The European Commission has adopted a new Charter for industrial users’ access to research and technological infrastructures, aimed at streamlining and facilitating the use of top-level European research and innovation facilities by companies.
The initiative is designed to help companies – especially emerging ones, growing companies, and small and medium-sized enterprises – to more easily access advanced laboratories, pilot lines, testing environments, and large-scale scientific instruments.
By improving access to these services, the new guidelines will help companies develop, test, and validate new technologies, products, and services more efficiently, allowing them to reach the market more quickly. This is expected to strengthen Europe’s innovation capacity and competitiveness, in line with the EU Strategy for Emerging and Growing Companies.
Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner for Emerging Companies, Research and Innovation, stated that “innovative companies in Europe need cutting-edge infrastructures to develop and test ideas, and bring their innovations to market more quickly. These new guidelines, presented in the form of a Charter, aim to strengthen Europe’s research and technology infrastructures by creating better access conditions and services tailored to companies. This accelerates innovation and strengthens Europe’s competitiveness. I invite research and technological infrastructures to support the Charter and uphold its principles.”
The guidelines establish six key principles that research and technological infrastructures can voluntarily adopt. These principles focus on increasing the visibility and availability of services, ensuring transparency and quality, simplifying contracts and agreements, promoting secure management of intellectual property, offering personalized support to companies, and fostering cooperation among infrastructures, including access to data.
The initiative also aims to make Europe a more attractive place for innovators to develop and commercialize cutting-edge technologies, reports the European Commission. By promoting more visible, accessible, and favorable services for companies, the Commission hopes to consolidate Europe as a leading destination for industrial innovation.
The European body invites research and technological infrastructures across Europe to endorse the Charter and promote its principles. To support implementation, the Commission has launched an outreach campaign that includes webinars, events, and an open repository of best practices. Additionally, organizations are encouraged to share examples of successful approaches through the dedicated website.