On the 7th February, in Brussels, the European Commission announced that there was to be a Ministerial debate in Grenoble today to discuss how Key Enabling Technologies (KETS) can contribute to economic growth.The Ministerial Summit, which was the joint initiative of Mr Arnaud Montebourg (French Minister for Industrial Revival) and Ms Geneviève Fioraso (French Minister for Higher Education and Research), will be attended by Antonio Tajani, Vice-President and European Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, along with Mr Francesco Profumo (Italian Minister of Education, University and Research) and Ms Carmen Vela Olmo (Spanish Secretary of State for Research, Development and Innovation). UK and German Ministers responsible for Research will also be represented.

The reason behind the KETs initiative is that European industry, which has gradually become less competitive over recent years, required a structured policy for economic recovery. In order to this the European Commission identified six priority technologies (nanotechnology, micro and nano-electronics, photonics, advanced materials, industrial biotechnology and advanced manufacturing systems), which have been called "Key Enabling Technologies", as important tools for innovation and competitiveness. The European Commission believes that "mastering these technologies means being at the forefront of managing the shift to a low carbon, knowledge-based economy. They play an important role in the R&D, innovation and cluster strategies of many industries and are regarded as crucial for ensuring the competitiveness of European industries in the knowledge economy." (Enterprise and Industry)

The plan is that these technologies will enable new goods and services to be developed, as well as industrial processes being restructured, thus facilitating the modernisation of European Union (EU) industry. In the process it is hoped that EU industry will evolve form low tech heavy industry, with a large carbon footprint, to a knowledge-based and low carbon resource-efficient economy. Although the EU does have very good research and development capacities, in some key enabling technology areas, to date it has not been as successful at translating research results into commercialised manufactured goods and services. KETs stems form a Communication from the European Commission, published on 26th June 2012, entitled "A European strategy for Key Enabling Technologies – A bridge to growth and jobs" (COM(2012) 341)

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