OREANDA-NEWS. The European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, has proposed the creation of a European Innovation Council (EIC), “to do for innovation what the European Research Council is doing for scientific research”.

Therefore a delegation of CEOs and Executive Directors from nine national innovation agencies met in Brussels to discuss the role of the proposed EIC and the experience that long-established national innovation agencies can contribute to its design and operation. The meeting concluded that the national agencies have indeed much to contribute, and follow-up meetings at both CEO and technical levels were agreed. The meeting was initiated by the Brussels Liaison Offices of the nine agencies.

EUREKA High-Level Group Chairman and Director-General of the Spanish Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) Francisco Mar?n was also present during the meeting. "The European Innovation Council should act as a “game changer” in terms of promoting market creating innovations in Europe and fostering SMEs’ growth and competitiveness," he said. "In the frame of the “Open to the World” agenda, internationalization of innovation (Open Innovation) is very important  and for CDTI’s DG, offers the EUREKA platform could play a major role for establishing bridges with third countries.”