29 / 04 / 2021
EARTO Discussing the Future of R&I Policy with Commissioner Gabriel: Let’s Make the New ERA for R&I a Reality!
Today, EARTO and Commissioner Gabriel discussed the future of RD&I policy in Europe in the context of the new ERA for R&I. Europe entered the new decade with high ambitions: recovering from the crisis is not enough, Europe needs to do so by boosting its sustainable competitiveness while achieving the twin transition to a green and digital industry and society. Research and Innovation will be a game-changer to achieve such ambitions, and deepening the European Research and Innovation Area will be paramount. At a time when a new set of EU Programmes are being launched and national Recovery & Resilience Facility plans are being finalised, there is now a critical momentum for the EC together with Member States to put the New ERA for R&I into concrete and tangible actions. During the meeting, Mr Antti Vasara, EARTO President and President & CEO of VTT (Finland) handed over the EARTO latest recommendations on “Making the New ERA for R&I a Reality” to Commissioner Gabriel, and noted that “we need a real ERA for R&I in Europe with a strategic directionality approach targeting the green and digital transition. To maximise its impact, the new ERA has to be concretely linked to the revised EU Industrial Strategy. The ERA Common Industrial Technology Roadmaps and the ERA Hubs, building upon existing EU initiatives, are the keys to connect the dots. It is also high time to set up an EU Strategy on Technology Infrastructures, which is desperately lacking today. To make this new ERA a success, the involvement of RTOs and industry, along with all RD&I actors, is essential. This meeting with Commissioner Gabriel was timely, and EARTO Members, as key technology providers, are ready to contribute further.” Thanking EARTO for its contribution to the new ERA for R&I, Commissioner Gabriel said: “Europe is excellent in science and we should preserve this. Now, we should increase efforts to ensure our leadership in innovation. We cannot miss the opportunity to join forces towards the new ERA objectives and exploit the synergies between our flagship programmes, such Horizon Europe, Next Generation EU and Cohesion funds. You have a key role to play in building an European Innovation Area and our green, digital and resilient societies. I appreciate the engagement of EARTO Members to foster the European innovation ecosystems of today and tomorrow and welcome your active contribution and constructive recommendations.”EARTO Recommendations on Making the New ERA for R&I a Reality
In this new EARTO paper which brings forward EARTO’s key Recommendations for the design of the ERA Pact for R&I and its future attached Council Conclusions (see also EARTO Recommendations for EU RD&I policy Post-2020), EARTO Calls on the EC and Member States to:
1. Set-up a concrete roadmap to achieve the 3% EU GDP R&D investment target with a clear impact-driven approach [ERA Actions 1 & 2].
2. Recognise that Technology Infrastructures are a backbone of the ERA and define concrete actions for an ambitious European Strategy on Technology Infrastructures (TIs), for instance via dedicated EC Communication and Council Conclusions [ERA Action 10].
3. Co-create Common Industrial Technology Roadmaps with key stakeholders like RTOs, building upon existing knowledge5, and deploy them at EU, national and regional levels [ERA Action 5].
4. Streamline EU, national and regional support to Industrial Innovation Ecosystems and develop the concept of ERA Hubs by creating an effective alignment between existing initiatives7 [ERA Action 6].
5. Develop and exploit effective synergies between EU, National and Regional programme to leverage technologies and maximise the impact of RD&I investments [ERA Actions 2 & 3].
EARTO remains at the disposal of the EU institutions to further discuss these recommendations and support the deepening and concrete implementation of the new ERA for R&I.
