Brussels, 26/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - In its quest for new sources of growth and jobs, the European Commission proposes a strategy to promote key enabling technologies (KETs) - micro- and nanoelectronics, advanced materials, industrial biotechnology, photonics, nanotechnology and advanced manufacturing systems - the global market for which is forecast to grow by over 54% by 2015, to be worth more than €1 trillion.
On Tuesday 26 June, Industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani unveiled a strategy to help the EU keep pace with its main international competitors in KETs, a sector which has huge potential for creating jobs, often of very high quality, and in which the EU is already a global leader in research and development with more than 30% of worldwide patent applications.
The deployment of KETs is highly relevant for both industrial competitiveness and to address today's great societal challenges, the Commission states in a press release. In addition to their contribution to job creation (the nanotechnology sector employed 25% people more in 2008 than in 2000, and the micro- and nanoelectronics industry and its natural downstream ICT industries created more than 700,000 additional jobs over the last ten years in Europe) and to the dynamism of the small businesses operating in this area (in the photonics sector, the bulk of the 5,000 European companies are SMEs), KETs are a key source of innovation. They provide the indispensable technology bricks that enable a wide range of product applications, including those required for developing low carbon energy technologies, improving energy and resource efficiency, and new medical products for ageing population.
The Commission, then, proposes an all-encompassing, long-term strategy, with an integrated approach to KETs research and innovation financing covering the entire value chain in order to translate research into marketable products and economic growth, a strategic approach to KETs in regional innovation financing in order to modernise the industrial base across regions in Europe, and ensuring, with the European Investment Bank, access to funding for KETs projects. The strategy will ensure coordination of EU and national activities so as to achieve synergies and complementarities between those activities and make the best use of public resources. It will also work to bring a level playing field in a globally competitive market. (EH/transl.rt)