To further increase the number of MEPs supporting the Written Declaration a European Parliament hearing was held in Brussels on 23rd January, 2013 on the future and options of European talent support. Representatives of the European commission, the presidency of the European Council for High Ability (ECHA), academics, experts and representatives of NGOs participated in the event and were addressed by Anneli Pauli, the commission’s deputy director general of DG research and innovation. The speakers of the event were Ms Kinga Gál, MEP (EPP), one of the proposers of the Written Declaration, chair and host of the meeting. Ms Mojca Kleva, MEP (S&D), another proposer of the declaration, Dr. Anneli Pauli, Deputy Director General of DG Research & Innovation, Mr. Michael Privot, Director of European Network Against Racism, Prof. Franz Mönks, former ECHA president and Prof. Péter Csermely, President of the European Council of High Ability (ECHA).
All the speakers emphasized that each European citizen may hide a form of talent, therefore any initiative helping professionals to discover and develop talents should be supported. In time of economic crisis it is even more important to pay attention to talent support, as it is a key measure for the sustainability of research, innovation and competitiveness in Europe. After Kinga Gál’s short introductory words in which she quoted from the Budapest Declaration on Talent Support (2011) and talked about the development of the first Talent Point network in Hungary, Mojca Kleva detailed the importance of educational support of talents and life-long learning. Later on Anneli Pauli gave the view of the Commission on talent support as a key measure for the sustainability of high level research and innovation in Europe, whereas Michael Privot outlined the importance of talent support from the aspect of the inclusion of immigrants and minorities. Finally two interesting presentations were held by a former and the present ECHA president, Franz Mönks and Peter Csermely. Prof. Mönks outlined the development of European talent support during the 25 years of ECHA, while Prof Csermely focused on the current and future efforts of European governmental and NGOs to develop a European Talent Support Network. He started by stating that "the support of talent is not a luxury, but a life-insurance" and claimed that on one hand the talented people need the support of the society, but on the other the society needs the support of its talents as well. He also called the attention to the fact that other countries (specially the USA and China) are a bit ahead of Europe in awareness on the talent-issues, so the EU should pay much more attention to talent support. A more detailed summary of the Hearing on Support Talent and Creativity can be read 
here.
In her article in The Parliament Magazine (4 March, 2013) Kinga Gál summarizes the major outcomes of the conference and highlights the importance of cooperation at national and international level in the field of talent support.
