SMEs’ Role in European Innovation: Framework Recommendations to Enable Better SME Contributions in FP10

Europe is designing the 10th Framework Programme (FP10), the basic architecture that will shape its research and innovation landscape for the next decade. For Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), the choices being made now carry structural weight. Funding rates, eligibility conditions, governance representation, and consortium rules will determine whether SMEs become central actors in Europe’s technological leadership.

The NetworldEurope SME WG’s new Position Paper, “SMEs’ Role in European Innovation: Framework Recommendations to Enable Better SME Contributions in FP10”, establishes why SME participation must be treated as a strategic priority in the design of FP10 and how future framework conditions can better support their contribution to Europe’s digital and technological sovereignty.