EU states have little choice but to increase their productivity, with education, research and innovation being key to creating and applying new knowledge, the EU Commissioner for Research said yesterday.
Echoing comments that he made at a science summit on Monday, Janez Potocnik also told a plenary session of the National Forum on Europe at Dublin Castle yesterday that Ireland needed to spend more on research and development (R&D).
He said that Brussels was impressed by the "overall positive performance of Ireland" in the development of a knowledge-based economy, noting that Ireland's gross expenditure in research and development as a proportion of GDP stood at over 1.3 per cent in 2006.
"So Ireland is making progress in narrowing the R&D intensity gap with the EU average of 1.8 per cent of GDP in 2006," he said.
"However, as you might know, the benchmark target we continue to use for overall R&D intensity in the EU by 2010 is 3.0 per cent of GDP, so that comparison is more sobering and there is more for all of us to do."
The appointment of a Minister with responsibility for overseeing a co-ordinated approach to life-long learning was also a "welcome development" as this was an area where Ireland's performance lagged behind many other EU states.
"Europe and the rest of the world face other major challenges...We need our investments in education, research and innovation to provide solutions."