Brussels, 09 Jun 2005

When relaunching the Lisbon agenda for competitiveness earlier this year, EU leaders acknowledged the central role that knowledge and innovation must play if Europe is to achieve its ambitious goals.

The problem, however, is the so-called 'European paradox', whereby the continent fails to convert its excellence in research into innovative new products, services and process. For Europe to stand any chance of boosting its competitiveness and preserving its social model, a remedy for this problem must be found.

In this context, Europe's regions have a key role to play - a message underlined by Commission officials during the plenary conference of the Innovating Regions in Europe (IRE) network, held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 7 and 8 June. David White, Director for Innovation Policy at the Commission's Enterprise and Industry DG, told the assembled regional actors that: 'Innovation is not an 'end of the pipe' process - it doesn't necessarily follow from research.'

Mr White continued: 'Innovation is about interaction between different actors in the economic process - industrialists, scientists, technicians, investors, entrepreneurs, public authorities, consumers and SMEs [small and medium sized enterprises]. Regional policy can create an environment conducive to such interaction, and therefore conducive to innovation,' he added, before warning that the opposite was also true.

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One of the defining aspects of European regional competitiveness is disparity, Mr White argued, reiterating that while the GDP per capita in the ten best performing regions is 189 per cent of the EU average, in the ten least prosperous regions this figure falls to 36 per cent. 'But the message is not all bad - the EU has world leaders in innovation, with countries such as Sweden and Finland the envy of the world [...] and many of Europe's poorest regions also have the highest growth rates, so convergence is taking place.'

During the last ten years, the Commission has done much to foster the development of regional innovation, notably through its IRE network and the funding of regional innovation strategy (RIS) projects. Indeed, the day before the start of the conference, the Commission launched 32 new RIS initiatives, covering the majority of new Member States, candidate countries and associated countries. However, stressed Mr White, 'RIS projects are an important step, but only a first step, and they require follow-up activities.'

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Mr White used the example of the host country, Slovenia, which has developed the SLOVITTS innovation strategy. 'While very important, the strategy alone is not enough. It should be seen as a good basis for getting increased support from the EU, for example from the structural funds and the framework programmes.'

Indeed, a number of delegates highlighted the transition from putting a regional innovation strategy in place to actually launching concrete initiatives to implement it as a critical stage. The danger is that while the resources needed to create an RIS are relatively modest, implementing it requires a much higher commitment of funding and human resources.

'Such strategies should be implemented in a dynamic way - you can never be satisfied and must always strive to do better, and it is especially important for small countries to think big,' added Mr White, offering Ireland's economic boom as an example of what can be achieved when strategies are translated into action.

In order to ensure that momentum is not lost in those regions where the Commission has already financed RIS projects, it would like to see a move towards the cross-border integration of national and regional innovation programmes, to create what Mr White referred to as a 'European Innovation Area'. 'I don't like too much talk of 'areas', but we really do need a European Innovation Area - an area where the fundamental conditions for innovation to take place are adequately provided.'

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While encouraging European regions to learn from one another's successes and failures, however, Mr White warned that trying to directly copy the achievements of a country like Ireland is not the solution. When asked by CORDIS News what lessons regions should look to learn, he said: 'There are some things that every region should do: getting rid of bureaucracy, making sure that small businesses have access to advice and support, and developing techniques to mobilise financing for small businesses. Every region can learn something from others in these areas.'

The Commission's future regional innovation policy will therefore seek to encourage this process of collective learning, through new initiatives such as the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP), and the newly launched Mutual Learning Platform (MLP), as well as the continuation of existing activities including the work of the IRE network. Ultimately, however, success or failure is in the hands of Europe's regions themselves, and with Europe's future competitiveness hanging in the balance, the stakes could not be higher.

For further information, please consult the following web addresses:

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