WEBVTT - Ekaterina Zaharieva Talks EU Investment into Research

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio, Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>Catharine Savia, you're the EU Commission for Innovation, Startups and Research.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you so much for joining us on Bloomberg today.

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<v Speaker 2>You've just released this Choose Europe plan. This is going

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<v Speaker 2>to flesh out the strategy to boost research within Europe.

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<v Speaker 2>There's half a billion dollars at stake. Care tuk us

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<v Speaker 2>through a little bit of the strategy in what you're

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<v Speaker 2>trying to achieve here.

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<v Speaker 1>The strategy is very simple. It's first Europe always to science,

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<v Speaker 1>and so we want science to choose Europe. So that's

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<v Speaker 1>mean that for Europe science should remain open and independent

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<v Speaker 1>and we respect scientific freedom. This is the first, so

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<v Speaker 1>to say Pewer, of the strategy, and the second is

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<v Speaker 1>of course investing in talent, and the third is like

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<v Speaker 1>accelerate and boost the innovation. So those are the three

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<v Speaker 1>focuses on this Choose Europe for Science for business, I

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<v Speaker 1>would say.

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<v Speaker 2>And so when you think about sort of half a

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<v Speaker 2>billion dollars being deployed to that end, how does that

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<v Speaker 2>money sort of productively spent in order to achieve those ends?

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<v Speaker 1>So this is the half a billion for the next

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<v Speaker 1>two and a half years until the end of this

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<v Speaker 1>programming period of the biggest actually program for research and

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<v Speaker 1>innovation in the world, which.

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<v Speaker 3>Is Horizon euro Program.

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<v Speaker 1>That's mean that we want to focus, of course on

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<v Speaker 1>the early career researchers. We actually work on the pile

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<v Speaker 1>choose Europe for Science for the early career researchers, and

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<v Speaker 1>then we have European Research Council, in which council the

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<v Speaker 1>scientists decide the priorities, the calls and choose the projects,

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<v Speaker 1>absolutely autonomous and independent of the politicians. And we want

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<v Speaker 1>to deploy extra to hundred and twenty million for the

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<v Speaker 1>actually two hundred and eighty million almost for the extra

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<v Speaker 1>support for researchers, which is a research council. It's small

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<v Speaker 1>focus on.

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<v Speaker 3>Really the best researchers with their teams in the world.

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<v Speaker 2>And you say it's sort of value neutral in terms

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<v Speaker 2>of what the science is investigating, but there certainly are

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<v Speaker 2>objectives within the European Union to try to boost certain

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<v Speaker 2>sectors and innovate and things like that. So what sectors

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<v Speaker 2>are you trying to get attract more of those researches

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<v Speaker 2>and scientists in order to give your that competitive edge.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, you open research couns, so I want to

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<v Speaker 1>say it, but of course I'm going to talk about

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<v Speaker 1>the sectors later. The Eupan Research Council, it's really bottom

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<v Speaker 1>up driven. It's not so it's open for everybody. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>it's curiosity driven projects. So this is actually the fundamental,

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<v Speaker 1>the basic research without which we can not he have

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<v Speaker 1>excellent innovasion and breakthrough technologies. So this is the for

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<v Speaker 1>the European Resource Council. But the four, the sectors who

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<v Speaker 1>have really common European interest, are really important for European competitiveness,

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<v Speaker 1>European economic security. It's like moles, so I'm not going

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<v Speaker 1>to surprise nobody's AI. Of course, life science is it's

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<v Speaker 1>a bi economy, it's a clean tech. So those sectors quantum,

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<v Speaker 1>which one we have focused in so European Innovation Council

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<v Speaker 1>in space and.

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<v Speaker 2>So one of those sort of sectors. Because I know

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<v Speaker 2>I was talking to a startup in Germany. They did

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<v Speaker 2>fusion right, they do sort of fusion right, and so

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<v Speaker 2>what they had is their German company, they had all

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<v Speaker 2>the research out of Munich. They're very sort of well

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<v Speaker 2>equipped on the science. But then Colorado, the state of Colorado,

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<v Speaker 2>came and gave them a grant for two hundred million

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<v Speaker 2>dollars and they went to go build a lab in

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<v Speaker 2>the United States. And this is one of the sort

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<v Speaker 2>of things that Mario Dragi brought up, is that many

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<v Speaker 2>of the unicorns within europe eventure really leave Europe. How

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<v Speaker 2>do you solve that problem? How do you keep European

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<v Speaker 2>innovation European.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, this is a really important part. As I said,

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<v Speaker 1>truth Europe, it's the third peer of truth. Europe is

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<v Speaker 1>accelerating innovation. We are excellent in really starting in research

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<v Speaker 1>and the startups. Actually Europe creates most startups compared to

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<v Speaker 1>the United States and China. Uh. But yeah, we have problems,

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<v Speaker 1>strug says in the scale phase. So there is not

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<v Speaker 1>big pan European vices yet.

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<v Speaker 3>But we're improving.

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<v Speaker 1>Actually, if you see the data is about the vices

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<v Speaker 1>in Europe in the last couple of years. Actually they

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<v Speaker 1>are we're improving the more investment in vcs.

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<v Speaker 3>What we work is a startup scales strategy. I'm very focused.

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<v Speaker 1>Actually I'm the first startup commissioner every in the history.

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<v Speaker 1>We are focusing on the startup scales strategy with the

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<v Speaker 1>four Peers, like talent always talent.

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<v Speaker 3>Talent.

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<v Speaker 1>Talent is important for innovation. Those are the three t's

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<v Speaker 1>a tee of innovation, the finance, which is how to

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<v Speaker 1>create a big funds enough together with a private sector

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<v Speaker 1>because public I think will be never enough. And access

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<v Speaker 1>to market which is crucial, which means like fast access

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<v Speaker 1>to the market, which means also public procurement, which we

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<v Speaker 1>have on top potential there.

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<v Speaker 3>And then we have regulatory.

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<v Speaker 1>Obstacles and of course access to infrastructure, which is also

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<v Speaker 1>very important for innovators.

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<v Speaker 2>And then you talk about the three t's in terms

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<v Speaker 2>of talent, there is potentially a great thing.

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<v Speaker 3>This is the biggest strength of Europe actually.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, well, there's potentially a bigger pool for the Europeans

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<v Speaker 2>to tap in the United States, where you've seen a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of research, for example, being cut to certain institutions

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<v Speaker 2>within the US. What kind of opportunity does that provide

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<v Speaker 2>to the United too, I would say to the European Union,

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<v Speaker 2>you know the potential brain drain from the United States.

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<v Speaker 2>Are you looking to capitalize on that other ways in

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<v Speaker 2>which you can tap into that talent pool that maybe looking.

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<v Speaker 1>For To be honest, yes, it's a big opportunity for Europe.

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<v Speaker 1>I think what happened. What happens is there is chance

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<v Speaker 1>for Europe because you know that finance have been stopped

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<v Speaker 1>for researching health in vaccination for example, vaccines in science

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<v Speaker 1>link with the climate change some social science perspective. So

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<v Speaker 1>it's a big chance for Europe to attract some of

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<v Speaker 1>the best researchers and scientists from the United States to

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<v Speaker 1>come and work with their colleagues Europeans. And that's why

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<v Speaker 1>European research cons all these grunts that we provide. It

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<v Speaker 1>is an excellent chance for them to move here with

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<v Speaker 1>their teams.

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<v Speaker 2>And you get a sense that that process is a

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<v Speaker 2>little bit underway. Are you hearing from people? Is there

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<v Speaker 2>some kind I.

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<v Speaker 1>Have information from European universities that there is a big

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<v Speaker 1>interest from their collicues from the United States and they're

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<v Speaker 1>looking for how eventually they can revocate and move here.

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<v Speaker 2>And one of the issues I think also in the

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<v Speaker 2>United States versus Europe is that they also pay a

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<v Speaker 2>lot better in the United States. How do you how

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<v Speaker 2>do you solve this in terms of the private sector.

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<v Speaker 3>I don't know.

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<v Speaker 1>Did some maybe some university they pay more, but not

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<v Speaker 1>always is about the money only if you are not

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<v Speaker 1>allowed to read to research.

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<v Speaker 3>Money doesn't matter that much because you actually have to

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<v Speaker 3>stop your project high prices.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so it's really freedom, it's matters, social condition matters.

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<v Speaker 1>That's why I always start with the first actually pure

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<v Speaker 1>trues Europe is that for Europe, science matter. For Europe,

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<v Speaker 1>science has to remain open, independent, and scientists have to

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<v Speaker 1>have a freedom for research.

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<v Speaker 2>And I think that another thing that I've observed in

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<v Speaker 2>Europe is that you also have a lot of very

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<v Speaker 2>sort of impressive academic institutions, a lot of impressive research,

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<v Speaker 2>huge amounts of research, but you don't see that translate

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<v Speaker 2>as often into the private sector, I think, as you

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<v Speaker 2>do in the United States. How do you get things

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<v Speaker 2>to move from the sort of sheerly academic research into

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<v Speaker 2>something that can be product terrivity driven, profit driven and

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<v Speaker 2>reallygious companies to Within Europe.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, Yeah, we have these.

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<v Speaker 1>I would say challenges that not very often the really

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<v Speaker 1>excellent universities and research organization are working with the private sector.

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<v Speaker 3>But we have more and more who do this.

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<v Speaker 1>And for example, I'm going I'm going to mention again Horizon,

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<v Speaker 1>which is actually almost half of the funds from Horizon

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<v Speaker 1>Europe it's a cooperative research which means academia and private sector,

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<v Speaker 1>traditional industries and public institutions work together to find solution

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<v Speaker 1>global challenges. So we have really huge progress in that

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<v Speaker 1>direction as well. So it's a big part of our program.

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<v Speaker 1>But it's not only the European funds. I see more

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<v Speaker 1>and more research organization who work very close with the

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<v Speaker 1>private companies. I also meet a lot of traditional big

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<v Speaker 1>organization of traditional European industry strong industries and they also

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<v Speaker 1>want to invest and work together. They also also want

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<v Speaker 1>to invest in the European startups. They also want to

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<v Speaker 1>invest in European research organizations.

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<v Speaker 3>So we are moving in the right direction.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the seconds we have the instruments actually, as

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<v Speaker 1>I mentioned, is Horizon Europe program, but we also Digital

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<v Speaker 1>Europe and other partnership together academia and private sector.

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<v Speaker 2>And one of the industries that is attracting a huge

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<v Speaker 2>volume of capital within Europe is the defense sector. I

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<v Speaker 2>wonder if there is some kind of partnership availab because

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<v Speaker 2>obviously a lot of innovation does sometimes you know, come

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<v Speaker 2>from the defense sector into other applications. There are ways

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<v Speaker 2>in which these two can work together as.

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<v Speaker 1>A definitely definitely and they should work together.

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<v Speaker 2>Some of these ones would be restricted away from.

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<v Speaker 1>The Horizon as Horizon for example, Horizon Europe is only

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<v Speaker 1>civilian research. But in European Innovation Council, this is one

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<v Speaker 1>of the pewers of Horizon Europe, which is innovation focused

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<v Speaker 1>on innovation and the startups UH and the European Innovation

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<v Speaker 1>Council Accelerator. We did propose this is the first omnibles

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<v Speaker 1>of defense to open it for door use and defense research.

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<v Speaker 1>And the same is like a step which is an

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<v Speaker 1>investment in equity in startups.

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<v Speaker 3>Of strategic interests.

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<v Speaker 1>We want to open also for do oils and defense

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<v Speaker 1>because in the modern research so everything can have a

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<v Speaker 1>due application civilian and research.

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<v Speaker 3>I think it's a huge potential.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, and so if we speak a year from now,

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<v Speaker 2>what is going to be your sort of metrics of

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<v Speaker 2>success in terms of having launched successfully and kind of

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<v Speaker 2>what would you like to see happen a year from now, from.

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<v Speaker 3>Here from now, okay, UH Europe.

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<v Speaker 1>To preserve his first place of attracting talents to be

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<v Speaker 1>actually the continent, the best educated continent. We have UH

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<v Speaker 1>one fourth of the global researchers actually in European Union,

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<v Speaker 1>living and working in European Union, and even to attract

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<v Speaker 1>more and more.

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<v Speaker 3>But my goal is really to.

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<v Speaker 1>Really to shorten, to shorten the period from them discovery

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<v Speaker 1>to the market to be really easy if you are

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<v Speaker 1>no mata, innovative or a well established or young company,

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<v Speaker 1>if you want to expand in other and other member states,

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<v Speaker 1>to happen really easily. So this is I think the

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<v Speaker 1>metrics of sex to happen in less than one year

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<v Speaker 1>to be able to operate in a big single market.