The innovative measurement of Ukraine's euro-integration commitment

In most countries, dynamic development is promoted by effective methods and tools of innovation policy. The implementation of Ukraine's commitment to European integration requires a thorough analysis of strategic initiatives of the EU countries in the innovation field with a view to implementing their main provisions in the programs of government agencies. An integral part of decision-making on improving the methods and tools of innovation policy, both in the individual countries and at the EU level, is monitoring the condition of the innovation systems according to a specially developed methodology for indicators' calculation and grouping. In the annual report of the European Commission on 'European Innovation Scoreboard', for each EU member state and some neighboring countries, indicators are presented that characterize the structural differences of particular economies and the dynamics of the indicators of innovation activities. The article provides a comprehensive coverage of the main conceptual provisions of the Europe 2020 Strategy and the leading initiative on building the EU Innovation Union as well as the EU Horizon 2020 Framework Program for Research and Innovations. A comparative analysis of Ukraine's rating positions by major groups of indicators of the European Innovation Scoreboard in 2017 has been conducted and it is established that Ukraine's values on the corresponding indicators make up less than a third of the average for the EU-28. The significant differences in the socio-demographic sphere include the more than a ninefold greater than in Ukraine per capita GDP in the EU, a negative growth rate of Ukraine's GDP (-11%), and the lower population density and lower degree of urbanization in Ukraine. This country's scientific sphere has lost financial support both from the state and from private sponsors. Product innovations have failed to become a significant driver in the development of the domestic market and lost their positions in foreign markets. A 4.2% decrease (that is, down to 28.9%) was registered in the ratio of Ukraine's consolidated innovation index for 2010-2016 to the corresponding EU indicator for 2010. Ukraine needs a radical revision of its policy in the innovation field, taking into account the experience of the transformation of innovation policy in the EU countries.