Hanko: Europe needs competitiveness ‘turnaround’

Hanko noted that Europe’s productivity rate had stood at 95pc of the United States’ in 1995, but had since fallen to 80pc. He added that the EU’s scientific output had fallen by 8pc in the past decades and was now lagging behind that of China and the US.

Of the world’s 50 biggest technology companies, just four are in the EU, he said, adding that the share of global venture capital in the EU stood at 5pc, compared to the 50pc in the US.

In order to advance the competitiveness turnaround, fragmentation of research networks must be reduced, he said. Regional disparities with regard to R+D funding should be eliminated, he added, pointing out that just 8pc of R+D funding went to Central Europe, while the region was home to 24pc of the EU population.

Hanko held up Hungary’s higher education model as an example for the EU and said the adoption of that model had resulted in doubled numbers of PhD students and researchers and triple the volume of innovation resources.

Ferenc Krausz, the Nobel Prize-winning Hungarian physicist, gave a presentation to the participants in which he pointed out that early detection of disease could not only extend lives, but strengthen competitiveness by ensuring a bigger pool of economically active people. He added that cheaper, more cost-effective healthcare was necessary to save more lives and advance competitiveness.

He said that research and innovation were fundamental forces behind the EU’s economy and competitiveness, and pointed to the work of the Center for Molecular Fingerprinting (CMF), established in Budapest in 2021, to shape the future of healthcare.

In remarks at the close of the meeting, Hanko said Hungary recommended its own national model, centred on a strategic partnership between universities, vocational schools and businesses, for boosting European competitiveness. He called the two-day meeting a success and said the sides had agreed on the need for a major improvement in European competitiveness.

Hanko said the debate on Monday on a European degree proposed by the European Commission had been a “lively” one. He added that the proposal for a body in Brussels to decide which universities and which diplomas could be “European” failed to comply with a number of member states’ national regulations.

He said agreement among participants had been reached on introducing the European degree only when all member states were on board with the regulation which had to take into account national particularities.

Hungary can conceive of joint degree programmes between universities that seek to cooperate with each other, he added.

Hanko said Marc Lemaitre, the EC’s director-general for research and innovation, had been scheduled to speak at the press conference, but hadn’t been cleared by the Commission to join. That shows cooperation with the Commission “isn’t easy”, but the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU needs to focus on the future of Europe and making Europe stronger, he added.