Allocating more funds to research, and coordinating the efforts of the individual countries to obtain greater results: these are two of the main points of the document recently approved by the European Parliament to support “the essential role of technological innovation in the achievement of the Lisbon objectives”. The EP maintains, in practice, that the emphasis needs to be placed on research, innovation, and the training of human resources to increase the competitiveness of the economy and boost employment. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of small and medium businesses. The European Parliament also calls for the establishment of a European Research Council. Approving the general guidelines for the future policy of the Union in this field, the EP stresses that “it will only be possible to realize a European research space if an ever larger percentage of the funding allocated to it be administered by the Union” and if such funding “be complementary to the research policy in the member states”.
