Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2006)604 - European Institute of Technology - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2006)604 - European Institute of Technology. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2006)604  |
| date | 18-10-2006 |
Enhancing the relations and synergies between innovation, research and education – the main drivers of the global knowledge economy - is crucial to boost competitiveness of the EU industry and services and create jobs and sustainable growth in the European Union.
But Europe is falling short in filling the innovation gap and in developing an integrated knowledge triangle – education, research and innovation. There is general agreement that the main weakness faced by the EU in the innovation area lies in its limited capacity to convert knowledge outputs into commercial opportunities. Moreover, most Member States, albeit with different intensities, encounter difficulties in promoting an innovation and entrepreneurial culture in research and education, in developing critical masses of human, financial and physical resources in knowledge and innovation, and in rewarding performance and excellence in ways which attract the best academic staff and researchers. Global competition from traditional competitors and the emerging Asian economies poses a great challenge to the attractiveness of Europe as a Knowledge Area and seriously hinders our ability to strengthen the scientific and technological basis of Community industry and to mobilise its innovation potential.
There is broad consensus in the Union on the need to take urgent action to develop conditions conducive to a better exploitation of the commercial potential of innovation and knowledge policies, as a key to deliver stronger and lasting growth. The revised Lisbon Strategy has therefore placed innovation, research and education activities, the engines of competitiveness, at the top of the Growth and Jobs Agenda. In the framework of the revised Growth and Jobs Strategy, important initiatives have been launched at both national and EU level to strengthen innovation and the links between higher education, research and businesses.
However, there is still untapped potential. To bridge the innovation gap between the EU and its major competitors, we must promote further the integration of the three sides of the knowledge triangle in a mutually-supportive manner.
Member States are primarily responsible for sustaining a strong European industrial and competitive base, whilst facilitating innovation and more and better investment in research, education and training. However, given the nature and scale of the innovation challenge, action at European level may generate additional benefits that may not be achieved by the Member States alone. There is thus a Community dimension that complements, facilitates and coordinates Member States’ policies and responses.
There is clearly added value in promoting innovation at Community level, by setting up excellence-driven strategic long-term partnerships in critical areas between all actors involved in the knowledge triangle. Such an initiative would offer European companies a new relationship with education and research. It would also provide a world-class innovation-oriented critical mass at the EU level in the key fields, able to build a global reputation and attractiveness.
In February 2005, President Barroso put forward the idea of establishing a European Institute of Technology (the EIT), as part of the mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy. The EIT should be seen as one of the elements of a comprehensive strategy to mobilise knowledge and innovation as a key to growth and employment. It would be a concrete expression of the EU commitment to create an environment that champions innovation and high level excellence in the Union.
The Commission undertook a process of reflection and carried out wide-ranging consultations which resulted in the presentation of a first Communication on 22 February 2006 i. The conclusions of the European Council of 23-24 March 2006 recognises that “a European Institute of Technology will be an important step to fill the existing gap between higher education, research and innovation” and invited the Commission to submit a proposal on further steps.
On 8 June 2006 i the Commission issued a second communication, which drew extensively on the outcomes of the consultation process and shed light on a number of specific issues related to the proposed structure and operation of the EIT.
At the European Council of 15-16 June 2006 the Heads of State and Government reaffirmed that “the European Institute for Technology (EIT), working with existing national institutions, will be an important step towards filling the existing gap between higher education, research and innovation together with other actions that enhance networking and synergies between excellent research and innovation communities in Europe”.
The European Council invited the Commission to prepare “a formal proposal for its establishment, to be presented in autumn 2006, following consultation with the European Research Council, Member States and stakeholders”.
As a result of its analysis and extensive consultations with the research and academic communities and the Member States, the Commission has concluded that, in a European context, the best departure point would be a network building approach, but that this should be developed to arrive at an EIT based on truly integrated partnerships.
The EIT will contribute to improving the competitiveness base of the Member States by involving partner organisations in integrated innovation, research and education activities at the highest international standards. It will be an integral element of a comprehensive Community strategy aimed to support knowledge and innovation towards the Lisbon goals.
The EIT will encourage and promote innovation through trans- and inter-disciplinary strategic research and education in areas of key economic or societal interest and by exploiting its knowledge outcomes to the benefit of the EU. It will build a ‘critical mass’ of human and physical resources in these fields of knowledge, attracting and retaining private sector investment in innovation, education, and R&D, as well as students at master level, doctoral candidates and researchers at all levels of their careers from both the scientific and business sectors.
The EIT will become a symbol of the integrated European Innovation, Research and Education Area, generating innovations in areas of key economic or societal interest. The ambition is that the EIT becomes a reference for managing innovation, by promoting new forms of collaboration among the type of partner organisations involved in the Knowledge triangle as well as for the modernisation of higher education and research institutions in the EU, both directly, through its activities and outputs, and indirectly through its governance.
The EIT aims also to build a global reputation and provide an attractive environment for the best talents worldwide. Participation in its Knowledge and Innovation Communities will be opened to partner organisations, students and researchers from outside the Union. Moreover, third countries would be entitled to support the objectives of the EIT. By promoting its attractiveness in the global scene, the EIT would become a worldwide flagship of excellence-driven innovation.
The EIT will be based on a new, innovative two-level model of governance, which combines bottom-up autonomy and flexibility in the delivery with top-down strategic guidance, coordination animation and facilitation of dialogue, and dissemination of results and good practice. The EIT will perform its activities through Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs). Based on, but going beyond, a network approach, these are envisaged as integrated partnerships or joint ventures (whatever their precise legal form) between the private sector, the research community and excellent teams from research communities and universities whose human, financial and physical resources work together to promote the production, dissemination and exploitation of new knowledge products. To intensify their integrating nature, the KICs shall make use of state-of-the-art research networking and computing infrastructures. A Governing Body, composed of high level members with a proven experience in business, research and education, will be responsible for strategic decisions of the EIT, including the definition of the strategic areas in which KICs will be established, their selection and the overall coordination and evaluation of their activities. The relations between the EIT bodies and the KICs will be based on contractual agreements, which will set out the KICs' rights and obligations, ensure an adequate level of coordination and outline the mechanism for monitoring and evaluation of the KICs activities and outcomes.
Appropriate management and a balanced distribution of intellectual property rights is another indispensable requirement for innovation: without an adequate use and management of inventions, there is no real stimulus to invest in innovation. The EIT will establish guidelines for the management of intellectual property, which will enhance EU innovation capacity, enable the use of intellectual property under appropriate conditions for research and innovative purposes and provide appropriate incentives for the EIT and partners, including individuals involved, KICs and partner organisations, and provide specific incentives for spin-offs and for commercial success.
Education will be a crucial component of the EIT as it is often the missing element in the Knowledge triangle. In the context of a global and open knowledge economy, the EIT will promote the development of courses and doctoral programmes which incorporate the entrepreneurial element and this will be one of the hall-marks of the degrees issued through the KICs. It is important for the success of the EIT that its 'brand' should be highly visible on these degrees. In the great majority of cases, it is expected that degree awarding partners will be universities, though some Member States may wish to also grant degree awarding powers to other partners in a KIC or to the KIC as a whole. The Member States will co-operate in recognising the EIT degrees and diplomas and the EIT will seek to support this process.
Responsibility for education, research and innovation policies rests primarily with the Member States. There are marked variations between EU countries in their approaches to innovation, and many positive national initiatives and developments which should be sustained and reinforced. However, the nature and scale of the innovation challenge suggests that action at the European level is likely to generate additional benefits which may not be achieved through the separate actions of Member States.
The Community has, in any event, been engaged in supporting the Member States in their efforts to improve innovation and the knowledge triangle. In the context of the Lisbon Strategy, the Commission facilitates policy exchanges aimed at identifying best practices and to stimulate better policy making on how to bridge the innovation gap. Several programmes pertaining to the knowledge triangle offer financial support to help EU universities, research centres, enterprises and other actors in the knowledge triangle maximise their contribution to the Growth and Jobs Strategy. The EU operates a number of Community programmes supporting directly or indirectly different aspects of the knowledge triangle, such as the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development, the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme, the Integrated Life long Learning Programme, and the Structural Funds.
However, no EU initiative has so far fully addressed all three components of the knowledge triangle in a fully integrated and mutually-reinforcing manner; existing instruments address either one section of the knowledge triangle in isolation, or at maximum integrate two, and do so, for the most part by supporting development at the national level. No EU initiative to date has stimulated the development of a European-level world-class institution with the aim of achieving the necessary research, education and innovation oriented excellence and critical mass in specific fields of intervention. This potential is still unfulfilled.
For example, the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development will be the main financial tool through which the European Union supports research and development activities in all scientific disciplines. The European Research Council is a new funding mechanism of the Framework Programme, aimed at increasing the level of excellence in EU frontier research by providing support for the best European investigator-driven research. The Networks of Excellence are trans-national multi-partner projects grouping together key players in Europe focussing on a durable integration of research capacities on a given research topic. The European Technology Platforms are groups of stakeholders, involving mainly business and research partners, who together informally define a Strategic Research Agenda on a number of strategically important issues with high societal relevance. The proposed Joint Technology Initiatives will be dedicated legal structures, set-up in a limited number of cases, to co-ordinate the mobilisation of large-scale public and private investments and substantial research resources. However, the latter two initiatives focus on integrating business and research partners in the definition and implementation of strategic research agendas, without education as a major component.
The Competitiveness and Innovation Programme brings together notably actions in support of innovation and SMEs. It contributes inter alia to the financing of start-ups and innovation support services, including services for transnational knowledge and technology transfer, as well as a wide range of innovation-specific initiatives, such as networks of clusters, sector-specific public-private partnerships and policy coordination activities between national and regional programmes. However, it does not incorporate excellence–driven research and education criteria and activities.
The integrated Life Long Learning Programme will address important needs concerning the modernisation and adaptation of Member States’ education and training systems, particularly in the context of the Lisbon goals. It will also bring added value directly to individual citizens participating in its mobility and other cooperation actions. Nevertheless, the programme only tackles the education component of the knowledge triangle.
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Finally, the new generation of economic and social cohesion programmes should seek to earmark significant resources for investing in the main drivers of growth and employment. However, these programmes are not primarily driven by excellence, since each country or region will naturally define its policy–mix in the light of the nature and extent of its particular structural deficits and competitive advantages.
To bridge the innovation gap between the EU and its major competitors, it will be necessary to support excellence-driven strategic partnerships at the EU level between actors involved in the three parts of the knowledge triangle, on an inter and trans-disciplinary basis. The European Institute of Technology (EIT) will aim to be a world-class operator in its field and to serve as a flagship capable of inspiring better performance by other European actors and networks in the knowledge triangle. In this way, it can complement existing EU and national policy initiatives and financial instruments to bridge the innovation gap between the EU and its major competitors.
The Commission has carried an extensive consultation involving experts, the public, Member States, and European Stakeholders including the Scientific Council of the European Research Council. Three expert meetings were organized in the summer 2005 to discuss the possible goals and structure of the EIT. A public consultation ran from 15 September to 15 November 2005. It received more than 740 contributions, including position papers, from both individuals and organizations. Member States and Stakeholders have been consulted in three rounds of meetings in April, May, and September 2006. As regards stakeholders, an average of 40 European level organizations attended, representing the research, education and business sectors.
General agreement emerged during the consultations on the Commission’s background analysis as well as on the need for a concerted effort to improve Community and Member States' competitiveness. The consultation shed light on a number of issues pertaining to the proposed structure of the EIT, notably on the nature and the role of the Governing Board; the functioning of the KICs, the status of EIT staff; the incentives for partners to participate in the EIT and the degrees issue. More specifically, expert voices have argued for a strong involvement of business sector from the outset, and in particular for a demand-led process to define the areas in which KICs should be supported. They have underlined the importance of autonomy for the EIT Governing Board, and the need for a composition with an appropriate balance of academic/research and business members.
Extensive use has been made of the Commission’s internal analysis on knowledge, innovation and education issues as well as reports prepared by independent experts, in particular the expert groups on research, development and innovation, and external consultants.
Five options have been thoroughly examined in the Impact assessment for the establishment and operation of the EIT. Three of the five options considered the EIT as an innovation and a knowledge operator, carrying out activities in the fields of innovation, research and education but differ in their degree on centralisation and top-down/bottom-up organisation model. A forth option considered the EIT as a funding-labelling body, whilst the fifth one analysed “a status quo” solution.
The option of creating an autonomous organization that pulls together the best resources at Community level and coordinates them within the flexible framework of trans- and interdisciplinary KICs, the so-named “integrated EIT” is the preferred option. This option aims at balancing a series of potentially opposing needs: the need for coordination to ensure synergy and strategic orientation together with the autonomy needed by the KICs to be adaptable and deliver; the need to be independent from external influences to pursue the EIT’s own agenda with that to be enough attractive to involve partner organizations; and finally the need to experiment with novel ways to integrate innovation research and education with that of relying and building on existing good practices.
As a new organization, the EIT will also be able to experiment with new organizational and governance models which integrate innovation, education and research, and thereby to fully involve businesses in strategic partnerships; it can provide a dynamic working environment that rewards excellence and thus attract the best talents worldwide. As an open structure focused on individuals and teams rather than on entire institutions, it would be able to involve excellence at any level, in any organization and with a European dimension. It would enable the creation of a critical mass of excellent resources, pooling the best of what already exists and responding to the strategic long-term challenges posed in trans and interdisciplinary fields of potential economic and societal interest for Europe.
At the same time, since it would be based on partner organizations in KICs, it maximizes the EU level impact. Not only these organizations will have the possibility to influence and be involved in innovation, research and education activities at the highest level and with a European scope but individuals will also be carriers of those best practices developed within the EIT, thus contributing to adapting the agendas of partner organizations.
Contents
- LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL
- BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS
- 1.1. General context
- 1.2. Grounds for the proposal
- 1.3. Objectives and main content of the proposal
- 1.4. Existing initiatives and European added value of the EIT
- 2. CONSULTATION OF INTERESTED PARTIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT
- 2.1. Consultation of interested parties
- 2.2. Collection and use of expertise
- 2.3. Impact assessment
- 3.1. Summary of the proposed action
- 3.2. Legal basis
- 3.3. Subsidiarity and proportionality principle
- 3.4. Choice of instruments
- 5. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- 5.1. Review clause
- 5.2. Flexibility
- 5.3. Staff
The proposal consists of a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of the European Institute of Technology.
The third paragraph of Article 157 of the Treaty establishing the European Community provides the legal basis for this Regulation. Article 157 i allows the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 and after consulting the Economic and Social Committee, to decide on specific measures in support of action taken in the Member States aimed at fostering a better exploitation of the industrial potential of policies of innovation, research and technological development.
In accordance with its legal basis, the proposal will address the challenges identified in a proportionate manner and in accordance with the subsidiarity principle. While the main responsibilities for encouraging innovation lie with the Member States, the proposal establishing the EIT will complement Member States’ efforts to enhance competitiveness by (a) developing a new governance model of cooperation on innovation, research and education activities at the highest international standards, thereby fostering the industrial and commercial potential of the knowledge triangle; and (b) focussing on activities where the scale and quality of the resources required can with difficulty be matched by the individual action of a Member State and the integrated activities benefit from a trans-national approach across the Member States.
In accordance with the principle of proportionality, the provisions of this regulation do not go beyond what is necessary to achieve its goals. Moreover, the administrative burden on the EIT has been limited to what is necessary for the Commission to exercise its responsibility for the execution of the Community budget.
The proposal should take the form of a Regulation. The choice of a Regulation reflects the fact that the text creates rights and obligations for the EIT and for the KICs, whose partners cannot at this stage be identified.
The activities of the EIT and the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) will be financed from a combination of sources:
1. from external sources including:
(a) Member State, regional or local authorities;
(b) private sources (companies, venture capital, banks, including the EIB);
(c) resources resulting from its own activity (eg, from intellectual property rights);
(d) resources from the endowments the EIT may accumulate;
2. from Community sources through the budget to the EIT or to the KICs directly, from unallocated margins beneath the ceiling of sub-heading 1A, and through the structural Funds and participation, in accordance with normal procedures, in the 7th Framework Programme, the Lifelong Learning Programme, the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme.
Resources flowing to the EIT directly would be used: (i) to finance the KICs through a competitive process based on excellence and in accordance with the criteria set by the Governing Board of the EIT; (ii) to finance the running costs of the EIT; or (iii) to contribute to the EIT's endowment
Resources flowing to the KICs directly have to be attracted by the KICs and/or their partner organisations, including through the normal procedures applicable to Community programmes and the Structural Funds. They would constitute elements of the offer of the KICs in the competitive process for obtaining resources from the EIT or could be attracted once a KIC has been awarded such resources.
However, the precise arrangements for the funding of the EIT and the KICs will clearly evolve over time. The Commission estimates that the EIT will require front loading from the Community Budget in the start up phase, the objective remaining to maximise in the mid term contributions from external sources. There is also a trade-off between the resources flowing directly to the KICs, including from Community programmes, and the contribution from the Community budget to the EIT directly.
The level of ambition entailed in the proposal means that the total spending of the EIT and the KICs during the period 2007–2013 could be estimated at € 2,367.1 million. The financing of this amount can either come directly from the Community budget, directly or indirectly through Community programmes or from other external sources.
The Commission has been in regular contact with the private sector, and believes that there is a reservoir of interest in the EIT which can be tapped, including block grants to the EIT's endowment. In practice, the capacity of the EIT and the KICs to attract outside (particularly business) funding will depend on a credible business plan. Two factors are crucial: (i) the capacity to attract into KICs the most advanced firms and the best universities and research teams; and (ii) the extent to which the Community itself makes a public declaration of trust by committing itself to making available a substantial financial contribution to kick start the process and show openness to consider at a later stage other forms of contributions flowing either to the EIT directly or to the KICs. On this basis a virtuous circle can be generated.
As regards the Community sources, the Commission notes that no specific provision has been made for the EIT in the new legislative proposals included in the negotiations on the Inter-institutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 on budgetary discipline and sound financial management. The Commission proposes therefore to use part of the unallocated margins beneath the ceilings of sub-heading 1A to finance the EIT directly up to an amount of € 308,7 million. In parallel, the Commission will continue to explore the possibilities of identifying additional complementary resources including recourse, where necessary, to the provisions of the Inter-Institutional Agreement.
Contributions to the KICs or their partner organisations directly from the 7th Framework Programme, the Lifelong Learning Programme and the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme and Structural Funds in accordance with their respective procedures are possible and expected to constitute an important part of their funding. On the basis of first experience and to the extent that such contributions are deemed necessary and cannot be achieved within the framework of the existing legal bases, a proposal for necessary adjustment will be considered in due course.
The Structural Funds can play a potentially important role for partner organisations involving eligible Member States, regions, cities or other beneficiaries because many types of expenditure or investment are eligible under the Structural Fund rules and would fall under the earmarking for Lisbon priorities.
As regards external resources, co-financing is expected from the partners in the KICs themselves or to be attracted by them. In addition, a substantial part of the investment in improving the facilities used by KICs could be met by straight contributions from Member States, regional or local authorities or from loans, including from the EIB.
The proposal includes a review clause under which the Commission will report on the implementation of the EIT Regulation and make any appropriate proposal for its amendment after five years and every four years thereafter.
The specific nature and objectives of the EIT require a high level of flexibility in its design and operation. In particular, care should be taken to avoid unnecessary complexities that could undermine its innovation potential and lead to excessive and unattractive bureaucracy in its organisation as well as in the selection and implementation of its activities.
The EIT itself will employ a very limited number of staff, estimated at a maximum of 60 at cruising speed, consisting in equal proportions of scientific staff in an advisory role and support staff. These will be personnel directly employed by the EIT under fixed- term contracts, in accordance with the conditions of employment of other servants of the European Community. The EIT may also receive secondees from Member States or the private sector. The Governing Board will adopt the necessary provisions to enable seconded experts to work at the EIT.