Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-04-09-Speech-3-210"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20080409.24.3-210"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Madam President, today we are dealing with the Commission proposal to support the Eurostars Joint Programme, and I thank you for giving me a few minutes to explain the key features and the importance of this initiative.
The Eurostars Joint Programme aims to support research and development performing SMEs. These SMEs are able to bring new products and services onto the market thanks to their own research and development work. They have the ambition and the capacity to grow and to become the ‘stars’ of tomorrow.
A group of 29 EUREKA countries, and now Luxembourg, which has just applied to join, have decided to develop the Joint Programme, specifically designed to support SMEs undertaking their own research and development activities, in cooperation with their partners.
In order to enhance the impact of this initiative, the Commission has proposed to the European Parliament and the Council participating financially in the Eurostars Joint Programme, based on Article 169 of the Treaty, with an amount of up to EUR 100 million. This amount will leverage approximately EUR 300 million from the participating countries for the next six years.
An essential aspect of this initiative is that the participating countries commit themselves to integrate their national programmes in order to create a joint European programme. In addition, Eurostars reinforces the cooperation between the Framework Programme and EUREKA. For these reasons, I think that this initiative is a further step towards the realisation of the European Research Area.
I am grateful to the rapporteur, Mr Rübig, and also to the members of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy for the good cooperation and the improvements they are proposing to the Commission proposal. On behalf of the Commission, I can inform you that we accept these proposals.
I particularly appreciate the fact that you agreed to handle this proposal swiftly, so that we will be able to contribute to the first Eurostars call. A rapid adoption by Parliament and the Council would indeed send a strong signal to the SME community that a continued investment in research and innovation activities is crucial to maintain and enhance their competitiveness.
Eurostars should be a good example of how Member States can cooperate by bringing their national programmes closer together, and of where Community funding results in more impact for the programme, for the benefit of the European SME community and, of course, for the benefit of Europe as such."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples