Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-11-10-Speech-3-203"
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"Mr President, honourable Members, I welcome the opportunity we have been given to have a debate with you on this Innovation Union flagship initiative, and particularly on this new concept of European Innovation Partnerships, which is certainly a key element of the communication that the Commission presented at the beginning of October.
Thirdly, public procurement has the potential, although this remains largely untapped, to support innovation in the form of innovative products, processes and services.
Fourthly, non-technological innovations, including in terms of design, services and cultural creativity, are also important factors.
Fifthly, making use of research efforts requires effective management and protection of intellectual property, as well as effective dissemination of scientific and technological innovations.
Finally, research and development policies and programmes, and any associated instruments, should be simplified and rationalised, as has been pointed out again today. I am pleased to see a very broad convergence of views here with the position of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy as presented in Mrs Carvalho’s report. Innovation partnerships should not result in additional complexity, but should instead be part of a simplification process.
The regional dimension is also essential to innovation. In this respect, European innovation policy should ensure that those who innovate, including small and medium-sized enterprises, receive appropriate support at regional level too.
The human factor is at the heart of research and innovation. Europe must become better able to retain its researchers and to attract talent from third countries.
After these general considerations, I would now like to answer the four more specific questions that you have asked.
With regard to the number of topics for innovation partnerships, although it has not yet reached a decision, our Council appears to be more or less agreed on the fact that we need to start with a pilot scheme. Indeed, the Commission has proposed launching this pilot scheme on ageing at the beginning of 2011. In addition, the Commission’s communication mentions a series of other topics for which it would be prepared to submit proposals in 2011, and some of you have referred to a number of these topics. By definition, a pilot scheme can start on an experimental basis and without necessarily waiting for all the conditions to be predefined.
The selection of topics for future partnerships is one of the main issues that we are discussing within the Council, and in this context, I would mention the initiative, launched by the Council in 2008, for the joint programming of research in Europe in response to major social challenges. At the time, criteria that will certainly also be useful in the context of the innovation partnerships had already been laid down: the scale of the challenge at European level, a real commitment from stakeholders, European added value, and the possibility of turning the results of research into benefits for European citizens and for European competitiveness. I therefore see a broad convergence between the Council’s previous guidelines and the general conditions proposed by the Commission in its communication.
Furthermore, in the discussions that we have had at this stage, my colleagues have often stressed the need for a bottom-up approach, particularly in order to identify topics, to promote simple and straightforward systems, to meet the need to work with the private sector, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, and to optimise existing financial instruments.
Of course, at this stage, the Council is still busy examining the issue, and conclusions are being prepared for our Competitiveness Council on 26 November.
I now come to the timetable and to the principles of governance that are likely to be the most important and most sensitive issues. The keywords will no doubt be ‘added value’, ‘consistency’, ‘flexibility’ and ‘straightforwardness’. Nowhere should there be mention of a pre-established single model. Several initiatives have been taken to hone the concepts, including a seminar organised a few days ago, on 27 October, by the Belgian Presidency in cooperation with Finland and the Commission, and as for the timetable, the notion of urgency is well and truly present in the Europe 2020 strategy. Consequently, this urgency is also present in the initiatives that derive from it. To this end, the Commission has made some ambitious proposals, but our resources are limited, and while remaining ambitious, we must ensure that we can get the process under control and learn lessons in good time.
I will finish, Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, with this notion of better governance of partnerships at national level. This issue is one of many considerations pertaining to the governance of partnerships, for which there is no pre-established model, even less a single model. Objectively different situations from one Member State to the other need to be taken into account. All stakeholders from the various Member States also need to be involved: the stakeholders at European, national and regional levels, including the public sector and the private sector.
Mr President, honourable Members, my conviction is that research and innovation are not an option for Europe, but a necessity if we want a long-term solution that protects our social model and the sustainability of our environment. I therefore welcome this Parliament’s unfailing concern for these matters and, more particularly, the first speech in this debate on the plan for innovation. In my view, your contribution is all the more crucial since the current context is forcing Member States to make difficult choices where I believe it is essential to protect research and innovation as an investment for the future, and I can assure you that I will inform the Council of the content of this debate, and I will remain at your disposal.
As you will remember, on 17 June, the European Council finalised the Europe 2020 strategy and one of the main targets defined in this context consists, I quote, ‘in improving the conditions for research and development’, in particular, with the aim of raising combined public and private investment levels in this sector to 3% of GDP. On a personal level, I think it would have been difficult to imagine doing less than the 3% that is already part of the Lisbon strategy and that it is now a case of giving ourselves the means to meet this target.
The Innovation Union flagship initiative presented by the Commission follows on from this headline target, and the Belgian Presidency has sought to address this major issue in a timely manner. Our Council had a first informal debate on the matter in July, then a formal debate on 12 October, and that debate enabled the Presidency to submit some draft Council conclusions, which are currently being examined and which, as I have already said, are on the agenda of our Competitiveness Council on 25 and 26 November. I would emphasise that the Presidency has ensured that the ‘research’ and ‘industry’ sectors are working closely together on this subject, and this is producing excellent results – indeed, we held a joint Council in July, which should result in joint conclusions at the end of November.
Furthermore, the Commission’s communication as well as the Competitiveness Council’s work will provide material for preparing the debate on research and innovation, which is set to take place at the European Council before the end of the year.
You will therefore understand that, while awaiting strategic impetus from our Heads of State or Government, as President of the Competitiveness Council, I must exercise some caution in what I say. Nevertheless, allow me to point out that the topic of innovation, or rather the knowledge triangle in a wider sense (education–research–innovation), is obviously not entirely new, either for the Council or for Parliament.
In the Council, this topic regularly appears on the Competitiveness Council’s agenda under the general heading of the European Research Area. I refer, in particular, to the 2020 Vision for the European Research Area of the December 2008 Council, and to the Council’s more recent conclusions entitled ‘Creating an innovative Europe’, adopted in May under the Spanish Presidency. I will also mention, although this is not an exhaustive list, some major lines of action from the Council’s point of view.
First of all, the initiatives should concern all types of innovation in the public and private sectors.
Secondly, we need to lay the foundations for more effective budget headings for research, development and innovation."@en1
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