COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative Innovation Union

1. Towards an
Innovation Union
Preparation of the new EU Research
and Innovation Strategy
Charlotte Arwidi –
Innovation policy

2. 2
Europe 2020: Three interlinked priorities
1.) Smart growth: developing an economy based on
knowledge and innovation
2.) Sustainable growth: promoting a more efficient,
greener and more competitive economy
3.) Inclusive growth: fostering a high-employment
economy delivering social and territorial cohesion

3. Europe 2020: Seven flagship initiatives
Smart GrowthSmart Growth SustainableSustainable
GrowthGrowth
Inclusive GrowthInclusive Growth
Innovation
« Innovation Union »
Climate, energy
and mobility
« Resource efficient
Europe »
Employment and
skills
« An agenda for
new skills and jobs »
Education
« Youth on the
move »
Competitiveness
« An industrial
policy for the
globalisation era »
Fighting poverty
« European platform
against poverty »
Digital society
« A digital agenda
for Europe »

4. Innovation Union

5. Orientations
• Base future growth on knowledge and innovation
 Importance of innovation for all sectors and for SMEs
• Re-focus R&D and innovation policy on societal challenges
 climate, resource efficiency, health, demographic change
• Strengthen innovation chain – from ideas to market
 Accelerate the path from innovative ideas to new products and
services
• Address innovation in a broad sense: technological & non-
technological; public, private and third sector

6. Major actions under consideration (1)
• Launch “European Innovation Partnerships”
 In focused themes
• Europe 2020 identifies bioeconomy, key enabling technologies,
independent and active living
 Challenge based approach,
• Bringing together relevant instruments (R&D, finance, public
procurement, standard setting, ..)
 Partnership between EU, national levels
• Businesses, public authorities, users

7. Major actions under consideration (2)
• A single market for research and innovation
 Achieve the EU patent and stimulate use of IPRs
 Accelerate standard setting
 Researcher mobility
• Access to finance
 Partnership with EIB Group to raise additional capital for start ups,
innovative SMEs and growing businesses
 Realise a European venture capital market
• Public procurement of innovation
 Enable public services to benefit from new technologies and innovations
 Provide opportunities for innovative businesses & SMEs, overcome
fragmentation of procurement markets
• World class knowledge base
 Coordinated investments, exploiting the Community legal framework for
research infrastructures

8. Where do we go from here?
• May Competitiveness Council
• June European Council 2010: approval of Europe 2020.
• July informal Competitiveness Council: discussion on
research and innovation
• September: adoption by Commission of research and
innovation plan
• October Competitiveness Council: discussion on research
and innovation plan
• October informal European Council: Heads of State debate
on research and innovation

9. Regional dimension of new EU
Research and Innovation Strategy
Possible regional orientations
• Smart specialisation
• Link and open up regional research and
innovation systems
• Align future cohesion policy with Europe
2020

10. Towards a “European Creative
Industry Alliance”
Because creative and cultural industries are:
 …one of the most dynamic emerging sectors in
Europe
 …important drivers of innovation in other sectors
 …more and more at the focus of political attention

11. Policy Forum
Horizontal Awareness Raising
European level policy input
FP8 and national
and regional
programmes
CIP/ FP8/
Structural Funds and
national and regional
programmes
CIP Top-up
Scheme and national
and
regional programmes
EIF/ CIP Top-up
Scheme and
national and
regional funds
and prg’s
New
Cluster
Concepts
Commercialisation
of products and
services
Access
to
finance
Research
and skills
Framework
conditions
and
foresight
Policy ForumPolicy Forum
Horizontal Awareness RaisingHorizontal Awareness Raising
European level policy input
FP8 and national
and regional
programmes
CIP/ FP8/
Structural Funds and
national and regional
programmes
CIP Top-up
Scheme and national
and
regional programmes
EIF/ CIP Top-up
Scheme and
national and
regional funds
and prg’s
New
Cluster
Concepts
Commercialisation
of products and
services
Access
to
finance
Research
and skills
Framework
conditions
and
foresight
FP8 and national
and regional
programmes
CIP/ FP8/
Structural Funds and
national and regional
programmes
CIP Top-up
Scheme and national
and
regional programmes
EIF/ CIP Top-up
Scheme and
national and
regional funds
and prg’s
New
Cluster
Concepts
Commercialisation
of products and
services
Access
to
finance
Research
and skills
Framework
conditions
and
foresight
Initial phase
Full roll out
Towards a European Creative Industry
Alliance: possible set-up

12. Design as a horisontal innovation
activity
Commission Staff Working Document of 7 April 2009
« Design as a driver of user-centred innovation »
• In short, the document..
 … analyses the contribution of design to innovation;
 … broadens the concept of design from a policy perspective;
 … concludes that design has untapped potential as driver of competitiveness and
innovation as not all companies, sectors and Member States make full use of design;
 … suggests that design could be an integral part of European innovation policy.

13. What the Commission says about
design and innovation…
Françoise Le Bail
Deputy Director-General DG Enterprise and Industry:
http://www.lelieududesign.com/ils-parlent-du-
lieu#content-core-inner
Jean-Noël Durvy
Director Innovation Policy:
http://www.innovationlejournal.com/spip.php?
page=article_videoj&id_article=5017

14. What the Council says about design
and innovation…
[The Council] « CONSIDERS that the European
Innovation Plan should include all forms of innovation
in both the public and the private sector, including
non-technological innovation, research-based
innovation, innovation in services, design and eco-
innovation »
Source: Council Conclusions « towards a competitive, innovative and eco-
efficient Europe ─ a contribution by the Competitiveness Council to the post-
2010 Lisbon agenda »

15. What the Ambassadors of the European Year
of Creativity and Innovation say about
design…
« Promote design processes, thinking and
tools, understanding the needs, emotions,
aspirations and abilities of users »
Source: Manifesto for Creativity and Innovation in Europe

16. Open public consultation on design
2009
• Aim of consultation: to find out if more
should be done at EU level to support
design and – if so – what
• In total, 535 replies

17. The consultation on design and innovation
attracted great interest
Country
1. Germany
2. Netherlands
3. Spain
4. UK
5. France
Total replies
68
62
52
38
35
309 organisations and 226 private persons
(535 in total) replied

18. The response to the consultation on
design and innovation was very positive
• 91 percent of responding organisations consider that
design is very important for the future
competitiveness of the EU economy;
• 91 percent consider that initiatives in support of
design should be taken at EU level;
• 96 percent think that initiatives in support of design
should be an integral part of innovation policy in
general;
• 74 percent think that design should be part of EU
innovation policy.

19. About the main barrier to better use of
design…
What are the most serious barriers to better use of design in
Europe, if any? (Multiple answers possible)
1. Lack of awareness and understanding of the potential of design
among policy makers
>78 percent of organisations
2. Lack of knowledge and tools to evaluate the rate of return on design
investment
>64 percent of organisations
3. Lack of awareness and understanding among potential design
customers, i.e. private and public organisations
>63 percent of organisations

20. Possible next steps
• The launch of an initiative as part of the new
European Innovation Policy?
 An initiative to develop priorities and joint actions
 Improve evidence base on design
 Addressing innovation skills, including design
 Mainstreaming design into other policy areas
 Possible label for European design

21. Thank you for your attention!
charlotte.arwidi@ec.europa.eu