1 st December 2003, Milan Roundtable Discussion on the need for better co-ordinated actions at EU level Moderator: Hans-Werner Müller – UEAPME Secretary General

1st December 2003, Milan 2nd session UEAPME Union Européenne de lArtisanat et des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises « The Voice of SMEs in Europe » Non-profit and non-partisan organisation Recognised European Social Partner 75 member organisations in 30 countries represents 10 million enterprises with 50 million employees in Europe 7 million enterprises with 30 million employees in the EU

1st December 2003, Milan 2nd session BARCELONA 2002: 3% target R&D In % GDP to R&D 1% government, 2% private sector at present only 2% R&D: universities + large companies on USA/Japan level SMEs spent too little on R&D/Innovation Barcelona target will never be achieved without SMEs Barcelona target will never be achieved without SMEs

1st December 2003, Milan 2nd session 6th Framework Programme on R&D 1 Total budget: 16 billion euro ( ) SME budget: 2.1 billion euro = 13%

1st December 2003, Milan 2nd session 6th Framework Programme on R&D 2 Integrated Thematic Projects 80% of SME budget Projects: large budget, long-lasting, high tech Results: 10% participation instead of 15% budget under utilised

1st December 2003, Milan 2nd session 6th Framework Programme on R&D 3 SME specific measures: 20% of SME budget CRAFT (co-operative research) Collective Research + ETI Results: heavy over subscription only half of good-quality projects awarded

1st December 2003, Milan 2nd session Framework Programme: FUTURE This is not acceptable in the spirit of the Lisbon strategy and the Barcelona target This is not acceptable in the spirit of the Lisbon strategy and the Barcelona target Solution: 2004: mid-term review FP6 re-allocation from ITPs to SME specific FP7: more SME budget to SME specific, less to ITP EUROPE NEEDS NOT ONLY EUROPE NEEDS NOT ONLY NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS, BUT ALSO SME INNOVATION