The 'Europe 2020' strategy put innovation at the heart of the EU's blueprint for competitiveness, but plans to publish a 'research and innovation' strategy this autumn are under fire.
Speaking at a conference in Brussels, former Belgian Entrepreneur of the Year Bart Van Coppenolle described the European Commission's approach to innovation as "totally wrong".
Van Coppenolle, founder of Belgian hardware company Metris, said up-and-coming innovators are sceptical of the EU's flagship innovation policy.
"Innovation is about entrepreneurship, not science and research, as the Commission believes. We already have excellent scientists. It is not always about inventing new technologies but more about integrating existing ones," Van Coppenolle said.
Patent issues low priority for most SMEs
The Commission's emphasis on patent issues is no compensation for tax cuts by national governments, according to entrepreneurs at the conference, which was hosted by Eurochambres, an umbrella group of chambers of commerce.
David Harmon, a member of EU Innovation Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn's cabinet, said patents were a significant barrier to turning Europe into a knowledge economy. He said the cost of registering a patent is 20 times higher in Europe than in the US and this would have to be tackled.
There was also criticism of the time taken to secure EU funds and the high rejection rate for applications from SMEs.
Piet Verhoeve of Televic, a high-tech communications firm, said local funding sources are often a more attractive option for smaller companies.
"The difference is that when I send an application for finance to my local authority, it may need modification or re-writing before being accepted. When I send an application to the EU, it is simply rejected," Piet Verhoeve of Televic explained.
Failure not an option
Karen Wilson of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) called for bankruptcy laws in Europe to be changed in order to give SMEs a greater chance of starting up again and overcoming their "fear of failure".
Commission officials defended the EU's efforts to spur entrepreneurs, pointing to the Erasmus for Entrepreneurs scheme and efforts to boost cross-border investment by removing trade barriers.
However, entrepreneurs said the main barrier to success was psychological.
