Press Release: Innovation policy in six EU candidate countries: the challenges ahead

The need for new mechanisms to support innovation and industrial upgrading is one of the main findings of a report on “Innovation Policy in Six Candidate Countries”, financed by the European Commission and punlished in October 2001. Such new mechanisms would help close the gap with current EU Member States, and facilitate the creation of internal networks between technologically weak domestic and technology advanced foreign-owned firms in candidate countries. In the context of enlargement and the increasing significance accorded to innovation as a key driver of competitiveness and the creation of enterprises and employment, the report examines the state of play of innovation in six countries preparing to join the EU - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia - and makes an important contribution to the innovation and enlargement debates.