European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso: the EIT his brainchild.
In total the new institute will receive €308.7 million up to 2013 to deliver on its brief of increasing Europe’s innovation capacity. The vexed question of where it is to be located remains unresolved, and the Council said it will decide within 12 months.
The Council confirmed the two-step approach to founding the EIT, under which a number of so-called Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) will be set up as the first step, with further KICs to come, pending evaluation of the performance of the first cohort.
The EIT will perform most of its activities through the KICs, which are partnerships between the private sector, the research community and teams from research communities and universities.
Long-term strategic policy guidance will come from the Parliament and the Council, guided by the institute’s strategic innovation agenda.
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