European Innovation Council should have three roles

The prospective European Innovation Council (EIC) should be a source of ideas for EU lawmakers and have a hand in easing barriers to innovation, according to Belgian MEP Philippe De Backer. 

The council should also find a way of awarding Horizon 2020 R&D grants quicker. “A new council could find ways to speed things up,” De Backer told Science|Business. “The process of getting money from Brussels is too time-consuming. It should be possible to circumvent certain rules to get things moving things quicker.”

While it used to take on average 330 days before scientists received grant money from Brussels, a new IT system shaved more than 100 days off this wait. Still, it could be faster, said De Backer.

EU Commissioner for Research Carlos Moedas first advanced the idea of an EIC last summer, saying the EU does well in its support for early stage research, but more can be done to help European entrepreneurs.

“If you are a researcher, you know where to go if you have a great idea: you go to the ERC (European Research Council). If you are an innovator today, you really don’t know where to go,” Moedas said.

A pilot for the EIC could start next year and De Backer hopes it looks something like the Flemish Council for Science and Innovation. This 20-person panel draws up recommendations for the Minister for the Economy and the Flemish parliament.

The EIC could counsel other European institutions on the potential and needs of innovation. This would be most useful for emerging technologies, said De Backer. “In Flanders, the council discusses exemptions on new technologies and green lights new pilots – how about we replicate this in Brussels?” he said.

The new council should be run by representatives from small and large companies De Backer said.

Risk Averse

Companies often complain the EU is hamstrung by its hazards-based approach to making new laws, which they say fosters a risk-averse political class and public, said De Backer. The new council could be a way of balancing the precautionary principle, an innovation principle, he said.

“Take genome editing,” De Backer said. The technology is in widespread use in research and last week, British scientists in the Francis Crick Institute in London were granted approval by the UK regulator to conduct research involving genetic modification of donated human embryos. However, as yet there is no overall agreement on how this technology, should be applied.

“It’s already three to four years old but we don’t have a legal framework for it across Europe yet. Here’s an obvious thing the new council could push,” De Backer said.