Experts join to urge radical change in EU R&D and innovation policy

John Wood, Chair of the European Research Area Board

The EU approach needs “radical improvement” and better long-term planning, say the groups. “The world has changed. Markets are global. Science is an increasingly competitive endeavour.  Innovation is becoming the most important engine of growth and jobs in an emerging knowledge-based economy. But in the European Union, many policies governing research, development and innovation need radical improvement.“

The groups – four of them appointed by the Commission, and one an independent non-profit – are urging that future EU policy for research and innovation be organized around five main themes:

1. Focus on our greatest societal challenges. “We urge a fundamental reorientation of EU RDI policies and programmes towards solving these challenges” of climate change, alternative energy, healthcare for an ageing population, security and social cohesion – and better long-term policy planning to deal with them.

2. Encourage new networks, institutions and policies for open innovation. The groups call for a common EU-wide patent system, mobility of researchers and other policies and programmes to make it easier for ‘open innovation’ among large and small companies, universities and research institutes, and others to collaborate on innovation.

3. Spend more on research, education and innovation, in part through bolder co-investment schemes. “Especially in these difficult economic times, it is the responsibility of government to support public innovation,” the statement says.

4. Coordinate and plan RDI programmes better – within Brussels and among the member-states. “We urge greater coordination among all the EU capitals, a reduction in paperwork, and synchronization of all aspects of RDI funding, regulation, and standard-setting to achieve our aim of solving society’s Grand Challenges,” say the groups.

5. Open competition should, they argue, be standard in EU programmes. “Excellence must be the watchword of EU research, development and innovation programmes. Only in this way can we compete globally.”

The statement was released at a briefing in the European Parliament today by representatives of the panels, including: Prof. John Wood, chair of Commissioner Potočnik’s European Research Area Board; Prof. Luc  Soete, chair of DG Research’s Expert Group on the Role of Community Research Policy in the Knowledge-Based Economy; Gernot Klotz, a member of the European Technology Platforms Expert Group; and Richard L. Hudson of the Science|Business Innovation Board AISBL, an independent non-profit focused on innovation policy. Also represented was DG Enterprise’s Business Panel on future EU Innovation Policy, its chair is Diogo Vasconcelos of Cisco Systems.

The presentation at the Parliament was co-hosted by two Members of the European Parliament: Maria da Graça Carvalho of Portugal, and James Elles of the UK.

Carvalho said, “The European Union needs a new industrial narrative that will push the discussion and the agenda around innovation and knowledge. That narrative is just now emerging as industries across Europe begin to lay the groundwork for a post-carbon Industrial Revolution.”

Elles, who is Co-Founder and Vice-Chairman of the European Internet Foundation, commented, "While the US and China take long-term planning seriously, the EU still has no long-term planning system in place. There is a need to establish an inter-institutional system identifying long-term trends facing the EU. This would allow policy-makers to identify the key long-term trends underway and to develop the best responses to them. Long-term trends show that there is an urgent need to focus on research to remain competitive in global markets."

The full statement can be found here.