Activities of Malcolm HARBOUR related to 2010/2245(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on Innovation Union: transforming Europe for a post-crisis world
Amendments (13)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Underlines that the rapid developmentprogress towards thean innovation union and the launch of a European Social Innovation pilot would have a high impact on productivity and would enableUnion, underpinned by coordinated Commission initiatives and a strong commitment from the Member States, will generate new opportunities for businesses, particularly innovative SMEs, will furthermore strongly support job creation, and bring about new and sustainable economic growth as well as job creation;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Recalls that the 3% of GDP R&D target is composed of a 2 % (private) and 1 % (public expenditure) share; notes that there are still particular shortcomings in the field of private research spending which can only be overcome by adapting the regulatory environment for companies, including SMEs; supports in particular the Commission's work to develop a new headline indicator based on real innovation performance as this would be more informative than measuring performance against numerical targets;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Welcomes the Commission's intention to improve framework conditions for business to innovate, in particular with respect to intellectual property rights and the development of the EU patent;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Stresses that standardisation also has an important role to play in promoting innovation and helping SMEs access new markets; welcomes the forthcoming Commission proposal in this regard and in particular the extension of standardisation to services;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses the need to enhance, stimulate and secure the financing of research, development and innovation in the EU; stresses in particular the need for SMEs and micro- enterprises to have access to affordable finance by increasing the scope for participation in different innovative projects; urges the Commission to take appropriate steps to improve the functioning of the EU's funding programmes by rewarding enterprises that promote innovative projects; regrets in particular the lack of funding for crucial instruments for research, innovation and development that have already been adopted such as the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan);
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Regrets that academic professionals still encounter obstacles to the free movement of workers such as problems with pension portability; stresses the need for developing a system which actively encourages the mobility of researchers and scientists between European universities and academic centres; underlines that this would stimulate sharing knowledge and would be highly beneficial to innovation and to the emergence of a European knowledge- based economy;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Strongly advocates an eco-innovation action plan centred on SMEs and micro- enterprises in urban and rurals well as rural and remote regions, whereby they would employ young peopleenterprise would be positively engaged by the public sector in developing innovative solutions to the delivery of public services;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses the importance of speeding up the simplification of the administrative procedures for applying to the EU'’s research and innovation programmes in order to increase the scope for enterprises to participatethe participation of enterprises in EU-funded projects;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Stresses the importance of alternative sources of financing for innovative enterprises engaged in research and development, in particular for the financing of projects targeted at bringing the results of R&D to market in collaboration with universities and academic centres; supports in particular the creation of pan-European venture capital instruments, bringing together public and private investment, to create a more effective funding environment for high-growth and innovative SMEs, and encourages the Commission to work with the EIB, EIF and Member State experts bodies to take this work forwards as a priority;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Urges the Commission and Member States to support the efforts of the public sector to adopt innovative approaches, exploiting on e- administration such as e-health and e- procurement, and encourages public administrations to make full use of new technologies and procedures and disseminatinge these best practices in public administration which willith the effect of reduceing bureaucracy and embraceing citizen-centr and consumer-focused policies;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Considers that there is significant untapped potential for promoting innovation via public procurement; accordingly calls on the Commission and Member States to encourage the use of e- procurement and especially the take up of pre- commercial procurement as an integral part of the EU's innovation strategy; calls in particular on the Commission to clarify the relevastresses that SMEs should be more actively engaged in the process of working up new and innovative solutions to the delivery of public services, including social and environmental services; calls in particular on the Commission to simplify, and if necessary introduce more flexibility, into the relevant State Aid and Public Procurement rules andto enable contracting authorities across the board to make actualbetter use of pre-commercial procurement; as a tool for supporting innovation;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Strongly endorses the Commission EU Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programme to identify technology- oriented public sector challenges and fund R&D projects to develop new solutions to both old and emerging problems, and calls on the Commission roll this out as a top priority;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to plaunch a strategy and an open dialogue aimed at tackling high prices, in particular for basic goods and services, in the internal market and support affordable innovative products without undermining wages.ce the completion of the Single Market, including measures to promote a Digital Single Market, at the heart of innovation policy, as this will deliver more competitive prices for consumers, support the development of innovative products, boost job creation in the EU and generate new EU growth opportunities in lead markets;