Today, European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani, responsible for Industry and Entrepreneurship, and the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science presented the second edition of the Innovation Union Scoreboard following the adoption of the Innovation Union Communication in October 2010.

"This is a crucial step that should ease the integration of the activities and policies for Research and Innovation in Europe, just as the very important initiative Union innovation invites us to do. I was directly involved in the negotiation process towards the time-effective adoption of this initiative and I am now particularly pleased with the efficiency and rapidity of the European Commission in the implementation phase", said Amalia Sartori MEP, Chairwoman of the Industry, Research and Energy Committee of the European Parliament, welcoming the Innovation Union Scoreboard 2011.

In line with the Innovation Union action plan adopted in October 2010, the Innovation Union Scoreboard (EIS) now contains 25 clear performance indicators to improve comparability between countries. As well as being a key tool for implementing the Innovation Union, the EIS is an important complement to the Annual Growth Survey adopted under the Europe 2020 Strategy, which underlines again that research and innovation are crucial drivers of growth and essential to a sustainable exit from crisis.

"The success and ambition of innovation policies depend greatly on how we choose to measure them. The identification of 25 clear indicators of the performance of different Member States in this field is an important basis in order to achieve the level of coordination needed to create the best opportunities for economic and jobs growth", pointed out Amalia Sartori MEP.

(Translation from the original Italian)

For further information:

Amalia SARTORI MEP, Tel: +32-2-2845556

Elisabetta Montano, EPP Group Press and Communications Service, Tel: +32-478-933978

Notes to Editors:

The EPP Group is by far the largest political group in the European Parliament with 271 Members.