Among other things, the EC has pointed out that despite the relatively high educational attainment, a significant share of the workforce does not possess professional qualifications and has limited access to higher education. Universities perform poorly in worldwide rankings and are characterised by low international competitiveness and weak governance. Low cooperation among universities, research institutions, and businesses affects the very low innovation performance. A systematic and effective research and innovation strategy is lacking. Latvia also has the lowest business R&D expenditure in the EU.

The EC recommends that within the period 2012-2013 Latvia should continue reforms in higher education, inter alia, by implementing a new financing model that rewards quality, strengthens links with market needs and research institutions, and avoids fragmentation of budget resources. Moreover, it should design and implement an effective research and innovation policy encouraging companies to innovate, including via tax incentives, upgrading infrastructure and rationalising research institutions.

The Country-specific Recommendations are documents prepared by the European Commission for each country, analysing its economic situation and providing recommendations on measures it should adopt over the coming 12 months. They are tailored to the particular issues the Member State is facing and cover a broad range of topics: the state of public finances, reforms of pension systems, measures to create jobs and to fight unemployment, education and innovation challenges, etc. The final adoption of Country-specific Recommendations prepared by the Commission is done at the highest level by national leaders in the European Council.

The published recommendations will be discussed and approved by EU leaders on 28 and 29 June 2012.

Source: EC

http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/europe-2020-in-your-country/latvija/index_en.htm