The result is Eurostars, a new programme designed to finance new partnerships between research and development (R&D) SMEs and 27 countries across Europe. Due to be officially launched on 2nd October this year and run for six years, the EC will contribute €100m, with the countries investing €300m. This will then mobilise up to €400m in additional private funding, according to the EC. The programme is designed to make participating countries pool their national research funding in favour of SMEs, resulting in better, more efficient use of funds, according to the EC. SMEs represent 99 per cent of all enterprises in Europe and their small size, flexible organisation and commitment to research allows them to take advantage of a fast-cangin economic environment, seize new market opportunities and crewate new jobs. Any SME that invests 10 per cent or more of FTE or turnover into research is eligible to apply, with the first deadline in early December. "Eurostars brings a new level of cooperation and integration between Community and national research programmes," said Commissioner Potocnik. "Creating strong links between public and private funding, Eurostars will give a boost to R&D performing SMEs, allowing them to collaborate with the best research teams in Europe, and to transform new ideas into successful businesses." The new funding will particularly target multi-national projects, including those with non-SMEs, such as universities and large companies, with short- to medium-term commercial results. The initiative is just one of the ways that the EC is attempting to boost research partnerships between member states. To achieve this, the Commission has identified three areas to increase integration: scientific, management and financial.
- Scientific integration, which entails common definition of priorities, and common evaluation and selection of projects, on the basis of excellence and economic impact
- Management integration through the establishment of a dedicated management structure for faster decision-making, and
- Financial integration, which includes setting up a multi-annual financing plan, pooling EC and member states' funds into a common pot.
Eurostars will be managed by the Eureka Secretariat in Brussels, which was launched over a decade ago to increase innovation in industry, research centres and universities across all sectors. The overall goal is to raise investment in R&D to 3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2010 - the total value of goods and services produced by a nation. With this latest plan, the Secretariat hopes to provide a 'one stop shop' for SMEs, through issuing calls, receiving project proposals, organising evaluation by independent experts, managing the financial contributions and monitoring project progress.