The innovation performance of the European Union has improved year-on-year in spite of the continuing economic crisis, but the innovation divide between member states is widening, according to the European Commission Innovation Union Scoreboard 2013, published this week.
However, of all European countries, non-EU member Switzerland is the overall innovation leader, and the US, Japan and South Korea are ahead of the EU27, with South Korea this year joining the US as one of the most innovative countries of all. While South Korea’s lead over the EU has widened, the EU27 has closed almost half of the gap with the US and Japan since 2008.
The global innovation leaders US, Japan and South Korea particularly dominate the EU in terms of R&D expenditure by companies, public-private co-publication of research papers, patents and educational attainment.
On the bright side, the EU27 continues to lead over Australia, Canada and all the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). While the lead over China has been declining, it remained stable with the other BRICS countries, and has been increasing compared to Australia and Canada.
Stable rankings within EU 27
Looking within the EU27, while the most innovative countries have further improved their performance, others have stalled. The overall ranking remains relatively stable, with Sweden at the top, followed by Germany, Denmark and Finland.
Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia are the countries that have most improved since last year, in areas including the performance of SMEs, the rate of commercialisation and the quality of research systems.
The drop in business and venture capital investment from 2008-2012 has had a negative effect on innovation performance across the board.
Investment in innovation “is crucial” to restore growth in Europe, said Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani, Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship. Europe needs to encourage entrepreneurship and the formation of start-ups “This year's results show that the economic crisis has negatively impacted innovation activity in some parts of Europe,” Tajani said.
State of the Innovation Union
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, said innovation should now be at the heart of all member states policies. The latest State of the Innovation Union report, published to coincide with the Innovation Scoreboard, shows there was progress in 2012 on some of the big ticket items like the single patent and new rules for venture capital funds. “But we need to go further in order to avoid an innovation divide in Europe,” Geoghegan-Quinn said.
According to the Commission, The State of the Innovation Union report shows it has largely delivered on the Innovation Union flagship commitments.
Have member states improved their innovation performance?
The EU increased its innovation performance at an annual average rate of 1.6 per cent over the 2008-2013 period, with Estonia being the unquestionable innovation growth leader (7.1%). However the innovation divide between the member states is widening. The lowest positive innovation growth rates were recorded in Poland (0.4%), Bulgaria (0.6%) and Sweden (0.6%). In Cyprus and Greece innovation performance declined over the 2008-2013 period.
Progress in meeting the Innovation Union goals
More than 80 per cent of the actions called for in the Innovation Union strategy are on track, with progress in 2012 in areas including:
- An agreement on the unitary patent, which should allow the first European patent with unitary effect to be granted and registered in spring 2014;
- The adoption of a regulation creating a European Venture Capital Fund label for investment funds which will make it easier for venture capitalists to raise funds across Europe;
- The signing of the first Risk-Sharing Instrument agreements to encourage banks to provide more loans to innovative SMEs and small midcaps;
- The proposal of a new standardisation package and further steps to modernise EU public procurement law with the aim of helping innovative products and services reach the market faster;
- The launch of a pilot programme, the ERA Chairs initiative, to help universities or research institutions in less-developed regions in Europe to attract outstanding academics;
- The proposal to form four additional European Innovation Partnerships to pool resources around Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability, Raw Materials, Water, Smart Cities and Communities;
- The launch of ranking table of higher education institutions.
Innovation Union Scoreboard 2013:
Innovation Union Scoreboard, State of Innovation Union Report, Innovation Union, Europe 2020
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