 | Industry Committee backs creation of a European Institute of Innovation and Technology | Research and innovation - 10-07-2007 - 09:07 |
|
A
proposal to set up a European Institute of Technology was backed in a
first-reading report by the Industry Committee on Monday evening.
However, MEPs want the EIT's name to include "innovation" and say it
should be established only after a pilot phase in which two or three
"Knowledge and Innovation Communities" run projects, to test its
feasibility. MEPs also want the Council to negotiate the EIT's funding
with Parliament.
"Innovation
is Europe's Achilles' heel. It should be our main objective to increase
our innovation capacity. We need more innovation in Europe to remain
globally competitive in the future and to guarantee growth in jobs. The
EIT could help us to realise that goal", said EP rapporteur Reino
Paasilinna (PES, FI).
Solve budgetary problems
"I
hope Commission and Council will come up with a realistic solution for
the budget soon. The Council has already expressed its wish to
establish the EIT but before we can adopt the proposal in plenary, we
have to make sure that there is a stable financing concept", Mr
Paasilinna added.
The
institute's overall budget of an estimated €2.4 billion for the first
six years is to be funded from a combination of private and public
sources. The committee agrees with the Commission that €308.7 million
should come from the Community budget. However the Budgetary authority
(Parliament and Council) has yet to agree on a budget line from which
to take the funds. As plans for the EIT did not exist when the
2007-2013 Financial Perspective was decided, the Commission proposed
taking the necessary amount from the "margin under the ceiling" of the
"Competitiveness for growth & jobs" heading, i.e. appropriations
that have not been assigned to a given policy. MEPs propose further
sources, such as unspent funds that would otherwise be returned to the
Member States, or loans and contributions from the European Investment
Bank (EIB).
The
Commission also suggests financing the EIT partly through existing
Community instruments such as the Framework Programme for Research, the
Competitiveness and Innovation Programme or the Lifelong Learning
Programme. Committee members, however, stress that applications from
Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) or their partner
organisations should in no way be privileged over other applications.
Furthermore, funds stemming from those programmes should not finance
establishment and administration costs directly associated with the EIT
or the KICs but rather the mobility of researchers or research
programmes.
KICs should be legally autonomous from the EIT
The committee decided to rename the EIT "European institute of Innovation and Technology" so as to reflect its primary focus on innovation.
The
EIT will have a two-tier structure: a Governing Board that selects
higher education institutions, research organisations, companies and
other stakeholders to form partnerships called "Knowledge and
Innovation Communities" (KICs). In contrast to the Commission's plans,
Industry Committee MEPs want KICs to be "legally autonomous from the
EIT".
Although
KICs will have "substantial overall autonomy to define their internal
organisation and working methods", MEPs do lay down some basic rules
for their composition: Every KIC should consist of at least three
partner organisations, situated in at least two different participating
states and including at least one higher education institution and one
private company.
EIT label on qualifications
MEPs
reject the Commission's proposal for the EIT itself to award degrees
and diplomas. Instead they ask for an EIT mark to be added to
qualifications awarded through the higher education institutions within
the KICs.
Pilot phase with two or three KICs
Committee
members also introduce the idea of a "pilot phase" into the text. At
the latest two years after the entry into force of the regulation
establishing the EIT, the Governing Board would select two or three
KICs "in areas that help the EU to face today's and tomorrow's
challenges, such as climate change, sustainable mobility, energy
efficiency or the next generation of ICT".
The
EIT could select additional KICs after the adoption of its first
"Strategic Innovation Agenda" (SIA), a concept also incorporated in the
text by the Industry Committee. This SIA should identify the EIT's
long-term strategic areas "in fields of key potential economic and
societal interest which are likely to generate the greatest innovation
added value". The EIT would have to draw up an SIA by the end of 2011
at the latest and thereafter every seven years. Acting on a proposal
from the Commission, Parliament and Council shall then adopt this
agenda.
The committee adopted the report with 32
votes in favour, 7 against and one abstention -- Procedure:
Co-decision, first reading -- Plenary vote: September II, Strasbourg
09/07/2007
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
In the chair :
Angelika NIEBLER
(EPP-ED, DE)
|
Site map
Index
FAQ
Print
Contact
Legal notice
: 
: (33) 388 1 73780 (STR)
: (32) 498 98 35 50
