Proposed EU board set to spur business innovation

By Gozde Bayar

ANKARA (AA) - The European Council has proposed €2 billion ($2.26 billion) funding for the creation of a European Innovation Council (EIC) to help European entrepreneurs become leading global companies, according to a press release.

The investment is meant to 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,” said Carlos Moedas, EU commissioner for research, science and innovation, on Monday.

The commission is focused on innovators’ need to strengthen global competitiveness, he added.

The council is set to meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to discuss economics, industry, and innovation.

Currently in its pilot phase, EIC is part of a wider ecosystem which aims to turn Europe’s scientific discoveries into businesses than can scale up faster.

The project will be realized by 2021 under the EU research and innovation program Horizon Europe, an ambitious €100 billion ($113.5 billion) research and innovation program to succeed Horizon 2020.

With only 7 percent of the world's population, Europe accounts for 20 percent of global research and development investment, produces one-third of all high-quality scientific publications, and holds a leading world position in the industrial sector.