The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) will open for business by the summer following the European Parliament's approval of the Council's common position on its establishment. It is expected that the first 'Knowledge and Innovation Communities' (KICs) will be up and running by the end of 2009.

In a second reading on 11 March, the European Parliament voted by a large majority in favour of the common position, which outlines both the structure and funding of the EIT. Welcoming the vote, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso underlined the importance of the EIT for Europe's economic prosperity. 'The EIT is set to become an important feature of Europe's innovation landscape. It will facilitate and enhance partnerships and cooperation between the worlds of business, research and higher education across the European Union, thereby helping to continue to boost jobs and growth in Europe in the future,' he said.

MEPs also responded warmly to the vote. 'The agreement with Council represents a success for Parliament,' said Reino Paasilinna, who drafted the Parliament's response to the Council's proposal. 'The compromise stresses the role of innovation. Innovation is where we really have to catch up: too often, our brilliant students and researchers do not reap the rewards of their work simply because there is no one to help them turn research results into commercial products,' he added.
On behalf of the Group of the European People's Party and European Democrats (EPP-ED), Slovenian MEP Romana Jordan Cizelj said: 'The EIT represents excellence and the recognition of the European quality. Its network structure, together with independent communities of knowledge and innovation, is a big achievement. During negotiations with the Council we were also able to solve the complex question of the organisation and operation of the EIT.

'The final text adopted now offers a solution in the shape of a strategic programme for innovation which strikes the right balance between the responsibility of politics and the independence of science, as well as clearly delineated responsibilities for long-term strategic planning,' explained Ms Jordan Cizelj.

The EIT will have a two-tier structure, in which a Governing Board will select higher education institutions, research organisations, companies and other stakeholders to form KICs. The KICs are designed to play a unique role in the European Research Area (ERA) by combining all sides of the 'knowledge triangle': education, research and innovation. It is hoped that they will be able to rapidly convert the results from research into new technologies ready for the market.

Following its appointment, the Governing Board will be put to work immediately on selecting the first two or three KICs. The focus will be on areas where the European Union is currently facing challenges, such as climate change, renewable energy and the next generation of information and communication technologies (ICT).

Further KICs will be selected after the adoption of the first 'Strategic Innovation Agenda' (SIA), a policy document outlining the priority fields of the EIT for future initiatives. The EIT will be expected to draw up a SIA by mid-2011 at the latest and every seven years thereafter. The agenda will adopted by Parliament, and the Council must then adopt this agenda.

But first the Governing Board must be appointed. Some 18 experts should be in place by June following the establishment of an ad-hoc Identification Committee by the European Commission in January.

The European Council must also decide on the location of the Governing Board. Several towns have put themselves forward, including Budapest (Hungry), Strasbourg (France), Vienna (Austria) and Wroclaw (Poland).

In terms of funding, it is estimated that the institute will need an overall budget of €2.4 billion for the first six years, to come from a combination of private and public sources. A total of €308.7 million will come from the Community budget.

European Institute of Innovation and Technology

Source: Community R&D Information Service (CORDIS)