A new perspective against the Commission's Green Paper on Innovation Union was adopted unanimously yesterday in the Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee. Rapporteur for the opinion, GUE/NGL MEP Kyriacos Triantaphyllides (Cyprus) said "innovation, with a strong commitment from the Member States, will generate new opportunities for businesses, particularly innovative SMEs, will strongly support job creation, social cohesion and bring about new and sustainable economic growth, as well as meet the social needs of EU citizens and consumers."

The opinion strongly advocates an eco-innovation action plan centred on SMEs and micro-enterprises in urban as well as rural and remote regions and emphasises green technology innovation that provides an opportunity to speed up the shift towards a more sustainable economy and high-level social, environmental and consumer protection standards. It also notes that simplified procedures will strengthen SMEs capabilities when it comes to project designing and proposal writing and ensure effective and efficient use of public funding.

Finally, the opinion urges the Commission and Member States to support the efforts of the public sector to adopt innovative approaches and launch the new research programme on innovation in the public sector, for example in the field of e-government, e-health and e-procurement, and also disseminate best practices in public administration which will reduce bureaucracy and embrace citizen-centred policies.

Innovation is a key element to overcome the current crisis and deliver new products and services to citizens. "Hopefully this will  deliver better prices and more quality for consumers, support the development of innovative products, boost job creation in the EU and generate new EU growth opportunities in lead markets", concluded Mr Triantaphyllides.

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