Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-05-11-Speech-3-641-000"
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"en.20110511.37.3-641-000"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, you are an innovator, I am an innovator, we are innovators, we can all be innovators. How can we be? The answer is as researchers, scientists, policy makers, workers on the shop floor, consumers and citizens. It is the citizens who are key to innovation – they make or break it. Yet what can we, as policy makers, as politicians, do to accelerate that innovation? Innovation is the only way out of the financial and economic crisis, as innovation will provide the solution to the problems that affect us all – such as the ageing of the population, climate change and the scarcity of raw materials – and will also put an immediate end to the financial and economic crisis. Through innovation, we hope to be able to link all these things together, give the economy a vigorous boost and, at the same time, move towards a sustainable society. This will not happen on its own, of course. A change of mindset is required – a changing of the concept of society and of how we need to get to work in politics and in business and industry.
So, what are the specific measures that we could take? We need more focus and less fragmentation. We need to do away with our narrow-mindedness when it comes to innovation and in policy. What do we want to achieve? Innovation is not just a question of one building, one ministry, one programme. Innovation needs to be something that runs through every area of policy. That therefore has to be the political mindset, too. Preferably, we need a holistic approach. Why do we have so many programmes already? Bring these together wherever possible and actually start to simplify things, for once. That is the mission for us, as politicians. Cut the red tape. As politicians, we have a constant tendency, if we want to achieve something, to throw a new layer on top, additional regulation, an additional programme, an additional funding option. Maybe the solution is not the ‘additional’ in this case; maybe it is just ‘less’ or ‘instead’.
We thus need less control-freakery in funding applications and – something that is very important – to offer service to those who come to us for funding and promotion, to provide a one-stop shop for applicants, new business founders, SME operators and, where appropriate, for regions and research bodies. This means not merely checking funding applications but, where appropriate, also seeking out suitable partners or networks for collaboration.
There needs to be a great deal more venture capital and, in that regard, instead of EUR 1 billion in the next funding period, we really need to aim for EUR 5 billion, as that will provide the banks with just the little bit of support they need in order to grant loans to SMEs. We need a cheap and simple patent and workable rules to protect intellectual property. We need a true European internal market where innovations are better able to succeed through access to a market of 500 million citizens. At the moment, that market is much too compartmentalised. Up to now, innovation has predominantly been seen as a high-tech product. That is not necessarily the case – it can also relate to social innovation.
Europe has been struggling for years against an innovation brain drain – creative people who would rather head to the United States because they believe that it is easier there. If we are honest, the truth is that that is sometimes the case. Inflexible personal liability rules, the lack of financial support and high thresholds in order to enter the European market are all barriers that ensure that innovation has not, hitherto, seen great success in Europe. The EU must dare to reward – not punish – courage, entrepreneurship, curiosity and creativity. We need European versions of Steve Jobs. Let us merge where we are strong; let us in Europe bring together the spirit of research, Einstein and Steve Jobs."@en1
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