From 2006 onwards we can observe the permanent decline of patent applications to the European Patent Office per million inhabitants in the European economy’s 27 EU countries (Figure 11.1). While in 2006 the value of this indicator was over 116, in 2010 it was just under 109. Because the result of innovation activity is difficult to predict, the level of support of venture capital investment has an important role in the process of creating new competitive firms. Unfortunately this indicator has also seen a strong decline in the last few years (Figure 11.2). While in 2007 the average value for venture capital investments in 15 EU countries was about 0.047 per cent of GDP, in 2011 it was only 0.03 per cent.