EPP-ED Group:

Key Issue: Support for Research and Development SMEs

Interview with Paul Rübig MEP (Austria)

Press Conference on 'EUROSTARS - Support for Research and Development performing SMEs'
Paul Rübig MEP (EPP-ED, Austria), Rapporteur of the report on EUROSTARS

What is the EUROSTARS programme? How important is it in supporting research and development small to medium-sized enterprises?

It's a programme of the Member States together with the European Union. The EU contributes a budget of 100 million euros, in addition to the 300 million available from the Member States, therefore we have a unique opportunity to help research-intensive SMEs to achieve good results.

Who is eligible to receive this funding? What are the criteria?

The focus is on SMEs, especially on research-intensive SMEs. They themselves must provide a minimum of 50% of the money to the overall project funded. In addition to this of course, funding can also apply to universities, research institutes and so on. I think the programme provides a very good chance to give new impetus to the really research-intensive SMEs.

You mention in your report that you support lowering the barrier of contributions SMEs must make to the costs of research projects from 50% to 25%. Why do you support such a move?

We learned through the Research Framework Programme that the administrative burden required up to now is unacceptable for the SMEs. We want to have a procedure which is as simplified as possible - to have decision-making on a very economic level - so that SMEs know quickly if they will receive funding or not, that the decision is on a very high qualification, and that if the decision is made, that money is transferred as soon as possible to SMEs. Late payment like we have in other programmes - in some cases it takes one or two years to receive payment - has to be avoided, as normally an SME can become bankrupt if it doesn't receive the money within this timeframe. So to shorten the procedure, I think the EUROSTARS programme, together with EUREKA, provides a good legal base to be much more efficient, and not too bureaucratic.