Innovation and entrepreneurship are key pillars of economic growth and well-being. They may also serve as a crucial driver of Europe’s future economic (and possibly political) recovery. Around the world, innovation and entrepreneurship are evoked as major avenues for economic growth and competitiveness, while recent debates aim at reconciling sustainability and governance. Over the past two decades, however, Europe has performed rather poorly, on average, in both dimensions. On one hand, many political leaders have denounced the existence of an “innovation emergency” in Europe. At the same time, commentators have observed Europe’s inability to create a suitable environment in which entrepreneurship can flourish.

In the autumn of 2015, CEPS formed a Task Force of experts and stakeholders to examine key aspects of the debate on how to boost these two dimensions in Europe. Their report takes a dynamic, forward-looking view of EU policy, encompassing technological development, new business models, the expected changes in the labor market, and the evolving role of public and private players as platforms and actors of innovation.