The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is to significantly step up its efforts to drive innovation and entrepreneurship in the EU with the creation of six new cross-border innovation hubs, known as Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), in 2014-2020. The European Commission has allocated a budget of €2.8 billion in the next financial framework to enable the EIT to expand and consolidate the development of its existing KICs which focus on climate change, sustainable energy and ICT.

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European small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) should better profit from fast growing emerging markets, such as in China, India, Russia or in regions like South East Asia and Latin America. This is the key issue to overcome the crisis addressed in the European Commission communication ‘Small Business, Big World - a new partnership to help SMEs seize global opportunities’ presented today. Only 13 % of EU SMEs are internationally active outside the EU through trade, investment or other forms of cooperation with foreign partners. Therefore, the Commission is working to establish a more coherent and effective EU strategy for supporting SMEs in international markets. This could be achieved by reinforcing business support services, improving the coordination and use of existing resources including the Enterprise Europe Network. Thus SMEs have better access to more relevant information and assistance in their attempts to penetrate new markets and search for the right local partners.

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The European Commission presented today its Communication on "Industrial policy: Reinforcing competitiveness", which looks specifically at the industrial competitiveness performance of the Member States.The EU economic recovery has been relatively slow and remains fragile. This is reflected in the worsening sentiment across the European economy. Moreover, there are clear downside risks stemming from financial markets, rising energy and raw materials prices, and the need for budgetary consolidation. However, EU industry is in good shape and has the potential to push the European economy back to growth.

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The European Commission presented today its 2010 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) report "Are EU SMEs recovering from the crisis?" - including surveys on each EU Member State (the SBA Fact Sheets) - on the occasion of the SME Week taking place throughout Europe from 3–9 October.

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Innovation and research are high on the European agenda. But innovation needs more than just research to help Europe move forward. This was the main message of the third edition of the European Innovation Summit, held from 10 to 13 October. The event, whose motto was 'Towards a European Innovation Ecosystem', was split in two parts: in the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium and as a ministerial conference and one of four flagship Polish Presidency events in Warsaw, Poland.

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The EU's innovation performance needs major improvements in many areas if the Europe 2020 strategy is to deliver smart sustainable growth, concludes the European Commission's 2011 Innovation Union Competitiveness Report. Europe needs more and "smarter" investment in both public and private research and development – not only does this boost growth in the medium-term, it also has a counter-cyclical effect in times of crisis. More research cooperation within the EU and internationally is needed, along with better use of research results, including through a stronger intellectual property regime. Education systems need to be adapted to business innovation needs. Innovative and fast-growing SME's need more encouragement. A concerted effort is necessary to build on Europe's promising record in innovation tackling global challenges such as climate change. The gender gap in science and research must be closed.

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A key expert group set up by the Commission today set out guidelines on giving European industry a competitive edge in deploying the industrial technologies of the future (Key Enabling Technologies). The main conclusions call on decision-makers to adopt radical policy objectives to retain critical capability and capacity in Europe through a single and comprehensive approach to KETs. In particular, the group recommends that the vital importance of KETs should be reflected in the structure and funding balance in the upcoming framework for research and innovation and in the priorities of the EU's future regional policy. European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani warned that Europe’s industry "would suffer losses in competitiveness", if it fails to successfully exploit the six following important KETs (micro- and nanoelectronics, advanced materials, industrial biotechnology, photonics, nanotechnology and advanced manufacturing systems). "Europe's innovation depends on the development and growth of Key Enabling Technologies. We need to focus our policies better and align them to create more synergies between our instruments to boost Europe's capabilities in the area of KETS. I am convinced KET's follow-through applications will allow Europe to create more jobs and growth. The commitment of private stakeholders to investing in Europe will also be vital for success", he said.

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Standards are a decisive tool in international competition. Consumers should not be obliged to change several chargers for their electronic devices. And a mass diffusion of electric cars will not happen without common standards for their recharge. Mobile phone or software companies are publicly showcasing their battle for the leadership of their respective standards. No doubt, a good standard can ease consumers' life, promote sustainability, enhance European competitiveness and technological leadership in global markets. The European Commission proposes today a series of legislative and non-legislative measures to develop more and faster standards. Standards are sets of voluntary technical and quality criteria for products, services and production processes. Nobody is obliged to use or apply them but they help businesses work together and to save money for consumers. But in the past, it took several years to develop a European standard so that some standards have lagged too far behind rapidly evolving technologies. Consequently, certain sectors have been reluctant to engage in standardisation or are unable to benefit from the positive effects of standards. This should be changed with the package presented today. The European Council of 4 February, in its conclusions on the "Innovation Union", invited the Commission "to make proposals to accelerate, simplify and modernize standardization procedures, notably to allow standards developed by industry to be turned into European standards".

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This year's European Enterprise Awards' nominees help people create businesses whether they are young or over 50, urban or rural, local or export oriented. Many of them have managed to drive social change through entrepreneurship by giving opportunities to disadvantaged groups such as immigrants, the disabled and even unskilled problem youth. The awards aim to recognise and reward the best entrepreneurial initiatives by public authorities at national, regional and local level to make Europe more entrepreneurial and business-friendly. The winners of this year’s competition will be announced on 24 May 2011 at the 5th EEA award ceremony co-hosted by the Hungarian Presidency in the prestigious National Gallery in Budapest.

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Easier and cheaper registration of patents could soon be a reality for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and other businesses as EU Competition ministers have given the go-ahead for 25 Member States to create a unitary patent system. This historic step means the end of the long legislative journey towards an EU patent is almost in sight. At the Competitiveness Council meeting on 10 March, the proposal was adopted by all Member States bar Italy and Spain under the new enhanced cooperation procedure.

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Innovation performance continues to intensify in the EU thanks to progress made by its Member States but we continue to lag behind Japan and the US, the first edition of the new Innovation Union Scoreboard (IUS) says. The EU must start plugging its innovation holes in order to catch up with the global competition and maintain any leads we have over other competitors including Brazil, China, India and Russia. However, while the EU-27 continues to outperform India and Russia, the group is feeling the heat from Brazil and China as the latter two are hot on the EU's heels.

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