Changes ahead across research and innovation

The successor to the 7th Framework Programme (FP7) needs a new name, says the European Union’s new Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Maire Geoghegan-Quinn. “Talk to any man or woman on the street, they wouldn’t know probably what FP8 or FP7 or FP6 was,” she said. “People have to understand what you’re communicating.”

No decision has been taken as yet on the name or look of the next Framework programme, but on day one of her term, the new commissioner says she’s ready to make changes. And rebranding Framework is just one of many issues that Geoghegan-Quinn – who has spent the last decade at the European Court of Auditors – pledged to tackle as she starts to put her mark on the research and innovation portfolio.

Also on Geoghegan-Quinn’s to do list:

• Broaden the remit of the proposed European Innovation Act, for which Geoghegan-Quinn will have responsibility, beyond industrial innovation alone;

• Set new research investment targets to replace the 3 per cent target in the Lisbon strategy and get the private sector to contribute more;

• Get small- and medium-sized companies more involved in Framework research projects.

In short, the Irish politician, who doesn’t have a background in science, thinks she can provide the “fresh mind” needed to make things happen.

The first step for the Framework Programme will be a mid-term review to see which areas of the programme need altering. The results of this assessment are expected by the summer, Geoghegan-Quinn said, speaking in the Commission’s Berlaymont building, where cardboard boxes still line the corridors outside her new 10th-floor office.

This evaluation will provide, “a very firm orientation of where the problems lie,” the commissioner said. “Maybe some of those problems that are in FP7 can be resolved actually now ... but certainly that report will give a very clear message to me, and to the Directorate General, as to what we need to do, to make changes in whatever FP8 will be called.”

The low number of SMEs participating in Framework Programmes is an area of concern. One answer, Geoghegan-Quinn suggests, may be to set a minimum level of participation for SMEs in certain, relevant calls.

In terms of the overall research budget, Geoghegan-Quinn said, “I’ll be clamouring when it comes to the discussions at the Commission table for more money.” But she also noted that with all the other commissioners doing exactly the same, competition for extra money would be tough.

Geoghegan-Quinn is convinced that her portfolio, which for the first time includes innovation, will play a central role in the EU’s economic strategy, especially as Commission President José Manuel Barroso has highlighted growth based on knowledge and innovation as one of three themes at the heart of the forthcoming Europe 2020 plan.

One of the criticisms of Europe 2020’s predecessor, the Lisbon agenda, was the failure to achieve the objective of devoting 3 per cent of GDP to research and development by 2010.

In terms of the 3 per cent target, Geoghegan-Quinn said, “I would like to find a way to increase the private element, because this is where we have a real problem.” She highlighted the huge gap between the EU and the US in this respect. “I have to find a way to help persuade the private sector to see this as an area that they need to get more involved in, and they need to make more investment in,” she noted.

Barroso has asked Geoghegan-Quinn and her counterpart in Industry and Entrepreneurship, Antonio Tajani, to draw up a paper on innovation by March 3, to be discussed by the Commission, and feed into the Europe 2020 strategy.

Those hoping for more concrete details on the European Innovation Act will be disappointed. The Commission had promised more details this Spring, but Geoghegan-Quinn said yesterday that the summer was a more realistic timeline.

Preparatory work on the European Innovation Act was done by the previous Commission’s Directorate-General for Enterprise. Now, however, Geoghegan-Quinn says she will now be responsible for the plan. The analysis done already will feed into the innovation strategy, but input will be added from other directorates-general so that the final result is broader than just industrial innovation.