Minsters gather in Brussels under Lithuanian Presidency

Brussels: A meeting of the Competitiveness Council of the Council of the European Union is being held on the 26 and 27 of September.

While the first day of the meeting focuses on matters related to SME competitiveness, European industry, the defence and security sector, and competitive aspects of energy and climate polices, the second day of the meeting sees research and innovation on the agenda.

Ministers from member states will debate the Innovation Investment Package. Under this they will discuss the approval of five EU Joint Technology Initiatives and four public-public partnerships – programmes that current proposals would see an investment in of €22bn over the next seven years.

The state of the Innovation Union report will also be discussed. Meanwhile developments around the European Research Area will be debated.

The commissioner responsible for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, and the Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn will attend the meeting.