Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Annual report on research and technological development activities of the European Union in 2014

The Annual Report on research and technological development activities of the European Union 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.

The year 2014 was one of great political change in the EU. A new European Parliament was elected, a new Commission took office in November, and a new President – the first one from the new post-2004 Member States – took-up office in the European Council. In order to build on the progress already made by Member States in steering Europe back to economic recovery, the newly-elected Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker introduced an Agenda for Jobs, Growth, Fairness and Democratic Change. The agenda is based on three pillars of structural reforms, fiscal responsibility and investment and it sets out 10 clear priorities to get people back to work and the European economy growing.

A new investment plan was proposed which aims to unlock public and private investment worth €315 billion over the next three years. A European Commission Proposal for a Regulation on the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) was launched in January 2015; its adoption by the EU Council of Ministers and the European Parliament is expected in summer 2015. Horizon 2020 is set to play a role in this by contributing to the EFSI guarantee fund. This will allow further investments to be made in the area of Research and Innovation.