The Euro-CASE Innovation Platform took up its work at the beginning of 2012 under the leadership of acatech (DE) and IVA (SE) – Chair of the Platform is Prof. Dr Ernst Rietschel, with Prof Dr Bjoern O. Nilsson as co-chair. Ultimately, the objective is to help putting in place the necessary conditions for Europe to increase its innovative power.
Agreed goals are that the Innovation Platform:
- Provides science-based policy advise to relevant EU Institutions and national governments within chosen focus areas,
- Establishes best practice of national innovation strategies in Europe (“learning from each other”),
- Topics and proposals are mapped towards the relevant European documents and in line with Europe 2020 and its flagships (Innovation Union) and Horizon 2020.
The purpose is that the Innovation Platform:
- Contributes to make Europe the most successful innovation region in the world,
- In a proactive way, provides advice to the EU and European Institutions on innovation issues.
The Platform is scheduled to last 2 years, from the beginning of January 2012 until the end of 2013. This initiative and the topic have drawn the attention of the European Commission which declared its interest and participated in the last Platform meeting in Brussels. The first meeting on ‘Innovation Procurement’ took place in Stockholm 15/ 16 February 2012 with the second meeting on ‘Public-Private Partnerships – successful partnering models for science- industry research cooperation’ taking place in Brussels shortly after, 29-30 May 2012.
The third Platform meeting took place in London, October 11-12, 2012,
dealing with the topic Financing Innovation.
The fourth platform meeting took place in Helsinki, January 23-24, 2013 dealing with the topic “Changing Industries Structures”
The next meeting will take place in Madrid on June 5-6, 2013. The subject will be "Transforming Manufacturing: “A path towards a Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth"
Euro-CASE Policy Position Paper
"EU Public-Private Partnerships in Research and Innovation"
November 14, 2012
Preambule
The European Council of Academies of Applied Sciences, Technologies and Engineering (Euro-CASE) is an independent non-profit organisation of national academies of engineering, applied sciences and technology from 21 European countries. Euro-CASE acts as a permanent forum for exchange and consultation between European institutions, industry and research.
Through its member academies, Euro-CASE has access to top expertise (around 6,000 experts) and provides impartial, independent and balanced advice on technological and innovation issues with a clear European dimension to European institutions, national governments, companies and organisations.
This position paper is intended to help define the scope, structure and content of public-private partnerships in research and innovation at the European Union level. In preparing this, Euro-CASE has taken advantage of the combined expertise of its members and, in addition, has undertaken its own research in a qualitative interview study on the currently existing European public-private partnerships in research. Being based on the experience with innovation policy measures in the Euro-CASE member states, this position paper is meant as a contribution to the new focus on innovation policy within Horizon 2020 and Europe 2020 by taking advantage of the principles of a modern regulatory policy providing structures and incentives for innovations while at the same time upholding competitiveness for all relevant stakeholders.
The following recommendations are equally addressed to the European institutions, the Euro-CASE member academies, and to other interested stakeholders.
Execuitve Summary
- As they provide structures and incentives for the collaboration of researchers and the industry, public-private partnerships can be a highly effective instrument for turning research findings into innovative and marketable products. Providing appropriate surrounding conditions for this collaborative process should be a central issue for European research politics.
- Euro-CASE recommends that under Horizon 2020, the European Union establishes a unified, comprehensive, open, and competitive framework for the development of new public-private partnerships at European level complemented by a corresponding legal regulatory structure. In the next Framework Programme after Horizon 2020, this framework should result in a dedicated Research Public-Private Partnership Funding Programme for establishing new research public-private partnerships.
- This Research Public-Private Partnership Funding Programme should focus on a dedicated bottom-up strategy and on a competitive selection process aimed at achieving scientific excellence. This programme should help foster the strategic development of public-private partnerships with respect to independent and autonomous actions which go beyond mere research funding.
- Under the terms of the proposed new focus on innovation, regulations and conditions for the investment of public funds by the European Union should be explicated in such a way that industry research policy and competition policy are kept in a pragmatic and sensible balance.
- Political bodies should concentrate on providing the best possible surrounding conditions and incentives for the development of public-private partnerships and should make use of more modern mechanisms of governmental control, such as target and performance agreements, supplemented by a streamlined and effective auditing process. Participation of the European Commission in the governing structures of existing public-private partnerships in research should be reconsidered in this light.
- Euro-CASE asks its member academies for support in bringing together national public-private partnerships at the European level, in integrating researchers coming from countries with a comparatively low level of innovative activities and in using potential synergies among national funding programmes for the development of partnerships and innovations.
