Israel joins CIP
Israel has become the EU's first neighbouring country to join the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP), designed by the European Commission to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and growth among small and medium-sized enterprises. The agreement was signed in Tel Aviv by European Commission Vice President Günter Verheugen, and Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Eliyahu Yishai. 'Competitiveness and innovation are joint challenges for Israel and the EU,' said Mr Verheugen. 'There are many areas of entrepreneurship and innovation policy in which Israel and the EU have a lot to offer, and where cooperation in joint projects and business and innovation networks will create a win-win situation. In today's world the key to success is not isolation but cooperation.' Israel will initially join the first CIP pillar, on entrepreneurship and innovation. This should link Israeli actors to innovation clusters in European networks. Israel is also interested in joining the other two CIP pillars, on information and communication technologies (CIP) and intelligent energy. CIP will run from 2007 until 2013 with a budget of €3.6 billion.
Countries
Israel