European Parliament 19 January 2000, WRITTEN QUESTION E-0021/00 by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Commission. The outermost regions and the allocation of structural funds.

To this end the Commission has launched a benchmarking initiative of innovation performances and policies in the Community. Innovation will also be discussed at the informal meeting of industry ministers on 10 March 2000 in Nordwijk in the Netherlands. The Commission hopes the discussions will give a significant input into the Lisbon European Council of 23-24 March 2000. (1) COM(95) 688 final.