Sweden leads the way on innovation

Innovation rankings show the EU trailing behind the US, Japan and South Korea.

Sweden was the highest-ranked EU member state in this year’s Innovation Union Scoreboard, unveiled today (7 January) by the European Commission. But Europe’s best innovator, Switzerland, lies outside the EU, and the Union as a whole lags behind the United States, Japan and South Korea.

After Sweden, the three highest EU countries on the list were Denmark, Germany and Finland. Romania, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Latvia were the lowest-ranked member states.

European countries and international competitors were judged on three main categories: whether they have a strong base for innovation to grow; whether firms are investing in innovation; and whether innovation is leading to benefits for the economy.

“We need balanced national research and innovation systems that provide an innovation-friendly environment for business,” said Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, the European commissioner for research, innovation and science.

“The scoreboard also identifies a gap with the US in terms of top-end research,” she said. “We urgently need a European Research Area to inject fresh competition, generate more excellence, and attract and retain the best global talent.”

Though it is trailing behind South Korea and Japan, the EU has a lead over the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) as well as over Canada and Australia.

All member states except Luxembourg and the UK showed an improvement in their innovation over time. The UK has experienced a strong decline in sales of new products.

The scoreboard is the second to be released by the Maastricht Economic and Social Research and Training Centre on Innovation and Technology. It replaced the European Innovation Scorecard, which was published from 2001 to 2009.

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