Off the wire
• Five investigated over vaccine misconduct  • Former senior executive of China Resources tried for corruption  • China's top political adviser calls for cooperation with Africa in processing industry  • 5th LD Writethru: 1 feared dead, over 100 hospitalized after strong quakes jolt SW Japan  • Majority of Norwegians positive about refugees as colleagues: survey  • Security forces free town from IS militants in western Iraq  • Xi stresses national security education  • Urgent: 6.4 magnitude quake hits SW Japan again, no tsunami warnings  • Building collapses in Spanish island of Tenerife, no death confirmed  • Asylum requests in Switzerland drop significantly in Q1 2016  
You are here: 　 Home

EIT hampered by "complex framework, management problems": EU auditors

Xinhua, April 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), set up to bring together the worlds of education, science and business, is impeded in its effectiveness by a complex operational framework and management problems, according to a new report by the European Court of Auditors released Thursday.

With a budget of 2.7 billion euros (3.05 billion U.S. dollars) over the 2008 to 2020 period, the EIT provides grants to autonomous partnerships called knowledge and innovation communities (KICs), instead of financing projects directly.

The three KICs launched in 2010 included more than 500 partners across various disciplines, countries and sectors.

The auditors examined whether the EIT was an effective tool to foster innovation in the European Union (EU). While the main reasons for setting up the institute were well-founded, a number of important changes were needed, they concluded.

"If the EIT wants to become the ground-breaking innovative institute it was originally conceived to be, significant legislative and operational adjustments are required to better foster the EU's innovation potential," said Alex Brenninkmeijer, the member of the European Court of Auditors responsible for the report.

Moreover, seven years after its inception, the EIT was still not fully operationally independent from the European Commission, which has hampered its decision-making, said the auditors.

High staff turnover, including at the senior management level, has limited the development of strategies and the efficiency of the EIT.

Therefore, the auditors recommended the Commission propose legislation to the European Parliament and Council to amend the EIT's funding model.

The Commission should propose that certain funding conditions be removed, and that steps be taken to alleviate the operational and financial reporting burden of the KIC partners, said the auditors. Endit