An innovative European Union: invest in R&D

In a time of social and economic instability, nationalist and radical parties (from right to left) are growing fast. Protectionism is an increasingly common practice, even at local level. This is an incredibly narrow minded approach that could lead to poor economic performance in the long run.

Ideally, a united Europe should join forces to improve integration, making all EU members more participants at the same time that some decisions are centralised, for instance, in praise of greater growth, equality, social re-distribution and innovation.

Euro scepticism is becoming more popular than ever, and it may be understandable given the slow and mistaken reaction from the EU members to the current crisis. But smaller, individual entities or countries do not have a brighter future either. One could argue that certain independent small countries have been very successful by their own. And this is partly true: to succeed by being independent and small, a country needs to have a unique offering, a very niche strategy, resources or products that nobody else offers. And by nature, those strategies are not sustainable in the long term unless there is a fair amount of innovation.

But what is innovation?

According to the European Commission (EC), “innovation refers to the creation of new or significantly improved products, process, marketing and organisations that add value to markets, governments and society”.

Innovation appears to be the main driver of economic growth in the EU. Therefore, special attention should be put in such a matter by improving the conditions and access to finance for R&D in Europe. As a matter of fact, it is shown that countries that invest (or invested) in R&D are experiencing a faster recovery from the crisis compared to those with poor R&D investment.

Source: “Innovation Union - A pocket guide on a Europe 2020 initiative”

The EC have currently identified a series of hurdles which need to be addressed to ensure a sustainable growth; namely:

• Public education and innovation systems currently face weaknesses
•  Poor availability of finance
•  Costly patenting (in terms of money and time)
• Need to update regulations and procedures
• Slow standard-setting
• Failure to use public procurement strategically
• Fragmented efforts among member countries and regions

The “Innovation Union” initiative aims to tackle part of the issue by 2020 and, as a result of the initiative, Europe should become a place where:

• A smarter economy supports citizens’ standard of living
• A better use of public money is a reality
• Citizens are empowered thanks to social innovation
• Solutions are found to help us live a longer and healthier life
• A greener Europe is possible
• Entrepreneurs and businesses have improved access to finance
• There are innovation-friendly rules and regulations
• Standard-setting procedures are accelerated
• There is cheaper patenting
• Innovation is supported by the public sector
• Innovation Partnerships are encouraged to give EU
• There is facilitated access to EU research and innovation programmes

Overall, the Initiative should make it possible for researchers to fulfil attractive careers, improving cross-border mobility and increasing training standards.

In my view, by creating a greater, stronger Union, resources could be pooled and the output boosted, positively impacting in citizen’s quality of life. It is necessary to protect and increase public budgets in education, R&D and innovation. But to me, this seems only possible with a bold approach from all Union members.

To get an idea of how the EU members are doing when it comes to R&D spending, the following link offers helpful country reports summarising their innovation potential (http://ec.europa.eu/research/innovation-union/index_en.cfmhttp://ec.europa.eu/research/innovation-union/index_en.cfm).

Source: “Innovation Union - A pocket guide on a Europe 2020 initiative”