The European Commission plays a role in coordinating innovation policy among the 27 EU member states and other countries, which have varying sizes, populations, economies, and innovation needs. The Commission aims to balance these competencies and needs. Activities include the Lisbon Agenda to agree on joint innovation objectives, and a broad innovation strategy defining key areas like developing lead markets and supporting clusters. The Commission also works to remove obstacles to cross-border venture capital investment by promoting mutual recognition of frameworks or a single fund structure. It supports cooperation among the many automotive clusters in Europe. Additionally, the Commission develops ways to better integrate expatriate entrepreneurs into European innovation systems through seminars and assessing policies across states and regions.

1. European Innovation –
Which role for the European
Commission?
A king without a land or the engine of
innovation thinking?

2. Innovation policy in Europe –
balancing competences
• Innovation / competitiveness policy
= part of Industrial policy (Art.157) EU treaty
 “The Member States shall consult each other in liaison
with the Commission and, where necessary, shall
coordinate their action. The Commission may take any
useful initiative to promote such coordination”
• How to coordinate 27 Member States
+ 10 other countries ?
 Federalist and centralist
 From 0.5 to 80mio inhabitants
 GDP/capita 12 – 66.000$/yr
Pictures: Kordin Business Incubator, Malta;
Energy Agency Northrhine-Westphalia, Germany

3. Activities of European Innovation
Policy and Support
• Lisbon Agenda (2005)
 Agreement of governments
on joint objectives
• „Growth and Jobs“
• Policy analysis & benchmarking
• Broad based innovation strategy (2006)
 Defines core areas of innovation activities, i.a.
• Developing Lead markets
• Cluster and cluster cooperation ...

4. Removing obstacles to cross-border
investments by venture capital funds
• The problem: Different legal & tax
regimes in member states force VC to
establish subsidiaries The EIF acts as
 limits access to VC in many countries initial investor for VC
funds in particular in
• The actions: the field of eco-
 2007 communication to member states innovation. Funds
are provided from
 Initially: mutual recognition of national the EU budget under
frameworks the ‚Competiveness
 Possibly: “Single European Venture Capital and Innovation
Fund Structure” (legal entity valid in all program. The action
members states) shall support
development of VC
across Europe.

5. Copying Silicon Valley?
Clusters in the US and Europe
US automotive production:
66% in Michigan, Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky
The European picture:
Photos: Dacia Logan, Romanian-French low-price
car & BMW World, Munich, Germany

6. 47 regions in
15 countries
With strong
automotive
clusters
Commission
strongly
supports
cooperation
between
clusters – the
‘mega-cluster’
is not feasible

7. Integrating the ‚ex-pat entrepreneurs‘
into the Innovation Systems
• Diverse policies and actions by member
states and regions.
 Some moan about Brain drain – others support it
 Only anecdotal evidence
 Limited understanding of ex-pat perceptions
• Commission and ‚innovation agencies‘ jointly
develop the topic, to
 develop better instruments to involve the ex-pat
entrepreneurs in European Innovation Activities
 Learn & check reality: Seminar in June 2009
together in Stanford School of Engineering

8. Thanks –
Contact:
Sven Schade
European Commission
DG Enterprise & Industry
Support to Innovation
1049 Brussels
Belgium
Sven.schade@ec.europa.eu