European Commission has launched the ninth edition of the European Innovation Scoreboard, which shows how crisis has affected not only economy and employment, but also innovation across Europe, despite the efforts to make it a key issue on European recovery.

The ninth edition of the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) is out and preliminary data show that the economic crisis impacting Europe is also affecting the progress of innovation across the region. The majority of EU Member States may have posted stronger innovation performance results in 2008, but countries with lower innovation performance levels are likely to be responsible for reversing the convergence process that the EU has undergone in the last few years.

Despite the EU's drive and determination to meet and potentially surpass the US in terms of innovation performance, the results show the opposite is happening. However, the EU still maintains an advantage over Brazil, China, India and Russia, which are all emerging economies.

Senior officials added, 'Increasing investment in research and innovation is the key to moving from crisis to sustainable prosperity. That is why the Commission is maintaining the 3% of GDP (gross domestic product) target for R&D (research and development) investment in Europe and proposing realistic national targets with robust monitoring.'

The EIS 2009 data show that the region's five top innovation performers are once again Denmark, Germany, Finland, Sweden and the UK. A breakdown shows that Germany and Finland reported the quickest improved performances, while Denmark and the UK lagged behind.

The 'Innovation followers' for 2009 are Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, France, Cyprus, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria and Slovenia, while the 'Moderate innovators' are the Czech Republic, Greece, Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal and Slovakia.

The 'Catching-up' countries, Bulgaria, Latvia and Romania, reported innovation performances that were below the EU-27 average, the EIS 2009 shows. But they are all working to bridge any gaps between them and the other EU Member States. The report indicates that Bulgaria and Romania have clinched the top fastest innovation performances of the EU-27.

Launched in 2001, the EIS indicators focus on innovation outputs, non-technological innovation and service sectors. The EIS is commissioned by the EU's Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry and is prepared by the Maastricht Economic and social Research and training centre on Innovation and Technology (MERIT) with support extended by the EU's Joint Research Centre.

This scoreboard follows the Regional Innovation Socoreboard (RIS), also prepared by MERIT, which was launched in January 2010 and underlined the diversity of European regions on innovation issues.