The European Commission, through its recently unveiled Competitiveness Compass, establishes a strategic framework to guide the EU’s efforts in enhancing economic strength, sustainability, and global competitiveness. This framework recognizes the critical contribution of research and innovation to the European economy, enhances Europe’s security and reduces excessive dependencies.
As Dutch Universities of Applied Sciences we emphasize the need for a strengthened European approach to research, development, and innovation with substantive funding, simplified processes, and an attractive environment for high-impact research. European collaboration is key to bolstering research, development and innovation while cultivating the talent, expertise, skills, and capabilities to drive advancements in competitive value chains and ecosystems.
Recent landmark reports by, among others, Letta, Draghi and Niinistö underscore the urgency of enhanced European collaboration in research, development and innovation. Action at the EU level is essential for leveraging the collective strength of all actors across the research, development, and innovation landscape. We see this as crucial for boosting corporate and SME competitiveness, generating societal impact and providing resilience to our democracies.
As Dutch Universities of Applied Sciences we call on the European Commission to draw up the EU’s long-term ability to empower impactful research results and widespread impact by adopting:
Substantially increased and dedicated budget for research, development and innovation:
- Allocate more than €220 billion budget, in line with the Union’s share towards the 3% GDP spent on R&D target.
- Provide a stable and predictable funding framework, allowing universities to plan and execute long-term research projects robust programmes for research, development and innovation.
Robust programmes for research,development and innovation:
- Create opportunities in EU programmes that enable the full research, development and innovation continuum, from fundamental research to applied research to pre market innovative solutions.
- Promote cross-sectoral, cross-disciplinary, and cross-continental collaboration to strengthen ecosystems and enhance co-creation of societal impact through research and innovation.
- Facilitate the iterative process of technology maturation and deployment of research outcomes through strong research and innovation ecosystems.
Attractive participation rules and processes for all beneficiaries:
- Simplify rules and processes to reduce transaction costs of participating in European programmes.
- Enhance collaboration opportunities between universities and stakeholders in regional value chains and ecosystems.
- Empower researchers, innovators and industry players to advance innovative ideas that bring solutions to markets and societies.
UASNL, an alliance of 22 Dutch Universities of Applied Sciences, works towards strengthening the European impact of applied research and innovation. Our members play a crucial role in bridging the gap between fundamental science and society, delivering practice-based research that addresses societal challenges. Contact us at www.uasnl.eu or email to loor@uasnl.e
