Brussels, 07/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - Any remaining gaps must be addressed rapidly and the European Research Area completed by 2014 to create a genuine single market for knowledge, research and innovation, stated European leaders in the conclusions of the European Council of 4 February which was devoted to innovation.
“I am delighted with the European Council conclusions on innovation. Heads of state and government have today, based on the Commission's proposals, taken a big step towards the Innovation Union that all of us in Europe need”, commented Research and Innovation Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn. She added that the European Council had recognised that the Innovation Union was, above all, an economic strategy and that, in the medium term, delivering it was “as important for our future as cutting deficits and debt”. She said she was particularly pleased that EU leaders had given the go-ahead for the launch of the first European Innovation Partnership, on active and healthy ageing.
The Commission was called on by the Council to present proposals by the end of the year to: - put in place an EU-wide venture capital scheme building on the EIF (the European Investment Bank's European Investment Fund); - scale up the Risk Sharing Finance Facility; - explore the feasibility of a Small Business Innovation Research Scheme.
The Commission was also asked to explore options for setting up an intellectual property rights valorisation instrument at European level, in particular to ease access for SMEs to the knowledge market.
Geoghegan-Quinn said that the European Council conclusions were “very much at the upper end of our expectations. On almost all of our proposals, we have the endorsement of EU leaders. This gives us the momentum we need to start delivering. There is no time to lose”. (L.C./transl.rt)