WRITTEN QUESTION P-3854/02

by Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(23 December 2002)

Subject: Innovation deficit in Greece

The 2002 report on innovation states that Greece lags far behind other EU States according to all the critical indicators concerning innovation and the new technologies. In particular, a mere 1,4 % of workers are involved in lifelong training programmes, compared to the Community average of 8,5 %, and only 9,9 % of households are connected to the internet compared to 37 % in the rest of the EU. Innovation among SMEs lies at 20 % compared to the Community average of 44 %. According to many indicators, the growth rate is slower than the EU average. Will the Commission say what are the basic defects of Greek policy which are responsible for this state of affairs? What conclusions does it draw from the experience of Greece concerning the policy which should be pursued in the new Member States?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(29 January 2003)

The 2002 European innovation scoreboard shows that Greece's performance in the field of innovation is still below the EU average. Greece has, nevertheless, taken major steps forward. For example, research and development (R & D) expenditure, both in the public sector and by enterprises, is rising much faster than the EU average. Greece also lies above the average EU trend for expenditure on information and communication technologies and involvement in lifelong learning.

It should also be noted that the Innovation Scoreboard highlights aggregated national performance in the field of innovation but does not make it possible to assess national policies to promote innovation. The Scoreboard is one of the instruments which make up the European Innovation Trend Chart. The scoreboard data are supplemented in particular by a vast database of information on national policy measures and the production of 6-monthly national reports on innovation policy. The latter can be consulted at the following address: http://trendchart.cordis.lu. These national reports are drawn up by independent experts and validated by representatives of the national authorities. As a result, they do not necessarily reflect the point of view of the Commission or that of the national authorities.

The recent national reports on Greek innovation policy show that greater efforts are being made and thus confirm the trend results noted above. A significant number of new policy measures were in fact launched in 2002 with the aim of rapidly closing the gap in Greece in the field of innovation.

Furthermore, in tandem with the ERDF operational programmes, 12 out of the 13 Greek regions submitted an ERDF regional programme of innovative actions in 2001 and 2002 to try out new innovative processes with a view to bringing them into general use for the sustainable development of their respective regions. Six regional programmes of innovative actions were approved in 2002 and the six other programmes are currently being appraised. This demonstrates the interest shown by the Greek regions in strengthening their innovation capacity and reducing the deficit in the field of technological innovation and new technologies.

By way of example, the programmes for the Greek regions focus on incentives in the field of technology transfer, high-tech start-ups, the networking of research centres and the establishment of sectoral clusters of small and medium-sized enterprises at regional level, as well as on the use of information and communication technologies by small and medium-sized enterprises to improve their international competitiveness.

As for the possibility of drawing on the lessons of Greece's experience for the policy to be applied in the future Member States, it should be emphasised that the latter make up a very disparate group. It would therefore appear very difficult for the Commission to draw general conclusions which would apply to all these countries. Nonetheless, the trend chart also includes a series of benchmarking workshops aimed at exchanging national experiences and best practice in the field of innovation policy among present and future Member States. These workshops thus offer an appropriate learning environment where lessons can be drawn on specific issues by all parties and then adapted to the individual context in each country. The conclusions of past workshops are available at the following address: http://trendchart.cordis.lu/Benchmarking/index.cfm.