Brussels, 30/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - In conclusions adopted on Friday 26 November on the “Innovation Union”, the EU Council of Ministers acknowledged the need for urgent action to be taken in the field of innovation. In order to make this Union of innovation a reality, as one of the flagship initiatives of the EUROPE 2020 strategy for growth and employment, the Council identified four priorities for action combining not only initiatives to strengthen the competitiveness of EU technology but also taking into account social challenges and the need for fair competition. The four key messages delivered by the Council of Ministers will be discussed by EU heads of state and government next February.
Firstly, member states felt it was necessary to adopt an integrated and strategic approach to innovation, whereby all EU policies and instruments are used to foster innovation. This would be mainly aimed at seeking synergies between national, regional and EU policies in order to ensure greater involvement on the part of stakeholders involved in the innovation process. Another aim is to make full use of European intellectual capital. According to the Council, the promotion of innovation should aim at strengthening the competitiveness of European industry, while at the same time taking account of social challenges. Secondly, the Council argues in favour of developing framework conditions to ensure there is an equitable level of competition. Such conditions would make it possible to strengthen and stimulate investment for research, development and innovation through, in particular, the simplification of programmes and procedures in these three areas, and via the setting in place of a European research area or the taking into account of the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. The Council also argues in favour of more strategic use of public procurement (including in the pre-commercial stages of the programmes, of innovative products and services). It also insists on speeding up standardisation procedures. In order to ensure maximum output of resources, member states propose in the conclusions to establish an investment pecking order by giving priority to education and training as well as to research, development and innovation. They recommend strengthening public funding and encourage the use of structural funds for the funding of these last three areas. For the fourth condition for the Union's success in innovation, the Council considers it is necessary to improve governance, coordination and follow-up of the initiative, including European partnerships within this framework. (A.By./transl.jl)