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Support for innovation
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A Lead Market Initiative For Europe
On this page:
The Lead Market Initiative is the European policy for 6 important sectors that are supported by actions to lower barriers to bring new products or services onto the market.
The European Commission, Member States and industry work together to carry out the action plans for the 6 Lead Markets.
The policy instruments deal with regulation, public procurement, standarisation and supporting activities. The LMI identified the following markets: eHealth, Protective textiles, Sustainable construction, Recycling, Bio-based products and Renewable energies.
Click within the table to find out more about the progress of the action plans in each sector.
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What is a lead market?
A lead market is the market of a product or service in a given geographical area, where the diffusion process of an internationally successful innovation (technological or nontechnological) first took off and is sustained and expanded through a wide range of different services.
A 'lead market' is not necessarily the country or market where the innovation was first developed, or even used for the first time.
The Lead Market Initiative (LMI) for Europe was launched by the European Commission following the EU's 2006 Broad based innovation strategy. The scope of the LMI, the selection of the six markets and the action plans were approved in the Competitiveness Council (mainly composed of the Ministers for European Affairs, Industry and Research from the Member States) of May 2008. Also, at this meeting, Member States expressed their strong interest and commitment to create the right framework to foster lead markets. The 2006 Aho report presented the concept of lead markets. It recommended the development of innovation-friendly markets in a more targeted way by creating conditions to facilitate the translation of technological and non-technological innovation into commercial products and services.
Why are the 6 lead markets chosen?
On the basis of intense stakeholder consultations, six markets have been identified: eHealth, protective textiles, sustainable construction, recycling, bio-based products and renewable energies.
These markets:
- Are highly innovative;
- Provide solutions of broader strategic, societal, environmental and economic challenges;
- Have a strong technological and industrial base in Europe;
- Depend more than other markets on the creation of favourable framework conditions through public policy measures.
For each market, a plan of actions for the next 3-5 years has been formulated. The European citizens will benefit both from the positive impact on growth and employment (the identified areas could represent three million jobs and 300 billion EUR by 2020) and from the access to enhanced goods and services of high societal value.
More information:
- The 2006 Aho report presented the concept of lead markets.
LMI time table
- December 21, 2007: Launch of the Lead Market Initiative
- Communication from the Commission 'A lead market initiative for Europe'
- Annex 1 - Thematic Action Plans [181 KB]
- Annex 2 - Explanatory Paper on the European Lead Market Approach: Methodology and Rationale
- Press release
- Communication from the Commission 'A lead market initiative for Europe'
- May 29/30, 2008: endorsement by the Competitiveness Council (EU Member States)
- 2009: Mid-term review of the implementation of the Lead Market Initiative [405 KB]
- 2011: Final evaluation of the Lead Market Initiative
Presentations and leaflets about the LMI
Open Days 2009 presentations, session 'Lead Markets: how to take regions global':
- ' Cradle to cradle [732 KB] ' by Dr Harma Albering
- ' Lead Era - Innovative regions build on Lead Markets [220 KB] ' by Coralie Bajas-Schaefer
- ' How can regional public procurers work together [699 KB] ' by Mark Hidson
- ' From strategies to services – eHealth as the enabler for cross-border healthcare [2 MB] ' by Fredrik Linden
- ' Lead Markets - how to take regions global [563 KB] ' by Henriette van Eijl
Presentation on ' Supporting innvoation in lead markets through trans-national networks of procurers [161 KB] '
By Bertrand Wert (Enterprise and Industry DG, innovation policy)
20 May 2009, Oslo.
Presentation: ' Arbeitskreis Bau' on 'Eire Leitmarktinitiative für Europa nachhaltiges Bauen 
[3 MB] 
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By Peter Dröll (Enterprise and Industry DG, innovation policy)
3 April 2009
Presentation: ' Les marchés porteurs : une initiative pour l’Europe [2 MB] '
By Daniel Gassman, Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation
2 April 2009, Annecy
Presentation: ' Stimulating the demand for innovation [2 MB] ' at the Futuris Conference in Paris
By Henriette van Eijl (Enterprise and Industry DG, innovation policy)
April 1st 2009 in Paris
Presentation for the House of the Hungarian Regions [2 MB] By Henriette van Eijl (Enterprise and Industry DG, innovation policy), who explained the activities of the LMI to members of chambers of commerce in the House of the Hungarian Regions in Brussels
11 March 2009, Brussels
Presentation for students at the University of Rotterdam [6 MB] By Henriette van Eijl (Enterprise and Industry DG, innovation policy), who discussed the future European innovation policy with students of the University of Rotterdam.
27 February 2009, Rotterdam
Presentation: ' Enterprise Europe Network and the LMI [2 MB] '
By Henriette van Eijl (Enterprise and Industry DG, innovation policy)
25 November 2008, Brussels
Presentation: ' Innovación y contratación pública en la iniciativa europea de Lead Market [218 KB] 
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24 October 2008, Toledo
Presentation on: ' Supporting innovation in lead markets through trans-national networks of procurers [129 KB] '
By Keith Sequeira (Enterprise and Industry DG, innovation policy)
29 August 2008
Handout for the Lead Market Initiative and Sustainable construction [153 KB] EBC annual congress, Bucarest
20 June 2008