During the informal meeting of the EU Competitiveness Council, held in Brussels between 15 and 16 July 2010, representatives from European research sector had the opportunity to transmit to ministers the opportunities that EU R&D can provide to European economy. This meeting was also an important step to support the Research and Innovation Plan to which will officially be presented  in September.

Research, development and innovation can drive a new European economy when obstacles, such as fragmentation, unnecessary competition between EU countries, patent flaws and researcher shortage, are identified and removed. This was one of several important messages delivered by research and industry leaders at the informal meeting of the EU Competitiveness Council.

One of the elements which also gathered a general accord was the need to simplify the EU's research funding procedures in order to revitalise flagging participation from industry, particularly the small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector. The European ministers recognised the need to strike the right balance between maintaining the integrity of public funds management and projecting confidence in the abilities and vision of Europe's scientific community.

Ministers an research and industry leaders also agreed that an appropriate definition of 'research results' was absolutely necessary, and must be developed in agreement with both funding operators and funding beneficiaries. Furthermore, issues related to research results and its risks have been addressed in many occasions in areas such as tendering of innovation by the public sector. A definition that is too narrow in its focus, for instance, could trigger a bias for funding projects with less risk, and overlook those that may have a more uncertain outlook but could provide significant research breakthroughs. It is for this reason that the transition from a cost-focus to a results-focus funding perspective needs to be approached with great caution.

Additionally, the ministers discussed the possibility of introducing 'lump sums' in research funding, expressed their preference for reducing the number of existing European instruments, stressed the need for greater coordination between industry and research policies, and reached a consensus on several European Commission proposals that could be adopted in the short term without the need to modify existing rules (e.g. increasing the tolerable risk of error from 2% to 3.5%).

The meeting was also an opportunity for the ministers to discuss a series of proposals linked to the forthcoming Research and Innovation Plan. This included the development of a programme for funding high-risk projects, support mechanisms for eco-innovation, the creation of a venture capital fund for investing in young innovative enterprises, and the promotion of financial incentives and best practice.

In order for the objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy to be realised, the ministers agreed that shorter paths need to be forged between research and the market through SMEs. Investment in research, development and innovation was also acknowledged as being essential to the livelihood of Europe's future generations.