EUREKA Evaluation Report 1995
The European Commission, DG XII, has published the EUREKA Evaluation Report 1995. This presents the findings and recommendations of a panel of independent experts, commissioned under the Swiss chairmanship of EUREKA, to report on the results of 200 "Finished" and 118 "Withdrawn" EUREKA projects. The panel's overall finding is that EUREKA has been successful in terms of achieving its initial goals. The majority of firms involved in the 200 finished projects report commercial development of products and processes. In financial terms, the panel estimates an overall added turnover in the region of billions of ECU within the next 2-3 years. The panel draws attention to importance of public funding as a motivating factor for firms and calls for a more coherent organization of R&D, in particular better synchronization of financial support procedures for the various participants. It also reiterates the need to strengthen the relationship between industry and universities. As to the future, the panel calls for clear guidelines to be provided, at the highest political level, on EUREKA's future orientation, in particular with regard to the type and scale of projects to be supported. On the one hand, the current trend towards smaller projects with high SME involvement could be greeted as positive, and the management structure adapted accordingly. Alternatively, EUREKA members may decide to take advantage of the inherent capability of EUREKA to operate in a "variable geometry" financial environment, and use it to promote large strategic projects for which this characteristic is particularly important. EUREKA members now need to decide on the future of the initiative in light of the panel's findings, and the general economic and industrial situation, in drafting the new third Medium-Term Plan (1996-2000), under the current Belgian chairmanship.