Robert Shuman room (BERL)

Opening Speech by Anastasios Kentarchos, Adviser for R&I for the Green Transitions at the Common Policy Centre of DG RTD

• Europe has everything it needs to lead and foremost a remarkable diverse talent pool.
• Diversity is a persistent challenge, since fragmentation remains even though there are efforts with the ERA ACT and the European Innovation Act. 
• Each MS and region has priorities, funding instruments and fragmentation. Efforts and investments must not be duplicated since opportunities are to be missed to scale.
• Fifth freedom is needed and the free circulation of knowledge and talent. This is what is needed to create a single market. 
• ERA policy agenda -reducing fragmentation and deepening.
• Letta and Draghi-fragmentation in European competitiveness.
• ERA Act important step to align national and EU efforts, coherence and visibility remove barriers.
• Connecting between evidence and policy-ambition and delivery.
• Europe fragmentation holds us back-scale and cross-border collaboration to bring the most.
• The goal of policymakers and politicians should be not to talk anymore about institutional coordination and governance.
• Capacity to innovate, the way to lead  from innovation to performance.

Keynote speech by Pierre-Alexandre Balland-Chief Data Scientist at CEPS presenting the paper: Divided we fall behind: Why a fragmented EU cannot compete in complex technologies. 

• • The report dives into Europe’s fragmentation across R&I ecosystems and it calls to action toward integrating European projects.
  • The EU lags in complex technologies-map the position of China-Europe and the US in complex technologies e.g internet of things, AI and cryptography, cyber and computing.
  • Twin transition is more in the green part and competes more than in technology sector.

Why Europe lags behind?

1. The EU financial system is the first reason. That contains: pension fund system, investment regulations and equity taxation.
2. Lack for prioritization. This means that there is no EU tech focus as is the USA where the big tech companies lead.
3. In the US the ship goes in one direction and the elements go in that direction. In the EU tech prioritization is not the major focus.

4. Systemic fragmentation is a big issue that leads to fragmentation of capital markets public procurement and R&I collaborations.

Main Results

• The EU R&I system is much more fragmented than in the US. R&I hubs in the ES are more connected to the European hub.  We should think of consolidated pooling resources efforts that can form a European Strategy. 
• Fragmented capital markets will have an impact on R&I systems.
• Erasmus mobility program is still a very small program compared to US mobility program. We should think way more ahead to have English full taught education systems.
• Two different parts of the coast in the US have still a very strong connection-and exists a massive pipeline forming between different hubs.
• The research part is very developed in Europe, but we lose a lot of strength in the innovation part. 
• EU R&I system is much more fragmented in complex technologies such as AI, biotech, and quantum computing.

How do we turn fragmentation into diversity and strength, how do turn that into an advantage in the past concerning R&I?

-Concentrate funding on fewer, larger and longer-term programmes/centers

-Create Pan-EU research hubs with critical mass in complex technologies

-Remove administrative barriers to research mobility 

-Bring private-public partnerships in the center of policies

-Provide stable funding for deep tech and interdisciplinary research

-RISG indicators can be used to monitor progress and can be used for cross border investments-horizon projects and talent mobility.

-Ensure that we have ecosystems that are highly functional 

-We need to be as ambitious as possible in all actions coordinated

Which is the mix  of solutions to address all of these to address the challenges we have?

Proposal of FP10-duplicate the amount-novelties there -extra pillar-era infrastructure and new ideas about widening-fund projects under the program- European competitiveness funds establish and ensure the coherence of the instruments-two legal documents-two fundings-between Competitiveness fund and pillar two coherence-

ERA Act- Innovation Act both instruments together with different objectives-overlaps-access to research and technology infrastructures-handicaps over fragmented reality

Scale up funds to address what is identified as a major problem-the scale up of companies that run out of funding, scaling opportunities.