The document provides a critical assessment of the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) which is used to evaluate and compare the innovation performance of EU member states. It notes methodological issues with the EIS such as the selection and weighting of indicators, data availability and quality. It also critiques how countries' perceive and discuss their innovation performance based solely on EIS rankings, which can lead to indicator-driven rather than evidence-based policymaking. The document concludes the EIS has limitations and a different approach should be taken in its use for policy discussions.