SMEs to Benefit as Seventh Framework Research Programme is Adopted by European Parliament
The European Parliament has given its final approval to the Seventh Framework Research Programme (FP7), which will be the EU's main instrument for funding Community scientific research and technological development from 2007 - 2013. The political agreement is based on the Commission's amended proposal for FP7 and carries a total budget of EUR54 billion; a large portion of these monies are earmarked to research-related topics covering healthcare, agriculture, food, environment and energy. EuropaBio, the European biotechnology Industry Association, welcomes Parliament's approval of FP7 following the recent flow of initiatives presented by the Commission aimed at supporting the growth of highly innovative and research-intensive SMEs.
As to the Commission's objective to increase the participation of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in FP7 to at least 15%, several new initiatives will be included to make the programme more SME-friendly. Examples of such initiatives include a higher EU-contribution to the total project costs (75% EU-funding per project compared to 50% under FP6), the establishment of an FP7 guarantee fund (resulting in reduced needs for financial checks and bank guarantees), and improved and simplified financial and administrative procedures (including adapted intellectual property regime).
Laurens G. Theunis, Manager of EuropaBio's Emerging Enterprises Council added: "We very much appreciate the efforts of the Commission in making FP7 more accessible to young research-driven companies". Mr. Theunis continued: "Given the instrumental role of biotech SMEs in new product discovery and development, the biotech industry also very much welcomes the growing political support within the Commission for SMEs. It's now up to the Member States to follow and build further towards a more competitive biotech industry at a global level."
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