In response to the EC’s Call for Evidence, we highlight key factors to strengthen Europe’s innovation ecosystem.
While expressing concern over the separation of research and innovation into two distinct legislative acts, The Guild calls for the Innovation Act to address the barriers universities face in delivering sustainable socioeconomic impact.
The Guild recommends harmonising regulations across countries to reduce administrative burdens caused by inconsistent national rules, thus reinforcing the Single Market. We highlight the need for special recognition of university spin-offs. Clearer exemptions for research activities in state aid rules and increased flexibility in supporting spin-offs would enable universities to better exploit research outcomes without compromising the level playing field within and between local innovation ecosystems. Furthermore, access of innovative companies to research and technology infrastructures needs to be enhanced to strengthen academia-industry collaboration.
Universities also need tailored strategies and services to translate research into tangible impact. Institutional policies should fully embrace knowledge valorisation’s broad scope. We caution against a “one-size-fits-all” regulatory framework approach and reiterate our call for flexible, non-financial and financial support for knowledge valorisation activities.
We need a European Innovation Act that addresses the key challenges to our innovation ecosystem, and we welcome the opportunity for universities to be a key partner in this debate. It is critical that the Act strengthens the collaboration between industry, start-ups and universities, so that complementarities can flow unencumbered by administrative or legal restrictions.
Jan Palmowski, Secretary-General of The Guild