We need to boost entrepreneurship in EUROPE

The EU entrepreneurial spirit remains weak: only 47% of Europeans say that they will prefer self-employment to being employed. Europe lags behind the US in 10 out of 11 innovation indicators and within the EU significant national differences are also observed.
 

Insufficient innovation is a major cause of Europe’s disappointing growth performance. Innovation is about bringing ideas to market and turning them into Euros. It is about firms innovating in their technology, design, management, marketing, logistical and organisation. CIP actions will support all of these. They will help firms bring knowledge to bear on their economic activity.
 

The new Competitiveness and Innovation framework Programme (CIP) is proposed to become one of the main Community measures contributing to generating economic growth and creating more jobs. It will bring together into a coherent framework specific Community support programmes and relevant parts of other Community programmes in the fields most critical to boosting European productivity, innovation capacity and sustainable growth, whilst also addressing complementary environmental concerns. The CIP will complement rather than duplicate the other relevant actions, and those conducted by Member States.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme :

This programme will bring together activities that were previously dispersed over the Multiannual Programme for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship (MAP), activities for Industrial Competitiveness and elements of the existing LIFE-Environment programme. CIP will also build on innovation activities that have been successfully tested and developed under previous Research Framework Programmes.

It aims to help enterprises innovate by providing access to finance: sharing risks and reward with private equity investors and providing counter or co-guarantees to national guarantee schemes.

Through this programme, SMEs will also have simple, clear and efficient access to the EU – its legislation, programmes and opportunities via the business support networks, including a separate IPR helpdesk.

The conditions for innovation will be improved through better policies based on exchanges of best practices between member states and evidence (innovation trendchart, innobarometer, innovation scoreboard) targeted to:

improving the regulatory environment for enterprise and innovation

improving access to finance for SMEs in their start-up and growth phases and

helping SMEs navigate the single market, and channel feedback on businesses concerns to improve EU policy making.

ICT Policy Support Programme :

This programme will build on the aims of the e-TEN, Modinis and e-Content programmes in line with the new integrated strategy i2010 - European Information Society 2010.

The ICT programme will:

stimulate the new converging markets for electronic networks, media content and digital technologies

test solutions to the bottlenecks that delay wide European deployment of electronic services

support the modernisation of public sector services that will raise productivity and improve services.

Actions under the ICT-policy support programme will

underpin regulatory and research actions of the Commission to stimulate emerging digital economy based on the convergence between network services, media content and new electronic devices

provide a bridge between research investment and wide adoption, by providing a testing ground for pan-European electronic services in both the public and private sectors

reinforce European cultural and linguistic identities by support for the production and distribution of European digital content

assist the development of an open and inclusive European Information Society through stimulating innovative approaches to inclusion, quality of life and public services.

Intelligent Energy-Europe Programme :

The Intelligent Energy-Europe Programme will encourage the wider uptake of new and renewable energies and improve energy efficiency, and shall foster compliance with our energy regulatory framework. The programme aims at accelerating action in relation to the agreed EU strategy and targets in the field of sustainable energy, increasing the share of renewable energy and further reducing our final energy consumption. It includes actions to:

increase the uptake and demand for energy efficiency

to promote renewable energy sources and energy diversification, and

to stimulate the diversification of fuels and energy efficiency in transport.

The programme will also help to increase the level of investment in new and best performing technologies and bridge the gap between the successful demonstration of innovative technologies and their effective introduction to the market to achieve mass deployment. Furthermore, it will strengthen the administrative capacity both to develop strategies and policies and to implement existing regulations.