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)

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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

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