"The only way how Europe can compete with the rest of the world is by being smarter than the rest of the world and that's about education, innovation and research," Smits told Vilnius journalists after meeting with Lithuania's Education and Science Minister Dainius Pavalkis on Friday.
"It's clear that the Asian countries are coming up rapidly, they are also building a knowledge economy, China is no longer just a country who is producing cheap toys, it's building also a knowledge economy, because the Chinese government realizes that the future of China is knowledge, of course, science and innovation. And that is something that Europe has to be well-prepared for," the EC official said.
He emphasized that, in order to compete with the rest of the world, Europe's investment in research and innovation should be higher "than ever before,” this means a requirement for bigger funding in every country, including Lithuania.
"We have to invest in science and innovation more than ever before. By the way, you probably know that science and innovation is the only area in the future EU budget, which will grow," Smits said.
In his words, this means that the EU realizes the significance of science and innovation for competition and creation of new jobs.
