By Louise Tait - 30th June 2010
It’s been a busy couple of months for European research, science and innovation commissioner Máire Geoghegan- Quinn. From Washington to Seville, she’s been doing the rounds to spread the word on her priorities for her five year stint in the EU executive. Her message is clear: as the bloc battles with a “daunting” economic crisis – not to mention the ever-present concerns of climate change, energy consumption, food security and global health – the importance of innovation and research has never been greater. By making a clear commitment to re-focus research and innovation on these “grand challenges”, Europe will simultaneously address its more short term challenge – engineering sustainable economic recovery, she says.
Geoghegan-Quinn sees her role as helping to “create the conditions for a more dynamic Europe”. “A Europe where we use excellent research and innovation to tackle head-on the problems – the grand challenges – facing our society now and in the future,” she told a European research area board conference in Seville last month. Geoghegan-Quinn, the first EU commissioner to cover research, innovation and science following the reshuffled portfolio’s in the Barroso II college, says her triangle of responsibility is “a natural fit”.
But it seems she will have a challenge on her hands if she is to set the wheels in motion for Europe to fully capitalise on its inherent potential for innovation. By her own admission, the EU is facing an “innovation deficit” compared to other regions and countries. “By ‘deficit’ I do not mean that we are particularly poor at turning science and research into new technologies, products and services. I mean that we are not yet good enough at it,” she said. “In other words, we are failing to capitalise on our research and science.”
So what’s the problem? According to Geoghegan-Quinn, the problems are multiple, from failing to consistently meet the global benchmark for quality research to low mobility of researchers both within the EU and between industry and academia. But getting it right is crucial. As commissioner responsible for FP7 – with its €50bn budget, which runs until 2013 – she must also drive forward the flagship “innovation Union” envisaged in the EU’s 2020 strategy. The 2020 strategy, adopted at the beginning of March and endorsed by leaders at the June European council, outlines the policies the executive believes are needed to enable economic recovery while encouraging a smarter, greener and more inclusive society. “Research and innovation are at its very core,” says the Irish commissioner.
The economic strategy is formed around three key pillars: smart growth, based on knowledge and innovation; sustainable growth, focused on resource efficiency and environmental responsibility; and inclusive growth, grounded in social responsibility and high levels of employment. Forget an “eco-efficient economy”. Geoghegan-Quinn is on a mission to develop an “i-conomy” – “a vibrant, innovation-driven economy” for Europe. To this end, she will be working on a new European research and innovation strategy, together with Joaquin Almunía (competition), Siim Kallas (transport), Neelie Kroes (digital agenda), Antonio Tajani (industry and entrepreneurship) and Günter Oettinger (energy), to go before heads of states at their autumn council.
While “many of the [strategy’s] details are still in the pipeline”, Geoghegan-Quinn insists the group of commissioners are “moving rapidly to develop a robust, mutually supportive set of initiatives”. Broadly, the strategy will make clear that research and innovation should be refocused on “the major societal challenges facing Europe and the world” – something Geoghegan-Quinn says represent “huge commercial opportunities”. It will also be based “on a broad understanding of innovation”, which is “not only about research spending”. And finally, it “will aim to remove all major bottlenecks to the flow of knowledge and to the emergence of what we’re calling a ‘single market for research and innovation’”, she says. “The circulation of brain-power is good for all of us,” she adds.
If she is to make good on these high hopes, the need to cut red tape in research funding must be a priority – something readily acknowledged by Geoghegan-Quinn, who signalled her “intent” when she unveiled commission plans to make it easier to apply for and manage EU grants. “I want researchers to spend more time in the lab and less time in the office,” said Geoghegan-Quinn when she presented the proposals in Brussels. “Researchers are telling us there is a problem,” she says. “We need to get the best researchers and most innovative companies taking part and we need to enable them to concentrate on results, not red tape.”
When the competitiveness council adopted its conclusions on the subject last month, EU research ministers agreed that there is an “urgent need for an in-depth rethink” of the way funding programmes are designed. They said this should be guided by the principles of simplicity, consistency, stability and legal certainty, trust, flexibility, interoperability, be results orientated and avoid the need for duplication of accounting systems. Some of the commission’s proposals can be implemented under the current legal framework, while more radical changes would require a decision of the council and parliament.
In an age where time is money and every euro counts, the commission believes savings in both are there for the taking. As the EU gets to grips with its many and pressing challenges, the success of Geoghegan-Quinn’s plans will surely prove crucial in steering the course to long-term growth and prosperity.
