“We will know that ERA is a shared responsibility [between science, policy and society] in 2030 when we see…half of all scientists and research policy makers, across all disciplines and at all levels of the Science system, are women.”

EPWS welcomes the invitation of the European Commission to comment on the EU 2020 Strategy, a public document intended to give the EU economy a brighter future. The consultation text seems to suggest that the only objective of the European Union is economic growth. However, this goal needs to be embedded in the political goal of building a European Union between nations striving for social integration, political coherence, equal opportunities, peace, education, societal progress, i.e. values oriented towards its citizens.

From the research community’s point of view, EU political decisions and objectives should more clearly take scientific analyses into account to enable a better predictability of their consequences. Also, the Union’s science policy objectives and the EU scientific programmes should maintain enough continuity so that scientists may be able to more reliably base their work on the topics funded throughout time to achieve more in depth results. Otherwise achievements might be incomplete and the overall situation frustrating. (…)

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