On 6 April, the Commission presented its proposals for a seven-year framework programme for competitiveness and innovation. More than 4 billion euros have been earmarked for actions during the next budgetary 2007-2013 period.
The new framework programme merges several already existing measures into one comprehensive programme to boost the competitiveness and productivity of European enterprises (especially SMEs) while at the same time proposing support for eco-innovation and sustainable energy.
The CIP consists of three sub-programmes:
- The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme, which brings together activities in the areas of entrepreneurship, SMEs, industrial competitiveness and innovation;
- The ICT Policy Support Programme, which will promote the speedy adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and comprises existing measures such as eTEN, eContent or Modinis;
- The Intelligent Energy-Europe Programme, which bundles actions to accelerate the uptake and promotion of energy efficiency and to increase investments in and awareness-raising of renewable energy sources. Existing measures such as ‘SAVE’, ‘ALTENER’, or ‘STEER’ are part of this subprogramme.
This Competitiveness and Innovation programme is complementary to the 7th framework programme for research (FP7). It will be open for participation to members of the EEA, candidate countries, countries of the western Balkans, and under certain conditions also to countries participating in the EU’s neighbourhood policy.
