Job creation top priority for industrialists
Recommendations for a "Single Market" in research are amongst those contained in a recent report from the European Round Table of Industrialists, a grouping of leading industrialists which provides advice on policy issues. The ERT's report Job Creation and Competitiveness through Innovation was published in late November and is the result of a meeting held in May with Edith Cresson, the member of the European Commission for Research, Innovation, Education, Training and Youth and members of the European Parliament. The report.analyses the interaction between innovation, competitiveness and employment and outlines the obstacles to be overcome, aiming its recommendations at governments, industry, administrations and academia. The report states "that innovation is the core issue in competitiveness", and that competitiveness is the key to the creation of lasting jobs. It argues that "innovation is not only about new technology, science and research; it is also about attitudes of mind which should permeate government, businesses, academia, indeed the whole of society. It is therefore neither useful nor helpful to address innovation as a strictly economic issue. ... A new spirit of enterprise is needed." In a step by step analysis, the ERT identifies six core issues as priorities: - CHANGE ATTITUDES by promoting a European Society open to innovations in science, technology, business, living and working conditions: - Promote the spirit of enterprise throughout society, in industry, government, finance and education. - Ensure that sound and well-researched information on scientific breakthroughs, new products and services always gets through to the public. - CREATING NEW BUSINESSES by fostering entrepreneurship, by removing obstacles to initiative and by rewarding risk-taking and success: - Establish supportive fiscal conditions for inventors, entrepreneurs and investors. - Drastically reduce the demands of bureaucracy and ensure that legislation does not penalise failure. -Get more from Europe's RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT through introducing the Single Market concept to our research and academic communities: - Reform the patent systems in Europe, permitting single filing of a unitary patent for all Europe with no translation obligations. - Promote biotechnology as one of the key technologies of the new Millennium and provide a more supportive external and regulatory environment. - Improve Europe's KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS through re-igniting enthusiasm for innovation and entrepreneurship in the educational environment: - Build basic business education into school curricula and provide state of the art education in science and technology. - Promote an Innovation Year to bring the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship into the heart of schools and training colleges. - Free up more FINANCE AND RISK CAPITAL to fund businesses by injecting entrepreneurial attitudes into the world of finance and banking: - Remove restrictions on pension fund investment that hold back risk capital. - Expand access to risk capital markets and encourage the development of pan-European stock markets that target small high-growth companies. - Modernise GOVERNMENT AND LEGISLATION through finding the right balance between freedom and rules for running local and global businesses, using a lighter approach to legislation as a positive tool: - Implement Single Market rules fully at national level. - Reform restrictive labour market rules to favour new jobs and types of employment. The ERT expressed its belief "that effort in these areas will make an immediate difference to innovation in Europe". The report gives examples of enterprises successfully implementing this type of innovation by managing to free resources, identifying new markets, restructuring management systems and promoting flexibility. The key to successful European competitiveness lies in a more active interchange between government, society, stakeholders, the company and the individual, concludes the report.