European Council
Leaders’ Agenda
May 2018
Innovation and digital
The European Union has a competitive edge due to its high-quality basic and applied research.
With only 7% of the world’s population, Europe accounts for 20% of global R&D investment and
around one third of all high-quality scientific publications. However, it is lagging behind other
major economies in terms of innovation. There are three times fewer quality patent applications
in the EU than in Japan; there is five times less venture capital than in the United States, and the
number of fast-growing start-ups (“unicorns”) is also five times lower; the EU’s share of added value
in high-tech manufacturing is half the South Korean average.
Over the coming years, technology-driven innovation will affect our lives at an ever-growing speed,
with a new wave of innovation based on the converging of digital and physical technologies (e.g.
digital manufacturing, genomics, the internet of things, Artificial Intelligence) and heavily relying
on science, engineering, data and high capacity digital networks. The development of Artificial
Intelligence in particular raises not only hopes (e.g. better healthcare, safer transport, more
sustainable farming), but also ethical questions.
Deepening Europe’s innovation capability, in particular as regards nurturing breakthrough and
disruptive innovation, is fundamental to ensure economic success and preserve our societal values.
While respecting the principle of subsidiarity, EU action is essential to help achieve the relevant
critical mass for both the development and scaling-up of successful technologies.
The Commission has proposed to set up a European Innovation Council in the next Multiannual
Financial Framework in order to streamline, rationalise and simplify existing schemes to select and
fund breakthrough and disruptive technologies. Its ongoing pilot project provides experience and
guidance. Likewise, the Commission has proposed a European approach on Artificial Intelligence
and robotics in order to boost the European Union’s competitiveness and ensure trust based on
European values.
The EU can also support our universities and research institutions to become more entrepreneurial
in generating ideas that translate into business; offer curricula that better match emerging business
models; work more closely with enterprises; and help faster diffusion, reuse of, and access to,
knowledge.
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LEADERS’ AGENDA
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EN
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May 2018