Europe produces more research papers than the US or Japan but needs an influx of venture capital to turn inventions into commercial success, according to Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, EU commissioner for research, innovation and science.

The Euractiv.com newsletter says that as the EU’s newly- installed innovation commissioner, Geoghegan-Quinn listed venture capital among a series of bottlenecks to innovation in Europe when briefing journalists on her first day in the job.

Venture capital has been creeping up the agenda in recent months and was highlighted by a panel of business exports who reported on the state of Europe’s innovation infrastructure for the European Commission last year, reports Euractiv.com.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) provides venture capital and loan guarantees to small businesses and has stepped up its activity since the outbreak of the financial crisis. Geoghegan-Quinn cited the example of the MP3 standard for compressing audio files which was invented in Europe but commercialised in the US.

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