Revolutionising EU Innovation Policy: Pioneering the Future

463 Pages·2016·8.385 MB·English

by  Klaus Gretschmann, Stefan Schepers (eds.)

EDITED BY
KLAUS GRETSCHMANN
STEFAN SCHEPERS
REVOLUTIONISING
EU INNOVATION
POLICY
Pioneering the Future
Revolutionising EU Innovation Policy

Klaus G retschmann • Stefan Schepers
Editors
Revolutionising EU
Innovation Policy
Pioneering the Future
Editors
Klaus Gretschmann Stefan Schepers
President of CATE Henley Business School
Stephanskirchen , Germany Brussels , Belgium
ISBN 978-1-137-55553-3 ISBN 978-1-137-55554-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-55554-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016941741
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For Elke, coniugi carissimae,
without whose love, aff ection, and backing
I would not be who I am
Klaus
For my mother, Germaine Lijnen,
who taught me the values of Europe
Stefan

Prefa ce
W hen in December 2011 the Polish government, while holding the
r otating presidency of the Council of the EU, launched the initiative to
set up a high-level expert group to look into EU innovation policy, its
successes and failures and its needs for reform, then-Prime Minister Tusk
and the Minister of Economy Pawlak had perhaps not imagined how
important a contribution they were going to make to promoting more
eff ective innovation and enhanced innovation policy in the European
Union (EU). Th ey had the good sense and courage to mandate us “to
think outside the box,” and we were fortunate that the equally visionary
Irish and Italian Council presidencies asked us to continue the work.
Th e High Level Group on Innovation Policy Management (HLG on
IPM) had three characteristics which were meant to substantially improve
the creativity and serendipity of our discussions: (1) It had a tripartite com-
position, bringing together senior offi cials from the EU Commission and
member states representing diff ering models of innovation, senior (inno-
vation) managers from corporations of diff erent sectors of the economy,
and academic experts from diff erent disciplinary backgrounds; (2) It was
independent from the EU Commission and national governments and
free from any instructions, and it operated under Chatham House rules to
guarantee openness of discussions; (3) It was supposed to be rigorous in its
analysis and bold in its conclusions and recommendations. Th is approach
was in itself innovative in the EU context of advisory groups and think
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viii Preface
tanks. Its work was supported by a most dedicated research team, while
the Polish presidency had entrusted EPPA, the management consultancy
specialized in business-government interactions, with the overall organiza-
tion. Former European Council President Herman Count Van Rompuy
has lauded the independence and the quality of the work performed by
this public–private arrangement.
Th e two reports of the HLG on IPM were submitted to the EU institutions
in June 2013 and July 2014, in time for the then new 2014 Commission to
be inspired when they envisaged necessary reforms. Although proud institu-
tions hardly ever admit that they are being stimulated by outside advice and
analysis, but rather claim to develop their own ideas and proposals, often
they are silently grateful for being confronted with unorthodox, thought-
provoking suggestions and recommendations.
I n the course of our proceedings and discussions the idea was brought
up that the HLG’s refl ections and ponderings, our arguments, back-
ground papers and proposals should not go unheard and gather dust on
shelves or rest in peace in a bureaucrat’s drawer but should rather be part
of the public discourse on innovation and its role in business, politics
and the European society at large. Against this backdrop, members of the
HLG enthusiastically embarked when we were encouraged to publish a
volume on R evolutionizing EU Innovation Policy . Th ey were eager to thor-
oughly scrutinize our arguments and to draft many topics from scratch.
Th e result is a selection of chapters by various contributors – interlinked
like a monograph – containing many unorthodox and more or less radi-
cal ideas and suggestions on how to overhaul EU innovation policy, ideas
which may be more profound and far-reaching than politically feasible
in the near future.
Stephanskirchen, Germany Klaus   Gretschmann
Brussels, Belgium Stefan   Schepers
Acknowledgements
Chapter 7 – Stefan Schepers:
Th e author expresses his gratitude to Tristan du Puy and Léonard Tapié
for their contributions.
Chapter 9 – Christoph Bausch:
Th e author would like to thank Eduardo Mulas for his research that
contributed to this article.
Chapter 10 – Jean-Claude Th oenig:
Catherine Paradeise, Philippe Laredo and Ronan Stéphan have expressed
comments and made suggestions that have been very stimulating. My spe-
cial gratitude also goes to Stefan Schepers.
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