Brussels, 13/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the Commission adopted a communication entitled "Putting knowledge into practice- a broad-based innovation strategy for the EU", which establishes a 10-action strategy at national and European level, designed to promote innovation. This strategy will be debated by the European industry and research ministers at the Competitiveness Council of 25 September, which will make recommendations for the attention of the informal European Council of Lahti on 20 October. The strategy indicates the way forward for public strategies to accompany innovation at regional, national and Community level to feed into the revised Lisbon strategy in favour of growth and employment. In its communication, the Commission develops the concept of "lead markets", in which the public authorities facilitate industry's work in the field of innovation, by creating the conditions allowing the market successfully to develop innovative products and services. The sectors which respond to the needs of society (transport, health, internal security, eco-innovation, etc) are the first to be targeted. Furthermore, the Commission stresses the need for the Member States to show political goodwill and carry out the necessary structural reforms. "Innovation is the keystone of our response to economic globalisation, because we cannot face off international competitiveness unless we are the best in knowledge, in the creation of new products and the creation of new markets. We must be innovative and make sure that we create a proper innovation culture in Europe", Günter Verheugen, the Commissioner for Industry, told the press.
The Commission's strategy is based on 10 priority actions: (1) establishing innovation-friendly education systems. The document explains that the Member States are invited significantly to increase the share of public expenditure given over to education and to identify and overcome obstacles in their education systems which hinder the promotion of an innovation-friendly society. "The Commission believes that in all areas of education, young people should be prepared for what awaits them later on. It would be a very good idea to offer teaching programmes which familiarise them with the requirements of modern companies", pleaded Mr Verheugen; (2) establishing a European Institute of Technology (IET) to support Europe's innovation capacity and performance. The Commission is to put forward a proposal in October, to enable the IET to open its doors in 2009; (3) working towards a single and competitive labour market for researchers with attractive career prospects; (4) strengthening research-industry links, in order to promote the transfer of knowledge between universities, the public research organisations and industry. Before the end of the year, the Commission is to present a communication including guidelines and voluntary actions on the part of the Member States; (5) fostering regional innovation as part of the new cohesion policy programmes. The Commission's document stresses that all Member States must make the effort to grant an ambitious proportion of the 308 billion EUR available to investments in knowledge and innovation; (6) reforming R&D and innovation state aid rules and providing better guidance for R&D tax incentives. By the end of the year, the Commission will propose a new framework for public aid to R&D and present a communication providing detailed instructions for the design and assessment of R&D tax incentive measures; (7) enhancing intellectual property rights protection (IPR). The Commission will put forward the strategy before the end of the year; (8) establishing a legal framework to favour the development of digital products, services and business models. "This is about developing standards more quickly for high-technology products and shoring up the general public's faith in new products", Mr Verheugen explained. The Commission is to submit an initiative on "copyright levies" by the end of the year; (9) developing a strategy for the emergence of innovation-friendly "lead markets". The Commission will test the strategy in 2007; (10) stimulating innovation through public procurement. By the end of the year, the Commission will publish and distribute a manual on how public procurement, both pre-commercial and commercial, can stimulate innovation and help the Member States to enjoy the opportunities offered by new directives on public procurement.
Mr Verheugen also welcomed the "extremely clear commitment" of the Member States, who are coming ever closer to the objective of 3% of GNI for R&D. "We see a very sharp increase in R&D expenditure and we believe that this level will exceed 5% in the years to come", he said, whilst urging the Member States to "show more leadership when it comes to structural reforms". "The Commission cannot do it all by itself. The Member States must reform their education, pension and health care systems to make them more innovative and more sustainable", he concluded.