THE HAGUE, 02/05/06 - The Central Planning Bureau (CPB) has negatively assessed most of some 20 innovation projects for which the cabinet has set aside a total of 140 million euros. "Over half the projects proposed will not - even after serious adaptation - meet the basic criteria for achieving a healthy social return," concludes the CPB.

The CPB surveyed over 20 investment projects for which proposals could be put forward in the 2005 second half. The proposers were given the opportunity to make a play for money from the Economic Structure Fund (FES). This was possible thanks to windfall natural gas revenues, which go to the FES.

The cabinet made 140 million euros available in April for knowledge and innovation projects. But only a few projects have been favourably assessed by the CPB. These include the development of a fungus-resistant potato and improving anti-terrorist and crime measures via the application of ICT.

Most other projects will not receive subsidies based on the CPB analysis. "An important deficiency in many projects is that these seldom give a clear picture of how the proposed activities fit in with the already existing knowledge infrastructure." As well, "the efficiency of many proposals could be improved by a higher own contribution from interested institutes and companies," concludes the CPB in its report published yesterday.

In some cases, a proposed project could be market-distorting. This applies to the establishment of GATE, an institute for the computer games industry. The cabinet will adopt the CPB's recommendations.