A report published by the European Commission shows that EU research funding reaches 15% target for SMEs. The last months of 2011 saw a significant increase in the budget share allocated to SMEs. The goal set by the European Parliament and European Council for FP7 has been surpassed according to the report. The Commission also highlighted that Horizon 2020, will continue to support the competitiveness of SMEs.

The European Commission has published the latest figures for SMEs and research and these show that SMEs will receive 15.3% (€2.4 billion) of the Cooperation Programme budget of €16.3 billion committed so far under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). This surpasses the goal set by the European Parliament and European Council for FP7, and therefore, meets Commission's commitment: SME funding under the Cooperation Programme is estimated to remain above 15% for the rest of the period of FP7.

Around 17,000 SMEs are expected to receive funding in FP7 research projects by the end of the programme and many more SMEs will benefit from the research results. The report's findings also show that the last months of 2011 therefore saw a significant increase in the budget share allocated to SMEs. In addition, in 73% of research projects funded at least one SME is involved and a 17.6% of participants in FP7 projects are from SMEs.

According to the report, within the ten Thematic Priorities of FP7, R&D SME's participate the most (28%), followed by SMEs from the Manufacturing sector (25%), the Service sector (24%) and the ICT sector (18%). On the other hand, a recent study published by the Commission on 16 January has revealed that 85% of new jobs in the EU between 2002 and 2010 were created by SMEs. Meeting the 15% budget target therefore contributes further to competitiveness and growth, and to the success of the Innovation Union flagship under Horizon 2020.