BRIEF—2 billion euros to fast forward European Innovation Council

Ahead of the 21-22 March European Council discussion on innovation, industry and competitiveness, the Commission has taken decisive steps to set up a European Innovation Council, committing over 2 billion euros ($2.27 billion) funding in 2019-2020.

Global competition is intensifying and Europe needs to deepen its innovation and risk-taking capability to compete on a market increasingly defined by new technologies.

That is why the Juncker Commission is introducing a European Innovation Council (EIC) to turn Europe's scientific discoveries into businesses that can scale up faster.

Currently in its pilot phase, the European Innovation Council will become a full-fledged reality from 2021 under the next EU research and innovation program Horizon Europe.

Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation said: "With the European Innovation Council, we don't simply put money on the table. We create a whole innovation system to place Europe at the forefront in strategic technologies and innovation that will shape our futures such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology and zero-emission energy. We must focus on the needs of the innovators, who are the ones who will generate jobs, strengthen our global competitiveness and improve our daily lives.”

The Commission launched in 2017 the pilot phase of the European Innovation Council, introducing open competitions and face-to-face interviews to identify and fund Europe's most innovative start-ups and SMEs. Since then, 1,276 highly innovative projects have already benefitted from an overall funding of over 730 million euros.

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-19-1694_en.htm