mr president i would say to the commissioner that in recent years innovation has become a symbol of a policy instrument that can fix all our problems
this means that there are huge expectations and that we must deliver
of course for a successful implementation of ideas governance matters very strongly and a governance framework for innovation must be based today on pragmatism and must be delivered with a sense of urgency and also must be at the service of the policy content
europe we all agree has to innovate or it will lose out to competitors
every link in the european innovation chain must be strengthened and innovation policy must be focused towards challenges
that is what i understand the innovation union is offering
today we run the risk that not only companies but also governments might decrease investment in innovation
that is the logic of the crisis and the logic of national budget cuts
eu policy responses and eu budgetary instruments must move firmly against that logic
in europe innovation is not just a concept that can be limited to specific innovation centres
it needs to be applied across the entire european territory
europe is simply too small to afford an innovation deficit anywhere on its territory
research and innovation are clearly not the same thing and we agree with you very clearly
governance for innovation should therefore do more than just support research and development policy
promoting innovation-led growth is not about increasing excellence in r d infrastructure
important as they are it is first and foremost about mobilising talents and mobilising new ideas
governance for innovation must mean establishing new partnerships enabling efficient innovation systems that mobilise intellectual and entrepreneurial capacities detecting also sleeping innovators of which we have many in europe through a business environment that is conducive to innovation and particularly for smes covering all sectors of the economy
to conclude let me say that we do not yet have a fully-fledged european model for innovation but what is clear is that it must be rooted in a well-orchestrated concrete strong and joint public private effort
i trust that the innovation union will take us all the way forward towards such a model
