Toespraak eurocommissaris Geoghegan-Quinn over het nieuwe Europese onderzoeksprogramma (en) - Hoofdinhoud

I am delighted to be back in Belfast and to meet you in such impressive surroundings - a landmark contemporary building that celebrates Belfast's talent for engineering and is an excellent symbol of Northern Ireland's regeneration. Northern Ireland is open to the world like never before, and is rightly declaring its ambition as a centre for innovation at a European level.

Northern Ireland's recent past has demonstrated how breaking down barriers, forging partnerships and exchanging ideas are the only way to move a society forward.

In a very big way, and with a sense of determination, the Northern Irish have shown everyone else how to "collaborate to innovate". We must all collaborate to innovate to fix Europe's economy and tackle the other global challenges faced by our society.

So we are reforming and strengthening Europe's policies and tools in research and innovation that will help us do just that. Much has happened since my last visit to Northern Ireland, in November 2010, when I addressed the Trade and Business Development meeting of the North South Ministerial Council.

Back then, I had just launched Innovation Union, our integrated innovation strategy built around 34 specific commitments to improve conditions for research and innovation in Europe and to ensure that innovative ideas can be translated into new goods and services that create growth and jobs. We are making good progress on all fronts.

Innovation Union is one of the key initiatives to realise the goals of the overarching Europe 2020 strategy, agreed by the Member States of the European Union in 2010 to help overcome the financial and economic crisis and secure sustainable growth.

We need to innovate to get Europe back on the path to growth and jobs. Europe is going through tough times. The pressure to cut investments in future sources of economic growth is huge. To come out stronger from the current crisis, we need smart fiscal consolidation that preserves and reinforces investments in education, research and innovation - the sources of our future growth, while increasing efficiency and carrying out structural reforms.

The 2011 report on the State of the Innovation Union shows that public spending on research and innovation pays off and that it is essential for future growth. Countries that traditionally invest more in research and innovation have weathered the economic crisis better. Investments in research and innovation increase the chances to smooth the adverse impact of the crisis while offering the tools to bounce back quicker when recovery takes place.

However, we need smart policies both at European and at national level, so as to ensure that we get the best return and the best value for money from our investment. At the same time, we must keep on improving the performance of our research and innovation systems.

The European Commission has proposed to increase European support for research and innovation to 80 billion Euro over seven years, under Horizon 2020, the new European programme for research and innovation that will begin in 2014. This is certainly ambitious, but it is also very realistic and very necessary to deliver on the ambitions of Europe 2020 and Innovation Union.

Stakeholders were heavily involved in shaping Horizon 2020, with a major public consultation to get a wide range of opinions before we put together our proposal. We received over 2000 responses to our Green Paper on the future of EU-level financing for research and innovation, including a position paper from the Northern Ireland Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment.

A key feature of Horizon 2020's new approach is the emphasis given to innovation.

This includes innovation that results from research and development activities as well as other sources, such as finding new uses or combinations of existing technologies or developing new business models. Horizon 2020 will also target innovations for non-commercial applications such as the provision of better public services or for addressing social needs.

Horizon 2020's simplified structure is composed of three distinct, yet mutually reinforcing priorities.

Innovation starts with excellent research, and Horizon 2020's first pillar is aimed at boosting excellence in Europe's science base. A proposed investment of over 24 billion Euro will enable the most talented scientists to carry out cutting edge research of the highest quality.

Fundamental research is fundamental to our science base and fundamental to our economy. So we are proposing to double to more than 13 billion Euro our support to the very successful European Research Council that funds world-class scientists of any nationality to conduct excellent research in Europe.

We also propose to increase to 5.75 billion Euro the funding for the Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions on researcher training, mobility and careers.

Horizon 2020's Second Pillar aims to boost industrial leadership, with actions to make Europe a more attractive place for businesses to invest in R&D and innovation. The budget will be nearly 18 billion Euro.

We propose 13.7 billion Euro in targeted support for the key enabling and industrial technologies that underpin innovation across different industries and sectors. This includes ICT, nanotechnologies, advanced materials, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing processes and space.

We also propose a major strengthening of our support to venture capital and loans for innovative companies with a budget of 3.5 billion euro.

The Third Pillar of Horizon 2020, with nearly 32 billion Euro of funding, is aimed at Tackling Societal Challenges such as health, food security, clean energy, green transport, climate change and security.

New solutions to these societal challenges will only come from groundbreaking research and innovation that brings together the best minds from across Europe. At the same time potential solutions could present massive opportunities for European businesses to create growth and jobs.

Horizon 2020 also introduces real simplification, for newcomers and established players alike. The simpler programme architecture will make it easier for participants to identify where opportunities exist, and red tape is being cut across the board. There will be a single set of rules for the whole programme, the financial rules will be simplified, and applicants will get their money faster so they can get working more quickly. We aim to reduce the average "time to grant" by 100 days under Horizon 2020, compared to the current average of around 350 days under the current 7th Framework Programme.

Northern Ireland already has a good record in accessing funding under FP7. There are 155 participations, with total EU funding of around 43.9 million Euro or £35.2 million. Northern Irish SMEs have an increased participation in FP7 and have received more than 4.4 million Euro under this financial envelope.

I am keen to ensure that many more researchers and innovators from Northern Ireland take part in the next FP7 calls for proposals that will be published this July with more than 8 billion Euro of funding available. This will be the final FP7 call before Horizon 2020 gets under way.

I am especially keen to increase the participation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the programme. They are the lifeblood of Europe's economy and will be the drivers of recovery and job creation. So I would like to explain in a little more detail what measures we will take in Horizon 2020.

SMEs have significant innovation potential and they have the agility to bring revolutionary technological breakthroughs and service innovation to the market. Strengthening the approach to SMEs, including enhancing the participation of micro-enterprises is vital if Horizon 2020 is to help the fast-growing companies of today to become the multinationals of tomorrow.

Horizon 2020 takes an integrated approach to SMEs. Through this approach, it is expected that around 15% of the total combined budget for all societal challenges and for enabling and industrial technologies will go to SMEs.

Our drive for simplification will particularly help SMEs, as they often lack the resources to cope with high administrative burdens. This will include setting up a single entry point for SMEs wishing to participate in Horizon 2020.

These horizontal measures will be supplemented with SME-specific actions, consolidating support that was previously dispersed over several programmes into one streamlined set of instruments.

A dedicated activity for research-intensive SMEs will support the next stage in the EUROSTARS scheme implemented in partnership with Member States. It will be accompanied by measures to build SME innovation capacity, such as networking and brokering, and it will also allow SMEs to ‘spin in’ technology by connecting to researchers and innovators across Europe.

Measures to improve 'Access to risk finance' will have a strong SME focus, by working with financial intermediaries at national and regional levels. The Equity facility will focus on early-stage investments, while having the possibility to make expansion and growth-stage investments in conjunction with the equity facility under the Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs.

A new dedicated SME Instrument will fill the gaps in funding for the market-driven, high-risk research and innovation projects of SMEs.

This new scheme, inspired by the SBIR scheme in the US, is also a response to the request made by Member States last year to explore how best to meet the needs of fast-growing innovative companies through a market-based approach. A crucial element of the scheme will be a support network offering mentoring and coaching for beneficiary SMEs.

I think that our targeting of SMEs fits well with the emphasis in Northern Ireland on boosting the research performance of SMEs. I was interested to learn that the your Programme for Government introduced a target of supporting £300 million of investment by business in R&D, with at least 20% coming from SMEs.

The initial reaction to Horizon 2020, from the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament, from the Member States and stakeholders in general has been extremely positive.

There has been a widespread recognition of the new integrated approach, of the strategic ambition and of the many simplifications that are included in the proposals.

I hope that there is also recognition that we need to safeguard investment in science, research and innovation as the motors of jobs and growth.

I am confident that you share our view: innovation is central to economic growth, and investment in R&D is an important part of this. Research and innovation not only work in a long term perspective: in our "State of the Innovation Union" report we found a striking correlation between investments in R&D from 2004-2009 and GDP growth in 2010.

In difficult economic times, we need in fact to give a clear signal that growth measures should be supported by strong and effective financial means. Cutting research funding would deprive Europe of a concrete way to recover faster from the on-going turmoil.

The Commission and Member States need to further move along this path, as the Commission can do little alone. We need to align national policies to our overall objective, to turn scientific breakthroughs into innovative products and services that provide local business opportunities.

To ensure that our shared priorities and commitments stay at the top of the European and national policy agendas until 2020, we also established a strong monitoring mechanism, the new European Semester of "enhanced economic coordination".

In June 2011 the Commission concluded the first ever European Semester by putting forward a policy guidance package of country-specific recommendations. Member States were required to consider how to prioritise expenditure on R&I and the key infrastructures that are needed to sustain growth, whilst maximising the quality of spending and efficiency of services.

One year later, we are at a crucial moment for Europe: according to the Innovation Union Scoreboard released in February, almost all the Member States have improved their innovation performance, but such a performance is very uneven across Europe and the pace of change is too slow.

The European Commission is also very keen to ensure that other Union programmes contribute to our innovation agenda, for example in agriculture, education, business competitiveness and security.

Complementing Horizon 2020, research and our innovation capacity building, through the Stairway to Excellence, will be one of the core priorities for our future Cohesion policy.

Practical steps are also being taken to encourage complementary use of the two funding sources. We are changing the rules so that the same project can be financially supported from both Horizon 2020 and the Cohesion Funds.

A key policy innovation that will underpin EU support for research and innovation is the development of smart specialisation strategies that will boost future cohesion funding as a driver for excellence. Northern Ireland is actively involved in preparing for smart specialisation through the Smart Specialisation Platform at the Joint Research Centre (IPTS) in Seville.

Although the main support for the development of the stairway to excellence will come from cohesion policy, we will also ensure wider participation in Horizon 2020.

We are proposing to build links between innovative clusters and recognise excellence in less developed regions, including through peer reviews, and award labels of excellence to those institutions that meet international standards.

It will also support access to international networks for excellent researchers and innovators who lack sufficient involvement in European and international networks. Along with the support provided under the Structural Funds, these actions will make a significant contribution to closing the innovation divide and building" stairways to excellence" in regions.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I want Northern Ireland to fully seize the opportunities that Europe presents. So, my thanks to InterTradeIreland and the European Commission's Office here in Belfast for organising this conference, and for inviting me to talk to you about the research and opportunities at European level for Northern Ireland's businesses, universities, research centres and SMEs.

Based on your solid experience in accessing European funds on research and innovation, I strongly encourage you to start thinking systematically about Horizon 2020 and the increased number of opportunities that it gives you: more EU funding for basic research; for demonstration and pilot actions and for R&D support activities such as design, services and social innovation.

The better your key sectors are linked to EU research and innovation activity, the easier it will be to attract private R&D in Northern Ireland and to further collaborate with international partners.

This will be good for Northern Ireland, and good for Northern Ireland's partners in Europe.

Thank you.