The EU’s innovation performance continues to improve, but further efforts are needed to ensure Europe’s global competitiveness. That is, according to the 2018 European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS), co-authored by Hugo Hollanders and Nordine Es-Sadki.
This year’s edition reveals a positive trend in the majority of EU countries – most notably in Malta, the Netherlands, and Spain, with Sweden remaining the EU innovation leader.
Watch the launch event recording here (25 June 2018).
Globally, the EU is catching up with key competitors such as Canada, Japan and the USA. But closing this innovation gap and maintaining the lead over China will require a concerted effort to deepen Europe’s innovation potential.
Elżbieta Bieńkowska, EU Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, said: “The 2018 Scoreboard shows again that Europe has a wealth of talent and entrepreneurial spirit, but we must do better at turning this excellence into success. The EU, Member States, regions and industry, including our many SMEs, have to work together to increase the allocative efficiency of our economy, improve the functioning of the internal market and help ensure that Europe remains at the international forefront of innovation.”
Carlos Moedas, EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, added: “This edition of the Scoreboard shows yet again that Europe is strong in science but underperforming on innovation. The renewed agenda for research and innovation sets out a range of measures for Europe to become a global innovation leader. Our proposals for Horizon Europe, the next EU research and innovation programme, will accelerate innovation along the full value chain and support the identification and scale-up of breakthrough innovations.”
Download the executive summary, the full report, or view the latter embedded below.
The launch event was held in Brussels on 25 June 2018.