure success of future wireless services

The European Commission, on 23 April, hosted the first meeting of a European industry-led Task Force established to develop a comprehensive action plan by the end of 2001 to ensure the timely availability of the next generation of the Internet protocol (Internet Protocol version 6 - or IPv6) - as called for by the Stockholm Summit. The Task Force is comprised of senior executives broadly representing all key industrial and research sectors affected by IPv6, including European Internet service providers, telecom operators, mobile operators, equipment supply industries, research networks, and key "application" sectors. Erkki Liikanen, European Commissioner responsible for Enterprise and Information Society said: "Our objective is to ensure that Europes competitiveness in wireless technologies, is not jeopardised by the lack of a clear road map towards IPv6. The rapid and continued growth of the Internet as the key infrastructure of the global knowledge economy now requires new policy measures to ensure that it can continue to meet new requirements. Europe, in particular, must act quickly if the constraints of the existing Internet protocols (IPv4) are not to hold back realisation of the Lisbon Strategy objectives." It is estimated that at current growth rates, the current Internet protocol will run out of Internet addresses in 2005. It is therefore imperative that IPv6 be introduced before the launching of e.g. 3G mobile communications that is built on the idea of each device having their own internet address and the integration of these systems with Internet access. The Task Force web-site is at http://www.ipv6tf.org

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Commission proposals for the public debate on the European Union's future

At Nice last December, the European Council called for a deeper and wider debate about the future of the European Union. The Commission is today tabling various ideas to help make this debate a success. It suggests that the Member States and the European Institutions should start discussing how the details of this debate should be organised, with a view to the European Council to be held in Gothenburg on 15 and 16 June this year.

The Commission's President feels that the debate should be as broad and as open as possible. According to Romano Prodi, "it is not so much a question of organising the debate as allowing it to flourish, covering topics close to everyone's concerns. Because the future of the Union affects us all, not just governments and institutions".

More information is available from: http://europa.eu.int/futurum

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EU businesses are rising to the challenges of innovation - but there is more to do

The European Commission has published a report entitled "Building an Innovative Economy in Europe". This report highlights how EU enterprises are managing the dynamics of innovation, and reviews a number of trends in European innovation policy, and their impact on business competitiveness and growth. To survive and thrive in the knowledge-driven economy and to cope with the fast-changing realities of globalisation and international competition, European Union enterprises must not only be open to innovation, but also make the most of it. No company can afford to stand still: innovation is key to success in the marketplace. "First movers" lead the pack in the take-up of new ideas, new production processes, new products, new tools, new management styles and working methods. EU businesses are doing well, but they can do better. European firms show consistent performance in innovation, but to match their competitors in the e-economy they have to make an extra effort. The report on these studies is published by the Official Publications Office of the European Community and on the Commission website: http://www.cordis.lu/innovation-smes/src/studies.htm

The report "Building an Innovative Economy in Europe " can be requested from innovation@cec.eu.int. Readers should note neither this publication nor the 12 reports on which it is based necessarily reflect the official position of the Commission, but first and foremost express the opinions of those who carried out the studies.

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The public has the wrong idea about the EU budget

The latest Eurobarometer opinion survey, to be published by the European Commission next week, reveals a major public mis-perception about how the European Unions budget is spent. The survey shows that the majority of EU citizens do not know what the Unions annual budget (euro 96 bn in 2001) is spent on. On average 31% of EU citizens replied "dont know" to the question "On which of the following do you think most of the European Unions budget is spent?". This proportion of "dont knows" is around 40% in Spain, Portugal, Italy and the UK.

Of those who did offer an opinion, the largest group (an average of 30%) believed that the greatest part of EU expenditure goes on administrative costs - paying for officials, meetings and buildings - and that view is widespread across the EU. In Sweden and Finland over 50% of respondents believed most EU money was spent on bureaucracy. The report will be made available on Monday, 30 April on the following website: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg10/epo