EUREKA strengthens its role as major player in supporting R&D&I

In its debate in the European Parliament in Brussels, ‘Effectively supporting transnational cooperation in industrial innovation’, EUREKA and its Israeli Chairmanship once again stressed its pivotal position in the European Research Area and demonstrated that research and innovation are more than ever ‘crucial to addressing global challenges’, adding that ‘innovation can be more effectively addressed at regional or even local level’.

Over 90 high-level stakeholders from the EUREKA network, EU institutions, industry and academia got involved in a lively debate on the different R&D support measures for hi-tech SMEs along the value chain and heard the view of big industry on strategically-significant R&D segments and the importance of networks. Vittorio Prodi MEP said that, despite no longer being involved with the ITRE Committee, he had a long-standing relationship with EUREKA. The network’s philosophy of combining expertise across frontiers and collaborative working was the right one to ensure that Europe becomes more competitive.