On May 28th, a high-level seminar and a panel discussion “Overcoming the Innovation Divide in Europe: perspectives and possibilities” took place in the premises of the Permanent Representation of Estonia to the EU. Members of the European Parliament and representatives from the European Commission, along with academia and industry representatives, discussed the trends and opportunities for closing the gap in innovation capacity between Member States as well as the regions of the EU. The event was organized by the Estonian Research Council and the Estonian Ministry for Education and Research. gave floor for reflection on the Horizon 2020 programme and how effectively it serves as an instrument for cooperation in the field of R&D.
Member ITRE Committee at the European Parliament, Mr. Christian Ehler (EPP) was critical on the provisional agreement on the EFSI (European Fund for Strategic Investments) regulation, stating that the 2,2 billion cut from Horizon 2020, happening just 1,5 years after it’s lauch, transmits a „terrible signal“ to European SMEs and universities. He emphasized the cuts lead Europe to fall even more dramatically behind Asia and the US in innovation investments, with the „Europe 2020“ strategy goal to raise EU investments to research and innovation to 3% GDP average by 2020, now out of reach. He added that while Horizon 2020 can help to reduce the gap in innovation performance, first the Member States need to maintain the programme’s budget.
Fellow panel members, MEP Marju Lauristin (S&D), and Estonian IT-visionary Mr. Linnar Viik saw a need for more bottom-up and flexible national and European innovation policies. „Europe has the need for disruptive innovation, especially in new technology sectors with high added value, like ICT and materials“ Mr. Viik said. „Start-ups and SMEs from all Member States could benefit from more support to product commercialisation and marketing activities. The question is how to support products and services that have yet not been created?“
Mr. Dimitri Corpakis, Head of the Spreading Excellence and Widening Participation Unit in the DG Research and Innovation at the European Commission, said that it is possible to increase the budget for the Widening Participation Work Programme in Horizon 2020, but that this is up to the Member States to agree on this. The interest towards the widening activities can be considered a success, but the main opportunity for innovation policy reforms and smart fiscal consolidation is in the Member States.
With his keynote presentation, Professor Andrea Bonaccorsi supported the idea of building up research excellence and innovation capacity through Cohesion funds. He stressed that research and innovation funding can not be considered as a stand-alone policy, with the employment conditions, access to markets and resources having a significant effect for stakeholders as well. With fewer European universities in the top industry sectors, EU and Member States face the challenge of not only supporting the „incumbent“ sectors and companies, but allowing European researchers and new companies to compete in new technology areas.
The seminar was opened by the Minister for Education and Research of Estonia, Mr. Jürgen Ligi. He stated that every Member State needs to make their homework and master the use of structural funds for the use of R&D. “Europe should not be satisfied with the situation, in which a large majority of the EU R&D funding is concentrated to certain regions. The Innovation Divide harms the competitiveness of Europe and hinders its potential.” He concluded that in order to reduce the Innovation Divide in Europe, it should be made sure that the interim evaluation of Horizon 2020 programme will support small universities, research institutions and companies in their wish to take part in the projects of research and innovation.