Europe in 2025
Unleashing innovative power
The aim should be that EU countries rank highly in the Global Innovation Scorecard of 2025, with more joining the ranks of the world’s top innovators every year. Significant increases in the proportion of GDP directed to R&D and deployment projects would pay dividends, elevating the EU to one of the world’s best performing regions for innovation.
“Better target R&D investment at challenges arising from global megatrends.”
To be a strong global innovator, Europe must better target R&D investment towards the challenges arising from the global megatrends. This requires the promotion of lead markets – including through lighthouse projects –, flexible regulation that stimulates investment, and a tax structure designed to support entrepreneurship and company start-ups. This will reinforce the link between research and future market demand and enable Europe to respond effectively to the global challenges most impacting the European continent.
Networks of innovation clusters, engaging public and private sector, consumers, producers, suppliers and employees, will play a key role in realising this ambition. Each can add a valuable dimension to world-leading developments in health, education, infrastructure, energy, the environment and newly-emerging global technologies. The world’s best brains would be attracted by the opportunity to work in such an environment.
“It must be possible for failure to be treated as a learning experience.”
Because not all new companies will succeed, it must be possible for failure to be treated as a learning experience rather than a stigma. Strong protection of Intellectual Property Rights, effective protection against counterfeiting, a Community Patent and a unified litigation system, will spur a globally open and transparent innovation system. Strong collaboration between entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, and a regulatory framework that makes technological breakthroughs more easily marketable, would further improve the conditions for innovation and implementation.