Brussels

The European Union's (EU) new research commissioner, Philippe Busquin, has promised to publish a white paper (policy document) early next year outlining his plans for the creation of a European Research Area (see Nature 401, 837; 1999).

Speaking to a meeting of the European Parliament's committee on industry, external trade, research and energy, Busquin said that the paper will address issues such as how to achieve mobility of researchers across the EU, whether researchers' careers should have a ‘European dimension’, and how to “stimulate the taste for research among the young and promote the participation of women in science”.

Busquin told the committee that he wanted to raise the total research and development spending of EU member states from its current level of 1.8 per cent of gross domestic product towards the 2.8 per cent of the United States and the 3 per cent of Japan.