Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Annual report on research and technological development activities of the European Union in 2013

The annual report on research and technological development activities of the European Union (EU) is prepared pursuant to Article 190 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of key measures undertaken in the reporting year.

In 2013, Member States started and continued significant reforms to return to sustainable economic growth and welfare. The European Commission undertook important measures to enhance and complement these efforts, including strengthening the involvement of social partners in the European Semester framework. As a result, a gradual recovery of Europe's economy has set in since the beginning of 2013, becoming more noticible in the second quarter of 2013. While the recovery is expected to continue, the European Union needs to continue to work together in order to strengthen its ability to compete globally.

Despite the continuing difficult economic climate in the past year, the EU made progress towards the Europe 2020 targets by initiating positive structural trends, such as raising education levels, building a more sustainable energy mix, reducing the carbon intensity of the economy and making progress towards the R&I investment target of 3%.

In order to strengthen Europe's position as a global competitor and put its economy back on track to growth, investment in Research and Innovation (R&I) is crucial. Therefore, R&I continued to be at the core the EU's agenda for smart jobs and growth and at the centre of the EU investments.

Horizon 2020, launched at the end of 2013, is the financial instrument implementing Europe's 2020 flagship initiative 'Innovation Union'. The new framework programme was designed to address and tackle societal challenges and promote economic prosperity by funding excellent science, technology and innovation.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2014)549: Follow the progress of this report through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2014:549:FIN

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