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Boosting Research and Innovation In Europe
Bruno VAN POTTELSBERGHE
Solvay Brussels School of Economics and ManagementUniversité Libre de Bruxelles
Senior Fellow @ Bruegel
Collective work withM. Dewatripont (ULB, SBS-EM) A. Sapir (ULB, Bruegel),
and R. Veugelers (KUL, Bruegel)
Broad proposal
• In line with EU2020 Strategy and “Innovation Union”
• Three essential principles– Primacy to excellence and merit-based competition– Importance of single market for research and innovation– Removal of intra-EU barriers to dynamic restructuring
Broad proposal
• Three interrelated areas– Basic research and the role of universities– The creation and development of young, highly
innovative companies in new sectors– A patent system for supporting growth of innovative
firms.
Diagnosis and remedies....
Basic Research and Universities:Diagnosing
• EU’s funding gap on higher education• EU institutions suffering from poor governance:
insufficiently autonomous and poor incentives
• As compared to the US, EU universities fail to:• Attract the best of foreign talents• Excel in top publications • Be the breeding ground for commercial ventures that turn
into world market successes• Develop worldwide research and innovation links;
Basic Research and Universities:Remedying
A policy mix combining funding, autonomy and competition
• EU encouraging and monitoring Member States’ efforts to raise university funding (eg by 1% of GDP)
• Enhancing EU-wide merit based competition– Increasing funding for ERC, EIT– New merit-based competition for doctoral school funding
• Enhancing EU wide researcher’s mobility– EU research visa and portability of social security benefits
Young Highly Innovative Companies:Diagnosing
EU deficient business R&D is mostly a structural problem:– The EU has less young companies making it
to world leading innovators– The EU has less leading innovators in the
new innovation growth sectors” (biotech, software, internet, …)
• These sectors are linked to cutting edge scientific research
Young Highly Innovative Companies:Remedying
• Redressing the barriers faced by young innovative firms in new markets,
– An EU Framework Program for Highly Innovative Projects
• Public funding of pre-commercialisation phase; • No requirement for EU wide consortia• Program organized through an independent agency
(equivalent to ERC), minimizing administrative burden • Selection through EU based competition with highest
standards of excellence • Mix of expertise in selection (scientific, technical but esp
commercial) with selection a signal of quality (certification) able to leverage complementary public and private funding
Enabling growth by designing an EU patent:Diagnosing
• Europe’s current patent system is– prohibitively expensive (translation costs, multiple
validation and renewal fees)
© B. van Pottelsberghe, 2010
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Enabling growth by designing an EU patent:Diagnosing
• Europe’s current patent system is– prohibitively expensive (translation costs, multiple
validation and renewal fees)– complex and intransparent because of parallel litigation– fragmented with parellel national and EPO patents
• Europe is thus taxing innovation• Young TBSF, and academic spin-off need efficient IP
Moving beyond the Dec 4 2009 EU patent proposal– A single EU wide patent; No three-layer system
(national, European, EU-wide): drop current European patent and NPO should stop independent grant
– English-only translation for granted patents, May-Be with two other languages for claims
– A grace period of 6 months for scientific and technical publications (cf US & Japan)
– A 50% reduction in entry fees for small, young companies (cf US & Japan)
Enabling growth by designing an EU patent:Remedying
© B. van Pottelsberghe, 2010
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