The recent Commission Staff Working Document on ‘Challenges for EU support to innovation in services – Fostering new markets and jobs through innovation’ recognizes that a European approach that brings together different methods and instruments to enable a strategic and coherent policy approach to services innovation is needed. This would also allow for better synergies between instruments (at activity, firm, sectoral and market level) and serve common objectives.

To address this need, the European Commission has decided to establish an Expert Panel on Services Innovation in the EU, whose mandate it will be to explore how the policy challenges can be addressed, at which level and through which policy means and, where relevant, through which (financial) instruments. It is a high-level strategic Panel, which aims to produce recommendations that will have a significant impact on the future development of the services innovation agenda in Europe. Its aim is, in particular, to help provide expert input on how to shape new and innovative service markets and sectors in Europe, by providing innovative service companies with better innovation support.

Given the tasks of the Panel, all experts will be expected to have a deep understanding of innovation policy development, with a particular expertise on innovation in services. This will require an understanding of, and expertise in, assessing best use of policy instruments and activities, understanding policy rationale, understanding the European policy dimension and collaboration, and an ability to assess the best use and best value of given policies.
A call for experts has been launched to recruit suitable candidates for the Panel. Candidates will preferably be policy makers, representatives of innovation agencies and other innovation support providers. They can also be consultants, representatives of relevant labour and employee organisations, interest organisations and researchers. Candidates are particularly welcome if they can show evidence of political support for their candidature.

The call for experts in open until 26 February 2010.

For further information and for the call text, application and releated documents, please visit: