Eureka History

EUREKA was established by a Conference of Ministers of 17 countries and Members of the Commission of the European Communities, meeting in Paris on 17 July 1985.

Since its inception in 1985, substantial public and private funding has been mobilised to support the research and development carried out within the EUREKA framework. This page illustrates some of the highlights of the organisation's history.

1985 – 1988
  • Adoption of the Hannover Declaration outlining the principles of the EUREKA framework.
  • Establishment of procedures and infrastructure.
  • Growth of Network including all Western Europe and Turkey
  • Generation of 221 new projects and creation of two Umbrellas
1989 – 1995
  • Opening to Central and Eastern Europe
  • Creation of Lillehammer Award – First winner E !160 FERMSEP
  • Generation of 887 projects and creation of three Umbrellas
1996 – 2001
  • Responding to globalisation
  • Introduction of guidelines for Cluster projects
  • Generation of 999 projects and creation of six Umbrellas and eight Clusters
2001 – 2002
  • Shaping the European Research Area
  • Inventory of national evaluation procedures
  • Generation of 171 projects and creation of two Umbrellas
2002 – 2003
  • Reaching a common understanding on the quality of EUREKA projects
  • Increasing the efficiency of EUREKA’s organization and decision-making
  • Proposing ‘New Safer Medicines Faster', a European Research Area pilot project in biotechnology
  • Generation of 168 projects and creation of one Umbrella
2003 – 2004
  • Working towards the EU 3% Barcelona objective
  • Supporting SMEs through an agreement with a European network of business angels
  • Improving EUREKA’s decision-making procedures (unanimity replaced by qualified majority)
  • Generation of 206 projects and creation of six Clusters
2004 – 2005
  • Marking 20 years of pan-European innovation
  • Improving complementarities with EU Research Framework Programme
  • Establishing political and industrial dialogue to improve overall EUREKA performance
  • Setting up permanent independent external project evaluation to strengthen EUREKA quality label
  • Generation of 181 projects, 57 Cluster projects and creation of three Umbrellas
2005 – 2010
  • Starting of the I AM EUREKA campaign which aims to bring EUREKA closer to the public
  • Launching of the EUROSTARS program in partnership with the European Commission
  • EUREKA brings now together 40 members including the European Union