Innovate UK pleased by EU funding commitment
Innovate UK is pleased by the announcement of guarantees on EU funding beyond the date the UK leaves the EU, including the Horizon 2020 funding programme and EU structural funds.
Ruth McKernan, Chief Executive, Innovate UK, said:
"Innovate UK will continue to ensure the success of UK participants in Horizon 2020, and ensure the benefits of EU structural funds for innovation support are felt right across the UK.
"It is critical to ensure that the complete UK eco-system of business, innovation and science continues to thrive, as it is the innovation and business components of this system, which ensure that growth and jobs are created in the UK, and will thus play a central role in a progressive industrial strategy. The announcement today of funding guarantees will offer vital reassurance to the sector, so that they can concentrate on getting their innovative ideas off the drawing board and into the market."
The European research funding programme is important to the UK’s innovation sector and SMEs have, to date, received more funding than any other country – €318m.
Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme. It offers companies a significant opportunity to collaborate internationally, and thereby access new knowledge, markets, customers and suppliers. The announcement today of funding guarantees will offer vital reassurance to the sector, as it provides companies, small and large, as well as research organisations such as Catapults with the confidence they and their partners will need to continue to engage effectively with partners in the programme.
