INTELLECTUAL ECONOMICS 2008, Number 1(3)
Borisas MelnikasNETWORK-BASED INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY: INNOVATION POTENTIAL IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
Mykolas Romeris University Publishing Centre. Vilnius. Lithuania 2008 Nr.1(3), p. 51–64
Abstract
Prospects of economic development are becomming more heavily dependent on the ability to initiate,
disseminate and implement innovations in all spheres of life. This factor is of particular importance for the development
and expansion of the European Union, because activation of innovations is considered to be a significant problem
associated with social and economic development and the advance of science and technology in the European
Union. Further activation of innovations is a major precondition for ensuring the competitiveness of the European
economy under the conditions of globalization. To activate the innovations in the European Union, the potential of
innovations should be purposefully developed and effectively used. The problems of purposeful development and
effective use of the innovation potential are considered now to be particularly important both from theoretical and
practical perspectives. Vast possibilities of activating innovations are created by favourable conditions existing in the
European Union for producing and effective use of various synergetic effects required for creating and developing
international networks: these international networks may become the dominant formations in modern international
economy. Spreading of international networks implies the inevitability of transformation of international economy
into an economic system of international networks.
The major goal of the paper is to demonstrate the new approaches to innovation activation and purposeful development
of the innovation potential in the European Union , taking into account the trends of globalization observed
and the challenges of the knowledge – based society being created.
Keywords: innovations, potential, international economy, networks, European Union.