Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, the EU's commissioner for research, innovation and science, believes that the bloc's target of spending 3% of GDP on research and development (R&D) must remain in place if Europe is to put itself firmly on the road to economic recovery.

The new commissioner acknowledged current debates surrounding the 3% R&D objective but insisted that now is the wrong time to make cutbacks in a sector that is underperforming in many EU member states.