Innovation Europe > News > Innovation EU Vol2-1 > Modernising the knowledge triangle - ERA

As Europe grapples with the fallout from the economic downturn, there is a risk that European Research falls off the policy agenda. This would be a mistake, for although the results of research are not always obvious, they are essential. Europe’s place in the world now and in the future depends on applying European research and technology base – especially those aspects that are publicly funded – to the needs of citizens and businesses. This, in turn, requires a more joined-up approach to creating world-class cutting-edge research.

Wherever we look, from information technology to pharmaceuticals and advanced manufacturing, research is increasingly global in nature. Many of the challenges facing our societies and economies today, such as the economic downturn, international competition, environmental pressures and longer life expectances, affect all countries and world regions. But they are also global because the solutions to these problems are beyond the capability of any one firm or country and so require co-operation.

As scientific and technological (S&T) challenges become more complex, businesses and research centres are having to partner to share costs, find complementary expertise, gain access to different technologies and knowledge quickly, and collaborate within networks. One indicator of this is that the proportion of scientific articles having authors from more than one country tripled between 1985 and 2007. What’s more, the scientific output of “emerging” economies is developing rapidly. China is second only to the US in terms of academic papers published and will take first place within a decade.

Thus, Europeans are finding that when it comes to getting the most from European Research, it pays to collaborate. Since 2000, EU member states have been working together to join up their research policies as part of a European Research Area (ERA).

The European Research Area drives excellence

The European Research Area defines the European way to excellence in European Research and is a major driver of European competitiveness in the globalised world. In essence, the European Research Area is about the open circulation of knowledge across national borders. European Research Area addresses major challenges facing European society by mobilising public and private investment in research and by developing strategic partnerships based on common approaches. Research within the European Research Area also supports the development of national and EU policies, and provides decision-makers with accessible, diverse and up-to-date scientific evidence. Working together enables Europe to speak with one voice with its main international partners.

The benefits of this policy can be seen from a number of angles. First, the European Research Area is helping to modernise European research, education and innovation systems. Strong interactions within the “knowledge triangle” (education, research and innovation) are promoted at all levels, from individual researchers, funding organisations, universities and research institutions, to SMEs and multinational companies, and supported by appropriate European mechanisms. Public authorities at all levels, together with other stakeholders, work to design research, education and innovation policies and programmes so as to optimise their effectiveness, efficiency and value to society and the economy.

Second, the European Research Area underpins the development of European competitiveness. Business is stimulated to innovate and invest in Europe, in particular in R&D. Firms benefit from a single market for innovative goods and services and excellent export potential in growing markets worldwide. Across the European Research Area, firms including innovative SMEs can easily engage in research partnerships with the European public science base and benefit from a business-friendly environment. The European Research Area promotes pro-active standard-setting and co-ordinated public procurement, improving companies’ access to European high-growth markets for innovative ideas, goods and services.

Third, the European Research Area provides co-ordinated support to researchers and institutions engaged in excellent research. Public authorities across the European Research Area work together to ensure joined-up approaches in their national and regional research systems, policy objectives, programmes, dissemination and support mechanisms. A significant share of public funding of research is provided through European Research Area -wide competitions open to all researchers. A large margin is also left for bottom-up approaches, ensuring creativity in the way challenges are addressed.

Finally, the European Research Area promotes S&T capacity building across the EU. Utilising fully their research potential, all European countries and regions are building on their strengths while maintaining or gaining access to complementary specialised knowledge and S&T capacities in the rest of Europe. The Cohesion Policy and transnational co-ordination are important, helping to ensure optimal deployment across Europe.

Surveys show that while the European Research Area is beginning to have an effect, there can be no let up. Europe’s pool of researchers is growing and the EU is becoming more attractive for foreign researchers and private R&D investments from the US. However, the stagnation of the EU-27’s R&D intensity (R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP) at 1.84% is denting the EU’s ambition to become a globally competitive knowledge-based society. In areas such as brain diseases and bioenergy, European research is highly fragmented. Despite increased investment by many member states and an improved efficiency of the European research systems, the EU is still far from reaching its Lisbon target of investing 3% of GDP in R&D. A continued low level of business R&D investment, linked to an EU industrial structure with a smaller high-tech sector than in the US, is hampering the EU’s performance.

European Research 2020 Vision

The European Research Area has its origins in a dialogue begun back in 2000. The observation was that then – as now – the overwhelming majority of public European research was financed and administered through 27 national systems (and in some cases, regional ones as well). Although this multi-centred approach to research is not detrimental per se, the fragmentation of research can have negative consequences. It can create barriers to mobility, so inhibiting career opportunities. It can create obstacles for academia and industry in establishing cross-border partnerships. There can be duplication of funding, so dispersing resources and making it more difficult for Europe to achieve global excellence. National policies may lack a European perspective and a disjointed approach can diminish the attractiveness of Europe as a location for business R&D investment.

In the intervening period the member states, together with the Commission, have worked increasingly closely towards the development of a common European research policy. This culminated in an agreement, reached in May 2008, as part of the so-called “Ljubljana Process”. The parties agreed a common vision on what the European Research Area should look like in the year 2020 and how it should be governed. At the heart of this 2020 European Research Area Vision is the “Fifth Freedom”: the free circulation of researchers, knowledge and technology across Europe.

Since then a series of initiatives has been launched aimed at establishing durable partnerships with member states and the business and research communities to develop European Research Area initiatives in specific areas. These include:

• Researchers’ careers and mobility: A Communication adopted in May 2008 will, among other measures, create a European Partnership for Researchers for mobility and career development. The partnership will aim to accelerate progress in key areas including social security, competition-based transnational recruitment, portability of funding, employment and working conditions, and training and skills.
• Research Infrastructures: To stay at the leading edge of knowledge creation, Europe needs new research infrastructures, many of which have already been identified. The Commission has set out proposals for a legal framework to assist member states to develop and fund pan-European infrastructures that might not be possible under their national instruments.
• Knowledge Sharing: The objective here is to facilitate and promote the optimal use of intellectual property created in public research organisations to increase both knowledge transfer to industry and the socio-economic benefits resulting from publicly funded research. The Commission has adopted a Recommendation and a Code of Practice.
• Research Programmes: A Communication of July 2008 set out an ambitious new approach for making better use of Europe’s limited public R&D funds and increasing the efficiency and impact of national public research funding in strategic areas through joint programming and programmes.
• International Science & Technology Co-operation: Commission proposals issued in late 2008 set out a policy framework for both the Community and member states to facilitate coherent international science and technology co-operation activities.

In addition, a number of information platforms have been launched to support European Research Area policy development and initiatives. Projects such as ERAWATCH and NETWATCH have provided a wealth of data, as well as promoting mutual learning and sharing of experiences.

As we look ahead to the next decade, it is clear that the pace of change – especially at national and regional levels – will need to increase dramatically. An “Innovation Union” is one of the key objectives of the Commission’s Europe 2020 Strategy, which aims to create smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The Strategy identifies the need to improve access to finance for European research and innovation so as to ensure that innovative ideas can be turned into products and services that create growth and jobs. Investment of 3% of the EU’s GDP in R&D is one of the Strategy’s five headline targets.

Achieving greater synergies and added value will be increasingly important in the design and implementation of European research policies and measures at national and EU levels in the coming years. European research policy will need to increase its leverage effect on national research policies, programmes and systems, so as to raise the effectiveness, efficiency and attractiveness of the whole European research system. Hence, completing the European Research Area is a key objective under Europe 2020, requiring a new mode of governance for the European Research Area .

To tease out some of the details, the Commission invited three Expert Groups to provide their views and recommendations. Prof. Luc Soete chaired a group entitled “The Role of Community Research Policy in the Knowledge-based Economy.” A second group, chaired by Dr. Björn von Sydow, addressed “A Knowledge Intensive Future for Europe”; and the third group, chaired by Prof. Rémi Barré, focused on “European Research Area Indicators and Monitoring”. Each of the groups produced detailed reports and recommendations which have been published.

The preliminary outcomes of these three Expert Groups were discussed with various stakeholders at the conference “Working Together to Strengthen Research in Europe” held in Brussels in October 2009.

The firm message from the conference was that all stakeholders had to work harder to make the European Research Area a reality. Spanish Science and Innovation Minister Cristina Garmendia – a former CEO of biotech firm Genetrix – noted Europe was facing a loss of political and economic clout in a globalised world. “How is it possible that a continent that gave so much is struggling to find its way in research?” she asked. Key to addressing this is strengthening the knowledge triangle, the interaction between education, research and innovation. Europe makes large investments in research, but too few European research findings are commercialised to generate the growth and benefits.

One of the conference recommendations was to offer support for start-ups through schemes that encourage them to carry out high-risk research. There was also broad support for strengthening the links between business and research by improving international knowledge transfer. Delegates called on the EU to promote a wider dissemination of research outputs, exploit open access systems, and resolve the accompanying legal issues over copyright. Any simplification of the European Research Area should extend to support for individual researchers seeking careers outside their home country, they added.

When it came to the European research topics, there was a broad consensus that European citizens had to see how the investments make a difference in their lives and those of future generations. The conference supported a strategy of using research to meet today’s “Grand Challenges”, from climate change and water shortages to poverty and diseases. As former EU Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potočnik said in his conference address: “If we want to address the challenges that we are facing in today’s dramatically changing, more interconnected and more interdependent world, we need to strengthen co-operation at European level – and even at global level.”