Brussels, 06 February 2002
Rolf Tarrach, President of the Spanish Council for scientific research and member of the European research advisory board (EURAB), has called for EU academic qualifications, a European R&D (research and development) agency and less fragmentation in European research.
Writing for the Spanish Presidency, Professor Tarrach, who is also professor of theoretical physics at the University of Barcelona, argues that Europe needs to be scientific, cultured and fairer to women. In order for this to happen, European research must be more integrated, he says.
'For Europe to be more of a Union, to be cultured and scientific and fairer to women, more young Europeans need to pursue some of their studies outside their country of origin, academic qualifications need to be European or at least automatically recognised, we need to have a European R&D agency, it is important to neglect neither basic research nor research in the humanities, and education, which should be a priority beyond discussion, will need to do more to encourage a spirit of solidarity and teach us to value the feminine more highly,' he writes.
Professor Tarrach also calls on the Member States to be more integrationist, saying that 'given that a proper scientific policy becomes increasingly effective the larger its field of application is, we need to go much further in giving up our national sovereignty and abandoning policies of sectoral returns. Not all countries or regions need to research everything, but they do all need to stand out in a particular area. Europe's diversity is such that for every task there will be one particular group best equipped to carry it out, while the range of problems is such that every group will be best suited to work on the solution of one of them.
'To do it [research] optimally and ensure its excellence, we Europeans will need to believe in it and understand that only a Europe which pursues research will be relevant in the world,' Professor Tarrach concludes.
To see Professor Tarrach's full text, please consult the following web address: http://www.ue2002.es/actualidad/plantil laDetalle.asp?opcion=1&id=451&idioma=in gles