Video: Mariya Gabriel at the European Union Week

EU Commissioner presents initiatives for innovation

Mariya Gabriel emphasized the significance of a pan-European innovation ecosystem: “We must be aware that the nature and the sources of innovations are changing. It is time to adapt our framework and to facilitate the work of this new generation of innovators. Ecosystems are important because that is the strength of Europe: we have an extraordinary pocket of talents, we have vibrant local innovation ecosystems – but in a local innovation ecosystem it is easier to find investors and attract talent from another continent than in our region or in Europe. So, it is time to connect those local innovation ecosystems and that is why in the innovation agenda one of the main flagship initiatives will be dedicated to that”, said the EU Commissioner.

Prof. Thomas F. Hofmann, President of TUM, confirmed: „European universities are excellent when it comes to research and teaching. But Europe still needs to do better in terms of the impact we generate from that excellence. In Europe we need strong innovation hubs which are competitive worldwide. The Munich region, with TUM, many other scientific organizations, start-ups and robust industry partners, is one such center. And I've set myself the goal of turning the Munich region into the leading innovation site in Europe.“

The Commissioner also commented on her vision of the future of Europe in the context of the Ukraine war: „I think Europe should stop being naive and should perform our leadership in strategic areas and all this based on our values“, Gabriel said. „When we talk about these new challenges, one of the most important things is that we are able to fulfill these values with content“. However, her perspective for the resilience of the EU in this crisis is positive: „With the crisis, we have already seen that we are able to do it and now we need to count on the creative force of every citizen – that’s for me the challenge – in order to transform this wish into solutions that are concrete and real.“

Prof. Gunther Friedl, Dean of the TUM School of Management, emphasized: "In addition to professional knowledge and an entrepreneurial mindset, we also want to convey the importance of European cooperation to our students. We experience that this generation has a very positive attitude towards the European Union. Just recently, a survey asking TUM students about their trust in different institutions and business sectors saw the European Commission at the top."

The EU Commissioner also attached great importance to gender equality and the support of women: “We are talking about an unlocked potential that Europe should start to use massively”, said Gabriel. “There is a necessity to give much more visibility to successful girls and women. That’s why we started the campaign #SHEU LEADS. Every week, we are giving visibility to one successful girl or women in Europe. For me, we should have 8th of March, the International Women’s Day, every single day in the year.”