Rianne Letschert member of prestigious Identification Commission EU

Rianne Letschert has been assigned to the Identification Commission which will recommend candidates for the European Commission’s new Scientific Council. EC-chairman Jean-Claude Juncker wants to invest explicitly in Europe’s knowledge infrastructure. This appointment immediately puts the name Letschert on the European map in a significant way.

The Commission-Juncker wishes to found an independent advisory body to scientifically test EU policy on, for instance, its innovative powers. This ‘European WRR (Scientific Council for Government Policy)’ will soon consist of seven members. Together with two other scientists, it will be up to Letschert to look for appropriate candidates. “On face value, it’s a short-term task for me, I have until December to complete it”, says Letschert. “But it will offer me so many networking opportunities as well as allowing me to put Tilburg University clearly in the picture. It’s a level playing field where as lobbying officials always have to start at the bottom.”

Besides being a Professor, Rianne Letschert is the director of Intervict. On top of this, she was recently made chairwoman of the Jonge Akademie. In this position, she met Robert-Jan Smits (Director-General of DG Research and Innovation for the European Commission). “They were looking for a younger person, and the other two members of the commission were both already in their seventies”, Letschert says jokingly. Rianne also tells us that everybody wants to have coffee with her now. The results of the Identification Commission’s preliminary work could have a serious impact. With her appointment to this club, Letschert has put herself on the European map as a policy maker and scientific researcher over night.

“Suddenly everybody wants to have coffee with me”

The foundation of the Identification Commission must be seen in light of a broader perspective: Juncker’s investment plan worth €315 billion. The funding is intended to create jobs but in the long run it will also go towards the European knowledge infrastructure and innovative projects. So the new scientific Identification Commission for all of Brussels’ policies can contribute important points and suggestions. On top of this, the council will offer advice on the spending of €70 billion made available to the Horizon 2020 program with its aim of bringing European policy in the fields of research and innovation in line with the European Union’s economic and social ambitions.