Highest proportions of innovative enterprises in Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium

This information, which comes from the Community Innovation Survey 20102, covering the EU27 Member States, Iceland, Norway, Croatia, Serbia and Turkey is published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Innovation activity in this survey focuses on product and process innovation as well as organisational and marketing innovation. The survey contains a broad set of indicators on innovation activities of enterprises and provides for the first time information on skills and creativity.

One in nine product and process innovative enterprises co-operate with European partners

Among enterprises with product and process innovation activities in the EU27, 27% co-operated3 with other enterprises, universities or public research institutes in 2008-2010, while the remaining 73% innovated using only internal resources. The highest proportions of innovation co-operation were found in Cyprus (62% of all product and process innovative enterprises), Austria (51%), Slovenia (45%), Lithuania and Hungary (both 43%), and the lowest in Italy (12%), Malta (18%), Portugal (20%), Spain and Bulgaria (both 22%).

In the EU27, 11% of innovative enterprises had innovation co-operation with a partner in another EU27 Member State, EFTA, acceding or candidate country4, 3% with a partner in the United States and 2% with a partner in India or China. Innovation co-operation with a European partner was highest in Cyprus (38% of all product and process innovative enterprises), Slovenia (35%), Austria, Estonia and Slovakia (all 30%), Finland (28%) and Luxembourg (27%), and lowest in Italy (4%), Spain (5%), Germany (8%) and Portugal (9%).

Finland (12%), Sweden (11%) and Slovenia (8%) had the largest shares of innovation co-operation with partners in the United States, and Finland (9%), Sweden (7%), Luxembourg and Slovenia (both 6%) with partners in India or China.

Innovation activity and co-operation during 2008-2010

EU27 aggregate based upon available Member States

* Co-operation can take place with more than one partner. This breakdown by country is not a mandatory element of the survey.

: Data not available

1. The survey covers enterprises with at least 10 employees in the following sectors of industry and services: Mining and quarrying; Manufacturing; Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply; Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities; Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles; Transportation and storage; Publishing activities; Telecommunications; Computer programming, consultancy and related activities; Information service activities; Financial and insurance activities; Architectural and engineering activities, technical testing and analysis.

2. The Community Innovation Survey (CIS) 2010 is a survey of innovation activities of enterprises in EU Member States. The survey collects information about product and process innovation as well as organisational and marketing innovation and other key variables in 2008-2010. Most questions cover new or significantly improved goods or services or the implementation of new or significantly improved processes, logistics or distribution methods. It produces a broad set of indicators on innovation activities, innovation expenditure, public funding, sources of information for innovation, innovation co-operation, innovation objectives, organisational and marketing innovation and on skills available in the enterprise and methods stimulating new ideas and creativity.

For further data, see the Eurostat database:

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/statistics/search_database

(Science and Technology/Community Innovation Survey).

The CIS form an important input into the European Commission Research and Innovation Union Scoreboard: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/facts-figures-analysis/innovation-scoreboard/index_en.htm.

1. Innovation co-operation measures the active partnership of the observed enterprise with other enterprises or non-commercial institutions such as universities or public research institutes, at national or international level. Co-operation can take place with more than one partner and concerns enterprises with product and process innovations (regardless of their organisational or marketing innovations).

2. Includes the EU27 Member States: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom; EFTA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland; Acceding country: Croatia and Candidate countries: Montenegro, the Former Yugoslavian republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey.