The European Union has given the green light allowing the flow of funds to support the Eurostars Joint Programme. Decision 743/2008/CE of the European Parliament and the Council, of 9 July, was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 30 July and will enter into force on 2 August.

The decision firmly cements the Community's participation in a vitally important research and development programme. According to the decision published, the European Parliament and the Council have established that in implementing the Seventh Framework Programme, financial support for the Eurostars Joint Programme will not exceed €100 million.

This financing will be drawn from the appropriation in the general budget of the European Union allocated to research for the benefit of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which is part of the Specific Programme 'Capacities' and which aims to enhance research and innovation capacities throughout Europe and ensure their optimal use.

The Eurostars Joint Programme will primarily fund research and development activities involving one or more SMEs, as well as research organisations, universities, and large companies. Another €300 million in funding will also be available from the 25 participating EU Member States. Also participating will be the five Associated Countries of Iceland, Israel, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey.

The fundamental aim of the programme is to create an easily accessible and sustainable European Research & Development (R&D) support mechanism for businesses as well as encouraging them to create new economic activities. Also as part of the programme, enterprises will be assisted in promoting their technological and business development and internationalisation.

The Eurostars Joint Programme does not intend to supplant existing national or EU programmes which support R&D performing SMEs in their innovation process. Instead, it is meant to complement them and achieve synergies with the relevant national research and innovation programmes. In so doing it will help realise the European research Area (ERA).

The programme will finance R&D activities carried out in the entire field of science and technology. Independent experts will then evaluate the proposals for projects and establish a binding ranking list for the allocation of funds from Community and national budgets. It will support, through its bottom-up approach, research, development and demonstration activities carried out by trans-national consortia driven by R&D performing SMEs and by cooperating where appropriate with research organisations or large enterprises.

The R&D performing SMEs which participate in a selected project are also required to jointly contribute to the larger part of the overall costs of the R&D activities. To facilitate payments to participants in selected projects, Member States should, whenever possible, pay financial support in the form of lump sums.

The EU believes that the programme has a lot of potential and that it will be a positive force towards contributing to European competitiveness, innovation, employment, economic change, sustainable development and environmental protection. The EU also hopes that the programme will help achieve the Lisbon and Barcelona objectives.

EUREKA Eurostars Programme

Source: Community R&D Information Service (CORDIS)