A 40-year-old framework for global innovation cooperation has never been more relevant

Jacques Attali was a Special Advisor to former French President François Mitterrand, who in 1985, together with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, launched Eureka as a reaction to the geopolitical and technological challenges of their time.

The man who is behind the idea of Eureka is also prolific writer, known for his talent for foresight. Two pieces of advice Attali offered 10 years ago, in an address to European research ministers gathered in Lugano on the occasion of Eureka’s then 30-year anniversary, have both materialised: Eureka is increasingly growing beyond the geographical borders of Europe, and the industry-led Eureka Clusters, focused on ICT and decarbonisation – technologies that Attali had identified as key for Europe’s strategic autonomy, have recently been renewed with a reinforced governance and funding structure.

Ten years on, Attali, one of Eureka’s founding fathers, once again shares his vision for what could be Eureka’s Blueprint for the Future.

Could you take us back to the ‘eureka moment’ behind the foundation of Eureka. How did it happen?

I remember it as if it were yesterday. I was flying back from a meeting of political advisors in Berlin where it was made clear that our European allies were tempted to join the United States of America’s strategic defence initiative (also known as the ‘Star Wars programme’).

The United States of America procurement market for defence behind the strategic defence initiative was attractive to them for both commercial and geopolitical reasons. I was sitting on this aeroplane taking me back home and I thought to myself “we need to do something about this.” I had the vision of an initiative, which could be a European counterpart to the strategic defence initiative, but as a civilian programme for innovation.

We knew we urgently needed to translate this vision into action. Eureka was born as a reaction to a challenge we saw coming. We did not want European companies to become sub-contractors to large corporations based on other continents. Today, we find ourselves in a comparable situation.

From the get-go, Eureka was built in consultation with major European industrial groups and what is today the European Round Table for Industry. In the early months of the initiative, four multinationals signed a declaration of common intent with Eureka. They were GEC – now BAE Systems, Philips, Siemens and Thomson – partially integrated into today’s Thales. The European Commission, although involved in Eureka at the highest level through President Jacques Delors, originally kept a low profile, helping it to be seen as a non-bureaucratic, technology-led initiative.

Beyond politics, what was originally the technological vision behind Eureka?

It is crucial to underline that Eureka was the first initiative of its kind – a programme based on a public-private partnership.

As for technology, interestingly, the two first projects identified were in areas that, still today, bridge fundamental research and market-oriented innovation. One was the mapping of the human genome, which gave way to an entirely new field of innovation in biotech.

The other was the MP3 format which, as we know, gave rise to an entirely new industry and became a template for numerous other digital technology markets. In this way, Eureka had already ventured into the key domains of the digital and bio-economy – sectors that, along with energy, continue to shape the very foundations of innovation.

It is quite possible that Eureka played a crucial role in preserving Europe’s chip-manufacturing capacity – an area of innovation that today carries significant implications for trade and geopolitics. In 1989, Eureka launched JESSI, a strategic initiative designed to restore Europe’s competitiveness in microelectronics.

Over the past four decades, the wider information and technology sector has consistently been the leading area of investment across all Eureka funding programmes, with its share peaking in the 2000s and, at times, closely followed by manufacturing and industrial technologies.

Today, Eureka still combines innovation programmes open to any kind of bottom-up, business-led research projects with more targeted instruments that aim to tackle global challenges. In the country-to-country negotiations that led to the creation of Eureka, the choice of technological areas to be supported was essential in getting all 18 initial countries on board.

Exploiting your talent for prediction, what should Eureka’s ministries and funding agencies be focussing on next?

Eureka and, in general, the global innovation community, should focus on what I call the ‘lifecentred economy’ – a sustainable agrifood industry, renewable energy, carbon capture and health, in particular healthy ageing. But also, the social innovations that are possible and needed in the field of democracy. Another complementary area is the conversion of fossil-based industries to this new economic model.

More than ever, we need a global Eureka, turned towards a life-centered economy.

In 1994, long before climate change became a global preoccupation, the ministries and innovation agencies which form the Eureka network decided to launch the Lillehammer Award, recognising marketoriented research projects offering environmental impact and benefits.

You strongly believe in Eureka being particularly relevant to our current historical moment. In what sense is Europe’s present situation similar to what it was 40 years ago?

Today, Europe finds itself in a situation much like the one that once spurred us into action during the strategic defence initiative era. The difference is that we are now confronted with multiple competing initiatives – from China, the United States, Russia and others – making the challenge even greater. We must regain the same clarity and urgency we had forty years ago: the awareness that action is necessary. Unfortunately, many current political trends are pushing in the opposite direction.

This is why it is essential to fully leverage the European innovation platforms already at our disposal, including With its network, Eureka remains a powerful tooll for shaping our future.

Everything in our future will depend on innovation and the way we will be able to integrate it and implement it into everyday life. But we have a long way to go. Global challenges need to be tackled, and this requires political will. It is in the interest of Europe’s citizens and of European autonomy.

Could a small group of people do the same today as you and your peers did 40 years ago: create a network like Eureka?

I believe that there will always be people carrying that same spirit that helped propel Eureka forward in 1985: innovators, trying to make the world a better place.