Summary
Hans H.J. Labohm
Het Europese innovatietekort
Hans H.J. Labohm focuses on the technological gap between the United States and Europe which first emerged as an issue on the international agenda in the 1960s. Thirty years later, and despite many efforts to catch up, Europe recognises that it is still lagging behind and that it has to remedy its ‘innovation deficit'. At its recent meeting in Lisbon the European Council announced its ambition for Europe to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth of 3 per cent. Moreover, Europe should create more and better jobs. The labour participation rate should rise from the current 61 to 70 per cent. In addition, the European model should promote greater social cohesion. These objectives should be achieved within ten years. A major element of this effort is the promotion of ICT and an accelerated use of Internet in order to benefit from the ‘new economy'. The author elaborates on the European Commission's proposals for the enhancement of Europe's innovative capacity, including a scoreboard of indicators in order to monitor progress in various fields and to benchmark Europe's performance, comparing it with that of the United States and Japan. The conclusion addresses the question whether Europe will be successful in achieving its self-declared aims. The author argues that this is highly unlikely due to endemic impediments, including structural rigidities in the European economy, e.g. in the labour market. Moreover, European environment policies may have an adverse impact on the investment climate for innovative enterprises.