EU introducing a comprehensive 'innovation strategy from research to retail'

The announcement by the EU towards creating an 'innovation union' is well worth reading. The importance of the strategy is put into context in the annex of key statistics - worth mentioning here - and indicating that this is serious business for the EU in the coming years - and will impact and benefit businesses across the EU including Ireland;


Key statistics (extract from the EU press release)

• Achieving our target of investing 3% of EU GDP in Research and & Development by 2020 could create 3.7 million jobs and increase annual GDP by up to €795 billion by 2025 (Source: P. Zagamé, L. Soete (2010) The cost of a non-innovative Europe)
• The EU will need at least 1 million new research jobs if it is to reach the R&D target of 3%. More researchers are needed primarily in the business sector (Source: European Commission (RTD-Eurostat)
• Business R&D in the EU is 66% lower than the US and 122% lower than Japan, as a share of GDP (Eurostat)
• In 2008, EU-27 accounted for 24% of the total world R&D expenditure against 33% for the USA, 12% for Japan and 11% for China (Source: STC Key Figures Report 2010/2011; primary data sources: Eurostat, OECD, DG ECFIN)
• In real terms, R&D expenditure has increased by about 50% in the EU and 60% in the USA since 1995 but it has more than tripled in Asia-5 (China, Japan, South-Korea, Singapore, Taiwan). (Source: STC Key Figures Report 2010/2011; primary data sources: Eurostat, OECD, UNESCO)
• Private firms investment in R&D should be in 2020 at least €150 billion more than in 2008 for EU to reach the Europe 2020 target of investing 3% of GDP in Research and & Development. Source: European Commission (RTD-Eurostat; primary source: Member States preliminary R&D intensity targets) 
• In 2009, EU-27 produced 29% of the scientific publications in the world, the USA 22%, Japan 5% and China 17%. Of the top-10% most cited scientific publications (2007), EU-27 produced 32%, the USA 34%, Japan 4% and China 9%. (Source: STC Key Figures Report 2010/2011; primary data sources: Science-Metrix/Scopus (Elsevier)
• In 2007 both the EU and USA represented 31% each of patent inventions filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). By 2020, the situation is forecast to be approximately: EU: 18%; US 15% and 55% for Asia-5 (China, Japan, South-Korea, Singapore, Taiwan). (Source: STC Key Figures Report 2010/2011; primary data source: WIPO, OECD)
• An SME must disburse €192.000 of legal fees to obtain and maintain a patent protection for all 27 EU Member States. It would cost only €4.400 for a protection of the same duration in the USA. (Source: European Patent Office (EPO) and EU National patent offices, US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
• Venture capital funds in Europe are at a quarter of the level in the US ((2008 data from EVCA/ Eurostat
• To date, contributions for the Risk Sharing Facility Fund of €430 million from the EU budget and €800 million from the European Investment Bank, as risk-sharing partners, have supported over € 18 billion investments (15 times the combined contribution to the RSFF and 42 times the EU budget contribution). The €400 million contribution to the CIP financial instruments up to the end of 2009 has leveraged investments of €9 billion (22 times the budget contribution), benefiting some 68000 SMEs. (Source: EIF report to the European Commission on CIPhttp://ec.europa.eu/cip/eip/access-finance/index_en.htm)
• The EU's Seventh Framework Programme for Research is the largest in the world with a budget of more than €50.5 billion, excluding Euratom, for 2007-2013.
• According to the Eurobarometer on Science and Technology (June 2010), 66% of Europeans think that science and technology make our lives healthier, easier and more comfortable.