Innovation matters: Debating priorities for a competitive Europe

Overview

The conference is an important step in the increasingly difficult debate about the EU’s future budget debate. Pascal Lamy recently released an influential report proposing a doubling of EU research and innovation funding – a potential challenge to other budget lines, such as agriculture and regions. This conference is intended to pick up the debate again at the very start of the Autumn political season in Brussels. It will hear arguments on budget priorities from various quarters, and flesh out some ideas on how the research budget might get spent – and what’s needed to make a true single market in innovation across Europe.

Featured guests

Carlos Moedas

Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, European Commission

Karen Maex

Rector Magnificus, University of Amsterdam

Eva Grut-Aandahl

Head of EU Government Affairs, Pfizer

Michael Arthur

President & Provost, University College London

Programme

15:00 - How research and innovation can make Europe more competitive

Welcome: Richard L. Hudson, Editor-in-Chief, Science|Business

Q&A with:

Carlos Moedas, EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation

15:20 - Setting EU priorities: The old budget assumptions are gone. Farmers, scientists, entrepreneurs, regional development authorities – all is now in play.

Markku Markkula, First Vice-President, European Committee of the Regions
Karen Maex, Rector Magnificus, University of Amsterdam
Carlos Moedas, EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation
Walter Weigel, Vice President, Huawei European Research Institute (ERI)

16:00 - To the moon: The Lamy report urged the EU to inspire us with moon-shot missions. A few concrete proposals from various sectors and dreamers.

Michael Arthur, President & Provost, University College London
Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi, Vice Rector for European and International Research, University of Pisa
Karin Dahlman-Wright, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Karolinska Institutet

16:30 -Stepping up: How to build a real innovation marketplace across Europe

If Europe is to succeed, it must build integrated, seamless market for innovation, across the entire continent, in health, energy, transport, IP, finance and more.

Moderator: Maryline Fiaschi, Managing Director, Science|Business