Irish Presidency aiming for political agreement on Horizon 2020 before end-June
Irish experts brief EU Research and Innovation Ministers
EU Ministers must focus on maximising job creation from the billions spent annually within the EU on research and innovation, according to Minister for Research and Innovation, Sean Sherlock TD.
Minister Sherlock was today chairing a meeting of EU Research and Innovation Ministers in Dublin Castle. The meeting was the first day of a two-day informal meeting of the EU’s Competitiveness Council, being held as part of the Irish Presidency of the European Union.
During today’s Council, Ministers discussed how best to maximise job creation and economic growth from the billions of Euro being invested annually in research and innovation within the EU. The meeting was also addressed by Ireland’s EU Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn. The second day of the Competitiveness Council will take place tomorrow when Minister for Jobs, Richard Bruton TD, will chair a meeting of EU Enterprise and Industry Ministers.
Minister Sean Sherlock commented: “Research and innovation are central to job creation and economic growth, both priorities of the Irish Presidency. They are areas where the public and private sector within the EU spend many billions each year. That is why I invited EU Ministers to Dublin, to discuss how we can maximise job creation and economic growth from this massive yearly spend.
“We know that those who are without jobs are at most risk of poverty. Life chances diminish considerably for those who enter poverty traps and long term structural unemployment. Cyclical, generational unemployment affects families and whole communities. This influences their health, their education, their ability to participate in the labour market, their purchasing power, their technological know-how and their contribution to society generally. These are all matters that should concern us as policy makers in the research and innovation area.“
Ministers received presentations from a number of Irish experts in research and innovation. Professor Fergus Shanahan, who is Chairman of UCC’s Department of Medicine and also Director of UCC’s Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, gave Ministers the perspective of an academic involved in innovative research. Dr Martin Curley, Director of Intel Labs Europe spoke about commercialising research and innovation. Dr Kai Engel, Partner in A.T. Kearney GmBH gave an overview of the issues faced by a European SME involved in innovation.
“Our discussions touched on a number of important issues including achieving higher levels of participation in R&D programmes and how best Europe’s universities can promote innovation. We also discussed best practice for “innovation management” for SMEs and improving the effectiveness of public innovation supports for SMEs” said Minister Sherlock.
“The Irish Presidency still aims to achieve political consensus on the Horizon 2020 Programme before the end of June. We have been working hard with the Member States, the European Commission and the European Parliament towards finalising agreement during our Presidency and this work will continue and intensify over the next two months. It is a very challenging process to reconcile the interests and the perspectives of all the parties involved.”
“I welcome the shared commitment to advancing these negotiations. It is vital that we demonstrate to the citizens of the EU that we are representing their interests efficiently and effectively. And it is vital, therefore, that we make progress as speedily as possible to ensure that there will be sufficient time to give effect to the necessary legislative procedures to implement Horizon 2020 from the start of 2014.”