The main research and development priority is elaborated into specific areas of interest; those are two main areas of interest and two secondary areas of interest. All of the research and development priorities were discussed both with France and Sweden and also with the European Commission.

In the attached power point presentation the programme is outlined with the major dates.

* Research and Development Priority “European Research Area without barriers”

The creation of the European Research Area (ERA) is one of the instruments of implementation of the Lisbon Strategy. In terms of research in Europe, the following areas are considered as the most important in reducing barriers inside ERA and in increasing the competitiveness:

1. research infrastructures on international level,
2. flow of competent researchers including mobility,
3. high-level research institutes, including such disciplines as nanotechnology,
4. knowledge sharing,
5. coordinated programmes and priorities (implementation and evaluation of public research investment at European level), and
6. wide opening of the ERA to the world – international cooperation.

During its Presidency the Czech Republic intends to pay attention particularly to the issues of the adequate flow of researchers with regard to mobility and research infrastructures. The main accompanying events of the Presidency will cover the evaluation methodology of the impact of European research and development and women in research.

• Ljubljana Process: 2020 Vision for ERA – initiation of discussion on how to implement the Vision
• Implementation of 5 ERA Initiatives
  • Joint Programming
  • International Cooperation
• Informal Meeting of the Competitiveness Council, 3-4 May 2009 in Prague
• poss. Council Conclusions on progress of Ljubljana Process (May 2009)

Research infrastructures (RI, at the European level the so-called ESFRI) are the backbone of European research and development. RI presence has an impact on competitiveness and the overall development of the area, in which the RI are located.

The development of the debate over the degree of implementation of ESFRI Roadmap is assumed. ESFRI will propose an update of the roadmap in autumn 2008. It will raise questions of which projects to fund and where to locate them. The priority of the Czech Republic will focus on the discussion on the ESFRI Roadmap implementation and on the harmonious development of Europe in terms of regional distribution of research and development infrastructures.

The instrument to promote this area of interest will be the ESFRI report, on which the Czech Republic will actively participate. The report will concern the RI in parts of Europe concerning new and small Member States.

ESFRI report on criteria for selecting of the pan-European infrastructure location will be written. Conference will be held by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) in cooperation with the European Commission on the influence of RI on the development of regions following Slovenian and French IV conference.

The aim is to elaborate and submit to the Competitiveness Council of the EU a draft Conclusion of the Competitiveness Council, in which the necessity to establish pan-European strategy of RI distribution will be highlighted, and the funding enhancement of the RI development in the Framework Programmes (7th and 8th Framework Programme) of the European Community and Euratom will be requested. 

Until the autumn of 2007 the Member States should have implemented to their legal order the Council Directive 2005/71/EC on a specific procedure for admitting third-country nationals for the purposes of scientific research. The so-called Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers concern the same or very similar question. It will be useful to discuss the effect of these documents on migration of researchers and the experience of the Member States in 2009.

EC will submit a proposal on the so-called European passport for researchers in the spring of 2008. It is possible that the discussion of this document will be finished during the Czech Presidency. The mobility of young researchers within the ERA is still relatively low. It is necessary to analyze the causes of the phenomenon, associated with the departure and low rate of return of young researchers from Europe.

Conference with the above mentioned topic should be prepared. The conference will be entitled with respect to the motto of the Czech Presidency “Europe without barriers”. Also questions for ministers within the informal Competitiveness Council of the EU should be drawn up.

A report informing of the conference course and conclusions will be elaborated by the MEYS and will be submitted to the Competitiveness Council of the EU.

• Implementation of the European partnership for researchers
• Researchers in Europe without barriers - Conference on Careers and Mobility of Researchers, 28-29 April in Prague

o The secondary areas of interest in research and development will be “Conference on evaluation of the European programmes impact on the national competitiveness” and the topic of “Women in Research”

The European Commission will submit a report on the 6th Framework Programme evaluation during the French Presidency. The conference held during the Czech Presidency, organized in cooperation with the European Commission, will be a contribution to the debate on the evaluation. The specific scope of the conference is subject to discussion with the European Commission. The most probable topic are the examples of the evaluation methodology of the impact of investments to research in selected Member States. The conference results and conclusions will be submitted to the Competitiveness Council of the EU. The aim of the conference is to launch a debate on the efficiency of the evaluation methodology of the investments to research, in which the Swedish Presidency will proceed.

In cooperation with EC and the Institute of Sociology of the AS CR a conference on the representation of women in research and development and a meeting of the Helsinki group, advisory body of AC Science and Society in Prague, will be held as an accompanying event.

Source: http://cordis.europa.eu/czech-republic/presidency/priorities_en.html and ppt attached