Conclusions
1. After the Lisbon Council, two Communications were explicitely intended to guide the Community’s thinking on innovation policy. The first was Communication “Innovation in a knowledge-driven economy” where - after a summary of the actions undertaken in order to promote innovation after the First Action Plan of 1996 - five policy objectives7 in line with the Lisbon Strategy were identified, which were broadly similar to those already indicated in the First Action Plan and in the various Communications on research. The second was the aforementioned Communication “Innovation policy: updating the Union’s approach in the context of the Lisbon strategy”, which included a discussion of the theoretical premises that underpin policy development.
2. Besides the FPs, the Commision funds some specific-purpose multiannual research programmes, the most important of which are EUREKA, a transnational research fund which sponsors projects carried out by companies and research institutes in 27 countries, and COST, a cooperation programme launched in 1971, which allows for European coordination between technical and scientific research projects funded at national level, and may also involve extra - EU countries.
3. Community initiatives are specific interventions concerning special interest issues, directly proposed by the Commission. In the period 1994-1999, 13 Community initiatives were launched, which generated over 500 programmes; these initiatives were allocated about 9% of the overall Structural funds budget. In the period, 2000-2006, the regulations provided for only 4 Community initiatives (INTERREG, LEADER+, URBAN e EQUAL) receiving up to 5,35% of the overall structural funds budget.
4. Besides statements about the importance of understanding innovation as a system, even in the stage of the definition of general policy directions it appears that innovation continues to be conceived as a phenomenon that unfolds according to well defined stages and whose beginning and end can be easily identified; especially, the effects that new products and services, once marketed, have on the socioeconomic system, often remain out of sight, just when thy start producing (or not) those effects on growth in order to obtain which innovation policies are designed.
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