During a session at the EU Parliament on 3 March 2017, Janusz Korwin-Mikke claimed that women must earn less “because they are weaker, smaller and less intelligent”. This MEP does not seem to be worried about the consequences announced by the EP president Antonio Tajani. Read more [...]
The legal implications of the consequences of the actions of robots endowed with artificial intelligence are currently the object of discussion at the European Parliament. In this opinion piece, Orsolya Zara, legal and policy advisor to an MEP at the European Parliament, in Brussels, provides some insights into changes pertaining to robots liability that may need to be implemented in civil law. Read more [...]
Personal data is a vital resource for research, including studies in medicine, public health and social science. Over decades, researchers have developed approaches to use this data safely and securely to improve our understanding of society, health and disease. Reform of European data privacy laws is now threatening the way that data is used in research. In this article, Beth Thompson, policy adviser at the UK-based Wellcome Trust, explains why we need your help now, to ensure a positive outcome for research. Read more [...]
Find out how the European Parliament has an in-house mechanism to provide scientific advice, as part of the policy making mechanism. This advice is provided by the Science and Technology Options Assessment (STOA) Panel, which is supported by the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS). Since 1974, STOA has also integrated a foresight activity designed to anticipate the possible long-term unintended consequences of legislation on society. Read more [...]
The new Juncker Commission is attempting to tackle the sluggish economic climate by introducing a punchy new plan. It involves the creation of the European Fund for Strategic Investment to invest in job creation and growth. This initiative has generally been welcome. Except that the proposal involves taking €2.7 billion away from Horizon 2020, the very programme supposed to produce the innovations that would contribute to the growth of the economy. This has triggered uproar in the European science community. This reaction was further compounded by criticism from the European Court of Auditors pointing to the many gaps in the proposed plan. Finally, additional concerns that further funding restrictions could be imposed on the way structural funds are permitted to be used have also emerged, given that research features low on the list of EC priorities. Read more [...]
The Snowden fallout it far from being over. One of its consequences is the European Parliament’s text for upcoming Data Protection legislation. The draft proposal has resulted in some of the largest, most prestigious, non-commercial research organisations in Europe being up in arms. They warn that the EU is set to strangle health-saving research. In this feature article, EuroScientist investigates what could be the possible consequences, should the legislation does not make suitable exception to allow research of potential future societal value and privacy at all costs becomes the new rule. Read more [...]
A public debate on science agenda of the EU parliament candidates has largely bypassed Croatia. The manifestos of the key parties had little to offer, too. The coalition that is in power, dominated by the social democrats (SDP), says they will focus their Read more [...]
In the past few weeks, European elections debates to elect members of the European Parliament (EP) have been in full swing. The vote will take place between of the 22nd to 25th May 2014, depending on the country. In most territories, the mainstream press appears to have little concern over higher education, research and innovation. It is also worth distinguishing the debate taking place in academic and research circles. There, the debate is only touching a few of the issues pertaining to research and education that would need to be addressed.The EuroScientist following its vocation as a participatory magazine, has called upon its network of loyal readers, supporters and reporters to gather an overview of issues that are relevant to scientists debated during the various campaigns across Europe. Read more [...]
When it comes to innovation, in particular, the dominant discourse during the debates taking place in the running up to the vote to elect members of the European Parliament was about bringing Europe on the path to economic recovery and to ensure economic sustainability. Among all the parties contributing to the mainstream media debate, very few come up with truly specific measures to support economic recovery based on research and innovation. The lack of details also plagues the pledge of investment in research and innovation made by parties on both sides of the political spectrum. Besides, higher education is mainly present in the mainstream media debate on the topic of the expansion of the Erasmus+ programme. Read more [...]
The debate in the running up to the 22nd and 25th May 2014 vote to elect members of the European Parliament, is also taking place among academic and research circles. Opinions and analyses have been published in the specialist press and on the pages of science and higher education advocacy groups across Europe. A few of them have questioned the main political parties about their intentions in relation to topics relevant to scientists, innovators and academics. Below are outlined the key issues featured in this debate, ranging from the ERA, mobility, higher education, H2020 funding and the national target of investing 3% of GDP in R&D. Read more [...]
In the past few weeks, European elections debates to elect members of the European Parliament (EP) have been in full swing. The vote will take place between the 22nd to 25th May 2014, depending on the country. In most territories, the mainstream press appears to have little concern over higher education, research and innovation. It is also worth distinguishing the debate taking place in academic and research circles. There, the debate is only touching a few of the issues pertaining to research and education that would need to be addressed.The EuroScientist following its vocation as a participatory magazine, has called upon its network of loyal readers, supporters and reporters to gather an overview of issues that are relevant to scientists debated during the various campaigns across Europe. This article will give our readers food for thought by providing an overview and some anecdotal evidence of the debates that have taken place both in the mainstream press and in academic and research circles. Read more [...]
European science conversations by the community, for the community
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