EU innovation scoreboard calls for performance pick-up
The ninth edition of the European Innovation
Scoreboard (EIS) is out and preliminary data show that the economic
crisis impacting Europe is also affecting the progress of innovation
across the region. The majority of EU Member States may have posted
stronger innovation performance results in 2008, but countries with
lower innovation performance levels are likely to be responsible for
reversing the convergence process that the EU has undergone in the last
few years.
Despite the EU's drive and determination to meet and potentially
surpass the US in terms of innovation performance, the results show the
opposite is happening. However, the EU still maintains an advantage over
Brazil, China, India and Russia, which are all emerging economies.
In a joint statement, Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani, who
is also the Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, and Máire
Geoghegan-Quinn, Commissioner for Research, said: 'This scoreboard
provides invaluable evidence on trends in innovation performance. The
overall picture is positive; there are, however, some worrying signs and
we will have to take this very seriously in developing the measures to
accomplish what we just laid out in our Europe 2020 strategy.'
Senior officials added, 'Increasing investment in research and
innovation is the key to moving from crisis to sustainable prosperity.
That is why the Commission is maintaining the 3% of GDP [gross domestic
product] target for R&D [research and development] investment in
Europe and proposing realistic national targets with robust monitoring.'
It should be noted that Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn is responsible
for implementing a cross-cutting approach to innovation in the new
Commission.
The EIS 2009 data show that the region's five top innovation
performers are once again Denmark, Germany, Finland, Sweden and the UK. A
breakdown shows that Germany and Finland reported the quickest improved
performances, while Denmark and the UK lagged behind.
The 'Innovation followers' for 2009 are Belgium, Estonia, Ireland,
France, Cyprus, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria and Slovenia, while
the 'Moderate innovators' are the Czech Republic, Greece, Spain, Italy,
Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal and Slovakia.
The 'Catching-up' countries, Bulgaria, Latvia and Romania, reported
innovation performances that were below the EU-27 average, the EIS 2009
shows. But they are all working to bridge any gaps between them and the
other EU Member States. The report indicates that Bulgaria and Romania
have clinched the top fastest innovation performances of the EU-27.
The EIS is commissioned by the EU's Directorate-General for
Enterprise and Industry and is prepared by the Maastricht Economic and
social Research and training centre on Innovation and Technology (MERIT)
with support extended by the EU's Joint Research Centre.
Launched in 2001, the EIS indicators focus on innovation outputs,
non-technological innovation and service sectors. The EIS 2009 comprises
29 innovation-related indicators and trend analyses for all 27 EU
Member States, along with Croatia, Iceland, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland
and Turkey. The indicators fall under three categories: enablers (human
resources, finance and support); firm activities (firm investments,
linkages & entrepreneurship, throughputs); and outputs (innovators,
economic effects).
European Innovation Scoreboard
Source: Community R&D Information Service (CORDIS)