European Parliament's industry committee backs plan to set up MIT rival
The European parliament's industry committee has officially approved the project to set up the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).
The European parliament's industry committee has officially approved the project to set up the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).
Initially presented as the European equivalent of the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the EIT is the brainchild of EU President Jose Manual Barroso and is due to begin operating this summer. Drawing on public and private funds, the institute will have a budget of some Euro 2.4bn to cover its first six years of operation.
When the EIT project was launched in 2006, the Commission presented it as a means for defending EU competitiveness in the world. The project came in for criticism, particularly from academics that saw it as yet another bureaucracy, devoid of any real added value.
Subsequently, the EU lowered its ambitions and gave up the idea of a campus proper. This effectively stopped the EU members from quibbling over which state would be home to the institute.