SMEs and Research - European Commission - Europa

CONCLUSIONS
Despite the extremely promising technical
results — as compared with the extremely
innovative dimension of the project (dual technology)
— there was some doubt on the part of the stakeholders as to
whether the technology would actually be taken up on a large scale.
More specifically, the levels of development and the financial robustness of
the companies differ considerably according to the European countries where the
SMEs are located, and therefore compliance with environmental regulation is prioritised
in different ways. International competitive pressure was so heavy at the time, that even
some of the Core-Group SMEs went out of business before the project was completed.
As environmental regulation can vary between Member States, this project also served to
improve concrete European integration, where cooperation leads to the development of
technology that is above and beyond what an individual SME might envision or implement on
its own.
Project title
SPACE2TEX
Funding scheme – Framework Programme
Collective Research – FP5
Duration
January 2001 – December 2003
Total cost, EC contribution
€2 132 732, €1 066 132
Project Coordinator
Euratex, Belgium
Deborah Santus Roosen
deborah.santus@euratex.org
www.euratex.org
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