EUREKA NEWS

EU leaders set to boost Innovation

The European Council - held on 4 February - called for the implementation of a strategic and integrated approach to boosting innovation to the benefit of citizens, companies - in particular SMEs – and researchers. Heads of state and government pledged to foster cooperation on large-scale research projects, to simplify funding regulations and to explore new sources of venture capital for innovative start-up enterprises. Joint programming should also be developed and the Council will take the necessary decisions on future Innovation Partnerships before they are launched.

The Council conclusions reflect EUREKA’s main priority to foster European SME support and enhance coordination of public RTDI measures, as stated in the EUREKA strategic roadmap.

EUREKA's Eurostars Programme is the first European funding and support programme to be specifically dedicated to SMEs. Eurostars aims at helping SMEs lead international collaborative research and innovation projects by easing access to support and funding.