FP5 and Beyond Spurred on by the European Commission, Member States are rationalising business regulation, a vigorous European venture capital industry is forming, and research institutes and private companies are beginning to do business together on a more regular basis. The Vienna Forum again raised Europe's expectations for its high-tech SME sector as a source of employment, competitiveness, and economic growth. Three case studies presented at the Forum are summarised on the pages which follow. As they demonstrate, it also set out the sector's own expectations - for recognition, for support, and for the freedom to flourish. The need for on-going policy measures in support of innovation, at both national and EU levels, was broadly endorsed.
Innovative enterprises are key contributors to economic growth and employment.
The spread of good practice, and the testing and promotion of new approaches through pilot actions at Community level, remain high priorities. The European Federation of High-Tech SMEs Commissioner Cresson with Francisco Marin and other founding members, at the signature of the Federation's Articles of Association. The Federation's aim is to help them become European companies, exporting to other Member States as the first step towards global competitiveness. The Federation's founders represent nearly 1,500 SMEs in sectors such as aeronautics and telecommunications, but it hopes to represent 5,000 such companies by the end of 2001. Membership is open to both private associations and public agencies, but Francisco Marin of Aentec emphasises that the approach will be bottom-up.