high level grouPS

Europe is faced with several systemic innovations simultaneously. Looming large over all these is the impact of digitalisation. The interactions with new sciences and technologies, their funding, and the appropriate framework conditions, is a challenge. It requires innovative ways of collaboration between stakeholders. Such collaboration is not easy to achieve, unless there is a common vision about the system innovation and the levers to achieve it. This in turn demands foresight to set the right strategic goals. The launch of the Green Deal by the EU, in order to achieve carbon neutrality, implies a massive transformation of all energy using and carbon emitting economic activities and ways of living.

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Governments have but two levers for such systemic change: research and innovation, and finance. However, as a consequence of the division of competences, the European governance system is confronted with a reductionist policy making approach. One is confronted often with cognitive gaps and information processing capabilities in interdependent, complex systems (for example the impact of big tech, or the links health-food systems), leading to incomplete analysis and failure to comprehend transversal interdependencies each of these systems. In turn, this impacts companies which need to maintain their balance sheet while making large investments in technology transformation and designing new business models.

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This HLG is chaired by Tobias Krantz, former Minister for Research of Sweden.

Previous chair: Klaus Gretschmann, former director general EU Council Secretariat (2012-2021)