European Union

A year after her death the French Auschwitz survivor and women's rights activist Simone Veil has been given the rare honour of being buried at the Panthéon in Paris. France's media also honour Veil's commitment to Europe - she was a president of the EU Parliament from 1979 to 1982 - and examine the continuing relevance of her ideas on European policy.

As of July 1 public transport with buses and trains has been free of charge. The policy, which has been in effect in Tallinn since 2013, has now been extended to the rest of the country, with the exception of four rural districts. According to Estonia's minister of economic affairs Kadri Simson free transport will make it easier for people with low and average incomes to remain mobile. Estonia's press isn't convinced.

High on Kosovo's Kika mountain plateau workers are building the Balkan nation's first wind turbines, in an effort to eliminate the country's massive reliance on coal and end power outages.

Hard security realities and Russia continue to govern Armenia's destiny despite its recent revolution.

Merkel's interior minister Horst Seehofer has threatened to resign over asylum. The bitter dispute risks tipping the historic balance between the centre-right CDU party and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU.

With the Polish minister of justice now enjoying the ability to dismiss and appoint heads of courts, there is concern about the "chilling effect" that this may have on judges.

EU students starting in English universities in autumn 2019 will pay the same tuition fees as English students, UK education secretary Damian Hinds said, according to British media. This status will last for the duration of their degree courses. The Scottish government has made a similar commitment to EU students starting in Scottish universities in autumn 2019. There are about 135,000 EU students in UK universities.

Leader of Italy's far-right League, Matteo Salvini, said on Sunday at the party's annual gathering that he wants to create a pan-European association of nationalist parties and turn next year's European Parliament election into a referendum on immigration and job security. "I am thinking of a League of the Leagues of Europe" he said. A survey in Saturday's Corriere della Sera newspaper polled Salvini's League at 31.2 percent support.

Thousands gathered in Paris on Sunday to pay tribute to Simone Veil, Holocaust survivor and women's rights champion, when she was laid to rest in the Pantheon, France's burial place for some of its most honoured citizens. Veil became the first president of the directly elected European Parliament in 1979 and the first woman to hold the post. She died on 30 June 2017 at the age of 89.

In a bid to calm tensions Spain's new socialist government allowed nine high-profile Catalan separatists in custody to be moved to prisons closer to their home region. Prime minister Pedro Sanchez has also agreed to meet Catalonia's secessionist president, Quim Torra, in Madrid on 9 July, which will be the first meeting between a Spanish prime minister and a Catalan regional leader since January 2017.

Croatia has officially become a high-income country, according to the World Bank's new income classifications lowering the thresholds for a classification as a high-income country to $12,055 GNI per capita. Only two EU member states, Romania and Bulgaria, are not in the top-class. They both rank in the second best class as upper-middle income countries with GNI per capita between $3,896 and $12,055.

Over 80,000 people took to the streets of Vienna on Saturday in protest against a new law allowing for a 12-hour day and subsequent 60-hour working week. The law is expected to be passed by parliament on Thursday. The rightwing government, comprising the conservative People's Party (OVP) and the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), want the changes to give businesses more flexibility. Currently, Austria has an eight-hour day and 40-hour week.

Written by Zsolt G. Pataki and Evangelia M. Thoukididou,

What should innovation policy look like as we approach 2020 and prepare for the next Multiannual Financial Framework? Based on a proposal submitted by MEP Lambert van Nistelrooij, STOA held a workshop on 5 June 2018 to assess whether there is sufficient coordination among all stakeholders in view of the roll-out of the new, integrated EU innovation strategy.

Opening the event, STOA First Vice-Chair Paul Rübig, noted that, with more than 40 hubs across the continent, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) plays a key role in European innovation, and has the full support of the European Parliament. The EIT was created in 2008 and as an independent body, plays a crucial role in boosting and coordinating innovation and entrepreneurship across Europe with one simple idea: through diversity, there is strength.

© European Union 2018 – Source: EP/ Jan VAN DE VEL

Commissioner Tibor Navracsics, who is responsible for the EIT, presented the main factors hindering innovation in Europe: a shortage of skills, lack of infrastructure and poor investment. ´We have to create the right conditions for innovation’, he shared. The answer to the innovation challenges faced by Europe is increased collaboration with those within the innovation landscape – universities, research organisations, companies – both small and large, NGOs, and of course, its citizens. Commissioner Navracsics highlighted that solutions to the question of innovation must be targeted and tailored to local and regional capabilities and needs. Horizon 2020 and its successor should be complemented with national, regional and local resources wherever possible.

This is where the EIT comes in, as it has the ability to bridge the European, regional and local levels. Martin Kern, Interim Director of the EIT, represented the institute at the workshop and shared its achievements, as well as its goals and objectives going forward. He quoted Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, who once said, ‘If someone is interested in the future of the EU look to the EIT’.

© European Union 2018 – Source: EP/ Jan VAN DE VEL

Indeed, with a strong portfolio of projects including Volocopter, Advantis and Alina, the future of the EIT looks promising. The EIT has managed its success through an innovation model that places it at the centre of educational institutions, research organisations and businesses, including SMEs. Martin Kern explained that the EIT would like to engage in increased collaboration with EU bodies, such as the European Innovation Council (EIC), in the same way it has already worked with the Joint Research Centre (JRC). During the workshop, Boris Dimitrov, CEO of Checkpoint Cardio, a medical start-up which has benefited from the services of EIT Digital, presented the key advantage provided by the EIT as being the access provided to consolidated funding across different European regions. Going forward, the EIT aims to increase participation from low-involvement members and continue dissemination of knowledge in less innovative regions of the EU.

 

© European Union 2018 – Source: EP/ Jan VAN DE VEL

Jean-David Malo, Director for Open Innovation and Open Science, DG Research and Innovation at the European Commission, referred to the Commission’s call for national and regional authorities to develop smart specialisation strategies for research and innovation. This will allow them to identify specific competitive advantages, which will serve as a basis for prioritising research and innovation investment under current and future cohesion policy. The communication on ‘Strengthening Innovation in Europe’s regions: Strategies for resilient, inclusive and sustainable growth‘, takes stock of the progress made in the area of decentralised innovation thus far. According to Lambert van Nistelrooij, MEP, this communication is largely descriptive and limits itself to ESI funds, Horizon 2020 and its successor, Horizon Europe.

Christian Ehler, MEP, and STOA Panel Member, discussed the integration of the EIT into broader programmes, such as the international dimension of European innovation policy. The European Parliament will be requesting an increase in the budget and Mr Ehler would like to see this go towards the third pillar of the Horizon Europe programme, from which the EIT can benefit. An increase in funding would allow for actionable initiatives that can translate academic research into business practice, a process in which the EIT can act as an experienced instrument.

© European Union 2018 – Source: EP/ Jan VAN DE VEL

As Mr Malo stated, with a €100 billion budget targeted at boosting the sectors of science and technology, transforming research into business opportunities will be possible for the first time. In the past two years, Europe has in fact created more start-ups than the US, but has failed to grow them into successful enterprises. Therefore, much of the new funding will go towards supporting scientists in creating tangible businesses and aiding them in their growth. This will be achieved through practical support and the provision of equity, in addition to the grants already offered in the growth stage. In the long-term, these actions aim to make companies not currently supported by banks and the fragmented venture capital market more attractive to private investors. The EIT will play an integral role in these initiatives, along with the EIC and the European Innovation Ecosystem, covering raw materials, energy, climate, food, health and digital innovation sectors, across which it holds specialised expertise.

To keep up to date with this project and other STOA activities, follow our website, the EPRS blog, Twitter and Think Tank pages.

#innovation4eu

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