European Commission

Steep emissions cuts will require a surge in renewable energies - and lots of incremental innovations to get there, says Philip Lowe, Director General for Energy at the European Commission

Increasing investments in research should not be considered as making the debt or deficit higher - they are essential to generate more wealth and competitiveness. This will provide rapid returns and contribute to a better balance sheet, says Antonio Tajani.

The need for scientific research to deliver economic growth has never been more pressing. The EU’s first chief scientific adviser Anne Glover tells Science|Business what she will do to close the gap between science and industry, and promote innovation

The European Medicines Agency’s thumbs-down for rare disease treatment Glybera flies in the face of Commission policy. It’s also against the wishes of the European Parliament, and the impetus DG Sanco is putting into Orphan Drugs. Worse still, it’s bad for patients and kills innovation. By Nuala Moran.

The existing EU rules on tech transfer agreements may be intellectually stimulating for competition lawyers and economists, but they often make little sense to businesses. The current review by the Commission should lead to simplification, say Bristows' Pat Treacy and Osman Zafar

Bigger, and simpler – those are among the promised virtues of the proposed Horizon 2020 programme. But are the changes sufficient to tempt industry back into the fold? And will universities like what they get? A Science|Business meeting in Brussels heard from some of the key architects of the plan

Science|Business polled some of the main stakeholders of the EU’s next research funding programme about the proposed simplifications. The verdict: Nice try, but let’s work on the details

When a patent becomes part of an industry standard everyone in the field needs a licence. The Commission says these must be granted on reasonable terms, but who says what is reasonable and how is this policed?

As he bows out as the founding chair of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, Martin Schuurmans is happy with what has been achieved, but says it should not have taken so long

Higher education needs to put greater priority on engaging with industry, improve teaching, and produce more researchers, says the Commission in its strategy for modernising the sector