"The involvement of the regions in science and discovery is one of my priorities" Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, said at a meeting of the European Committee of the Regions' Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture (SEDEC) today. He also proposed to gather knowledge and expertise from regions across the European Union together in a joint Knowledge Exchange Platform in cooperation with the European Commission.
During his intervention, the Commissioner highlighted three further priorities:
- involving the Committee of the Regions in the Investment Package to ensure it is a real success;
- getting more out of Horizon 2020 and Structural Funds and
- the vast opportunities that exist for closer collaboration between the Committee of the Regions and the Commission's Directorate General for Research and Innovation.
Speaking about political ownership of the Juncker investment package at the regional level, Commissioner Moedas said:
"For regions to take part in raising the European knowledge economy of tomorrow, we will need both their insight and commitment to investing in Europe's common R&I capacity, today…. Your opinion and support will therefore be extremely important and constructive."
Markku Markkula, President of the CoR, added:
"We need to identify 5-10 areas where we can push forward on the strategic investment package. We need to find priority areas, which are important for our regions."
He also called for more work in schools and universities to improve research and innovation and a method for better performers on the innovation scoreboard to help those that are lagging behind.