Participation and ELITE rationale

ELITE is : A will to share common experiences and to learn from best practices A will to nurture the creation of a European competitive advantage, of employment and of wealth A will to put forward new mechanisms aiming at broadening public / private cooperation in the field of finance, research, and innovation A will to present and enhance EC proposals on Innovation and Research policy to the concerned actors A will to establish a group aiming at increasing awareness, acknowledging ideas and disseminating new proposals A will to establish a laboratory of ideas A will to achieve the ambitious objective of devoting to Innovation and Research the equivalent percentage of the one invested by   the world's leading nations   Why joining ? To exchange and share experiences To complement and enlarge your network To elaborate new ideas on Innovation and Research policy, and propose these to the involved decision makers To support rapid acceptance of national and community proposals To nurture the creation of a European Competitive advantage, of employment of wealth   Mission Statement ELITE recognises the importance of innovation as the main source of competitiveness and sustainable economic development and its actions will serve the worldwide community and in particular will re-enforce the Lisbon commitment, to make Europe "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by the end of the decade". To achieve this ambitious goal Europe's existing innovative potential should be used and networked as effectively as possible. ELITE will act as a driving force in the achievement of the 2002 Barcelona objectives in particular that of increasing European Countries and Union expenditures on R&D and innovation by at least and if possible more than 3% of GDP by 2010. ELITE will be an independent, non-profit, visionary group, committed to pushing Research & Innovation policies forward and better integrating them into society. The members are independent, inspired and motivated persons of high economic and political influence from different backgrounds with proven expertise in recognised organisations and with strong personal networks. This group aims to generate, influence, support and leverage actions to get the most out of European Science and Innovation supported by the know-how and motivation of the group and its network members (entrepreneurs, financiers, scientists, academics, politicians, etc.) ELITE will form an interface between Europe's knowledge-based industries, partners of the innovation system, European authorities and policy makers, using their experience and networks to nurture the development of new innovation policy actions that will bring Europe to the leading edge of innovation in any field, social, economic, management, technology, etc. ELITE recognises the role of entrepreneurs and especially SMEs and will help them to become a leading part of the European and global innovation system. ELITE will also be an interface between all of the international organisations dealing with R&D and innovation and financing, promoting a balanced dialogue between the different constituencies of its members and networks, spanning all aspects of economic sustainable development. ELITE will seek to achieve its objectives in the following ways: Through sharing common experiences and learning from best practices Nurturing the creation of a European competitive advantage of employment and wealth Raising awareness and suggesting new mechanisms with a vision to broaden public / private cooperation in the field of   finance, research, adapting education and innovation Supporting organisations in charge of local development (chamber of commerce, development agencies, municipalities, universities, etc.) especially in the creation of young innovative companies and developing innovation culture in companies and in their growth processes Presenting and enhancing national, EC and Eureka proposals on innovation, research and policy Networking with think-tanks, laboratories of ideas in Europe, organisations and territories/regions of excellence Increasing awareness of and acknowledging new ideas, disseminating new proposals and spreading an innovation culture. Democratisation of scientific and entrepreneurial culture is the best way to develop the necessary public acceptance of innovation in Europe.   Priority actions to take innovation in Europe forward : To greatly increase the European Commission's "Mobility" programme by extending the benefits of the system to technicians and engineers, and companies and technological start-ups. Immediate expected effect: this would encourage an attractive broad European space for innovation and would have a positive impact on pan-European cooperation in science and industry. To consider new and flexible finance procedures in order to allow the Networks of Excellence (and FP7 technological platforms) to develop in size and structure to create higher added value. Immediate expected effect: this could stop the brain drain and support the brain gain. To give a strong support to the development of innovative environments where incubation, capital, networking, training and excellence meet to foster business creation and growth. Immediate expected effect: increase the number and quality of newly created companies. To heavily and systematically support projects approved by the EUREKA procedures in order to give them greater scope. These projects will lie within the framework of top priority programmes. Immediate expected effect: this will increase the participation of SMEs and therefore trans-national networking and will lead to better cooperation between SMEs and large corporations. To encourage the development of a guarantee fund with the EIB in partnership with national structures, allowing SMEs, participating in European R&D projects to be automatically considered and backed-up without any further actions being required in regards to their bank. Immediate expected effect: Increase the survival rate of SMEs and boost the creation of more sustainable jobs. To boost growth by heavily investing in research and innovation which could be achieved through the launch of a European loan of 150 billion Euros. This 150 billion Euros is the value of the gap that exists between current expenditure on R&D and the 3% EU target. Immediate expected effect: - This will inverse the current European situation and increase European competitiveness and attractiveness for experts and enterprises. - Increase the national and European GDP and significant creation of jobs in the knowledge economy especially in the priority programmes defined by the different European enterprises, research organisations and bodies. - Help to finance the other suggested priority actions. To involve the European Investment Fund significantly and in a more simple way in existing seed capital funds or funds to be created, in order to facilitate the initial and long term financing of projects. Linking regional best practices in public-private partnership to European innovation funding. Immediate expected effect: - Boost to the creation of a European competitive and efficient venture finance community - Facilitate the development of start-ups up to create European success stories.   The above priority actions are the first steps towards an "European Innovation Area" in addition to the "European Research Area".