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Last week's appointment of former Italian prime minister Romano Prodi as president of the European Commission, following the resignation of his predecessor Jacques Santer, could be good news for Europe's scientific community.

Prodi, a professor of economics at the University of Bologna, is a firm believer in the importance of science to a strong, stable economy (see Nature 375, 620; 1995). As prime minister he oversaw the start of a major review of Italy's science institutions.

Glauco Tocchini-Valentini, director of the Italian National Research Council's Institute of Cell Biology at Monterotondo, says Prodi has always been very sensitive to science.

Enric Banda, general secretary of the European Science Foundation, calls Prodi “a federalist who believes in promoting cooperation between institutions”. He believes that Prodi will be sympathetic to the concept of significant levels of basic research being carried out at European level.

“Fundamental research is certainly seen as a federal issue in the United States,” Banda points out. In contrast, basic research has had to fight to maintain its small presence in the European Union's fifth Framework programme (FP5), as it is considered primarily the responsibility of individual member states.

“I'm sure that his appointment as head of the commission must be good for science in the medium term — even if science becomes temporarily swallowed up by other political priorities,” says Banda. Such was the fate of the Italian science review, which is only now approaching completion.

Prodi's choice of research commissioner, which should become clear by early summer, will also be important. But as he puts together his new commission over the next month, European scientists need not fear that FP5 project funding will be delayed.

The research commission, foreseeing the possible departure of the commissioners — who resigned en bloc following a critical report — ensured that any critical decisions on individual FP5 programmes were taken by early March. Calls for proposals for each of them have now been issued.