Views on the "LAB-FAB-APP" report

Key messages

• The “LAB-FAB-APP” report sets out a clear picture of what the EU’s priority is: to overcome its innovation deficit. Knowledge needs to be turned into new products, solutions and business models faster and more intensively. Strengthening the EU’s industrial leadership and cross-border industrial collaborative R&I will play a crucial role in this transformation.
• The next EU multiannual financial framework is an opportunity to scale up efforts on financing research and innovation activities with a clear and strong EU added value. Industry across the EU is committed to playing its part, bringing indispensable private capital to finance far-reaching research and innovation projects.
• The success of Horizon 2020’s successor will depend on the close partnership of all actors from public authorities to industry, research, academia and citizens. All have a role to play to speed up the innovation chain from basic to applied research and close-to-market actions.
• BusinessEurope supports the “LAB-FAB-APP” report’s proposals around achieving greater and longer-term impact, making sure that companies of all sizes are kept funded, achieving further simplification, embedding R&I in education programmes, making EU state aid rules more innovation-friendly and aligning EU and national R&I programmes better.
• While the creation of a European Innovation Council has the potential to boost out-of-the-box innovation, it brings far-reaching questions around its scope, governance and impact on existing programmes. In addition, the “LAB-FAB-APP” report’s proposals around possible blending of funding instruments (i.e. grant, loan, etc.), focus on breakthrough innovations or cuts in funding schemes by one third require deeper assessment and consultation with impacted stakeholders.