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Training network for national contact points and support organisations with special focus on candidate countries in the areas of food quality and safety

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EU research spreads its wings

Training EU representative organisations to help businesses in EU Candidate Countries means that more small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can benefit from funded projects.

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While citizens in well established EU Member States are embarking on EU-funded projects with vigour, many potential business people in EU Candidate Countries are not aware of all EU possibilities offered to them. Looking at food quality and safety, the EU-funded project Trainnet Future overcame barriers in the sector. It raised participation in projects under the EU's Framework Programmes (FPs) through increased research collaboration among EU Member States, Associated States and Candidate Countries. This was achieved through intensive capacity building and strong support to the existing network of EU National Contact Points (NCPs) across the continent, including other key EU organisations as well. Through a consortium of 26 partners from 25 countries, the initiative offered training to researchers, fostered exchanges in expertise, promoted matchmaking and established a call information network. The project's final result was a well trained network of NCPs that assist Candidate Countries in the areas of food, agriculture, fisheries and biotechnology under the EU's FP7. This is reflected today in research communities across Candidate Countries through a customised set of services, continuously encouraging growth in academia and industry. More SMEs in these countries have participated in EU-funded programmes than ever before and a stronger European Research Area (ERA) has emerged, thanks to the undertakings of Trainnet Future.

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