European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN)
March 2009

EC Public consultation on the effectiveness of innovation support in Europe launched, 6 March 2009, Brussels
(Source: European Commission, DG Entreprise and Industry)

The main purpose of this public consultation is to get insights on how to best improve the effectiveness of public innovation support mechanisms in the EU, against the background of constantly evolving innovation patterns in enterprises.

The public consultation consists of two online questionnaires : The one asks the beneficiaries of innovation support measures, namely companies , to provide their views on the direction of future innovation support policies and instruments in the EU, while the other invites institutional stakeholders active in the design, funding, implementation, and evaluation of innovation support measures at regional, national and European level to give their opinion on the key issues of better innovation support in Europe.

It is expected that the open consultation will, above all, shed more light on which types of support would create the most impact on companies’ capacities to innovate. While the aim is to improve the effectiveness and accuracy of European innovation support initiatives, the Commission seeks to also advise Member States on how to better focus their innovation support measures in line with the needs and expectations of stakeholders. At the same time, the consultation should result in a better understanding of the right "division of labour" between EU, national or regional levels for innovation support.

The results of the consultation will be summarised in a Commission Staff Working Document scheduled for publication in June 2009. The consultation will also feed into the discussions on the future European Plan for Innovation, called for by the Brussels European Council in December 2008.

Online questionnaire for companies

Online questionnaire for institutional stakeholders

Contact: ENTR INNOVATION EFFECTIVENESS

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Building Reseach and Innovation into the European Union's Territorial Agenda: ERRIN Response to the Consultation on the European Commission’s Green paper for Territorial Cohesion COM (2008) 616 final, 3 March 2009, Brussels

ERRIN has submitted a response to the consultation on the European Commission’s Green paper for Territorial Cohesion this week.

The Secretariat would like to thank the team of the Policy Working Group meeting for their work, as well as all the members of the network who send their feed back on the circulated draft versions.

Key points:

1.Territorial cohesion involves a proactive regional policy promoting sustainable balanced economic, environmental, social and scientific development. Territorial cohesion is not a one-size fits all approach. Regions should be free to determine their own potential and the strategies required to achieve their objectives.

2.The future success of Europe will be based on competitive regions developing their knowledge economies. All regions must aim to develop their regional potential by investing in research, innovation, skills and entrepreneurship – thus developing a European capacity to engage fully in the global knowledge economy.

3.Territorial cohesion must integrate the European Research Area and its vision 2020 which includes the modernisation of research, education and innovation systems.

4.European funding should be increased to support research, innovation, entrepreneurship and skills development so that all regions can maximize their endogenous capacities and build partnerships with other regions in order to build a stronger European knowledge economy.

5.More European resources should be devoted to a more flexible interregional cooperation with more emphasis on thematic cooperation to share best practice between regions and to support innovative projects with a high European added value.

The document is available online