The European Council meets on March 23-24 to try and resuscitate the “Lisbon agenda” on European competitiveness and sustainable wealth creation. In front of EU leaders will be a proposal from the European Commission to set up a European Institute of Technology alongside a new European Research Council. The Commission sees these as twin key elements of its strategy to get Europe buzzing as a knowledge economy.

According to the Commission, the Institute will be a “new flagship for excellence”. It will bring “a fresh approach to bridging the gap between science and society”, acting “as a reference model to inspire and guide long term change”.