[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6092\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EFramework Programmes have shown the vanity of borders \u2013 \u00c9tienne Davignon\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhen you look back over the last three decades, what were the crucial turning points in the development of the Framework Programmes?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The crucial points came in the early years. The first is the acceptance by the scientific community of the utility of a European programme, and I think this is important because if you don\u2019t have the support of those who are active, then you don\u2019t have the legitimacy of your ambition. The second is overcoming the reluctance of Member States to understand why European programmes are useful for them.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWas there a pivotal moment when Member \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EStates conceded that European research \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ehad an important role to play?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The pivotal moment was when ESPRIT (European Strategic Program on Research in Information Technology) was born, because this was an additional budget for an additional project. It was at the end of the time when I was a commissioner. We had a council of research ministers in October and, interestingly, the scientific advisor to Mrs Thatcher (the British Prime Minister at the time) had convinced her that this was a good programme, and the French then came and said, \u201cwe are all in favour, but instead of (us agreeing that the EU should give) the EUR 1 billion or the EUR 900 million which were requested, we will only (agree to) give EUR 600 million\u201d.\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018Luckily the pessimists were proved wrong, and what I would like to see is that the pessimists are proved wrong once again.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EEtienne Davignon, Vice-President of the European Commission 1977 - 1985\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018I surprised the council at that time by saying \u201cI have listened to what has just been said, I withdraw the programme\u201d. There was protest to the President of the Commission saying that I had taken a decision which had not been discussed by the Commission itself, that I didn\u2019t have the authority to do this. The President said that I had the authority, and in December (after another discussion) we approved the programme at the initial level. So it means that from time to time you can fight for what you believe in.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat did industry-focused programmes such as ESPRIT, and BRITE-EURAM achieve?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018You have created a system by which industry, universities, and research centres are involved in a number of cooperative projects. The number of states and universities participating has created the network effect which is obvious in science today.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhen you look at Europe today, what part \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Eof it has been shaped by the Framework \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EProgrammes?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018They (the Framework Programmes) are still a small percentage of the totality of research funding which is being spent, so you can\u2019t say that they have been a fundamental shaping factor. But, on the other side, they have clearly demonstrated the vanity of national borders and, in that sense, they have not shaped butsimply confirmed that you can do things better together than alone, and I think it was an important statement to re-make. It is also an element which gives credibility to the fact that scientifically Europe is strong. With globalisation there is a lot of feeling that Europe is on the losing side. The Framework Programmes have shown that a lot of important things can be done.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is the biggest lesson that you could \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Edraw from looking back over the last \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E30 years?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018That a lot of things we did were considered at the start as hopeless. Luckily the pessimists were proved wrong, and what I would like to see is that the pessimists are proved wrong once again.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-00oge6jkrehipaf-uakd8dwddpytqp1lj0basnaisc\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form--00oGe6JKrEhipAF_uAkd8DwdDpytqp1lj0BasNaisc\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]