madam president i believe that this report will have broad agreement across all groups in parliament
the key element of this report is that the union must stay at the forefront in the area of research innovation and science
this is important because without research we cannot become the innovators of tomorrow
we need research if we are to create jobs and we need research of course to maintain employment in the eu and to remain competitive against the emerging economies
we also need the public sector and indeed the private sector which i believe is the engine of growth in the economy to work together in a spirit of partnership
efforts to encourage greater participation by smes must also be encouraged at the highest level and we must ensure that bureaucracy is kept to the minimum
the eu heads of state or government endorsed the innovation union flagship initiative when they met on four february but endorsement is not sufficient
now we need action and i know full well that commissioner geoghegan-quinn is a commissioner of action and will follow through
research and innovation are the key tools
they are the tools at our disposal to help europe through the economic crisis that we currently face
