The long and winding road from Lisbon

The targets for 2010 set by EU leaders in the Portuguese capital in 2000 re-shaped the Union’s research and innovation policy. Emily Smith reports.

Since 1984 the European Commission has managed money for innovative research activities through a series of framework programmes. The latest of these, the seventh framework (FP7), came into force this year. It offers €53 billion over seven years to research projects ranging from transport to biotechnology.

Increasingly however, the EU has come to believe that other approaches are needed to encourage innovation through research.

The annual research budget under framework programmes is greater than ever before, but a series of separate projects and proposals have been put forward to support research and innovation in new ways.

The Commission’s research department is becoming more actively involved in dealing with problems like how to use taxes or state aid to encourage research and innovation. It works more closely than before with industry and governments to find ways of getting innovative products onto the market and it has started to examine the problem of making sure innovative research can be carried out across EU borders.

The increasing attention paid to boosting innovation through research is usually traced back to the 2000 Lisbon summit, which saw EU leaders agree to make Europe the most competitive knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010. The Lisbon Agenda made governments look for ways to increase competitiveness through innovation. In 2002 they agreed to invest 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) in research by 2010, to help meet their Lisbon goals.

The Commission also started work to bring together the industrial, financial and research sectors through new European Technology Platforms (ETPs). There are now over 30 ETPs, in areas including hydrogen and fuel cells, chemicals, robotics, and ‘future textiles and clothing’.

"The platforms help us identify areas that could be markets for new products, as well as obstacles and new opportunities," explained a Commission official.

"They can also help create the right conditions for investment."

Last November the Commission published a state aid framework for research, development and innovation. Previous guidelines had excluded innovation. Concerns over EU competitiveness and the fear of failing to meet the Lisbon goals led to their revision.

The Commission has also turned its attention to tax exemptions for innovative research.

Faced with limited competence in taxation policy, the Commission has encouraged member states to pursue an ‘open method of co-ordination’ (OMC) to examine the possible use of tax breaks for research and innovation. The OMC was also agreed in 2000, as a way of helping member states reach Lisbon goals by sharing their experiences "in areas of common interest".

At first it applied only to employment and economic policy, but the 3% of GDP target persuaded governments that it should also be used for policies related to investment in research.

The research OMC has now run for four years and produced two reports on fiscal measures for research.

Problems identified include a general lack of awareness of how different countries are using taxation to promote research. In the Netherlands, for example, taxes are a favourite research tool, while in neighbouring Germany they are hardly used.

The Commission hopes the OMC will see member states learning from each other and applying the most successful tax policies more widely.

Another innovative Lisbon initiative coming closer to reality is the idea of a European Research Area (ERA).

In 2000 governments endorsed the idea of making it easier for researchers and research to cross EU borders. A consultation on the future of the ERA was launched last month, together with a communication on improving knowledge transfer between research institutions and industry across Europe.

As the Lisbon deadline looms, many in Europe are hoping that research can speed up the journey to that competitive - and innovative - EU economy.

The targets for 2010 set by EU leaders in the Portuguese capital in 2000 re-shaped the Union’s research and innovation policy. Emily Smith reports.