Synergy between the EU and EUREKA
The European Union has been a member of EUREKA since its inception and contributes to it's evolution. The Community RTD programmes and EUREKA converge towards the same goal: the reinforcement of the technological bases and the improvement of European industrial competitiveness. The EU participates in EUREKA through its own research capacity (Joint Research Centre), RTD programmes and financial facilities as well as through the creation of a suitable environment for technological cooperation and the development of enterprises. At project level, EU RTD results are taken into account in EUREKA projects. This approach, together with two-way transfers of information, allows an effective distribution of tasks and the avoidance of unnecessary duplication of effort. The Commission supports implementation measures such as standardization and the valorization of RTD results (e.g. via the VALUE programme) and participates in EUREKA brokerage events, conferences, workshops, etc. Developments since 1992, both in the Union and in EUREKA, have opened up new prospects and offered opportunities to enhance the synergy between these actions. During the French chairmanship, in October 1992, a set of principles for reinforcing the interaction between EUREKA projects and Community programmes were established. This orientation was confirmed by the Edinburgh summit in December 1992: "EUREKA will remain the principal vehicle for supporting RTD activities which are nearer to the market. The synergy between the Community's activities and EUREKA will be improved. To this end, while preserving the specific features of each framework, the following objectives will be pursued: flexible and active cooperation between representatives of EUREKA projects and of Community projects through regular exchange of information, guidance of proposed RTD projects, towards the most appropriate framework and improved interaction between Community policies and EUREKA projects, in particular through greater Community participation in these projects whilst respecting Community procedures." 1993 has already seen the evolution of this reinforced EC-EUREKA synergy from pilot experiments to concrete joint actions, such as: - Reinforcement and more intensive use of the flexible network of Community programme managers and EUREKA project coordinators has led to better, broader and timelier exchange of information; - The joint organisation of conventions and promotional events has facilitated the orientation of projects towards the most appropriate framework and led to better cooperation; - A joint analysis of 25 recent projects was carried out in meetings between EUREKA coordinators, Commission experts and interested industrialists, leading to the definition of concrete joint actions for each project examined. The statements of the EUREKA Ministerial Conference and the common position of the Council of the EU for the Fourth Framework Programme reinforce the basis for future actions and collaboration.