Austria and Slovakia have joined forces in the race for hosting the headquarters of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). At a press conference on 6 May, government representatives and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from Austria and Slovakia presented their joint concept for 'twin city headquarters' in their neighbouring capitals, Vienna and Bratislava.

According to the Slovak Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education, Jan Mikolaj, the concept envisages a distribution of the EIT's four administrative bodies between the two countries' capital cities: The governing board as well as the internal auditing body would be situated on the Slovakian side, while the executive director and executive committee would be located in Austria's capital. The well-established infrastructure between the two cities and support that the two countries are willing to provide would ensure the highly effective operation of the institute, Minister Mikolaj added.

In response to concerns about splitting the administrative bodies between the two capitals, the Minister argued that the approach would facilitate the independence of financial control and prevent the 'crossing-over of remits'.

The strongest argument for the shared headquarters, the Austrian and Slovakian partners agreed, however, was that it represented true European cooperation. The Austrian Minister for Science and Research, Johannes Hahn, explained that 'the joint candidature of Bratislava and Vienna shows that we are in the process of finding new definitions for Europe and literally crossing borders.'

'Bratislava and Vienna, two twin cities at the heart of Europe, are the perfect location for the EIT,' Minister Hahn added. 'More than 25,000 scientists and 200,000 students are already situated in the region and will serve as a breeding ground for excellent cooperation.'

'We also expect this cooperation to become a role model for similar collaborations in the field of science and research particularly between small and medium-sized countries,' he said. The Minister said he was convinced that the joint candidature would be successful so long as the bare facts, and not political factors, were taken into account.

The Slovak MEP Jan Hudacky (EPP-ED) emphasised that the Slovak-Austrian collaboration represented a 'unique approach to the problem' and would unite both old and new Member States in the common effort to make the EIT a success.

Apart from Bratislava and Vienna, three cities have expressed an interest in hosting the EIT: Budapest in Hungary; the Polish city of Wroclaw and Sant Cugat del Valles near Barcelona in Spain.

The power of decision now lies with the European Council. It is possible that the choice will be made as early as June 2008, but the Council will have to take a decision no later than 12 months after the regulation establishing the EIT, which was adopted in March 2008.

Source: Community R&D Information Service (CORDIS)