The Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme
The Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) is intended as a single, coherent legal basis for all Community action relating to competitiveness and innovation within the framework of the Lisbon Strategy. It covers entrepreneurship, SME policy, industrial competitiveness, innovation, ICT development and use, environmental technologies and intelligent energy. The CIP is expected to result in greater coherence and more synergies between different Community support measures.
With a proposed budget of EUR 4,212.6 million, the CIP will fund actions in three different work programmes:
- The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme, with a special focus on SMEs;
- The ICT Policy Support Programme, supporting the use of ICT in businesses;
- The Intelligent Energy Europe Programme.
The Seventh R&D Framework Programme (FP7) and the CIP are mutually reinforcing components of the EU's efforts to reach the Lisbon goals and support Europe's competitiveness and innovative capacity. The CIP will primarily focus on the technological and non-technological aspects of innovation and the downstream parts of the innovation and research process. It aims to provide a common framework for sub-programmes integrating a number of existing measures in a much simpler structure, including: the multi-annual programme for enterprise and entrepreneurship, the LIFE programme, i2010 (former eEurope action plan), CIP ICT-PSP – eContentplus (former European Digital Content programme), financial aid to the establishment of TEN-T / Transport infrastructure and the Intelligent Energy - Europe Programme.
The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme
The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme aims to support entrepreneurship, SMEs, industrial competitiveness and innovation.
The programme specifically targets SMEs and aims to foster sector-specific innovation, clusters, public-private innovation partnerships and innovation management. It will also support the implementation of the Environmental Technologies Action Plan and the development of innovation governance, benchmarking and mutual policy learning.
The programme will also support easier access to finance, such as early stage or seed capital, in order to address one of the most important barriers to entrepreneurship and innovation in enterprises.
The ICT Policy Support Programme
The ICT programme aims to promote the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICT) in businesses, administrations and public services. It will continue the efforts of the eEurope initiative and support actions identified under the new i2010 initiative.
Community funding can contribute significantly to the development of common approaches and coordinated actions, and encourages the exchange of good practice and the deployment of interoperable solutions. However, most financial support for the use of ICT tends to come from the private sector and Member States.
The Intelligent Energy - Europe Programme
The existing Intelligent Energy - Europe Programme will be strengthened under the CIP. The programme aims to support the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly energy sources; securing energy supply and competitiveness by focusing on the removal of non-technical barriers, the creation of market opportunities and by raising awareness.
Divided into three separate strands, the programme aims to increase investments in new and effective technologies, promote energy efficiency, assist work on new and renewable energy sources and focus on energy-related aspects of transport.
It will also serve as a tool to bridge the gap between the development of innovative energy technologies and their deployment in the market, either by helping with promotion and dissemination or by assisting the systematic deployment of new sustainable energy technologies.
Last updated on: 2011-02-03