Luxembourg is one of the strong innovators in Europe, along with Austria, Estonia, Ireland, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, according to the EU Innovation Scoreboard 2021. Interested in finding out in which areas Luxembourg performs (very) well and where there is still room for improvement? Read on now.
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The European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) reflects the commitment of the EU and its member states to research and innovation. Both provide strong impetus for the resilience of productive sectors, the competitiveness of economies, and the digital and environmental transformation of societies. In recent decades, innovation has been responsible for around a staggering two-thirds of productivity growth in Europe. Since 2014, the scoreboard shows that innovation performance has increased by an average of 12.5%.
This year’s EIS is based on a revised framework that includes new indicators on digitalisation and environmental sustainability to better align with EU policy priorities. Sweden was awarded the title of European Innovation Leader, followed by Finland, Denmark, and Belgium, all with innovation performance well above the EU average. Luxembourg is considered a strong innovator. This group is composed of seven Member States whose performance is between 100% and 125% of the EU average.
What is the state of innovation in Luxembourg? The scoreboard particularly highlights Luxembourg’s strengths in the areas of attractive research systems, human resources, and intellectual capital. The top-3 indicators here include foreign doctoral students, trademark applications, and international scientific co-publications. The country also scores very well in the categories “employed ICT specialists”, “use of information technologies”, “design applications”, and “lifelong learning”.
“Investing in innovation is investing in our ability to be at the technological forefront for a sustainable, digital and resilient economy and society.”
In contrast, there is a clear need to catch up with the EU average in the areas of “air emissions by fine particulate matter” and “environment-related technologies”, for example, while “resource productivity” scores comparably very well in the area of environmental sustainability. “Employment in innovative enterprises” also shows considerable catching up to do, as do the areas of “business process innovators (SMEs)” and “innovators”.
Although Luxembourg is ranked in the “strong innovator” group, the Grand Duchy’s performance has weakened over time compared to the EU average. The decline in performance in 2021 is mainly due to a sharp drop in employment in innovative firms, according to the scoreboard’s summary. Previously, the scoreboard noted an increase in innovation performance in 2019 and 2020, attributed to a strong increase in the number of PhD graduates and HRST job-to-job mobility.
For member states to achieve high levels of innovation performance, the European Commission says they need a balanced innovation system that performs well in all dimensions. This requires, for example, that investors provide adequate funding for education, research, and skills development, and that an innovation-friendly business environment with strong digital infrastructures and skills is ensured.
“Investing in innovation is investing in our ability to be at the technological forefront for a sustainable, digital and resilient economy and society”, says Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Market.