Fostering innovation, creating jobs: agencies showcase their work at the European Parliament

The week-long exhibition organised by the 29 decentralised agencies at the European Parliament featured a round table discussion on the role of education and innovation in creating jobs. EU agencies: the way ahead (31 January to 3 February), aimed to offer Members of Parliament and other guests a panorama of the agencies’ activities.

The round table which apart from Cedefop Acting Director Christian Lettmayr included MEP Britta Thomsen (DK), Markus Schwertel of the European Programming Unit of CISCO Systems, and the directors of other EU agencies, was recorded by European Parliament Television.

Another person participated in the event via Skype link – not a surprising choice for Skype co-founder and former CEO Linnar Viik. Asked by BBC journalist Diana Madill what is most needed to spur innovation he answered; “The right mindset. Europeans need to get more into an entrepreneurial mood. They should take more risks. When we started out on Skype we didn’t really know where we were heading. We wanted to create an unforgettable user experience but were not aware of the huge business potential of Skype. People should not be afraid of making mistakes – they can learn a lot from them.”

Cedefop Acting Director Christian Lettmayr,
European Ombudsman Nikiforos Diamantouros
and MEP Georgios Stavrakakis

But as several panel participants pointed out, policy plays a crucial role in creating a climate favourable to innovation. The European Union has a pivot function in the regulation of markets – for example in the creation of a single digital market – and in the transfer of best practices. Learning from one’s own mistakes may be very good thing, but learning from others’ good practices is just as valuable. Not coincidentally, Viik said that the most innovative environments tend to be those that bring into contact entrepreneurs and people from various academic disciplines.

The panel agreed that governments and social partners are jointly responsible for creating strong links between education and employment, and for supporting lifelong learning and language skills as a means of stimulating European business and ensuring social cohesion. But creating the right links and networks is paramount. As Acting Director Christian Lettmayr pointed out, “Cedefop has been forecasting skill needs for some years now. But it is not enough to identify these needs. We have to be able to translate them very quickly into targeted education and training”.

Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič
opening the exhibition

Opening the exhibition, European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and MEP Jutta Haug warmly welcomed the agencies’ initiative. Mr Šefčovič underlined the importance of the agencies to the daily work of the European Union. Ms Haug added that this exhibition will raise awareness among Members of Parliament of the agencies’ various contributions.