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En bra konkurrenspolitik är det bästa stödet för innovationer – anförande i Europaparlamentet

It is the broad and strong policy of competition that is the best precondition for innovation. It is better to provide opportunities for thousands of entrepreneurs and innovators to work on an equal basis with each other than to support one at the cost of the other. It is very important to remember that, and everyone has pointed that out. The most important thing for the Commission to do is to uphold competition and to be strong in defending small companies and small entrepreneurs. By doing so, we will achieve a climate of an innovative society in our part of the world.

I would like to underline that the policy of state aid must aim for less, but better, targeted aid. Support for innovations must not be an alibi or an excuse for increased state aid, because we must appreciate that innovations are a normal process of entrepreneurship, and we cannot have state aid designed to support normal entrepreneurship. State aid for innovations should be provided for those innovations and processes that otherwise would not take place in normal marketing or in normal business. It must be temporary, and it must be aimed at the clusters that are open to everyone, not excluding anyone: then we can have a good policy for innovations.